Miami Tarpon Fishing.com

Miami Tarpon Fishing

The inshore waters of Miami have some of the best Tarpon fishing found in the world. The average Tarpon found in the Miami Beach and Biscayne Bay area runs from 60 to 120 lbs., with plenty of 150 lb. class Tarpon, and there are larger ones being caught every year. Tarpon are known best for their spectacular jumps. The image of a big Tarpon jumping with the Miami Skyline in the background is a memory for a life time.

 

Night Tarpon Fishing Miami

One of the best times to catch Tarpon in Miami and Biscayne Bay is during the early evening or night time. This is the best time, when the Tarpon start feeding. They are looking for shrimp and crabs moving with the tides. When you’re tied up with business all day long, you can still get out and fish the night Tarpon fishing trip.

 

Miami Shark Fishing

Miami and Biscayne Bay also have a great variety of Sharks to fish for. Most of them come around the Flats of Biscayne Bay and the finger channels that cut through the very shallow waters. We find a lot of Lemon Sharks that reach up to 7 feet in length, that like to cruise these shallow waters in the depths of 1 to 3 feet. This is great for sight fishing. There are also some very large Bull Sharks that patrol these areas. The Bull Sharks run around 6 to 10 feet in length. My favorite shark is the Spinner Shark. Also known as the Black Tip Shark. I’ve caught them up to 150 lbs. These sharks jump as high as 6 feet in the air while spinning around like a cork screw. The Spinner Shark is pound for pound the strongest shark and most exciting to fish for in Miami. We also find some great Hammer Head Sharks inshore Miami and throughout the flats of Biscayne Bay. Some of the Hammer Head Sharks get over 12 feet long. They come into the Miami inshore waters to feed on Tarpon and Rays. I also catch Caribbean Reef Sharks, Bonnet Sharks, Nurse Sharks, and Atlantic Sharp Nose Sharks.

 

Miami Fishing

I launch my boat out of Crandon Marina on the island of Key Biscayne. From here I can go to the north to fish the inshore protected waters of Miami. When going to the south, I’ll fish the flats of Biscayne Bay. This is where the Florida Keys starts. You don’t need to go all the way down to the Keys such as Key Largo, Islamorada. The Keys start at Key Biscayne and travel down to the south about 40 miles to where the road meets. This area of Key Biscayne gets hardly any fishing pressure from the flats guides. It has all the flats and shallow water sight fishing that you’ll find in the keys. But only has a hand full of full time guides that fish this area on a regular basis. If you travel all the way down to the Florida keys and fish Islamorada, they have over a 100 flats and inshore guides there. During prime season there are probably over 200 flats and inshore guides in Islamorada. That is just too much pressure on the fish. In Biscayne Bay some days you will never see another flats guide on the water all day.

 

Take Your Kids Fishing

Attention moms and dads! If you’re staying in the Miami or Fort Lauderdale area, you should get your children out fishing. A 4 hour, half day trip is the best. Miami inshore fishing is a great place for this. The protected waters hold many different species of fish for them to catch and learn about. They can catch 10 to 20 different types of fish within a half day fishing trip. One of the things I like to do on these trips for your children would be to keep some of the fish that the kids catch alive, in my 36 gallon bait well. I’ll then hand them the bait net and have them play with the different fish they caught. I then will concentrate on getting the parents hooked up with a Shark. All the kids love to watch their dad or mom do battle with a Shark! I will then release it unharmed.

 

Bonefish and Permit

One of the most challenging types of fishing inshore Miami is sight fishing for Bonefish and Permit on the flats of Biscayne Bay. This is when the angler has to become a predator on the bow of the boat. This type of fishing is as close to hunting as it can get. You will fish for Bonefish and Permit by standing on the bow of the boat, waiting the get your shot. I’ll be poling the boat, looking for fish in the shallow waters, for the angler to see them. Both Bonefish and Permit are very difficult to see. They both have silver sides that reflect whatever type of bottom they are swimming over. When you get a shot, you must then place a precise cast while using a shrimp or crab, to where the fish is swimming trying not to spook it. These fish are spooked very easily. If the Bonefish or Permit sees you making the cast, moving around, or even just casting too close by them, they take off and you will have to wait for the next shot. No one gets a Bonefish or Permit on every shot, but when you get it right and the fish picks up the bait, both fish will rip off 100 yards of line if not more. Anyone that has completed this challenge has found great respect for these fish and the waters. Biscayne Bay holds the biggest Bonefish found anywhere. The average Bonefish can get up to 6 to 9 lbs. The older and wiser ones reach 10 to 12 lbs.

 

Barracuda Fishing

The inshore waters of Miami and the flats of Biscayne Bay have some great Barracuda fishing. If you’re a Bass fisherman and you love to throw top water lures or you fish for Pike and Muskie, Barracuda fishing is for you.

These saltwater speedsters like to attack a top water lure or a tube lure that you rip across the surface of the water on the shallow water of the flats of Biscayne Bay. The barracuda love to sit in the depressions on the flats prop scars and the channel edges, waiting to ambush anything that comes their way. Fishing artificial on the surface, the strike of a big 3 to 4 foot Barracuda is quiet the sight to see.