| 2008 Florida Keys Fishing Reports |
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| Bob Crispin Tarpon |
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Last Florida Keys Tarpon Report
June 20, - 27, 2008
Greetings from Tarpon World:
My 98 year old Mom and I are heading home to North Carolina tomorrow morning, My truck is packed, and the skiff is cleaned and has the cover tied down to the trailer ready for travel. This was a good Tarpon season weather wise although we has lots of wind and clouds I fished 66 out of 75 days which were booked. Seems that we did pretty good as most of my clients have already begun booking dates for next years Tarpon Season.
During the last week I fished with some captain friends both flats fishing and wreck fishing off shore in the Gulf of Mexico. As an angler I caught several nice Keys Bonefish, 6 Tarpon, largest near 140 pounds, and a tailing cobia on fly. During my 2 days of wreck fishing we had calm and clear weather and the fishing was awesome. I caught a bunch of Kingfish, some Albies, Mangrove Snapper, Barracuda, and several Cobia, all on fly while sight casting in a chum line. I had forgotten how much I really like the offshore wreck fishing here in the Keys, I plan to do a bunch of it when I get home to NC.
Thanks to all of my clients and friends for supporting me here during this Keys Tarpon season, I look forward to my next fishing adventures, in North Carolina, Guatemala, Galapagos, and other world class fly fishing destinations. Feel free to contact me to arrange to join me on one of my Fly Fishing adventures. Thank you to all of my friends here in the keys for your kindness and friendship.
It looks like I will be at the Fly Fishing Retailer Show in Denver September 14-15-16, 2008, If you are going to be there let me know so we can get together? More reports to follow from North Carolina.
Regards:
Jake
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| Last Tarpon of 2008 Season |
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Florida Keys Tarpon Report
June 18, 19, 2008
Greetings from Tarpon World:
June 18, 2008;
Today the wind blew from the South at 20 knots with lots of clouds and rain showers all around us, fishing during the day was not productive. I took Don Butler and his son John Butler out at 1:00 AM to a full moon shrimp hatch with a fast running current, and lots of feeding Tarpon. John jumped 3 Tarpon, one broke us off on a bridge piling, the second pulled the hook after several great jumps, and his third fish was a 65 pound male which we leadered and released. Next, Don Butler made a cast and hooked a 120 pound female which towed my skiff about a mile out into the ocean before I grabbed the leader and released that Tarpon.
No fishing today, lots of wind, rain, thunder & Lightning, Maybe the weather will improve soon? More Reports to follow.
Regards:
Jake
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| Another great Keys Tarpon |
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Florida Keys Tarpon Report
June 14, 15, 16, & 17 2008
Greetings from Tarpon World:
June 14, 15, 16, 2008,
Ben Mitchell from San Francisco, CA, brought his father Jim for 3 days of fly fishing for Tarpon with me. Jim had never seen a Tarpon while this was Ben's third year here chasing the Silver King with the long wand. Saturday the 14th of June had lots of boat and jet ski traffic on the flats, along with cloudy skies, and very few POONS. Ben got to cast at a few fish however we never even had a bite.
On Sunday, June 15th fishing was hard in the morning with lots of clouds and very few Tarpon, we took a break and came back out for the night shift. Ben jumped 6 Tarpon and caught a female of 110 pounds, his dad jumped one Tarpon which broke the class tippet.
Monday was a lot like yesterday with Ben Jumping 3 and Jim fighting two Tarpon, we got two fish very close to release however both came off before we landed them. During the three days Ben and Jim hooked 12 Tarpon and we released two fish in relatively hard conditions, I sure am glad that I have these feeding Tarpon in the evening after dark. We had a great time and will do it again next season.
June, 17, 2008,
My friend Don Butler brought his son John for three days of fly fishing for tarpon, today we saw a few daytime fish with high winds and cloudy skies. We came in for dinner and then went out for the night shift, John Butler who had never fly fished for Tarpon wound up jumping 3 nice POONS and releasing two of them. His first Tarpon on fly was a juvenile of 50 pounds, and then he battled and caught a 90 pound male in 25 minutes. It seems to me that the large number of Tarpon which were here two weeks ago are beginning to leave the Keys, we are experiencing 20 knot south west wind along with thunder storms as I write this report. I hope that the fishing gets better as I still have a week of chasing POONS before heading home to North Carolina, stay tuned for more fishing reports.
Regards:
Jake
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| Night Tarpon on Fly |
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Florida Keys Tarpon Report
June 11, & 12, 2008
Greetings from Tarpon World:
June 11, & 12, 2008,
Chuck Laughridge and Donny Hatcher from Harkers Island, NC are here with me for three days of fly fishing for Tarpon.
June 11, 2008,
We fished flats between Big Pine Key and the Seven Mile Bridge on the ocean side of the keys from noon to 5 PM under cloudy skies, we saw a few schools of fish however the cloudy skies made it hard to get in front of the fish, so we came in ate dinner and went back out looking for worms and Tarpon. Donny hatcher went first and jumped two POONS during the first 30 minutes, the second one was a fish close to 100 pounds, which Hatcher wound up to the boat fro his first Tarpon on fly ever.
During the next three hours Chuck Laughridge jumped five more Tarpon, while using my Tarpon Mouse fly, all of these fish were between 90 and 120 pounds. There of those monster fish put on a great show before breaking the 20 pound tippet, while the other two spit the hook after several jumps.
