Here One Day, Gone the Next TARPON

By Nick Carter

Just a er daybreak, we bobbed in an anchored ski looking out over a wide, shallow bay. Capt. Scott Burgess sat on the poling platform smoking a cigar and drinking co ee. Jesse Trevathan stood on the casting deck. He wasn’t casting. With line stripped out into the decal-littered stripping bucket in front of him, he held his y—a locally tied (FC)2 Renegade—in his le hand and his rod in his right. He just watched. We all watched, eyes focused on a large patch of sand o the bow that stood out from the grassy bottom around it.

We were looking for tarpon cruising the shallows on their annual westward migration along the Gulf Coast. In this sweet spot on Florida’s Forgotten Coast, they show up in May and are gone by August. e action peaks in June and July, and their massive silver bodies would show clearly in contrast to the sandy bottom.

“ ey follow paths, the same paths, year a er year,” said Burgess. “It’s based on the topography of the bottom as they move in with the tide.”

He had positioned the boat with the bow facing a ridge that rose from 7 feet up to 3 feet deep. When tarpon move in, the tops of such ridges are too shallow for them to cross. e big sh are channeled into the shallows in search of pogies, crabs and other delicacies.

With the trap set, there was nothing to do but wait and talk. Trevathan said tarpon spawn on the new and full moons of summer. For days they evacuate the ats and head o shore.

“I’ve been out here right before the full moon, and I literally saw hundreds of tarpon. ey were doing nothing but chasing tail. ey were daisy chaining all over the place,” Trevathan said. “I went back on the moon, and they were gone.” e daisy chaining Trevathan mentioned, in which sh group up and swim in circles nose to tail, is thought by some to be pre-spawn behavior, a sort of courtship dance. But no spawning takes place during these events. For the most part, scientists don’t really know why tarpon do what they do.

Trevathan and Burgess both have their theories about the movements of these giants. What they know for sure is tarpon show up each summer on the ats and in the passes. Clean water is needed to see them. Seeing them is necessary to present the y. e cast must lead them, but not too much, and the retrieve must intercept the sh at the right angle to incite a strike.

If the sh eats, it takes a hard strip set to drive the hook into a tarpon’s bony mouth. How hard? “As hard as you can,” said Burgess. Even if all goes according to plan, Burgess admitted there’s a less than 50 percent chance of steering a large tarpon boat-side. e power and aerial display of a hooked tarpon are legendary. Sadly, we did not witness it that day.

As the tide turned, the murky water became more dingy. Late in the morning, the call was made to move in search of red sh.

A week later, Burgess sent a text message with an attached photo. It showed a big tarpon, which he estimated to be 135 to 140 pounds, tailthrashing the water just o the tip of his 12-weight rod, which was broken in half.

“40 min ght with a broken rod… she pulled me 2 miles from my anchor.” e text read.

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OFFSHORE FISHING th Tournament May 20

Over $20,000 In Cash & Prizes!

Weigh-in by th Captains Party May 19 at Fish Lips Bar & Grill

$175 Entry Per Boat - Supporting CFOA Marine Foundation

$2500

Biggest Fish

Species Include: Grouper, Dolphin, Kingfish, Wahoo, & Cobia

1st Place - $1000

2nd Place - $500

3rd Place - $250

Amberjack* 1st - $500

(*Does not count towards big fish)

Women’s & Juniors

1st - $500 2nd - $250

Largest Fish weighed by CFOA member 1st - $500 2nd - $250

May

Tuesday 2nd

Tuesday 9th

Saturday 13th

Tuesday 16th

Tuesday 23rd

Tuesday 30th

June

Tuesday 6th

Saturday 10th

Tuesday 13th

Tuesday 20th

Tuesday 27th

Hosted

Presenting Sponsor

July Off Tuesday 4th

Tuesday 11th

Saturday 15th

Tuesday 18th

Tuesday 25th

August

Tuesday 1st

Tuesday 8th

CLASSIC Saturday 12th

It is that time of the year where you can catch bass in all three phases and depths. Pre-spawn/ spawn / post spawn - shallow, mid-level depth and deeper water. It is a fun time of year to be on the water in Florida. You can also watch for the bream spawn. Listen for these breams up shallow - you can even smell them, really no kidding. The bass loves this forage. There are shad spawns going on too.

