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Fly Fishing for Tarpon in Key West

By Scott Richmond

For a fly angler, tarpon are the ultimate thrill ride, and Key West is one of the best places to seek them out. So how did Richmond catch one by accident? And what are the dos and don'ts of setting up a trip to catch the "silver king?"

t was dumb luck, not even the first cast of the day. We were drifting with incoming tide off Key West, Florida. I'd just cast the fly line out in the dark and was stretching it, bringing it in a yard at a time, so I'd be ready when we spotted fish. But when half the line was back in the boat, it suddenly ripped through my hands like I'd lassoed a speeding Ferrari.

My fishing companion yelled, "Set the hook! Set the hook!" The guide yelled, "Let go of the line! Let go of the line!" I yelled "yee-haw" as ninety pounds of silver-bright tarpon leaped from the water with flaring gills, then bore off like it had an urgent appointment in Havana.

Forty exhausting minutes later I had the fish to the boat. The guide, Captain Neil Bohannon, inserted the lip gaff and we took some photos of my first tarpon on a fly. "Neil," I said. "I readily admit that it took no skill on my part to get that fish to grab."

"That's okay," Neil said as he let the big fish swim back to its school. "I'll take dumb luck over skill any day."

It was ironic that this fish came so easily to the fly on my second day of fishing. The rest of the time fish were hard to find and harder to hook. In all, my companion, Berkeley Merchant, and I spent four days fishing. Due to poor weather conditions we only hooked three fish. But what fish! Ninety, 60, and 125 pounds. I look at it this way: that's over 66 pounds of fish a day, roughly equivalent to ten summer steelhead a day on a pound-for-pound basis. I'll take it.

Loosing Your Cool in Hot Weather

The Florida keys--a chain of low-slung islands off the southern tip of Florida--are prime tarpon country. Situated near the end of the chain, Key West is a perfect place to intercept large tarpon cruising between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

Tarpon are migratory and mobile. When the water warms to 80 degrees, they come in from the ocean and congregate on shallow "flats" that are usually 4-6 feet deep.

Sometimes you spot lone tarpon, but usually they travel in groups ranging from a pod with half-a-dozen fish to a school of over 100. It's not unusual for fly anglers to completely loose their cool when confronted with dozens of rolling hundred-pound fish--many exceeding five feet in length--a scant 70 feet from the boat. It's a sight that can reduce the most expert caster into a babbling idiot who can't throw a fly any farther than his grandmother can toss an anvil.

Tarpon tend to travel in known channels and come onto the flats for feeding and spawning. You either see the fish cruising along the edge of the flat near a very shallow sand bar ("tracking" fish) or feeding or rolling.

Tarpon are built for surface feeding (the mouth opens on top, not in front), and they will take in drifting shrimp with a popping noise that is the sweetest music a veteran tarpon angler will ever hear. Tarpon are night feeders, and a good guide will take you on "split" days, with a morning and an evening session.

You can also spot tarpon when they come up for a gulp of air. That's because tarpon have an air bladder that functions like a primitive lung. The ability to take in additional oxygen from the air enables tarpon to survive in warm water with a low oxygen content.

This also makes tarpon difficult to land: just when you think you've got a fish worn down, it comes to the surface like a yuppie going to an oxygen bar. Rejuvenated, it will surge off to Cuba. Again. This also makes them hard to find when the wind blows. On a windy day, wave action puts oxygen into the water so the tarpon don't need to come to the surface for extra air. Plus, the choppy water means you can't spot cruising fish cruising.

Tarpon have a hard mouth, which makes them difficult to hook. Most fish are lost on the first jump because the hook never penetrated. I solidly hooked my first fish because I gripping the fly line to stretch it.

So what do you have? A fish that is hard to find, harder to hook, and even harder to land. It makes you wonder why anyone would do this. But once you hook one, you'll know why anglers keep coming back for the "silver king."

Looking Sharp on the Flats

Knowing where to find tarpon under different combinations of wind and tide, spotting the fish, gauging the speed and direction of the fish, judging the drift of the boat in wind and tide currents, then positioning the boat so the angler can get off the best cast--these are all the job of the guide. Clearly, hiring the right guide is the most important thing an angler can do to ensure success.

Most tarpon fishing is done from a "flats" boat, a low-profile craft of 16 or 17 feet. The fly fisher stands on the foredeck ready to cast, while the guide stands on a platform over the motor scanning the water for signs of tarpon and pushing the boat along with a 16-foot pole. Things can happen very fast, and when a tracking or feeding fish is spotted, you may only have time for one quick cast before it's gone.

Tarpon fishing means spending 98% of your time under on a hot sun looking for fish. And that sun can feel mighty hot. As guide Gavin Grant said one warm day, "The best tarpon fishing is when it's so hot you're gasping for air."

Heat is not the only weather factor. Wind, tide, and barometer can all affect the fishing, and it's not unusual to be "weathered-out" a day or two during a week-long trip. Sometimes you can even spend most of a week in port watching at the wind blow. Tarpon fishing has its rewards, but it has its frustrations, too.

Key West

If weather is going to keep you on the beach, there are worse ports to be stuck than Key West. This is a happenin' place, with a plethora of diversions for the tourist or weather-stranded angler. From para-sailing to art galleries, historic homes to all-night bars, Key West is hardly a sleepy southern village. It crawls with tourists, most of them young, and has a reputation as a party-hearty town.

The harbor is near "Old Town," where most of the tourist action is, so if you stay close to the harbor you don't need a car. Accommodations span the spectrum from $100 a night for a simple suite with kitchenette to $500 or more for a luxury two-bedroom condo. Wherever you stay, reserve your room months in advance; this is a popular spot. Excellent restaurants abound in the Old Town area.

Tips on Setting up a Tarpon Fly Fishing Trip

1. Spring is best. April-June is prime time for big tarpon in Key West, with May and June being the most reliable. Room rates go down May 1 or May 15, depending on the hotel.
2. Find a good guide. The guide is everything. Get recommendations from friends or fly shops, then ask prospective guides a few questions: How long have you been doing this? How many of your clients are fly fishers? What equipment do you provide? Do you do split days? I arranged guides through Neil Bohannon, Key West Guide Associates. Neil's phone is 305/294-4805; e-mail: fishneil@keysdigital.com. I fished with Neil, Gavin Grant, Randy Rigdon, and Greg Rahje, and was pleased with all of them.
3. Book in advance. Good guides are often booked well in advance. If you're planning a May or June trip, line up you guide before December. Even a year in advance may not be enough. Guides fees are $375 to $425 per day; tip the guide about $50 for taking out two anglers.
4. Watch the Billy Pate videos. Tarpon guru Billy Pate has two excellent videos on tarpon fishing. Watch the basic tape at least half a dozen times before your first trip. Then recognize that Billy is only show a few ways to do it; there are many more tactics than the videos show. Most fly shops will have these videos for rent or sale.
5. Practice with a 12 wt. rod. You may not get many shots at a tarpon during a day's fishing, so you need to make the most of each opportunity. This means being able to cast at least 70 feet with a 12 weight rod. A good strategy is to set up casting lessons with a qualified instructor at a local fly shop. Practice with both floating and intermediate lines.
6. Be philosophical. This is fishing. Things like weather and the peculiar behavior of fish are simply beyond your control.

Scott Richmond is Westfly's creator and Executive Director. He is the author of eight books on Oregon fly fishing, including Fishing Oregon's Deschutes River (second edition).

Uploaded 05/05/1999.

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