We worked this morning out of Little Torch Key and fished both "the basin" (No Tarpon) and the Ho Jo flats, where we found maybe 50 deep and fast traveling Tarpon, (No Bites)! We took a break from the 92 degree sun and came back out to the worm bar where there had been lots of Tarpon fro the last few days. One of my friends told me that the sharks had moved in and ate several hooked Tarpon just before sunset, however we headed out regardless. Guess What? No Tarpon were to be found, not one, this was the first evening this season that we didn't get even one bite. During the last 3 days Chuck and Donny from Harkers Island, NC, jumped 14 Tarpon between them and released 3, the first big Tarpon on fly for each angler. Needless to say, we had a great time fishing together, congratulations to Both anglers. I am getting ready fro my next Tarpon adventure, and then looking forward to some great fly fishing when I get home to North Carolina in early July. More Reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
Florida Keys Tarpon Report
June 10, 2008
Greetings from Tarpon World:
June 10, 2008,
Chuck Laughridge and Donny Hatcher from Harkers Island, NC are here for four days of fly fishing for Tarpon. Until today Chuck's biggest Tarpon was a juvinile of under 40 pounds, that is about to change. I picked up Donnie and Chuck at the Ranch House Motel at 8:00 Am and headed to the flats near the 7 mile bridge. It took almost two hours before I located a school of happy, rolling, Tarpon, which looked like about 150 fish. When I began to approach these fish the weather closed in and we noticed that there were dark skies, lightning, 30 knot wind, and rain, all around us. I followed these fish for a mile but never could get in position for Chuck to get a a good cast before these fish dissapeared. later in the early afternoon we found a school of 400 to 500 POONS racing to the west, we had several good casts but no bites. These fish looked like they were acting weird, which means possible worm hatch. We headed in to take a break from the 91 degree sun, have dinner, and then came out in the early evening.
I was right, palolo worm hatch, millions of worms, and thousands of Tarpon, we fished for 2 1/2 hours and Chuck jumped seven Tarpon. Of the 7 Silver King which Chuck jumped, 3 pulled the hook, two broke us off on bridge pilings, and we leadered 2, Chuck's first big Tarpon on fly was a fish of about 100 pounds, and the second Tarpon which he caught was about 110 pounds. The last fish which Chuck fought towed my skiff about half a mile, through a bridge, and then after he wound the leader into the tip top it took off again. Next that tarpon ran under the boat pulled the 12 weigth TFO fly rod down to the gunnel and broke the rod. Now using just the bottom half of the rod, Chuck continued to fight that Tarpon until I grabbed the leader and the fly came out, I got back the top half of the fly rod and my fly. I have to go pole the boat now, more reports to follow, Congratulations to Chuck Laighridge on his first big Tarpon on fly!
Regards:
Jake
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| Chuck Laughridge casting to worming Tarpon |
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Florida Keys Tarpon Report
June 7, 8, 9, 2008
Greetings from Tarpon World:
June 7, 8, 9, 2008,
Brian Mingham from Jacksonville Florida, and Steve Henderson from Tucon Arazona came to the Keys to try their hand at Tarpon fishing for 3 days. Steve is a fly fisherman while Brian turned out to not be a fly angler, which I didn't know until they arrived. I borrowed a Spinning rod and bought a bunch of crabs and tried to catch a Tarpon on a live ctab on the flats for two days while the wind blew from the east at 25 knots. After fishing for two days Brian had to leave to go back to work, without hooking a Tarpon, we saw 500 fish on June 7th and 400 on June 8th, however we were not able to get the crab in front of a Tarpon which wanted to eat that crab.
June 9th found Steve and I on the flats with the wind dropping to 15 knots, lots of clouds, and thunderstorms all around us. From 8:00 AM to 12:15 PM we had seen less than a dozen Tarpon however at precisley 12:15 a school of 150 happy fish swam up to us. Steve made a good cast and an 80 pounder scoffed my Tarpon Mouse fly, jumped twice, and as Steve pulled his fly rod high into the air, putting slack into the line, and the fish spit the hook. After 3 or four more schools came past us, we followed a large school down the flat for about 2 miles before I got in front of this school of happy Tarpon. Steve made a great cast, one strip, and then a 100 pound Silver king ate that fly. After jumping several times and ripping off 200 yards of backing that tarpon jumped toward the boat and then thee fly came out. We had a great time Tarpon fishing, conditions were hard, but Steve hooked two Tarpon. I hope the weather improves for Chuck Laughridge and Donny Hatcher who start their 4 days tomorrow. I love my Job, Wish you were here, more reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
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| Night Time Jumper |
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Florida Keys Tarpon Report
June 6, 2008
Greetings from Tarpon World:
June 6, 2008,
Philip and Donna Moran from London, England fished with me this morning before the wind increased to 25 knots chasing us off of the water. The Tarpon ate flies real good before the pressure increased which then turned them off. Early in the morning Donna jumped the first fish, a big female which broke the 20 pound tippet after a 20 minute battle. Donna jumped one more fish and then turned the fly rod with Mako #9550 reel over to Philip, he jumped 3, one of which (a 110 pounder) almost jumped into the boat before breaking the tippet, he released the next Tarpon, a 75 pound male, and then lost his final fish (a monster) to broken backing which had been frayed on a bridge piling.
Philip and Donna Moran fly fished for 5 days, jumped a total of 21 Tarpon with each angler catching and releasing 3 Tarpon. Remember that this was Donna's first Tarpon ever, catching 6 from 21 bites is not bad on these monster fish using 20 pound tippet. The wind is now blowing from the South east at 25 - 30 knots with a small craft advisory, hope it dies down soon, more reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
Tarpon Fishing Report
June, 4, 5, 2008
Greetings from Tarpon World
June 4, 5, 2008,
Phillip and Donna Moran from London England are fly fishing for Tarpon with me through this Friday. Today in the early morning we foud a large school of feeding fish, these POONS were eating aggressivly and we had a good morning. Donna who never caught a Tarpon before wound up jumping 5 , of which 2 spit the hook, 2 broke off, and she landed a really nice fish which was just over 100 pounds (this was the first Tarpon ever for Donna, congratulations Donna). Mean while Phil got to fish for a short period of time, he hooked 2 nice Silver King, both of which jumped, fought well, and then spit the fly back at us.
Later in the afternoon we looked for fish and worms at the worm bar, we found a few fish, and a few worms, but we never got a bite on the worm fly. Seven Tarpon jumped today, that is good fishing!
