May 16 Right now its still too early to tell what the New Orleans tarpon season will bring. Its up to the weather patterns (North wind & drier summer). Typically the season hits its prime in September/October so we have a long way to go. If we have a really good mullet run in the lake this year and a strong mehaden presence (not killed by a large algae bloom) then we will have a fantastic season.Towards the end of last year a Kiwi friend of mine taught us how to kite fish for tarpon in the lake using large live mullet while we chummed up a huge slick with the pogies. It was enormously successful when we had some wind blowing. I had never seen this technique used on tarpon in La but it is deadly. Plus the explosion that a tarpon puts on a live mullet on top of the water is enough to give you a heart attack.If the lake is problematic this year though–Unknown Pass &Lake Borgne will be the spot. Kite fishing the lake though will be huge this year IMHO.
Aug 1 In response to brother in law Tarpon historically show up in the Lake around mid June. The last two years the Tarpon have been virtually non-existent in the Lake. The adult Menhaden & Mullet population in the Lake is 1/8 of what it was five years ago and the and the Tarpon have responded accordingly by avoiding the Lake.
JULY18 Tarpon are in the lake. The big schools of tarpon started arriving late last week. Two weeks ago we were catching them in the MRGO or at Horn Island. The big schools have moved into the lake and will continue to move into the Lake. Three Trees, Unknown Pass, Chef Pass, Rigolets Pass, Seabrook, Lincoln Beach are all great spots to land big tarpon right now.
Aug 1 In response to brother in law Tarpon historically show up in the Lake around mid June. The last two years the Tarpon have been virtually non-existent in the Lake. The adult Menhaden & Mullet population in the Lake is 1/8 of what it was five years ago and the and the Tarpon have responded accordingly by avoiding the Lake.
JULY18 Tarpon are in the lake. The big schools of tarpon started arriving late last week. Two weeks ago we were catching them in the MRGO or at Horn Island. The big schools have moved into the lake and will continue to move into the Lake. Three Trees, Unknown Pass, Chef Pass, Rigolets Pass, Seabrook, Lincoln Beach are all great spots to land big tarpon right now.
July 27 Hot spot of the week is Unknown Pass and Chef @ Lake Borgne right now for the Tarpon. Same techniques that you would use in the Tarpon hole are used in these spots. Tip though stay out of the strong current.
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Aug 31 Tarpon fishing update since its been awhile. The Tarpon fishing is on fire in the lake right now and should be reaching its peak over the next few weeks. Chef Pass, Unknown, Rigolets, Prytania Plunge, Three Trees, Lincoln Beach, and even between the Highway 11 bridge & I-10 are prime spots. Live bait and coon pops. Its aint fast fishin until you hook one and then its out all out craziness. A number of tarpon have been caught the last few weeks at the Rigolets & Three Trees. Channel 14 on the radio and just ask for Tarpon Tom this weekend if you go out. If I’m on em I’ll certainly tell you where to go since so many have been kind enough to point me in the right direction over the years.
Aug 22 Yes you are correct what you saw are huge pogie schools that are surrounded by huge gaftop catfish, big ladyfish, spanish mackerel, redfish in some of the school on top (look for the reds on the top of the water column), Jack cravelle, a few specks, and some of them include Tarpon (smaller Tarpon). We caught three Tarpon on Saturday fishing the bait balls using live pogies. One other boat out there who did pretty good too. The Tarpon we caught were smaller 40 to 60 pound class.The bait balls are really on fire right now from Lincoln Beach to Three Trees from 1/2 mile from the shoreline to 3 miles from the shore. Use anything you got because these fish weren’t scared. Follow the birds because they are on top as soon as the bait balls appear. We must have watched one bait ball (250 yards long/wide) underneath the boat for 15 minutes while one of us fought a small tarpon and two jacks on at the same time.
