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Fishing Report for Homosassa, Florida
Capt. Mike Locklear
May 15, 2003
Homosassa - Saltwater Fishing Report
Tarpon Return to Homosassa
Jos Arets of Holland is one of many who come to Citrus County each year to ply the waters of the Nature Coast for giant tarpon. About half the crowds are hard core fly fishers who return each year to Homosassa to have a shot a record tarpon on fly. Others are like Arets who just fish for fun and not records.
Arets is a catch and release and “let the fish live” type of guy. "I use a leader about 2 feet long whereas the International Game Fish Association rules specify a leader no longer than 12 inches. This way the captain can grab the fish at boat side and quickly release it"
Arets caught two tarpon off Homosassa last year, one of which weighed 140 pounds. His guide was Capt. Rick Lefiles of Yankeetown. This year his luck was not as good as he had 6 bites and jumped a 100 pound fish. Arets also had some shots at really big tarpon over 200 pounds. The only fish he managed to catch were several lady fish or poor man's tarpon. Also a 12 pound jack crevalle while fishing with me for 8 straight days. I know it sounds pretty bad for eight days; but when you are big game fishing using a fly rod nothing is easy. And the weather is always a factor. Water temeperature has to be above 78 degrees for tarpon to actively feed.
Local guides like John Bazo, Jim Long and myself own specially made flats skiffs with push poles, special casting platforms and twin trolling motors. The trolling motors and push poles are necessary to sneak up on the fish. Our baits are flies consisting of some 3 to 4 inch bird feathers that resemble a crab or shrimp or something that the tarpon thinks is a threat to their little eggs they are about to lay. Fishing with bait or lures is not out of the question, but fly fishing is more appealing to the guides who charge $450 for a day out on the water. Like big outboards, lures scare away most tarpon, so live crabs in the silver dollar size are preferred.
Each year beginning in May, giant tarpon arrive and some fish hang around all summer long eventually in July and August moving into the rivers where tarpon are cuahgt on bait, mostly mullet heads. Many tarpon over 100 pounds have been seen eating fish scraps off MacRae's fish cleaning table as late as September.
Out into the gulf, many fly line class records have been taken off the mouths of Citrus County's four rivers that dump large quanities of fresh water into the gulf..
The 20 pound line class fly tackle world record is 202 pounds belongs to Jim Holland, Jr. and is only a couple of years old taken in from a place only named Hampton Hole. The 16 pound line class record belongs to Billy Pate and has remained intact since 1982. Clyde Balch, a retired doctor that comes each year holds the 12 pound line class record of 177 pounds.
Some breaking news, on Tuesday, Tom Evans broke Billy Pate’s old 1982 world record by 2.0 pounds by landing a 190.5 pound tarpon on 16 pound tippet. Evans took only 30 minutes before Al Dopirak stuck him with the kill gaff. The fish ate a little 3 inch fly and was brought in with a fly rod.
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