Tarpon fishing guide.

Where the Tarpon bite is on right now

Hero spots in our coverage where Tarpon is in season for May. Click through for the live forecast.

Best bait

• Live crabs (pass crabs are the textbook Boca Grande bait)
• Live pinfish / threadfin herring
• Live mullet (large finger mullet or larger)
• Live shrimp (small juveniles & resident fish)
• Whole dead mullet for night fishing bridges

Best lures

• Tarpon flies — Toad, Cockroach, Black Death — on 11–12 wt fly rods (the iconic flats game)
• Soft plastic 6–7" paddle-tails (DOA Bait Buster, Hogy Pro Tail) on 1/2–1 oz weighted hook
• Hard-bodied swimbaits and glide baits 7–9"
• Surface lures (chuggers / poppers) for rolling fish
• Lipless rattle baits for night fishing under bridges

Technique

Florida Keys flats: pole the boat onto known migration channels (May–June Marquesas to Key West), spot rolling/laid-up fish, present a fly or lightly-weighted bait ahead of the path. Strip strike when they eat — never lift the rod. Boca Grande Pass / Gulf side: drift live crabs in the pass on the outgoing tide during the May–June migration. Bridge fishing at night: anchor up-current of bridge pylons, drift live mullet through the lit shadow line — the bite is heart-stopping.

Tide windows that matter

Outgoing tide pulls bait through passes and along bridge structures — this is the textbook tarpon window in Florida. The first 2 hours of strong outgoing tide is prime in Boca Grande and the Keys passes. Slack tide is dead for tarpon outside of laid-up fish on the flats.

Moon & solunar

Tarpon migration is heavily moon-influenced. The "tarpon moon" — the full moons of May and June in Florida — coincides with peak migration and is the most famous fishing window in saltwater fly fishing. Night flats fishing on the full moon at Keys laid-up fish is its own discipline.

Regulations

Florida: tarpon is a catch-and-release-only fishery (with a $50 tag required if you intend to keep one for IGFA record purposes — almost never done). Never lift a big tarpon out of the water — kill rates from improper handling are significant. Use circle hooks where possible, vent and revive carefully. Verify FWC rules.