Key West Fishing Report
February Tarpon Fishing Report –
And so it begins. Here in Key West we received a big push of tarpon a couple days ago and it sure was a sight to see. I almost forgot what an area with a couple thousand rolling tarpon looked like. But not only do we have a bunch of big fish that showed up in our local waters around Key West but the backcountry has a nice population of fish in our backcountry channels and they are chewing!
I think it is safe to say that tarpon season is upon us. Im sure that the next couple weeks will be windy and we may get another cold front that will shut them down for a couple days but as of now there are a lot of fish in town.
Now there is one problem with our spring tarpon fishery.. The dam bull sharks are all over the place and these big brutes will eat a sixty pound tarpon like a potato chip. So while I am on the subject if you are into catching big sharks Feb & March is a great time of year and I would love to get some payback on these big bullies.
Pro Tip: As soon as you see a bull shark tracking your tarpon pop the bail open and let the tarpon get away or better yet break him off or there is a good chance it will get eaten. I like to use the boat as back up and run over the shark or at least drive over the tarpons sent trail to try and throw the shark off.
So the water temps are still in the low 70’s and fly fishing for our tarpon is still going to be tough. I would focus on live baiting these fish at least until next month when the water gets a little warmer and there is a chance of them getting up in the shallows or laid up on edges of channels.
Juveniles in the backcountry are starting to play ball and the nighttime tarpon fishery is still strong as ever. These next couple weeks are traditionally windy but summer is right around the corner!
Key West Fishing Charters
with Capt. Nick LaBadie
