Juvenile Tarpon

When I got back to town this past Friday, I was told by a local friend of mine that juvenile tarpon were the ticket if I decided to wet a line.

I was beat after an 8 hour drive but I decided to check out the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to see if there were any tarpon in the deeper flats.

It was late, so I didn't have much time to fish so I picked the closest area to target and wet a line.

The air temperature was still in the low 90s and there was a slight breeze that put a nice ripple on the water.

I saw absolutely no sign of any topwater action but since I only had two rods with me and both had topwater baits tied on, I decided to fish with what I had on hand.

I pulled out a 7 1/2 foot Penn Combo with 20 pound Power Pro and about three feet of fluorocarbon leader with a Badonk-A-Donk and smeared it up with some Pro Cure inshore formula to make the bait a little more appetizing.

I started blind casting and walking the dog over and around the grass flats and after several casts finally got a short strike.  After several more casts another larger fish hit the bait and again missed getting hooked up.

I started noticing small busts on the surface on the opposite side of the area I was fishing and started making long casts into that area.

Finally I got a hookup with a large ladyfish that I landed and quickly released.

A few casts later I picked up a dinky juvenile tarpon that didn't put up much of a fight.  I took a quick pick and released the fish to grow up.

I moved to another area and kept on catching small tarpon, all of which were under 15 " in length.

Finally I had a tarpon about 3 feet long hit the bait but after the second jump it sent the lure flying back to me.   You're supposed to bow to the fish and I guess I just didn't.

Anyway, after several more casts it was apparent that the fish were put down so I packed up the rod and headed home to get something for dinner.

I love catching tarpon in the summertime.  The bigger the better, but juveniles are just as fun.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.