With all the bait in the water, you will have no trouble at all catching bass these days. Get out on the water early and watch all this activity around you. It is a great time to get your personal best. Speaking of best - your Seminole Junior Anglers are having one heck of a year. Right now, they are leading a huge field of 175 high schools in the State of Florida for High School Club of the year. SJA won this award last year and most likely will repeat as back-to-back Champions. This is the highest honor you can receive as a high school club fishing organization. Coach Dave is so proud of each team. Seminole Junior Anglers are a great group of student anglers that can fish. They also have a team that already qualified for the National Tournament on Lake Harwell in late July 2023. SJA will be bringing all 7 teams to the State Championship this June on the Harris Chain, hoping to qualify more teams for the National Tournament in July. Please help raise some funds to cover costs for the State and National events this summer. Call Dave DiMauro, Director - Seminole Junior Anglers. 407-353-4575. SJA is a non-profit / 501C3.

Quick re-cap of the year so far - SJA had two tournaments recently. Okeechobee in March and St. John’s River in April. Teams did amazing things in both events. One of the teams had big bass on the St. John’s with a 9.9-pound beast. In Okeechobee one team finished in second place with just over 18 lbs. SJA has qualified one team for Nationals in July, and all 7 of the teams will be going to the State competition in June on the Harris Chain!

We hope to qualify a few more for Nationals after the State Competition. We also had one of our anglers win the High School Bassmaster Classic held in Knoxville, TN - in conjunction with the Bassmaster Classic last month. Thank you everyone for your partnership and support of our club. Coach Dave.

Tuesday May 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 - Jolly Gator Bass Tournament Series, every Tuesday evening 5pm until dusk plus 1 Saturday per month until the Classic in August. Cost is $40 per event, 2 anglers per team. Teams that finish in the Top 10 in points or win an event and fish at least 21 events will qualify for the end of year Classic. Some of the best river anglers in the area fish in this series. Orlando Coastal Angler Magazine is the official weighmaster for this fun tournament series, come out and join us for the weekly weigh-ins. All Tuesday events start at 5pm until dusk, Saturday events (1 per month) are safe light until 2pm. Launch ramp at CS Lee Park next to Jolly Gator Fish Camp on SR 46 east of Sanford at the St. Johns River Bridge. For questions or more info contact Jim “Squirt” Chaudoin at 407-432-2822 or Phil Wolf with Coastal Angler Magazine at 407790-9515.

Saturday May 13 - Jolly Gator Bass Tournament Saturday Series Safe light until 2pm. The cost is $40 per event, 2 anglers per team. There is also a $20 side-pot for big bag. Saturday events (1 per month) are safe-light until 2pm. Launch ramp at CS Lee Park next to Jolly Gator Fish Camp on SR 46 east of Sanford at St. Johns River Bridge. For questions or more info contact Jim “Squirt” Chaudoin at 407432-2822 or Phil Wolf with Coastal Angler Magazine at 407-790-9515.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday May 12, 13, 21 – Central Florida Shootout Fishing Tournament. Join the crowd of anglers fishing this annual event. Captain’s Party on Friday May 12 hosted by Space Coast Harley Davidson from 5:30pm until 8:30 pm, lines in the water at 12:01 Saturday AM, scales open at Noon Saturday and anglers must be checked-in by 5:00 pm Saturday. 2 different weigh-in sites - North site is Sunrise Marina at Port Canaveral and South site is Captain Hirams on the Indian River in Sebastian. Awards ceremony & raffle ticket drawings on May 21st at Captain Hirams on the River. There will be over $20K in cash and prizes for 10 different species, also prizes for lady and junior anglers to be awarded. Visit Centralfloridashootout.com to buy tickets or register to fish!