This morning we found fish in the same place that they were yesterday, Donna caught the first Tarpon which she cast to, a fish of 110 pounds. Phil then hooked a monster Tarpon which he fought for 15 minutes before the hook pulled 20 foot from the boat. Donna jumped 3 more fish and landed anotherTarpon of 80 pounds while Phil jumped 2 more fish. The wind in the afternoon was blowing at 20 knots and gusty from the Southeast, causing the flats to become pretty rough, we took the afternoon off! Donna and Phillip Moran jumped 14 Tarpon during the last two days, and released 3nice POONS, this is good tarpon fishing. More reports to follow.
Regards:
Jake
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Tarpon Fishing Report
June, 1, 2, 3, 2008
Greetings from Tarpon World
June 1, 2008,
I got a call from Charles Carpenter from Alamo, CA this afternoon, he said that my friend Doug Brutico had suggested that he give me a call. It seems that Charley had fished for a few days without getting a bite and he wanted to catch a Tarpon on fly. I suggested that I could take him out tonight for 3 hours tonight at 11:00 PM and that if he didn't jump a fish the trip was free, I really wanted to try it is evening.
Charlie met me at the ramp at 11:00 PM where we launched the skiff and headed to a flat where the channel runs close to the edge and I where I thought there would be feeding Tarpon. Charlie hooked, jumped and released his first 90 pound POON by 11:20 PM, then cast out and jumped another one right away. At 2:45 we put the skiff onto the trailer after my new friend, Charlie jumped a total of 7 Tarpon, and wound 3 up to the boat for a leader release. Off to bed so I can start in the morning with my new clients.
Phil and Donna Moran from England are here in the Keys to fly fish with me for Tarpon for the next 5 days. We found large schools of migrating Tarpon on flats near Marathon where Phil cast to a school of 200 tailing Tarpon. Phil made a good cast, one of my Tarpon Mouse flies and a 110 pounder ate that fly very aggressively, turned, came tight, Jumped, and broke the tippet. We had 1 other bite and half a dozen follows but we did not hook any more fish today.
June 3, 2008,
We fished near Big Pine Key this morning for 3 hours and only saw 4 Tarpon, so we moved up to the 7 mile bridge flats. We arrived at 11:30 AM and within five minutes I spotted two schools of happy Tarpon swimming slowly toward us. Phil cast my Tarpon mouse in front of the lead fish of a school of more than 100 Tarpon, half the school passed that fly, and then a 120 pound female charged up and ate that red fly. Phil set the hook and cleared the line onto his Mako #9550 fly reel with the drag set at precisely six pounds and the battle was on. That big Tarpon jumped 9 times in the first 5 minutes and than began swimming with the school as if it was not even hooked. Phil put maximum pressure on that Tarpon and 26 minutes later we released that 120 pound female Tarpon. We followed that school for four hours, over 3 miles of polling, and got several follows with only one more bite which came off on the first jump. We came in at 5 PM, the weather is beautiful and the Tarpon fishing is getting real good, I think we may have another worm hatch tomorrow or Thursday.
I love this job, More Reports to follow.
Regards:
Jake
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| Philip Moran Jumping Tarpon |
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Tarpon Fishing Report
May, 28, 29, 30, 31, 2008
Greetings from Tarpon World
May 28, 2008,
Today the wind was blowing from the East at 25 knots with lots of clouds, Rich and Tony decided to take the day off, so I did some maintenance on my skiff along with tying flies and leaders. At 6:30 the wind laid down to 15 knots so I called Don Grant who had asked me to call if I got an opening with a good opportunity to catch Tarpon on fly at night.
Don and I launched the skiff at 7:45 PM and headed out to the edge of a flat where the bait washes off of the flat into a deep channel where the Tarpon spend the night eating. At 8:01 Don hooked his first Tarpon on fly, real cool jumps right through the sunset. Don is a great angler (fishes Tarpon on fly 80 days per year) and he made short work of this 110 pound female, I released that POON 13 minutes after she ate the fly. We fished until 10:30 with a total of 9 Tarpon in the air and 5 of them wound up to the leader for the release. Actually Don Jumped 8 and landed 4 and then he asked me to fight one so he could watch. I hooked a female Tarpon of about 120 pounds, we never started the motor, fought this wonderful fish from a dead boat, and had that big Tarpon next to the skiff for a release in 12 1/2 minutes. That was a fun evening!
May 29, 2008,
Today Tony, Rich, and I launched near Big Pine Key and fished the flats in that area in the morning, Tony had a great cast to a group of 4 Tarpon and a 5th fish came up and ate his fly, Tony did everything right however the hook came out as the fish swam at the skiff. Later in the day we had the same thing happen but could not get the hook to stay in the mouth of those Tarpon, (2 bites).
May 30, 2008,
Today Rich, Tony, and I fished the 7 mile bridge flats, we saw over 500 Tarpon in small to medium size schools. We made lots of good casts however could not stay connected to the 2 bites which we got. These guys had a rough four days of fishing landing only 2 Tarpon on fly for the entire four days. Hopefully fishing will improve soon.
Tonight Don Grant and I fished for 3 hours in 20 knot east winds, Don jumped 5 Tarpon of which he leadered 4 all between 90 and 110 pounds, I needed a good Tarpon fix!
May 31, 2008,
Nathaniel Linville from Key west will fish with me fro the next 2 days, Nat is a very good angler and really understands these fish. We fished from noon to 5:00 PM, saw at least 300 Tarpon had 5 fish come up to eat surface flies, and only one of the 5 bites came tight on the hook set. The fish which inhaled this experimental surface fly ate it up to the class tippet and cut the 60 pound fluro carbon bite leader when it jumped. These fish are still the big migrating Tarpon and it looks to me like fishing is about to get real good. We have been fishing in winds of between 15 and 20 knots for the last 10 days with an occasional 25 knots, it is really hard polling and casting into this wind in a 1 to 2 foot chop. Tomorrow and for the next few days they are calling for 10 knots from the East, (Awesome)! More reports to follow.
