MIAMI FLY FISHING: Tarpon
SOOOO you want to fish for the ultimate game fish on fly? That’s TARPON - hands down. Why do I believe that? Because of the quality ways they are hunted by fly rod anglers and, once hooked - their dogged fights, blistering runs and spectacular jumps.
Tarpon in the Miami area may be found cruising along shorelines; on the flats feeding - with fins and eyes above the surface in a foot of water; rolling haphazardly in holes or channels, or; for the ultimate, “laid-up” - we find them laying motionless in the water nose into the current, requiring a precision cast in the most compelling of circumstances.
Another unique factor is that a 150 lb. tarpon will attack a fly one and a half inches long and often times prefer something that size! Also they are a nocturnal meaning “night feeders” thanks to the eye structure “tapetum lucidum” and this opens up even more possibilities for fly anglers.
These magnificent fish can attain an age of over 80 years, live in fresh and saltwater, are migrators, have a primitive lung so they can survive in a drainage ditch, armor plating for scales, eat anything from huge blue crabs to worms and have a forked tail that is the best design by nature for speed.
I respect these fish so much that I won’t dishonor them with bait or artificial spin lures. It's fly or nothing on my boat for these magnificent creatures and when we catch them it's total respect for a healthy release remembering this angled fish was once the size of a minnow……
For a more detailed description of fly fishing for tarpon in Miami in the locations I fish, click below:
Fly Fishing for Tarpon in Miami/Biscayne Bay.