Saturday May 13 - Safe Light until 2pm, Osceola Anglers Fundraiser Bass Tournament, launch site at Joe Overstreet ramp in Osceola County on Old Canoe Creek Rd. This event will help raise funds for the Osceola Anglers High School Bass Fishing Club - $125 per boat, $20 extra for Big Bass, $5000 to Win! $1500 for 2nd place. Expectations are 75 plus boats. Come out and have fun fishing and help these kids out. To pre-register visit Osceolaanglers.com.

Friday, Saturday May 19, 20 - 37th Annual CFOA Offshore Fishing Tournament. Captains meeting and registration Friday evening at Fishlips Waterfront Bar & Grill at Port Canaveral. Weighin hosted at Bluepoints Marina on May 20, with over $20,000 in cash and prizes to be awarded. Visit www.cfoatourney.com for more info or to pre-register.

If you have an event or meeting you would like included in the “What’s Hitting Around Town” column, send your details to: Phil Wolf phillip@ coastalanglermagazine. com. Deadline for inclusion is the 10th of the preceding month.

It already feels like summer outside. In May we can expect hot fishing to accompany the warmer weather in central Florida. Postspawn bass, spawning shellcracker, and spawning catfish are the freshwater targets this month.

Bass – Early morning schooling bass can be found at first light near the St. Johns River mouths of Lake Harney and Lake Monroe. Throw shad imitation slash/crank baits like a Rapala X-Rap. The time-trusted rattle trap in chrome with black back mimics the bream they are feeding on. Bass will readily eat the live shad if you can cast net some. After the early morning bite, focus on deeper edges near lily pads with Carolina rigged soft plastics – use dark colors like blue/ black or black/red.

Panfish – All day catching limits bestow the anglers with patience and a big can of red worms. The spawn is on for shellcrackers. Target them along sandy shorelines anchoring before or after the bends in the St Johns near the bank in 3-8 feet of water. Hook size should be #4; weight the wiggler to the bottom with one or two split shots. Fly anglers using poppers will enjoy all day action. Crappie are finished spawning but can be caught near deep water structures like the Lake Jessup bridge pilings or fallen logs found along river bends – try a red colored 1/8 oz. round jig head tipped with a 2” curly white grub tail.

Catfish – Bring on the rains! April is typically the lowest water level during the year; May is when levels begin to rise. One to three days following a big rain, the water begins rushing from the creeks into the St Johns River system flowing north. This signals catfish to swim upstream to spawn. Peeled fresh shrimp on a 2/0 circle hook works great in the deepest river or creek bends. Use just enough weight to hold bottom.

May is here on The Harris Chain of Lakes which means that early summertime fishing patterns are starting to get the fish moving. The panfish bite has been good throughout the chain of lakes. Bream, bluegill, redears, and shell crackers are all in their spawning stages around hard bottom shallow areas in 4 ft. of water or less. If you get near them or downwind you can smell them (very fishy). Once you begin to get bites fan-cast the area to determine how big their spawning area is, move back a little and continue catching them. Red worms, night crawlers, crickets, small 1/16 oz. beetle spins or small jigs will work best. The best way is to fish the live baits right on the bottom. Use a small cork or bobber just for a bite indicator.

Once you find these areas you will have some excellent opportunities to catch nice bass in the same area. The bass are just coming off their spawning cycle and love fattening up on panfish before heading to deeper water for the summertime. The bass will be in deeper water with eel grass, hydrilla clumps or areas with bottom transition. The best baits for the bass are swim jigs, bladed jigs, and different varieties of large soft plastic swim baits. Any natural color like orange-perch, green pumpkin, black-blue, white, or gold is what you want tied on. The panfish spawn in areas that the largemouth bass have recently spawned, so it is worth the effort of time to find these places. Another bait to try is a topwater plug or soft plastic frog both early and late in the day or low light conditions. Walk the dog type baits and poppers can really make for some explosive strikes. Remember to wait a second to feel the fish on the lure before setting the hook. Panfish are great for kids to catch, usually fast action once you find them stacked up, take a kid fishing, and make a memory that will last a lifetime.

For more information please contact phillip@coastalanglermagazine.com