Regards:
Jake
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| Night Tarpon Jumper |
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Tarpon Fishing Report
May, 25, 26, 27, 2008
Greetings from Tarpon World
May 25, 2008,
Rich Christians from Saint Petersburg, FL and Tony Reinhardt from Missoula, MT are here in Marathon for 6 days of Tarpon Fly Fishing with me. We began with 15 knot wind from the Northeast, as we fished the morning on the ocean side flats near Big Pine Key, where we saw some deep unhappy Tarpon. At 1 PM we moved up to the 7 mile bridge flats, and began seeing fish late in the afternoon. One of the schools coming from the East swam right at our boat at which time Tony made a good presentation to one of the females in the group. She ate the fly and Tony set the hook, and then the hook came out at the big Tarpon jumped. We had more shots however that was our only bite.
May 26, 2008,
Today Rich, Tony, and I tried to fish in Loggerhead Basin, however the 20 - 25 knot wind and clouds made catching Tarpon very unlikely, so we took the rest of the day off.
May 27, 2008,
Tony, Rich, and I fished most of the day on the 7 mile bridge flats, in cloudy, windy, and rough, conditions. We saw very few fish however some schools swam past but they were hard to get the fly too. We took a break and came back out just before sundown, the wind had died down a little bit and we tucked in close behind an island which made fishing possible. This evening the Tarpon were hungry, Tone hooked the first Tarpon, a 90 pounder which fought valiantly before Tony wound the leader into the tip top and we released this awesome Tarpon. Next Tony jumped a fish which spit the hook on the first jump and then Rich Christians hooked and jumped a 100 pounder. Shortly after Rich's fish got off Tony hooked a 100 pounder which he did a good job on fighting this big fish to the boat in less than 20 minutes. We quit and headed home after jumping 4 Tarpon and landing 2 today. Looks like more wind tomorrow, I hope this wind calms down soon. More Reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
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Florida Keys Fishing Report
May 23, 2008
Greetings from Marathon:
May 23. 2008:
I had a day off today so I went fishing with my friend Captain Johnny Irwin who used to run my charter boat here in Marathon. We headed out to the back country behind Sugarloaf Key at dawn where we found lots if tailing Bonefish and rolling Tarpon. Johnny was the first angler to cast a fly to a school of tailing Bones, he got an eat and landed a red hot 8 pound bone before sun up. I was next and caught my first Keys Bonefish of the day on a crab fly which I tied the night before.
We fished for bones for the next 3 hours with Johnny releasing 4 and I released 3 along with a tailing Cobia which was following a Ray in 2 foot of water near the content keys. I thought it was a nurse Shark however it turned out to be a 25 pound cobia. After we released that cobia we went looking for Tarpon and Permit, we each caught a Tarpon on fly and then looked for Permit for the next 2 hours. I never got to cast to a Permit however Johnny did get a shot but that Permit ran from the fly. What a great day off for this hard working Tarpon guide, I released 3 bonefish, 1 cobia, and a tarpon, all on fly during our six hours of fishing.
I went back out with captain Joel Dickey at 6 PM to check for the palolo worm hatch which we found off of Bahia Honda Key. I poled the skiff while Captain Joel Jumped 7 Tarpon on worm flies, he fought one 90 pounder to the boat for the first release on his new Mako 9550 fly reel.
I will be out there tomorrow night looking for more worms and Tarpon. More reports to follow.
Regards:
Jake
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Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing Report
May 18, 19, 20, 2008
Greeting from Tarpon World:
May 18, 2008,
Today Jon Ziarnik from Cudjoe Key Florida and Bob Crispin from Portland Maine, began their 3 days of fly fishing for Tarpon. Bob had never even seen a live Tarpon however he is an accomplished striper fisherman. The wind was blowing from the South at 15 knots so we headed into the back country to get away from the waves which were breaking on the beach. We found about 30 Tarpon in the morning when Jon hooked a 90 pound male which jumped 5 times and towed the skiff about a half mile before jumping and landing on the tippet and broke off. Jon had one more bite in the morning before we went in to wait for the wind to die.
We headed out later in the evening after the wind had dropped down to calm and the seas were dead calm. At the slack high tide the POONS were rolling all over the place, Bob cast at a rolling fish and hooked up a 70 pounder, he fought that fish exactly as coached, and then 20 minutes later I released Bob Crispin's first Tarpon ever. After a couple of hours we found one more hungry male and fed him a black fly, this fish turned out to be a 75 pounder and was released 24 minutes after Bob Crispin set the hook.
May 19, 2008,
Sunny skies, 85 degree water temperature, and south winds at 12 knots, greeted us as we headed out to the ocean side flats of the lower keys. We waited for almost an hour before the Tarpon began trickling to the East. after about 2 hours of singles and small groups we began to get large west bound schools of up to 100 fish per school. It seems that something is making these fish very spooky and hard to get a bite from. Late in the evening Jon Ziarnik finally hooked a 45 pound male and made quick work of landing and releasing that POON which jumped more than 20 times.
May 20, 2008,
Bob Crispin from Portland Maine, Jon Ziarnik from Cudjoe Key Florida, and I headed out to the flats of the middle Keys this morning where we began seeing Tarpon right away. We had at least 40 casts at Tarpon during the 7 hours which we fished. I changed flies a dozen times however did not ever get a bite. These Tarpon are getting harder to feed as they are feeling a lot of pressure from so many folks casting to them all along their migration routs.
I believe that every time the fly is placed in the water directly in front of the Tarpon's mouth, at a good angle, so that the Tarpon only sees the back of the fly, which appears to the Tarpon to be trying to escape, that the Tarpon will eat the fly or try to avoid it. If it seems the fly is being ignored that means the Tarpon did not see the fly. My advice to anglers who are planning to be Tarpon or Permit fly fishermen, is to learn to quickly, within 6 seconds, be able to cast accurately, to a moving target, at any distance between 20 and 70 feet. Practice casting a lot in the wind and be able to cast in any direction regardless of the wind direction. After a perfect presentation the next most important thing is to know exactly where your fly is in conjunction with the Tarpons mouth. In conclusion, if you make all perfect casts, swim the fly away from the Tarpon at the correct speed, and do everything right, then you will get a bite from one Tarpon for each 6 perfect casts. What I am saying is that the Tarpon have gotten smarter and we must become better to catch these great fish on fly.
