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Tarpon Fishing and Catching The Elusive Silver King
- Megalops Atlanticus
By Greg Smith
Learn more about this magnificent ocean creature
at
http://www.tarpon-fishing-i.com/. Growing to lengths
of more than
eight feet and weighing more than 280 pounds, it
is easy to see
why the tarpon is one of the most sought after saltwater
gamefish
in the world. It's habitat is close to the shoreline
so fishermen
of all types and skill levels can catch them.
If you have ever had the privilege of hooking up
on a big tarpon
then you know the exhilaration and thrill of testing
yourself in
battle against one of the most sought after gamefish
in the
world. This distinction is easy to see at first
glance as the
tarpon starts a series of spectacular acrobatic
leaps in the air
that will have your heart pounding, your rod bending
and your
drag screaming. You better hold on!
Since the tarpon's habitat is so close to the shoreline,
fishermen of all types and skill levels can catch
them. They can
be caught from jetties, passes, docks, bridges,
beaches, piers
and rivers. Tarpon can be caught while using many
types of
tackle, rods, baits, lures and rigs either while
fishing from a
boat, canoe, kayak or walking and wading from the
shoreline as
the tarpon work up and down the beaches.
Live bait fishermen's bait of choice is the 'dollar
crab'. A
small live blue crab about two inches across its
carapace, hooked
through one end of it's shell or underneath through
a swimmer
leg. Other extremely effective live baits include
pinfish,
threadfin herrings and pilchards. On days when the
tarpon is
being finicky in it's tablefare selection, try these
for the best
results, and oh, by the way, don't forget about
a live mullet. If
you can get them, use them. Flyfishermen are not
left out either.
The stealth of casting the right fly can sometimes
be the trick
to hooking up.
But Just What is a Tarpon?
Scientific classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Elopiformes
Family: Megalopidae
Genus: Megalops
This exceptionally fine creature is a prehistoric
animal and the
only fish with an air bladder. This allows it to
absorb oxygen
and live in waters with very low oxygen content.
You can see them
gulp air at the water surface. Tarpon are also called
poons,
tarpum, sabalo real, cuffum, silverfish or silver
king and belong
to the bony fish family Elopidae. The Latin designation
is
Megalops atlanticus.
While only microscopic at birth, tarpon have been
documented at
lengths of more than eight feet and weighing 280
pounds. Catches
weighing more than 200 pounds, while uncommon, do
occur. Many
fish caught are well over 100 pounds. Their growth
rate is slow,
taking 8 to 10 years to reach maturity, and generally
those over
100 pounds are female. Tarpon can live 55 to 60
years. They are
greenish or bluish on top, and silver on the sides.
The large
mouth is turned upwards and the lower jaw contains
an elongated
bony plate. The last ray of the dorsal fin is much
longer than
the others, reaching nearly to the tail.
They are found primarily in shallow coastal waters
and estuaries,
but they are also found in open marine waters, around
coral
reefs, and in some freshwater lakes and rivers.
Their normal
migratory pattern ranges from Virginia to central
Brazil in the
western Atlantic, along the coast of Africa in the
eastern
Atlantic, and all through the Gulf of Mexico and
Caribbean Sea.
Florida is widely regarded as having many of the
best tarpon
fishing locations in the world, especially the world-renowned
Boca Grande Pass in Southwest Florida.
Fishing for the tarpon can at times be an excercise
of patience
and discipline. You may be surrounded by large schools
of rolling
tarpon containing hundreds of fish and they will
not hit anything
you throw at them. Other times, it is a feeding
frenzy. So, go
fishing for tarpon every chance you get, that next
world record
catch may be waiting just for you.
About the Author:
Greg Smith is a life-long fisherman and publisher
of fishing information websites.
For more information, tips, techniques and charter
resources for the most popular tarpon fishing locations
in Florida and beyond visit http://www.tarpon-fishing-i.com/.
This article may be freely reprinted as long as
the author's resource box and url links remain intact.
Also read:
• Tarpon
On A Fly
• Tarpon Flies
• tarpon fly patterns
• Texas Tarpon Fishing
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