Tarpon Reside Year Round in Homosassa Rivers
Capt. Mike Locklear
August 16, 2009
Homosassa - Saltwater Fishing Report
Tarpon are in and still giving me the fever. There are a few schools still around on the flats. I guess they are native fish. This past season was probably the best I have had in several years. The reason is, I was lucky and had some great anglers.
Great in a way that they could put the fly in the strike zone of the poons face. The zone is about the size of a basketball hoop. Other sports such as basketball where the goal is stationary don't compare, to describe the mental and physical agility it takes to have a tarpon eat the fly.
I am not a good golfer, but I love the sport. Today, I watched a golfer choke on one hole and scored an +8, he made me feel like myself and that even pros can have a bad day. The PGA championship appeared to me like it was thrown to the South Korean to better the golf industry globally... I can't help it and don't believe there is corruption in the PGA. But, just the night before on the Golf channel, the producer's theme were hoping Tiger would actually fail as he did today and not run away from the field. Seriously, Tiger lost because he could not deliver. All the top players were choking because of the rain and the greens were soft until late afternoon. But the announcers were leaning towards being a little biased towards the underdog. Anyway, Tiger took the loss standing up like the great man he is. He should have cut the questionable fart he was blamed for while the Korean was putting!
If you compare your fly-fishing cast to tarpon like golfers do to arrive at the cup, your success would improve dramatically. The playing field is not the same with golf as it is with fly-fishing. First, you have to identify the fish and then the speed it is traveling. Or if it is a laid up fish, you must learn how close you can cast the fly to the fish without spooking it. Even the speed and length of stripping the fly is very important to feed a poon.
There are places I have fished where perhaps are the best fly fishing opportunities anywhere on earth for either world record tarpon or just hungry tarpon in the 60-80 pound range. The reason is I live where they come to every year. True some years are better than others. The fisheries change for a variety of reasons. Weather, water temperature, wind direction and rainfall are the major factors when and where the tarpon will show up and long they will stay.
Some clients believe that there are thousands of tarpon the professional guides never see. They say they are in deeper water where fly fishing is not practical. I don't disagree with this theory. I am sure at least in the shallow water flats of the Gulf of Mexico, which is where 90% of the tarpon are.
We get a run or migration in May and June here in Homosassa, but there are fish here year around. However, the tactics and where you fish changes with the seasons. Naturally, the fish would arguably make the loop around the Gulf States to Mexico. It is their track they have been on for 100 million years. But are there more or less fish today?
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