Fishing Frenzy

Crabs, pinfish, mullet and shrimp are all good live bait options for Key West tarpon fishing. The fundamental technique is to anchor the boat and drop lines of bait in areas where you know tarps are present. To get the line as deep as possible, weight your bait.

How heavy the weight should be depends a lot on the rate of the tidal current. If it's too heavy, the hook is at risk of pulling out. To overcome this, secure the line and weight with light copper wire. It'll drop off more easily and eliminate hazards when reeling the fish in.

Tarpon are strong and have rough, hard mouths, abrasive scales and sharp gill plates. The sizes of hooks depend on brand and size of the bait. Usually, a 6/0-11/0 circle hook does the job.

Rig the live bait so that it looks as natural as possible. For instance, hook a crab in the corner of the shell. Hook pinfish and mullet through the mouth, vertically or horizontally.

If you're using shrimp, a good tip is to tail or head hook it on a hook-up jig to stop it spinning in the current. In the past and even today, guides only take about 12 mullet for bait on a fishing charter because pinfish and crabs work so well.

Tarps are not easy to catch so give yourself lots of options. At times, they favor little pinfish, and at other times they favor crabs. Mullet are preferable if the current is fast because spinning is minimized.

An experienced key west tarpon fishing guide uses various types and sizes of bait. You can now see that there are many variables to consider when going for tarp. However, one thing to always ensure is that you keep one bait on the bottom with one or two others free-lined at various depths.