There Is More To June Than Just Tarpon
Memorial Day weekend has come and gone, which means summer is officially here. The only thing flocking to the beaches faster than the tourists are the big lazy linesiders on the shoreline and the overgrown pilchards known as tarpon hanging off the beach. Redfish are more scouring the flats in our area as opposed to schooling on the flats this time of year. It’s a great time to get out on calm days, and sight cast them if you have a vessel meant for that, or work yourself into an area where you think they’ll pass through and soak a cut bait.
Moving water is the most important thing to plan for these fish. Early mornings with moving tides work the best, but they can be caught throughout the day. Slack tides and high sun do not make for the best redfish fishing, so plan your day around the tides for the most productive outings. In our area, we like cut pinfish because of the fact that there are so many pinfish on the flats and, generally speaking, pinfish won’t eat pinfish like they will mullet, threadies and ladyfish chunks.
This is the primo month for your chance at landing a big tarpon. In our immediate area, we only have the one pass we call Shark Alley in between Anclote Key and the sandbar just north of the island. That is a great starting point for finding them on your bottom machine, but they have been known to roll through the sandbar and soupy area on the northwest point of the key as well. Drifting a pass crab, threadfin, or pinfish along the path of travel is the best method. The longer you sit in that area, the more likely you are to be able to recognize a pattern that they will follow across the sand.
Fishing for snook off the beach is one of the easiest ways to target big snook in the area, but it can also be one of the most frustrating. Trying to find a section of beach that isn’t covered in boats can be challenging, and these fish can be very spooky and finicky. My advice is to find big baits to toss their way; mullet, ladyfish, grunts, and croakers work the best, but cutting one up is good practice when they just won’t eat anything else.
Get out your sunscreen and long sleeves, and get out there. June is the month that makes Florida big game fishing some of the best in the world!