July 24, 2009Started fishing Unknown Pass yesterday without a strike then my cell phone went off from one of the best Tarpon fisherman in the lake. I immediately lifted the anchor and headed to the “Prytania Plunge” as the older timers call it. Soon as I got out there around 6:00 the Tarpon, Jacks, & Sharks are busting fast & lose on a huge chum line that my good friend laid out for me. My sonar immediately lit up like a 4th of July fireworks display as I hit the 75 foot hole.I was laughing as my buddy threw four rods out and immediately began fighting four thirty pound plus Jacks at the same time and he was in full crisis mode. The good news was that as he was entangled in a major league screw up (1 guy manning 4 rods at the same time with no help). I hooked into a beautiful 160 pound class Tarpon and got at least 10 jumps out of him before one of the jacks on the other boat decided to do a 120 yard sprint thus tangling up my tarpon and his 4th jack.How did it turn out? The tarpon spooled the rod with the jack on it and frayed my line in the process breaking it after 30 minutes of pure delight. He did catch two of the four jacks that he hooked. His arms have to be feeling it today after that craziness.The Tarpon fisherman should be out in full force and effect today and tomorrow in the Lake as the local tarpon fisherman try to take away the grand prize from Grand Isle by landing the biggest Tarpon instead of West Delta 58. Water looks beautiful right now and the bait is just starting to come into the lake, about a month late. Key in on the Three Trees, Prytania Plunge, Lincoln Beach holes, Chef Pass, Unknown Pass, and Rigolets area this weekend.
JULY 12 Tarpon fishing update for the Lake since forgot to post that in the last post. The tarpon have officially moved into the lake and the season is off to a really good early season start. Excellent results coming from the Unknown Pass, Rigolets, and Chef Pass at Lake Borgne area right now fishing with live white trout and big croaker. Horn Island although quite a run for most people is completely on fire right now. We caught two (80 and a 115# on Wednesday).We are waiting on the big schools of pogie to really start congregating in the lake right now. They are moving in and are clustered in areas but not thick enough to get good sized bait. Another week or two and we should really have them thick in the usual areas. The tarpon are at the Three Trees area as well right now but its still early in the season so its best to hit the Lake Borgne area first. Keep an eye on the Southern Yacht Club and when you see the thick pogies jamming the waterways then you know its time to break out the big sticks and hook into the tarpon at 3 Trees. Cant wait til August when this show will be in full on glory mode.
Here is a list of the areas where you can catch Tarpon in Lake P:
1. Seabrook hole (appx 150 yards Northeast of airport pier)
2. Lincoln Beach hole
3. Four Leaf Clover hole aka The Tarpon Hole (not too far from Southshore point. N. of Cane Bayou structure)
4. Rigolets Pass (on drop offs in both Lake P & Lake Bornge &MRGO canal as well as the Hospital Wall)
5. St. Catherine Pass (by railroad bridge)
6. Miller Bayou (by railroad bridge)
7. Unknown Pass (intercoastal entrance, Lake Bornge entrance, and 1st curve dropoff)
8. Chef Pass (Lake Bornge entrance dropoffs and Lake P entrance dropoffs)
9. Chef Pass (northeast point at Lake P entrance between point and submerged island--fish deep hole & dropoff)
10. Bayou Thomas in Lake Borgne.
Free line live mullet, pogies, white trout, or bull croakers using circle hooks. Can also use dead bait too but big catfish, sharks, gar, and jacks tend to exercise your patience.
june 14Rough GPS coordinates for THREE TREES is 30 06’51.48 N 89 55.82 W Its a fairly large area so I would advise using your depth finder to find the drop offs and anchor there.PS THE TARPON HAVE COME HOME TO ROOST!The lack of rainfall has really increased the salinity along with the mullet/pogies/other baitfish. Water has been absolutely beautiful and the tarpon have been frequently visiting Tarpon Tom with regularity lately.
Catching Tarpon close to home has always been an option. One of the requirements for entering the New Orleans Tarpon Association was to have caught a Tarpon within the city limits. This was mostly done by people fishing by the Lake Front Airport using different methods ranging from using cut mullet on the bottom, free line and cork fishing live mullet or pogies to trolling #4 Drone spoons. These methods are also used between Quatre Bayou Pass and Bayou Chaland Pass in the middle to late summer through the 14′ to 20′ gulley from the beach. The free line live bait cast into schools rolling is usually more effective than the troll, but sometimes nothing will make them bite. ARRIVE ALIVE!!!
