In the spring the Tarpon fishing in Naples, Florida starts to pick up. Mid May is when the fishing goes from good to world class. During the months of may I focus my efforts on the Ft. Myers beach and Sanibel areas for Tarpon. The Fishing day usually begins about 45 minutes before dawn. We run out, fill the livewells with fresh thread herring and start looking for schools of Tarpon rolling. The pre-dawn bite is usually fast and furious with a decent amount of shots at some hungry “poons”. As the day progresses we switch to a “power” drifting tecnique using the trolling motor to keep us in the action while casting toward the rolling tarpon. Watching the fish daisy chain 20 feet from the boat is almost as exciting as catching them.
As the year progress’s I switch my efforts back down to Naples and Marco Island. We start the trip the same way as in the spring and, basically fish the same way for tarpon. The only difference between spring and summer is, in the summer we have a chance to sight fish for tarpon in shallow clear water. The conditions have to be just right but the fishing can be exhilarating. There is nothing like stalking a 100+ pound fish in 3 feet of water. As the sight- fishing bite dies its just about time for the mullet run.
The mullet run usually occurs around the full moon in the months of September, October and November. The action is spectacular as schools of mullet are jumping for their lives as hungry tarpon prey on them. This time of year is also great to find huge schools of tarpon feeding on glass minnow schools in the gulf. Again the fishing typically starts in Naples about 45 minutes before sunrise but, the bite can last all day at times and double digit hook-ups are most probable at this time.