Recap of Fishing the First Hill Tides in Tampa Bay

I was so excited for the annual tarpon migration to Tampa Bay this year, especially after going over in my head all the fish that were lost last season. After being on a boat that landed a targeted tarpon on April 27th, the true excitement began; planning days off of work to make the right tide, checking weather and getting my gear ready. It was time.

Anyone who has fished for tarpon seems to be addicted, and for good reason. Landing a one hundred and fifty pound fish is quite an accomplishment, plus, these fish are only in our local waters for a few months. Preparation and planning is a main part of this kind of fishing, as I have discussed before. You will only get so many shots at the mighty king each year. Part of catching tarpon is luck, keeping the hook in a huge tarpons mouth is difficult to say the least, but I feel skill is the main factor. Being in the right place at the right time with the proper bait and equipment is extremely important.

During the first hill tides of May, I expected the tarpon to be in their normal haunts, and was not surprised to see them rolling around, feeding on threadfins and crabs. I was in the right place, at the right time with the normal baits. My luck though, is a different story. I have still not landed a fish this year, but had my share of battles with the king. Break offs and thrown hooks are my story, but the boats I was on were bringing in tarpon, which is always exciting to say the least.

Not landing a fish after a 30 minute battle, and being broken off 20 yards from the boat is so frustrating, almost indescribable, especially after making it through three jumps and wearing the fish down. Yeah, that’s what happened to me. The fish was worn down, I tried to horse the big girl in and got broke off on some kind of structure; on the braid, not the knot. Forgetting to “bow to the king” is also just one of those things I forget to do at times and it has its own consequences which I felt. No broken knots, no bent hooks-maybe it wasn’t luck but a lack of skill, who knows? This first round of tarpon fishing definitely had me analyzing what I was doing wrong. What was I doing that others weren’t? I had the proper rod and reel combo, good strong braid, the right leader and hooks, what was it?

After going over and over my battles with the mighty tarpon I came to a few conclusions. The leader I was using was way too short. It seemed after numerous break offs due to mackerel and kingfish, I started getting cheap and lazy. Instead of changing out my leader when it got down to about four feet, I opted to stick with it, instead of cutting a longer, fresh piece and saving the other for grouper fishing. Well, that was when the tarpon hit the bait and that’s when the break off occurred. Panicking after a hook set had also led my next lost fish, not being ready for the great leap of the silver king. I always get so excited and weary of losing the fish; paying attention to the fight was not done. Bow to the king!

Even though I did not get a fish to the boat on the first round of the hill tides, learning new techniques and tactics helped me out enormously. This seems like a cliché, but not boating a fish actually did me good, and I learned. Tarpon fishing is definitely a game where one has learn not to be cheap on gear, tackle, or patience. Patience seems to be a big part of the competition, as well as teamwork. Being on these boats of average fisherman like me, and boating multiple tarpon is an accomplishment, at least for myself, tarpon or no tarpon. It takes teamwork to clear the deck of the boat in time, throw the anchor marker overboard, as well as drive the lucky angler all over the bay to land the fish. Usually, the previous fisherman on the boat will pass off the rod to the next angler to fight the next fish, either out of courtesy, or the prior fight just flat wore out the last contestant.

For my next round of fishing on this full moon weekend, all that I learned on the new moon should help. Sure, if my bait gets bit, a little chaos will ensue, but the scenario will be handled differently. After the initial run and jump of the fish, if the king is still hooked, I will pay close attention to the fight. I can talk all day long about how this should be done, but doing it in the heat of the moment is another story. Close attention will be paid to my leader and knots, and I will not try to horse a fish in just because I think the tarpon is worn out. These fish have power! To summarize all of this, I need to get my crap together and get a fish to the boat.

It started on Thursday, the 13th of May. This was the first trip where many of my friends were only targeting tarpon. I was out with a buddy Chad, in a twenty foot Robalo. His cousins, Dane and Joe were in a seventeen foot Aquasport. We hit up the markers for some threadfins and went to work at the Skyway. After some patience and a few beers, Chad hooks up with this nice tarpon, and we were lucky enough to get her boatside for some quick pictures.

The fight was won by Chad pretty quickly, taking only about twenty minutes, which surprised me as this was a pretty big fish. After some photos, we set back up, and looked a few stalls down; Joe had hooked up with a nice poon. After watching the battle for about a half hour while soaking baits, we could barely see Dane's boat, and couldn't get in touch with him by phone. Just in case, we threw the anchor ball and set off to these guys. Who knows, they could have had motor problems or needed help; better safe than sorry.

After a quick run through the bay we caught up with the Aquasport and they were fine, just a little tired after battling with this beast.

So after a long but great day of fishing, Dane's boat went two for three and ours one for two. Not a bad ratio. Mine broke off, but I was ready for a new day of fishing tomorrow.

On Friday May 14th, I set out with a friend of mine Rich, as well as his father, on his twenty four foot Sea Boss. We were both hoping to duplicate the fishing from yesterday, and we didn't do too bad. After netting up our bait, we headed to our spot at the bridge. The tide was pretty slack so I decided to cut up a bunch of threadfins and chum the water for whatever would bite. After a good twenty minutes of chumming and using the cut threads for bait, the sharks arrived. None of us were actually set up for shark fishing but we made due. I pulled in this decent sized hammerhead to start things off.

After that, the sharks still wanted to play but with the leader line we were using break off's were the only thing happening. At least me, Rich and his dad had some fun before the tide started rolling out. After the tide started moving, the three of us set up in a good spot near the bumpers for some tarpon. I had a fiesty threadfin on and got bit by a huge tarpon.

I made it through the initial jump, many runs and after thirty five minutes I thought this fish was done. As you can see above, even bowing to the king was done. Being only twenty yards from the boat, the fight was getting long, so the drag was tightened down and wouldn't you know it, snap! The silver king won after a short run, breaking my braid on some sort of structure down below. With my picture pose already planned out, I was devastated.Well, that's tarpon fishing and it keeps me coming back for more.

After a little rest and getting set back up at our spot, Rich threw another bait out and wouldn't you know it, fish on.

After clearing the deck and firing up the motor, the game began. The anchor ball was thrown and we chased the fish. This was no monster, but a very respectable tarpon. Rich did a great job of fighting the fish, (with my expert driving of course), and the fish was boatside for a few shots for Rich and his father. Success!

Yeah, I know, the pictures aren't the best, but there was a good bit of chaos on the boat that day, and numerous cameramen. Either way it was a good day. The bite shut down, and we went back to the ramp pretty stoked.

The day after, May 15th, I decided to bring my daughter out for some shark fishing. She loves sharks and I figured it would be no big deal to target them. Today we went out with Rich again, but to a different location closer to the south shore that I knew some sharks would be hanging around in; at least I thought. Threadfins were netted up quickly and off we went. The tide was moving so the chum was cut and lines were in the water.

Well, the day didn't go quite as planned. Rich and I boated some short grouper and one small bonnethead shark. Not a banner day by any means. We tried our best for a big toothy shark, but after a few hours someone lost their patience. Maybe next time she would like to try tarpon fishing at the Skyway...

 Let's try it again on the full moon, now is the time!

Brad