Last Updated on August 9, 2012 by Capt. Jason
Well, tarpon season has pretty much wound down and it was a great one. This year my 7 year old son caught his first tarpon, we set a single day record by hooking 22 tarpon in one day, and the youngest person to ever land a tarpon on a charter with me got one shortly after turning 9 years old. The only downside to the season is that we set a record for weather related cancellations with 14 rain-outs. The previous record was just 5 rain-outs. Over all though, tarpon season was a resounding success.
Now we’re switching our focus. We’re heading back to the shallows where snook, redfish and trout roam. My first couple of inshore charters went okay but it took a few days to get dialed into the inshore scene in Port Richey and Tarpon springs but now things are rolling along good.
Last week we got into some mid slot redfish, keeper trout and nice sized snook. The key is to get out there early and beat the heat. Hit the rights spots on the right tides and have a live well full of live bait to present to our query.
There’s also a ton of Spanish mackerel, sharks and silver trout to get into in Tampa Bay. If you’re looking for fast paced action, this is your best bet. For the hardcore Tarpon angler, there are still shots at tarpon in St. Petersburg. We got a 160lber this past week on the only tarpon trip I ran. We saw several fish and might have hooked more but my client had had enough after fighting a beast for an hour.