Congratulations to Bob Crispin, who caught two Tarpon on fly during his first ever attempt at fly fishing for Tarpon. It was a pleasure spending these 3 days aboard my skiff with my friend Jon Ziarnik and new Tarpon fly angler Bob, I look forward to fishing with you both again in the near future. More reports to follow, I do love this job!
Regards:
Jake
Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing Report
May 17, & 18, 2008
Greeting from Tarpon World:
May 17, 2008,
Today Danny Cline and I fished the flats on the ocean side of Big Pine Key, where we saw about 200 Tarpon moving both east and west. Danny had at least 50 good shots at these migrating Tarpon however we never even had a single bite. I just do not know why these fish are so spooky. Danny will be back down here in a week for another 6 days of fly fishing for Tarpon.
After 8 days of fly fishing for the elusive silver king, Danny Cline' score was as follows: 14 Tarpon Jumped on fly, 2 broke off, 8 pulled the hooks (two of those were within a rod length of a release) and 4 Tarpon were released.
Today Jon Ziarnik from Cudjoe Key Florida and Bob Crispin from Portland Maine, began their 3 days of fly fishing for Tarpon. Bob had never even seen a live Tarpon however he is an accomplished striper fisherman. The wind was blowing from the South at 15 knots so we headed into the back country to get away from the waves which were breaking on the beach. We found about 30 Tarpon in the morning when Jon hooked a 9- pound male which jumped 5 times and towed the skiff about a half mile before jumping and landing on the tippet and broke off. Jon had one more bite in the morning before we went in to wait for the wind to die.
We headed out later in the evening after the wind had dropped down to calm and the seas were dead calm. At the slack high tide the POONS were rolling all over the place, Bob cast at a rolling fish and hooked up a 70 pounder, he fought that fish exactly as coached, and then 20 minutes later I released Bob Crispin's first Tarpon ever. After a couple of hours we found one more hungry male and fed him a black fly, this fish turned out to be a 75 pounder and was released 24 minutes after Bob Crispin set the hook. Today turned out to be a good day of Tarpon fly fishing, We jumped 4 Tarpon and released two of them. Stand by for more Tarpon Reports!
Regards:
Jake
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| Danny Cline Release |
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Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing Report
May 15, & 16, 2008
Greeting from Tarpon World:
May 15, 2008,
We woke up to a south wind of 20 to 25 knots which sent us into the back country looking for laid up Tarpon. I found a few fish however with the high wind and 60 percent cloud cover Danny had a hard time getting the fly to those spooky Silver King. We quit early so I could catch up on some maintenance on my equipment, the weather forecast calls for the wind to go to the Southeast and drop to 10 knots tomorrow.
May 16, 2008,
Danny Cline from West Virginia and I launched on Big Pine Key at 9:00 AM with sunny skies and a southeast wind at 15 knots and dropping. We fished a couple of hours looking for laid up Tarpon in the back country, had a dozen good shots but could not get a bite. We headed out to the ocean side flats to look for migrating fish about noon as the wind died down to 5-10 knots and the waves went away.
During The next 3 hours we saw 50 Tarpon in small groups or singles, and then the flood gates opened just as predicted. during the next hour more than 500 Tarpon swam past us, they were on top and happy fish. Unfortunately or fortunately Danny was only able to cast to the first group from which he hooked a 100 pound Tarpon on a "Green Headed Cockroach" fly, (which I had tied on an old mustad hook 15 years ago), for the next 20 minutes he got 5 jumps and chased that Tarpon for over a mile. As 4 more schools of up to 100 fish swam past Danny fought that POON close to the boat when all of a sudden the Tarpon jumped and the hook came out! The light faded so it was now hard to see the Tarpon coming, I am sure tomorrow will be awesome! More reports to follow.
Regards:
Jake
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Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing Report
May 13, & 14, 2008
Greeting from Tarpon World:
May 13, 2008,
What a difference a day makes, today Danny Cline from West Virginia and I launched at Bahia Honda and headed out to the ocean side flats near Big Pine Key at 8:00 Am. The wind was out of the East at 5 to 10 knots with the air temperature began at 84 degrees and the water temp was 85 degrees with blue skies and sunshine. Until noon we saw about 50 POONS which were fast, deep, and not happy, then we headed up to the 7 mile bridge flats where we found the mother load.
During the next couple of hours we found at least 12 schools of Tarpon with between 50 and 200 fish in each school. By this time the wind died and those fish would not eat a fly until late afternoon. Danny and I took a dinner brake and came back out when the wind began to blow, he hooked 2 Tarpon just before sunset, one jumped and spit the hook, while the other one, a 90 pounder was whipped when the hook came out 10 feet from the boat.
After sunset the went crazy, eating on every cast, Danny hooked and fought a total of 7 Tarpon, on fly, of which we leadered two, a 75 pounder and a fish of just over 100 pounds. Several of the fish which we lost were over 140 pounds. when we quit the wind was up to 15 from the East.
May 14, 2008,
The wind was blowing at 20 to 25 knots with big waves as we headed out to the flats. The ocean side flats were too rough so we fished in the back country. I think that most of the fish were in the deep channels trying to stay out of the rough water. Again today we took a break and came back out right at sunset when the wind was dying down to 15 knots. The Tarpon began to eat just after dark, Danny hooked, fought, and jumped, a total of 5 Tarpon in 4 hours of fishing. One pulled the hook after 8 jumps, one almost jumped into our boat, and broke us off as that monster jumped on the other side of the boat. One of the fish fought good and towed the skiff for over 2 miles into the current before the hook came back with a Tarpon lip scale attached. Danny did manage to wind a 120 pounder and a 90 pounder to the boat for a couple of releases. During the last 2 days Danny hooked and fought 12 Tarpon on fly and he released four nice fish, I hope that the wind does what they are calling for 10 knots from the East for the next 6 days, we should slam the POONS if that is correct. Stay tuned for more reports from Tarpon World to follow shortly!
