Fly Fishing For Key West Tarpon

Juvenile Tarpon Fly Fishing

The Lower Keys and Key West is comprised of the kind of habitat that tarpon need. Shallow tidal estuaries provide food and cover for small tarpon to thrive until they reach a big enough size to spread out and expand their range. Tarpon from 5-30 lbs can be targeted along backcountry ponds, creeks, cuts, and mangrove shorelines using a variety of flies. Groups of juvenile tarpon are usually found cruising and rolling near the edges of the mangroves and in the current of the cuts that connect islands. Long casts aren’t usually necessary to get a fly in front of these fish as quick accurate casts less than 40 feet are more frequently encountered. A soft presentation with a fully extended leader and quick strips of the fly usually entice the bite. Tarpon have hard mouths, and small tarpon are hard to keep on the hook. Don’t be disappointed if a few come unhooked. A firm strip set will hopefully bury the hook good enough to get a few jumps out of the fish and send it back on its way, no worse for wear.

Mature Tarpon Fly Fishing

When the north wind lays down and water temperatures are consistently in the mid-70’s+ mature tarpon start to appear seemingly out of nowhere. They usually make their first appearance in the backcountry basins and on the edges and bowls of Gulf side flats. These fish have come in from deeper water to rest, feed, and warm up. Big tarpon can be targeted in 2+ feet of water rolling in the current and laying up in the sun.

Fly fishing a laid up tarpon is the stuff dreams are made of. These fish lay virtually motionless, high in the water column soaking up the suns rays, and can be eager opportunistic feeders. Pinpoint accurate casts from 30-80 feet that land a foot in front of and a foot past a laid up tarpon’s face and are slowly slid by their mouths entice the most bites.

Fly fishing rolling tarpon is a bit like playing that old arcade game “Whack-A-Mole”. Tarpon will roll and take in air in what seems like random places to the untrained eye. It is up to the angler to quickly read the fish and get the fly in front of it and move it as naturally as possible. Tarpon might slow roll and stay near the surface, or roll quickly and dive deeper. They may roll over there, and when you get there they roll again right where you were. It is a fun game of patience where reaction time is key and a quick accurate delivery of the fly from 20-100 feet get the most bites.

As the spring season progresses and the water warms into the 80’s, tarpon make an annual migration up the Keys along the oceanside flats that connect the Lower Keys. These fish stage in the channels and basins along their route where they unite with other fish to continue their spawning journey northward. Migratory tarpon are usually targeted while swimming in groups in 2-5 feet of water, and are considered some of the most technical fish to fly fish for. The objective when fly fishing for swimming tarpon is to have the fish intersect the fly and entice a reaction bite where it is too convenient for them to grab the fly that they can’t resist. Be prepared to be patient and deal with waves and wind as fishing ocean side migrating tarpon isn’t an easy game, but seeing hundreds of tarpon per day is not uncommon. Long casts are usually thrown well ahead of a swimming fish and the position of the fly is adjusted by predicting the fish’s path and sliding the fly into the right spot. Small flies, the ability to read the fish, and slow steady strips that keep the fly in front of the fish’s mouth usually get the most bites.