Tarpon can be caught in unknown pass between the intercoastal and lake borgne fish the sharpest turn in unknown pass with live mullets under a cork.
aug 3Tarpon fishing in Lake Ponchatrain is starting go off. Several have been hooked and/or landed the last few weeks in the traditional spots. I know everyone wants some good news now and then and this is good news. Live mullet, croaker, white trout, or menhaden. Fish have been active in the early evening and at night. Middle of the day has been slow with the exception of the jacks & sharks, &gar.
They show up every year around the west end of cat island. Usually between late may to mid july. Out off the island in deeper water. There is actually a spot the old timers and shrimpers call the "tarpon hole". There are a lot more in the marsh than ms waters though. Creole gap, deepwater pass, places like that. I have seen schools of hundreds rolling in those deeper passes. Mostly larger fish. They well ruin a good trout bite in a hurry!
Haven't done it in a long time but when we were kids and not so patient we used to give up on the trout by mid morning if it wasn't wide open and go behind the islands and play with the redfish boils. There were always big tarpon scattered throughout the big redfish schools feeding on the big balls of red minnows. Never could isolate one enough to hook it with the thousands of redfish around it but saw multiple tarpon pretty much every day that we did that.
Horn island 8/17 Also hooked another tarpon today. It smashed a croaker. Jumped twice and and spooled out 150 yards of line. Once i was down to the last few wraps of line i grabbed the spool and broke it off.
You ever fish that gap at Isle Au Pitre? If so I'm sure you know about that little hole where it drops down to 30 ft. or so there (at least there used to be, haven't fished there since Katrina) We used to anchor up there and catch sharks at night, and I hooked my first tarpon right there!
They show up every year around the west end of cat island. Usually between late may to mid july. Out off the island in deeper water. There is actually a spot the old timers and shrimpers call the "tarpon hole". There are a lot more in the marsh than ms waters though. Creole gap, deepwater pass, places like that. I have seen schools of hundreds rolling in those deeper passes. Mostly larger fish. They well ruin a good trout bite in a hurry!
Haven't done it in a long time but when we were kids and not so patient we used to give up on the trout by mid morning if it wasn't wide open and go behind the islands and play with the redfish boils. There were always big tarpon scattered throughout the big redfish schools feeding on the big balls of red minnows. Never could isolate one enough to hook it with the thousands of redfish around it but saw multiple tarpon pretty much every day that we did that.
Horn island 8/17 Also hooked another tarpon today. It smashed a croaker. Jumped twice and and spooled out 150 yards of line. Once i was down to the last few wraps of line i grabbed the spool and broke it off.
You ever fish that gap at Isle Au Pitre? If so I'm sure you know about that little hole where it drops down to 30 ft. or so there (at least there used to be, haven't fished there since Katrina) We used to anchor up there and catch sharks at night, and I hooked my first tarpon right there!
My livewell brimmed with pinfish, ladyfish, and croakers, and a 5-gallon bucket at the rear of the cockpit overflowed with fresh, dead menhaden. I anchored up on a favorite sandbar, set out two free-lined baits, and began cutting up pogies and tossing them over the side. After a half-hour of chumming and unhooking small sharks, a tarpon cruised into my spread.
My heavy Shimano Trevala bent over, but unlike the bite Winter and I experienced in the South Edisto River, this fish stayed hooked. It ran right up behind the boat, thrashed its tail at the motor and took off like a well-tuned Ferrari. The massive fish, easily over 100 pounds, dumped 100 yards of line in a few seconds and erupted into the sky, arching its back. By the time the fish reentered the water, the hook had pulled.
I reeled in the line, but before I could set the rod down, my other reel started screaming. Seconds later, an 80-pound tarpon began its acrobatics. After about 20 minutes, the fish was boatside. We took a few pictures, then ran water through her gills with the boat in gear until she perked back up.
She kicked away healthy, and all was good in the world.
We took advantage of the hot bite over the next few days, getting 14 “eats,” jumping nine tarpon and landing two, including one monster well over 150 pounds (seen here).
That’s tarpon fishing in the Lowcountry. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, all you’ll see are sharks. Other times, you might miss some strikes or watch helplessly as a trophy fish throws the hook. But if you put your time in and have confidence in your game plan, it will all be worth it.