Regards:
Jake
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| Jon Ziarnik Tarpon |
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Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing Report
May 10, 11, 12, 2008
Greeting from Tarpon World:
May 10, 2008,
Danny Cline from Charleston West Virginia is here in pursuit of Tarpon on fly, after joining me in the Galapagos and catching 4 Striped Marlin from 6 bites in five days, we thought that the Tarpon would be a little easier. Wrong!
Today we had dead calm wind with glassy seas and 90 degree sunshine, with no fish showing up until afternoon. Finally at 1 PM the schools of Tarpon began moving on the ocean side, and Danny hooked and jumped a 100 pounder which came unhooked on the 2nd jump. for the rest of the day all of the Tarpon (more than 400 fish) which swam past had lock jaw. Seems like that Marlin fly fishing is easier.
May 11, 2008:
This morning the wind is blowing at 15-20 from the South west so we decided to head west to fish the lower keys. hazy, cloudy skies with rough seas and poop visibility met us in Loggerhead basin, however we did find some fish there. On the second pair of fish we saw, Danny cast 40 foot into the wind and the fish charged the fly. That 70 pound male ate the fly and continued to swim toward the angler, Danny tried to set the hook however never came tight on the fish. we saw several fish caught in that poor visibility however we never got another bite. It calmed down at 2:00 PM so we headed to the ocean flats where we found a school of happy Tarpon swimming slowly to the West, with their fins and tails out of the water. Just as Danny made a perfect cast to these happy fish a plane flew over (500 foot above us) with the shadow arriving just before the fly landed. The whole school erupted and ran straight out to sea and out of sight. The next several schools were heading west in high gear and would not bite.
May 10, 2008:
Today we had wind of 20-25 knots, never saw a fish until 3 PM when we had a shot at a school which spooked before we had a good cast into them. I know that this sounds like hard fishing, it really is, even on good days these Tarpon are not as easy as they used to be. Every cast has to be perfect, then the Tarpon has to decide to eat that presentation. Last year was the worst Tarpon season ever, this is much better because there are lots of fish here. The weather is swinging to the East tomorrow and will drop to 10 knots with clear skies, according to the weather men. If that is true and it holds for a couple of days we will catch a bunch of fish. Stay tuned for more, and better, reports, Danny has 5 more days and will catch a bunch of Tarpon.
Regards
Jake
Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing Report
May 8, 9, 2008
Greeting from Tarpon World:
May 8, 2008,
Today John Snipes from Dunn and Atlantic Beach, North Carolina and I launched on Cudjoe Key at 8:00 Am and headed out towards "The Basin" into a south wind of 18 knots. We pulled through a prop ditch into a basin on the ocean side which is surrounded by a 24 inch deep flat. I began to pole my skiff down wind with the morning sun behind us and shortly ran into 5 POONS swimming along the edge directly at our boat.
John made a good cast (across the wind) of about 40 foot, which landed 5 foot in front of the lead fish. He waited until that fish was a foot from the fly and then made 2 long strips, that fish followed the fly until it was 10 feet from the rod tip and then ate that fly. John set the hook as the fish jumped then it was gone.
Later another Tarpon ate John's well presented fly but the hook came loose on the hook set. At noon we came in and took a nap until 4:00 PM when we headed to the "Worm Bar" to look for feeding Tarpon. We fished for 4 hours and saw more than 200 Tarpon, however the glare and wind made it very difficult, we did not hook anymore Tarpon.
May 9, 2008,
Today John had to go home early so we launched in the lower Keys and took a look out on the ocean flats. The wind was south at 20 knots with 3 foot waves hitting the beach and muddying the water. We than ran into the back country where we had a dozen shots at laid up Tarpon with one follow but no bites. We then spent the last 2 hours in "The Basin" where we had 7 or eight shots at deep fish in cloudy water, no bites however the wind died and the fish bit later in the afternoon after we came in. John Snipes told me that he enjoyed the learning experience and he is planning to come back next year after lots of practice with a 12 weight fly rod. I had a great time catching John his first Tarpon on fly, and look forward to fishing with him again soon.
Tomorrow I start the next 8 days of fly fishing for Tarpon with my friend and great angler Danny Cline from West Virginia. It looks like that the weather will improve and the POONS will be thick this week. More Reports to Follow, I do love this job!
Regards:
Jake
June 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 2008 are still available, call me now to catch a Tarpon on Fly!
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| John Snipes Tarpon |
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Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing Report
May 5, 6, 7, 2008
Greeting from Tarpon World:
May 5, 2008,
Cas Cader from Morehead City, NC brought his friend Marty to fly fish for Tarpon with me here in the middle Florida Keys for two days. The weather finally calmed down today, with the water back up to 81 degrees, calm wind, and sunshine, the Tarpon started to show in more numbers. We had quite a few shots in the morning in the back country at laid up fish in the morning with no bites, later in the afternoon many Tarpon showed up at the worm bar however they were very spooky with the water glassy calm. We had saw at least 100 Tarpon however never got a bite, It should happen any time now!
May 6, 2008,
Today Cas and Marty joined me in a search for POONS, we located a pack of happy fish at Sunshine Key and followed them for several miles without ever getting a bite. The weather was dead calm with glassy 83 degree water and lots of sunshine. I can't believe how spooky these Tarpon are, Between 5 PM and 7 PM over 300 Tarpon swam around on the worm bar. Cas had at least 40 good casts to Tarpon with several follows however we never got a bite. It is always hard to write these reports when the Tarpon are not cooperating however we had a great time and scheduled the same dates with a couple extra days fro next year. I am sure that it is about to get real good soon.
