NO TWO YEARS ARE EVER THE SAME!
Last year’s Keys Tarpon season was slow to kick off. Due to the huge weather systems in the North of America, driving cold North winds across the country, the water temperature was slow to rise, but when the season did get going, the fishing was on fire until late summer. This year however, the weather in Florida over the winter was hotter than average, therefore the water temperature was warmer and in February the annual migration of Tarpon through the Florida Keys started to arrive early, increasing through March and April, and by the time I arrived at the beginning of May, the action was already starting to show signs of slowing up. But despite this, my hook-up ratio, and the number of Tarpon we actually got to the side of the boat (for a photograph) were up on May 2010! Not including leader touches, in May 2010, I fished a total of 30 days and my hook-up ratio was 4/10 and my landing ratio was approximately 2/10 of those hooked. This year, May 2011, in just 25 days, that increased to a hook-up ratio of nearly 7/10 and a landing ratio of 5/10. Over the course of this trip we landed a total of 41 Tarpon – 39 over 100lb with an average 120-130lb, with the odd 140-160lb fish thrown in for good measure. Our biggest Tarpon of this year’s season we estimated at approx 180lb before she was released!

Picture courtesy of Dave Barham

You can check out a short video of a good friend of mine, Jim Foster, landing his first 100lb Tarpon here http://www.boat-fishing-monthly.co.uk/video/picture.asp?id=8223 video by Dave Barham (Boat Fishing Monthly magazine)  

I GOT WORMS!
Every spring, sometime over a month period between the end of May and the beginning of June, during the full or new moon, a very special event occurs somewhere in the middle Keys, called the Worm Hatch.

The Palolo worm is a little red sea worm, not much bigger than two inches (a bit like our harbour rag) which lives in the coral flats in the Bay of Florida and every spring, when conditions are perfect, they rise to the surface in their millions and swim out to the Atlantic, with the outgoing tide as part of their own breeding cycle. When these little reddish worms start hatching, Tarpon, by the thousands, appear from nowhere and engage in a mass feeding frenzy – one of those natural fishing phenomenon! In fact, the Palolo worm hatch is probably one of the most exciting things any angler can ever experience! The worm hatch starts late in the afternoon during the outgoing tide and continues to sunset. What interest a 100lb plus fish finds in such a minuscule worm I cannot tell you – some say they are like an aphrodisiac to the Tarpon, which is again in the middle of it’s own nuptials, but it’s truly awesome to watch thousands upon thousands of Tarpon, all around the boat, eating, rolling, jumping and busting on worms off the surface without a care in the world. Because nobody really knows when or where the worm hatch will happen, many die-hard Tarpon anglers have spent years trying to be in the right place at the right time, yet have never seen it.

Well this year the icing on the cake for my 2011 trip to the Keys for Tarpon season, was actually witnessing the worm hatch. And all I can say is that I stood in awe. A once in a lifetime experience that I shall never forget!!

LOOPS & CIRCLES
Most of you will know that I fish several disciplines of angling, fresh and salt, and one thing that I love is learning things from one area that are transferable to other areas of my angling. Well this one has to be one of my most important finds of this year. I was chatting to a guide and friend of mine from Miami, about circle hooks and using them for Tarpon when fishing live mullet (Tarpon being a fish that is hard to hook at the best of times), when he mentioned that he never uses a circle with a standard terminal tackle knot now, like a blood or grinner, and that he only uses loop knots when he fishes with circle hooks. Suddenly that all made sense!

Using a loop knot, when using a circle hook, adds an extra pivot point, which allows the hook to be more cleanly and swiftly pulled around into the scissors of the jaw as the fish tries to move away with the bait. I experimented this year and I have to say he was bang on. I have often missed quite a few Tarpon when I’ve experimented with Circles before, but not anymore. Although I’m talking about Tarpon, this will work here in the UK too. My winning combo was a Gamakatsu Inline Octopus Circle, with a Perfection Loop – a combination that I shall be using later in the autumn for my bass fishing with live mackerel. Try it. I bet you you’ll see increase in hook-ups!

A FOXY LITTLE NUMBER
At the beginning of this blog I mentioned that my hook-up and landing ratios for Tarpon had increased this year. Why? Well I can only put this down to one thing – using the new “Fox Sport Fishing” Tarpon Trek Spin 30-50lb class rod.

After the 2010 Tarpon season, I received an email from a good friend and fellow angler, Henry Gilbey, asking if I had seen the new travel rods by Fox Sport Fishing. Initially I thought he was talking about the Fox Sea range, but following the conversation I immediately Googled Fox Sport Fishing and was blown away by what I saw – a complete range of overseas travel gear, designed for all manner of tropical species, including Tarpon, all by none other than Fox International! Needless to say within weeks my boat was kitted out with Fox Sport Fishing Bonefish Trek rods, Permit Trek Rods, Diablo reels and of course, Fox Tarpon Trek rods! Watch out for a review on the new Fox Sport Fishing rods, coming soon! In the meantime you can check out the new Fox Sport Fishing range at www.foxsportfishing.com

TARPON SEASON 2012
Well to round up this Tarpon centred blog, my diary is now open for the 2012 Tarpon season. If you fancy a go at catching a 100lb plus Silver King (and a host of other species) in the Florida Keys next spring, check out my website www.fishinginflorida.co.uk or drop me a line info@fishinginflorida.co.uk       

Right, time for me to sign off and go Bassing. Watch this space for some top lure action, and lure reviews, over the next few months!!