 |
Tampa Bay - Saltwater
Capt. Matt Ercoli
June 3, 2004
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Tarpon, Tarpon, and more Tarpon. In two words I can sum up our fishing news around here, tarpon are thick and biting. The tarpon where a little late due to a late spring, but once they made their showing they made it with full force. I have seen as many tarpon in the past couple of weeks as I have ever seen. Because of the number of fish and the very cooperative weather, except for a couple of windy days, the chance to land the silver king has been as good as it gets. On some of our best days we have managed as many as over a dozen hook ups. On the very toughest days we are at least able to do battle with two or three silver kings which is pretty good considering the small ones are running 65 pounds and averaging 100. We have even hooked up a few approaching the 200 pound mark. I must say even though this is the most demanding time of year for me as a fishing guide it is definitely my favorite and most exciting. My favorite part of the day is the first tarpon of the day. I love the excitement that fills the boat as the first pod of tarpon approach the boat and then casting into them, anticipating the bite. Then all of a sudden all hell breaks loose a the first fish of the day hits the bait and explodes into the air landing back in the water as if we are under attack and a shell just landed next to us. It’s an amazing battle, high flying leaps, flips, and head shakes you can hear from a hundred yards away. That’s why they have been dubbed the silver king.
Tarpon are not the only spices on the list that’s hungry right now. Although most our efforts have been tarpon I have also had some great days offshore. The tuna, mackerel, permit and snapper, as well as a few keeper gag grouper.
If tarpon are not big enough for you the goliath grouper are on the bite. No kidding, the days I have spent fishing them has been as fast the bait gets to the bottom. Most of the fish are in the 200 to 500 pound class and we fish them on 200 pound tuna tackle. You had better been eating your wheaties if you plan on landing one of these big boys, it’s all you can do just to hold onto the rod and many times the battle goes for an hour or longer.
Flats fishing is also quite good, especially the larger snook. Since tarpon have showed, snook have gotten a lot less pressure, this in turn makes the larger ones feel less wary and feed better. Yesterday we stopped in the middle of tarpon fishing to cast to a few snook and ended up in a feeding flurry I found hard to leave. I don’t know how many snook we caught in the hour and a half but the two fishermen kept the double hooked up going for quite a while, the largest was 33 inches.
The redfish and trout bite is pretty good as well and as the water warms the red fishing should become better.
Last but not least is the cobia. I have actually seen quite a few while in my tower looking for tarpon and some real monsters up to 50 or 60 pounds. Sunday we caught a 35 pounder out of a school of tarpon.
Well, Hope you have enjoyed my report. I still have some prime tarpon days left for July and a couple for June. So let me know if it sound like fun. Good luck fishing. Capt Matt
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