May 7, 2008,
John Snipes from Atlantic Beach, and Dunn, North Carolina is here for the next 3 days to catch his first Tarpon ever on fly. The weather started out dead calm, with lots of sunshine and 83 degree water temperature. We traveled to and from the ocean to the back country twice before noon and only saw 4 Tarpon. I told John that we needed to be on the front side flats near Big Pine Key as the tide began to rise (2 PM) as the wind was now blowing from the Southeast at 10 knots.
As I jumped up on the poling platform and John got my TFO TiCr 12 weight rod with my Mako #9550 fly reel ready I spotted a school of happy, rolling, Silver King heading our way about 200 yards away and closing slowly. I placed the boat directly in the path of that school and directed John as where to place the fly. John made a good cast, waited for my direction, and then stripped the (Shrimparoo) fly which enticed a red hot 70 pound male Tarpon to charge up and eat the fly. John set the hook like a pro, cleared the line onto the reel. and fought the fish valiantly as that Tarpon jumped 12 times in the first 5 minutes. Twenty minutes later John Snipes wound the leader into the tiptop of the fly rod and scored a release. I took some pictures and then released that Tarpon, John's first ever!
Twenty-five minutes later after seeing more than 400 happy Tarpon swimming by John cast to a school of 100 tailing POONS and had a 125 pounder attack his fly. That big female jumped twice and then broke the 20 pound tippet and swam away. As I began to pole to the next school my pushpole stuck in a crevice and broke the tip off. We called it a day and headed to the dock at 4:30 so we could fix the pole and get ready for the next great day of Tarpon fly fishing. I am really happy that Tarpon season is finally under way, I love my job, wish you were here. More Reports to Follow.
Regards:
Jake
Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing Report
May 2, 3, 4, 2008
Greeting from the Keys:
May 2, 2008,
Lisa and Wilson McElhinney's from Ketchum Idaho are here in the Florida Keys in pursuit of Lisa's dream of catching a big Tarpon on fly. Her three sons are here fishing with another guide while Lisa & Wilson are spending their days with me. Today the cool wind was blowing at over 20 knots from the East and the Tarpon were hiding, we saw less than a dozen fish and never got the fly in front of a Tarpon.
May 3, 2008,
This morning more of the same, strong wind, cool water, clouds, and very few fish. I figures with the water getting stirred up and the water temperature dropping from 82 down to 75 degrees during the last 3 days, that the Tarpon would be hiding in the deep channels and eating at night. Lisa and son John agreed to come in after 4 hours of fishing, where we saw close to 30 Tarpon but could not get one to eat a fly.
Wilson, Lisa, and I came out later in the evening to look for feeding Tarpon in a channel which was protected from the wind. This plan worked better however not as good as I had planned. Lisa hooked and jumped 2 Tarpon, a 75 pound male and a big 110 plus female however after several exciting jumps each fish spit the fly and swam away. We had several more POONS eat our flies however none came tight so we came in and prepared for tomorrow.
May 4, 2008,
Today the wind turned southeast and dropped down to 15 knots, so we went to the ocean side for the first time in 4 days. Five minutes after we arrived on the flat near Big Pine Key, we began seeing groups of traveling Tarpon heading from east to west. After several small packs of fish came through Lisa made a good cast to a large female with 4 males following her, as the Tarpon approached the fly Lisa made a long smooth strip and that big POON made a right hand turn and then attacked her shrimparoo fly. Lisa set the hook and that monster (120 plus pound) Tarpon erupted 10 feet from our boat, that fish jumped 15 feet in the air, jumped again and spit the hook! What an awesome take!
We fished for the rest of the day and did not ever get the fly in front of another Tarpon, however with the warmer weather I think that fishing will improve quickly. Lisa and Wilson are wonderful folks who have a passion fro life, I am sure that she will catch her Tarpon and fulfill her dream, this is really the hardest form of fly fishing and the weather has a lot to do with that. Stay tuned for more fishing reports.
Regards:
Jake
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| Ziarnik Tarpon |
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Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing Report
April 29, 30, and May 1, 2008
Greeting from Marathon:
April 29, 2008,
Today Jon Ziarnik and I fished From 9:00 AM until 3 PM in windy weather with lots of clouds. The water was in the mid to high 70s however The Tarpon were spooky, we had at least 20 good shots at laid up tarpon which would not eat our flies.
April 30, 2008,
Twenty knot east wind, quite a few fish, several follows, no bites. By quitting time the wind was up to 25 knots. This is really hard fishing, lots of fish in the channels by the bridges but the ones which are on the flats are very hard. I wish that this wind would slow down!
May 1, 2008,
Wilson and Lisa McElhinney's from Ketchum Idaho are here to fly fish for Tarpon for the next four days, Today we fished the lower Keys in 25 to 30 knot easterly winds. First thing this morning when we were getting ready to fish 4 Tarpon swam up to the boat and one ate the fly. We were not ready and the fish swam away. We fished for the next seven hours in high cool winds and never got another bite. The forecast is for this wind to blow for 36 more hours and then drop down to just under 20 knots. Welcome to Tarpon Season, the hardest fishing in the world!
I just received an E-mail from one of my good clients who had to move his 4 days of Tarpon fishing from May to late June. I now have 4 prime time Tarpon dates available: May 21, 22, 23, 24, which are in the middle of prime time. Please contact me if you are interested.
More reports to follow, Wish you were here.
Regards:
Jake
Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing Report
April 28, 2008
Greetings from Marathon:
Just got home from a day of fly fishing with my friend and long time client Jon Ziarnik from Cudjoe Key Florida. This morning the wind dropped down to 15 knots from the Southeast with lots of clouds early in the morning, We waited until 9:30 for the sun to come out and the water to begin warming. By 10:00 AM Jon and I were on point with him on the bow with the 12 weight and me on the tower looking for POONS. We were fishing in "The Bite" which ha slight colored warm water with some protection from the strong southeast wind.
