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A group of us just got back late last night from 3 days of fishing down in Marathon. I had never done any tarpon fishing so all of it was new to me. Luckily, one of the guys going had a clue on what and where to go so we did have some knowledge.
We targeted juvi poons in the morning and late afternoon before sunset. We mostly fished mangrove lines and some of the cuts and creeks watching for rolling fish. The only fly we threw at those fish were gurglers in all sorts of colors. We ended up catching small tarpon and plenty of mangrove snapper and small cuda so get ready to lose some flies when they hook up. We ended up keeping one rod rigged with some wire bite on so we wouldn't lose flies to them. For the tarpon, all I can say is set the damn hook and set it hard. I lost several fish due to this mistake.... lesson learned. I'm used to redfish and they def aren't the same by any means.
For the big fish, we cruised around and ended up targeting several of the cuts in the area. You can see the changes in the sand flats and grass lines when you're out and the suns up. Anchor in the darker areas but close enough to where you can see fish cruise over the sandy bottom and set yourself up depending on how they're coming through. It was an experience having the opportunity to throw flies at those fish, really gets the blood pumping! We saw HUNDREDS of big fish, only jumped 3 and the rest of them snubbed their nose at what we threw, but hey, we tried and had an absolute blast. Tan/Chartreuse seems to have the most interest to us, but we also threw black/purple, chartreuse, all tan, worms... the works really. It was pretty windy 2 of the days we had down there, but we made the best of what we could and had plenty of fun.
Do keep your distance if you see anyone anchored up or working an area. We made sure to swing WAY wide if we saw anyone fishing and kept a professional distance from them. There's plenty of water out there for everyone so just let them be.
Do take some time at night to check fish busting bait under the bridges. We went out one night and just watched hundreds of monster tarpon crushing mullet and it absolutely blew out mind!
Good luck on your trip down there!
We targeted juvi poons in the morning and late afternoon before sunset. We mostly fished mangrove lines and some of the cuts and creeks watching for rolling fish. The only fly we threw at those fish were gurglers in all sorts of colors. We ended up catching small tarpon and plenty of mangrove snapper and small cuda so get ready to lose some flies when they hook up. We ended up keeping one rod rigged with some wire bite on so we wouldn't lose flies to them. For the tarpon, all I can say is set the damn hook and set it hard. I lost several fish due to this mistake.... lesson learned. I'm used to redfish and they def aren't the same by any means.
For the big fish, we cruised around and ended up targeting several of the cuts in the area. You can see the changes in the sand flats and grass lines when you're out and the suns up. Anchor in the darker areas but close enough to where you can see fish cruise over the sandy bottom and set yourself up depending on how they're coming through. It was an experience having the opportunity to throw flies at those fish, really gets the blood pumping! We saw HUNDREDS of big fish, only jumped 3 and the rest of them snubbed their nose at what we threw, but hey, we tried and had an absolute blast. Tan/Chartreuse seems to have the most interest to us, but we also threw black/purple, chartreuse, all tan, worms... the works really. It was pretty windy 2 of the days we had down there, but we made the best of what we could and had plenty of fun.
Do keep your distance if you see anyone anchored up or working an area. We made sure to swing WAY wide if we saw anyone fishing and kept a professional distance from them. There's plenty of water out there for everyone so just let them be.
Do take some time at night to check fish busting bait under the bridges. We went out one night and just watched hundreds of monster tarpon crushing mullet and it absolutely blew out mind!
Good luck on your trip down there!
