Tampa Bay June 4 Fishing Report
Anna Maria Island is now known by many as the Tarpon Capital of the world. It's the words I have been hearing more year after year as our Tarpon Fishery secret leaked out with the boom of the internet and social media. There's no reason to hide it anymore the way we use to 10 and 15 years ago. Back in the day I would run the beaches for miles in search of Tarpon and sometimes not even see another boat. There are a lot more boats out there these days, but the good news is there is a lot of Tarpon too. Some of the larger schools you count by the hundreds and sometimes even thousands.
We are in peak season now and there are Tarpon everywhere. My best day in the last few days we landed 8, the smallest at about 75 pounds & the largest about 160 to 170. That's a pretty good day. I'm not really sure what the most I ever caught in a day is, well over ten, but I do know the most I ever caught by a single angler in my boat. Angler Kevin Moses came on a charter with me by himself about 5 or 6 years ago and landed 7 tarpon by himself in a single trip. What is more amazing about his feat is that he landed 5 of them before 10:30 in the morning and we started at 6 am. That's 5 full grown tarpon by one man in 5 and ½ hr. That is one hell of a workout, not to mention that two of the fish where 150 pound class fish. The smallest fish of the day was probably 90 pounds. Of all the spectacular days I have been so lucky to share with my fishermen on the water, that day would have to rank as one of the greatest.
The Tarpon fishing is as good as it gets right now. I have had a few days this week that where so exciting that when I come in after a hard day of fishing I am still buzzing with excitement over the day wondering what tomorrow will bring as I try to fall asleep. I think one day when I retire from fishing the one thing I will miss the most is Tarpon season. Honestly, even though it's the hardest time of year for me physically and mentally, I live for it. I may have to be too old to climb into my Tarpon tower before I give up Tarpon season though.
Anyway, I wanted to give everyone a quick heads up, we are killing the Tarpon now. I had a couple fish over 200 pounds already and there are some massive schools out there right now. Pretty much the fishing doesn't get any better anywhere in the world than Anna Maria Island this time of year. Follow the Tarpon action on my live twitter feed at https://twitter.com/CaptMattErcoli .
Until next time, enjoy your time out on the water.
Capt. Matt Ercoli
941-447-9888
www.CaptainMatt.com