During the first 2 hours we saw four individual Tarpon however we never got a good shot. As they were moving and there was quite a bit of glare from the white clouds. About noon time I spotted a group of 6 Tarpon, 2 large females and 4 smaller males, they were chaining about 6 foot deep in 8 foot deep water. The daisy chaining Tarpon were on top of a dark grassy spot which was absorbing the heat from the sun.
I poled to within Jon's casting range and told him to cast the chartreuse Bunny strip fly in front of a male which was facing our boat. Jon made the cast and then when the fly hit the water that small male approached the fly, just then a 120 pound female charged in front of that male Tarpon and took the fly away from the smaller Tarpon.
Jon set the hook and that big fish jumped completely out of the water before heading for Cuba. Now Jon had a knot with a 6 inch loop in his running line which somehow got through all of the guides and the oversized tip top of the TFO 12 weight fly rod. That Silver King jumped 21 times and then fought valiantly for another 15 minutes before Jon wound that knot up near the rod tip. He pointed the rod at me (up on the tower) and I untied the loop and let go of the fly line, then Jon wound that fish up to within 2 feet from the end of the fly rod. Now I had just been told that you are no longer to boat a Tarpon for a picture or lip gaff a Tarpon in Florida unless you have purchased a kill tag and fill out that tag. We have released hundreds of Tarpon together so this fish was also to be released after I got my fly back. I took a few quick pictures (Poor Lighting) and then after removing that Bunny Strip fly we let that beautiful Tarpon swim away. We had 8 more shots today however no other Tarpon ate our fly. I sure love this job! More Reports to follow.
Regards:
Jake
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| Tarpon Jumping |
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Florida Keys Fishing Report
April 27, 2008
Greetings from Marathon:
April 27.2008:
My client decided not to fish today due to the windy weather and cloudy skies in the early morning. I was invited to fish with several old time keys fishermen who were planning to run offshore 42 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico to chum up some big fish over several wrecks. The plan was to anchor up current from the old wreck (Gunbor), put out the chum bag, and then cast flies to what ever came up to the surface.
There were three old time Keys Captains with over 120 years of combined Florida Keys Fishing experience aboard. My goal was to catch some Kingfish out here in the middle of the ocean however we never saw any Kings. My friend Captain Danny caught 4 Barracudas up to 4 foot in length, a 25 pound Permit, and two small Cobia, Captain Donny released 1 Cuda, two Permit, two 5 pound Mangrove Snapper, and one False Albacore about 7 pounds.
I caught a nice 20 pound Permit, a small Cobia, 2 Blackfin Tuna 10 and 15 pounds, along with a 30 pound Cuda and a Mangrove Snapper. The weather was rough with 15 knot east wind and four foot seas, however Captain Danny's 28 foot Parker handled the seas fine. It felt good getting out to the wrecks and chumming up a mixed bag of species which ate the flies aggressively. Tomorrow I start fly fishing with a new client for Tarpon. I love my job, more reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
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Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing Report
April 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 2008
Greetings from Marathon:
Mom and I arrived on April 18th and moved into our rental home here in Marathon. We unpacked, went grocery shopping, and got the skiff ready to fish the next day. After we got all set up I decided to go out for a couple of hours on April 20 with my friend Captain Joel Dickey to check out my boat and also find some Tarpon.
April 20, 2008,
Joel and I hit the water about 10 AM and headed to Loggerhead basin in search of the elusive Tarpon on fly. The water temperature was 78.9 degrees with calm wind, clear skies, lots of sun, and air temperature of 84 degrees. I poled the boat while Joel cast at the POONS, we fished till noon, saw 30 Tarpon and had a dozen good shots. We had several Tarpon swim up to the fish, one eater which came off on the first jump, and never got to fight a fish. This was the first nice weather day with warmer water than the last week. The boat performed well, as did Joel, the Tarpon did not eat very well however it feels great to be on the flats again.
April 21, 22, 23, 2008:
I fished with John Hoff from New Jersey along with Rob Kenkoph from Pennsylvania for the next 3 days. The first day we had calm seas with lots of glare and very spooky fish, John had lots of good shots however never got more than a follow. On the second day we had 15 knot northwest wind with some clouds and lots of Tarpon. Both anglers had Tarpon swim up to their flies and then turn off, many guides and anglers are having the same problem, I think that they are eating on that full moon. Finally on April 23rd Rob cast to a 85 pound Tarpon which turned chased down the fly, scoffed it down, and jumped 10 feet into the air. Rob raised his rod tip, and then forgot to let go of the fly line when the fish took off. The rest of the day we saw 400 Tarpon on the Oceanside in schools up to 70 per school. We had a dozen Tarpon follow the fly and refuse to eat it and we ended the trip without either angler landing a Tarpon. Both of these guys had a great time, they are both fishing with another guide for the next 3 days and I am sure that these fish will turn on.
April 24th, 2008;
Today the wind blew from the East at 20 knots, Ken Roberts from Chicago booked me for a day of Tarpon fly fishing, however the flats were too rough for him. We decided to go out at 7:00 PM to try for some POONS feeding in a channel behind a key where the wind was blocked and I thought the fish might be feeding.
As the sun went down we got our first bite, Which was a 70 pound male which went nuts and ran 200 yards in the first 60 seconds, then jumped and charged the boat. 15 minutes later I grabbed the fish, removed the hook, and released my first Tarpon of the 2008 season. We fished until 10 PM and jumped a total of 6 Tarpon, of which Kenny caught 3 and he let me catch a female of about 120 pounds. Ken had a great time and already booked 3 days for next Tarpon season. It feels great to be back in the world of the finest fish in the world for fly fishers, I am happy that the Tarpon season is finally here. More Reports to follow, I still have a few dates in late June, call for bookings!
Regards:
Jake
Captain Jake Jordan
Jake Jordan's Fishing Adventures
PO Box 309 (US Mail)
223 Lemonwood Drive (Freight)
Havelock NC 28532
252-444-3308 Home/Office
305-872-6060 Cell
www.jakejordan.com
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| Ready for release |
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