Fly Fishing Everglades Tarpon

Everglades Fly Fishing: Tarpon

Every spring, when water temperatures rise into the mid-seventies, one of the greatest natural occurrences on planet earth takes place in our backyard - the Tarpon migration. Tarpon are the main attraction for fly anglers in the Everglades as catching one on fly is certain to be one of the most exciting moments of your life. The Tarpon’s acrobatic tendencies and willingness to bite a well placed fly have been drawing anglers to the Everglades for over a hundred years.

When conditions are right, Tarpon can be found all over the shallow water of the Everglades, Marco Island, and Naples. Their tendency to travel and feed in the shallows, gives fly fishermen the opportunity to target them in a variety of scenarios.

Laid-Up Tarpon

When the water temperature is still on the cool side, the sun will warm the surface faster than the deeper areas of the water column and Tarpon will utilize this phenomenon to relax and recharge by laying up (floating motionless). Laid up Tarpon can be eager feeders as they will ambush prey that gets too close to their business end for an easy meal. Laid-Up Tarpon fishing is an exercise in stealth and accuracy. Spotting a big Tarpon floating on the surface is fairly easy, but getting them to bite can be a real challenge.

Rolling Tarpon

More often than not, a Tarpon will reveal its presence with a roll. Tarpon can breathe air, and do so frequently. They will roll at the surface, take an audible “gulp” of air and continue on with what they were doing. Many times after Tarpon roll, they will expend the air they took in and release bubbles back to the surface, once again revealing their position. Fly fishing for rolling Tarpon in the Everglades is an exercise in speed, accuracy, and sometimes distance as you never know where a Tarpon might roll and present a shot. In the second or so it takes a Tarpon to roll, the angler must gauge exactly what that fish is doing and quickly get their fly in front of it.

Swimming Tarpon

Tarpon are a migratory fish and swim great distances every year to survive. The migration path of Tarpon takes them through the Everglades, Marco Island, and Naples where they swim the banks, points, and flats of the Gulf of Mexico. When conditions align, these fish become prime targets for fly anglers as they move through. They may come as singles, pairs, or groups, and days of seeing 100+ swimming Tarpon are not uncommon.

When should I come to the Everglades to fly fish for tarpon?

Tarpon can be found year round when conditions align.

From November-March, when water temps reach 75 degrees, hungry Tarpon seemingly show up overnight and can be some of the best fishing of the year. It is so conditional that planning a trip can be almost impossible as this fishing happens in small windows (usually less than a few days a month) and anglers wishing to cash in on the conditions must be really lucky, or ready to go at the drop of a hat.

April-June is prime time in South Florida and anglers visiting this time year can almost be guaranteed that there will be Tarpon around. Tarpon can be caught laying-up, rolling, and swimming as conditions dictate, and anglers lucky enough to be in the Everglades on slick calm days in the spring will see some of the best Tarpon fishing of the year.

The hottest months of the year, July-October, are where we see the tail end of the migration and our wet season. Big resident Tarpon can still be found rolling in areas with good current in the morning and evenings. Baby Tarpon seem to be very active in areas that have a lot of freshwater flow from the summer rains.