When you finally hook and land that silver giant, nothing can compare.
Tarpon have been around for 300 million years, and they’ve adapted perfectly to life in shallow water. They have enormous eyes, which help them feed at night and in dirty water. Their entire body is plated with thick, palm-size scales, useful for fending off bull and hammerhead sharks, and have a signature forked tail for power. Tarpon even have a lung that allows them to inhale air, an adaptation that allows them to live in oxygen-poor environments. Juveniles can even survive in retention ponds and road-side ditches. Fish gulping air from the surface are referred to as “rolling” fish, and this behavior often lets anglers zero in on their target.
Tarpon are also one of the longest-living gamefish in South Carolina, with some documented at over 80 years old. An adult tarpon’s only natural predators are large sharks and humans, putting them comfortably toward the top of the food chain.
South Carolina has a relatively long tarpon fishing season, sometimes as long as June through October.
Tarpon are migratory, preferring tropical waters, and most leave the Lowcountry when the water temperature drops into the middle 70s. Having said that, tarpon fishing in September and October can be some of the wildest, most visual action of the year. Bait fish gather tightly in early fall, pulling tarpon out of the rivers and into inlets and just off the beaches. Find pods of menhaden or southbound schools of mullet, and you’ll often find tarpon in close pursuit, free-jumping and busting on these bait balls. You’ll also find bull redfish, kingfish, large bluefish and sharks.
Tarpon fishing in South Carolina requires some seriously stout tackle. Seven-foot, heavy-action outfits, whether spinning or casting, are a must.
You’ll need a reel capable of sustaining a fairly tight drag throughout a long fight, and one with at least 300 yards of line capacity. For spinning reels, anything in the 6000 to 8000 size works great, and conventional reels like the Shimano Calcutta 400 or the TLD 15 are equally effective.
Both braided and monofilament mainline have advantages in tarpon fishing. Last year, we caught tarpon on both 50-pound-test braid and 20- to 30-pound-test mono. There are two major advantages of using braided line: Its small diameter allows you to get more line on your reel while maintaining a heavy pound-test rating, and its no-stretch quality helps lock a big circle hook into a fish’s bony mouth. Having no line stretch can become an impediment during the latter portion of a fight, when an angler must maintain constant, heavy pressure on the fish.
Monofilament is very helpful when the fight becomes a more vertical tug-of-war beside the boat. Because of its tendency to stretch, mono allows for more angler error than braid when putting a lot of pressure on a fish.
Terminal tackle for tarpon fishing caters to three main presentation techniques: floating baits, free-lining baits and putting baits on the bottom. I finish all my tarpon rigs with a snelled 8/0 octopus circle hook.
When using float rigs, a Blue Water Thunder provides all the buoyancy you’ll need to keep a healthy horse mullet, pinfish, menhaden or croaker on the surface. I run anywhere from 3 to 10 feet of 100-pound-test monofilament leader from the bottom of the float. I like a shorter leader of 3 to 5 feet when fishing shallow sandbars or pitching baits to rolling fish, and 6 to 10 feet when fishing deep holes or areas with heavy current.
Hooking a menhaden or mullet in the back directly above the gill plate keeps these baits swimming toward the bottom, even in relatively strong current. Hooking them through the nose keeps them on the surface.
For free-line rigs, I connect my braided mainline to 5 feet of 50-pound mono with a five-turn surgeon’s knot, or mono mainline to 2 feet of 100-pound mono with an improved blood knot.
For bottom rigs, I use a modified fish-finder rig. I thread a sinker slide onto the mainline and attach a 4-ounce pyramid sinker to the slide with a rubber band using two overhand knots. (When a fish makes its first jumps, the rubber band breaks and the sinker flies off, giving you exponentially better odds of keeping the tarpon from spitting the hook.) I attach the mainline to a heavy barrel swivel, then tie on 3-4 feet of 125-pound-test mono.
Bottom rigs tend to get the majority of the shark bites, and the heavier mono holds up great with these toothy fish. When baiting bottom rigs, I like to use what Beaufort anglers have coined “the pogy bomb,” which is simply three menhaden hooked through the nose. This triplet of baits accounted for the majority of fish we hooked in 2011, and seems to get more attention than a solo menhaden.
