Tarpon, Silver Kings, Inshore Giants
4/16/15
The tarpon fishing in Key West has gotten off to a great start! We are hooking multiple fish per day, at least if we are going after tarpon. The main run of tarpon have been coming into Key West harbor and some of the nearby shallow channels. We are seeing a good number of BIG fish coming through. Baits we are using are mostly live, while some of the guides are doing okay using artificial lures. I am using live pinfish, mullet, or crabs to lure in our tarpon lately.
The size tackle we use to battle our tarpon is considerably large compared to the rest of the tackle we use throughout the day. You want to have a good sized rod and reel in case you hook a really big tarpon. You never know if you are going to hook into a 20 pound tarpon or a 120 pounder. We use a 20-60 pound class fishing rod with a 8000 class spinning reel. The size line we use is typically 30 pound braided line, with a 30-50 pound fluorocarbon leader. Whether we are using circle or J hooks, we are using sized 5/0 and 6/0 to our fluorocarbon leader. Owner makes the best hooks for this job, as we use nothing other. Here are some pictures from the past week of some lucky anglers and their silver kings!
