The sun has barely begun its ascent into a clear sky. A faint thump…you feel your line begin to tighten …suddenly an angry Tarpon erupts from the water thirty yards away. Line is peeling off your reel at an unsettling pace as the five foot Silver King continues its charge, leaping and tumbling in a frantic bid to dislodge the hook now planted firmly in its jaw.

“Bow when he jumps!” you say to yourself, the effects of rising well before first light now firmly shaken from your body.

Pump ….reel…pump….reel. You settle into a nice rhythm that quickly subdues the hundred pound Silver King. The hook stuck perfectly in the upper jaw is quickly removed. A minute or two later, after a brief revival the fish disappears from view with one mighty kick of its tail.

Over the next few hours you repeat this process successfully several times, realizing that after years of waiting the time is finally yours. You have read the accounts of others’, watched countless TV shows depicting viscous battles with the Tarpon of Boca Grande and heard about the bumper boat style mayhem of the Tarpon tournaments. You have even dreamt about this moment every night for the last year and something just doesn’t seem right. Something doesn’t fit the picture you had in your head.

You sit down and stare at the line as it lays out before you, awaiting the next little thump that will signal yet another battle with one of fishing’s most formidable opponents. The gentle rocking of the boat sends you into an almost trancelike state.

Then it hits you. You have been on a wide open Tarpon bite for almost five hours. You left the docks of Boca Grande, the famed ‘Tarpon Capital of the World’. But you haven’t seen or heard another boat all morning. Where are all the sharks? The throngs of fishermen packed like sardines in a can in a round-the-clock bid to take their turn at taming Megalops Atlanticus? To top it all off its October! Long past what you have always heard was Tarpon “season” in Charlotte Harbor and Boca Grande.

Many of the misconceptions of when exactly the Tarpon are in the Boca Grande and Charlotte Harbor areas are based around when the Tarpon are highly concentrated in, and very near Boca Grand Pass. This will happen in May, June, and July coinciding with the commonly perceived Tarpon “season”.

However, before these large schools appear in the passes, and after these fish break up from their giant pods and start to move out , they are still found in abundance in other areas of the Harbor. The things not found before and after the Boca Grande Tarpon Season are the crowds of boats and the sharks!

Charlotte Harbor, Matlatcha, Pine Island Sound, and the Myakka and Peace Rivers all are home to late and early season Tarpon as well as some year-round residents. These fish are usually found in loose groups or small pods rather than the massive “by the acre” pods of early Summer. With fewer fish spread out over a larger area it can take a little more time and work to locate fish, but the reward is well worth it.

In return you will receive a treat experienced on fleetingly in the Boca Grande area….Tarpon fishing…all alone, with nary a vessel in sight! Often times you can embark on a trip in August, September, and October and catch only short glimpses of passersby on the water, fishing in solitude, just you and the Silver King.

As mentioned, this is not the fast and furious fishing of peak season. For the Angler looking for that type of action you will want to book your trip in May-July during the Boca Grande Pass Tarpon Season, even if you don’t want to fish in the pass proper. For those wishing to experience a kinder, gentler, more relaxed, albeit somewhat more challenging Tarpon fishing with a chance to experience a wide open bite without a boat in sight…the late and early season is just what your looking for. Give it a try and you will become a believer too!