Bring a few smaller spinning rods rigged with Carolina rigs and shrimp on your tarpon fishing trip for catching whiting, bluefish, pinfish and croakers. These make great baits, and are often plentiful in areas where tarpon hang out.
Tarpon fishing is made much easier by fishing on a well-outfitted boat. You need a large-capacity livewell with a circulating pump to sustain large quantities of fragile menhaden or smaller quantities of large mullet, croakers and other baits. At least four rod holders will allow you to keep a large spread of baits high and low in the water column.
Perhaps the most important prep tip for tarpon fishing is to attach a boat fender, foam float or even an extra life jacket to your anchor line. Doing so allows you ditch and retrieve your anchor line so you can chase a hooked tarpon.
Chumming is an oft-debated tarpon technique. Some say it only attracts sharks, but most will agree that it is a highly effective method for bringing tarpon within range of an anchored boat.
Fresh menhaden chum is the easiest to produce. Catch 100 or so pogies, cut each into three or four chunks, and methodically toss them over the gunnels while you wait for a strike.
Spanish mackerel, butterflied and tail-roped to the transom, give tarpon a fixed source of smell to key in on.
The two most prevalent and productive areas for tarpon are creek mouths and sandbars. Both collect a large amount of bait and provide significant depth change. Tarpon typically set up along a drop-off, which provides relief from swift current and a place to hang low and ambush bait swept overhead.
Many creek mouths, whether they are dumping into the ocean or into a large river, hold good numbers of tarpon throughout the season. Areas where multiple creeks converge into a larger waterway often feature a deep hole that collects bait and gamefish. Many a tarpon have been caught in these deep-hole spots.
Tarpon face into the current on both tides and wait for an easy meal. Positioning baits high and low in the water column will allow you to cover a large area of a creek mouth and increase your odds of connecting. You may see some fish roll in fast-moving water, but tarpon seem to feed more actively toward the surface in slower current at the top and bottom of the tidal cycle.
Sandbars at nearly every inlet along the coast attract tarpon for the same reasons as creek mouths: They collect bait and provide a great ambush spot.
Floats are best for fishing sandbars, as they keep baits higher in the water column. Sandbar fishing calls for shorter leaders under floats, 3-5 feet. Give the corks an occasional pop to keep the bait lively and give tarpon a noise to investigate.
Remember this rule: When a tarpon hits your bait, leave the rod in the rod holder!
Circle hooks, which cause the least damage to the fish and work well with larger baits, only work if they are given time to set themselves in the fish’s mouth. Any sudden pull on a circle hook will almost always dislodge it from a fish’s mouth.
There’s not much you can do when a big fish takes off on its initial run. The fish will jump, you’ll pray that your hook is buried deep, and sometimes, the fish stays hooked.
Have your partner crank up the boat and release the anchor, then spin the boat toward the fish while you walk to the bow. Begin slowly gaining line back, keeping tight to the fish. Once you catch up to the tarpon, it will probably make a few more runs and jumps. Stay on top of the fish until the fight is more of an up-and-down tug-of-war. This is the boat-side portion of the fight, when you need to put some serious pressure on the fish. The tarpon will swim toward the bottom, and you’ll need to pull it back to the top, often over and over again.
When the fish begins to tire, you can flip it back toward the surface when it tries to dig deeper into the water. Most tarpon will turn on their side in defeat when they are ready to be landed, but larger fish sometimes will remain upright and kicking until you get your hands on them.
Almost all tarpon will shake violently when you grab their jaw, even fish that appear relatively docile at the end of the fight. Hold on tight when you grab a tarpon, not only to keep them from hurting themselves, but also hurting you. South Carolina fish are generally very large, and can easily sprain or break your wrist with powerful head shakes.
The most effective way to revive a fish requires one angler to hold the fish by the lower jaw while another puts the boat in gear and makes way at just a few mph. Hold the fish’s head below the water while keeping its mouth open. Water will flow into the fish’s mouth and through its gills. Keep doing this until the fish begins to kick its tail and swim upright.
Don’t be shy about spending plenty of time reviving a fish. You’ll have worked hard enough to touch such an elusive fish, and you deserve to spend as much time with it as you can. TL
