Monday, February 4, 2013

A Great Vacation Awaits You When You Go Key West Tarpon Fishing

By Brittney Swanson


The Florida Keys are well known as a popular tourist destination, with many thousands of visitors each year flocking there to enjoy the sultry, laid-back lifestyle and the great weather. Another thing which often acts as a magnet for visitors though is the quality fishing on offer. Key West tarpon fishing in particular offers anglers some real thrills and challenges.

Celebrities through the years have also come to the Keys for the fishing. Great American novelist Ernest Hemingway, famous for, among other things, his great fishing work 'The Old Man and the Sea', loved angling between Cuba and the Keys. Another writer, Zane Grey, famous for his westerns, loved hunting sailfish as well as tarpon in the inshore and back country areas close to Key West.

But you do not have to be a successful writer in order to enjoy what angling in this part of the world can offer. You can go angling for big, aggressive fish in the Florida Keys all year round, thanks to the marvelous climate. If you have one, you can also bring your own boat down the Keys, granting you massive freedom to fish where you think the best bites will come.

If you do not have a boat, then you can hire one, as there are plenty of charters available. Some party boats even offer night fishing trips for anglers who want to catch snapper and grouper amid the coral reefs. But if you are after tarpon, then light tackle and fly tackle are what you should be using, and you should be heading to the flats in the back country of Key West, just like Zane Grey.

Tarpon anglers tend to enjoy success using light tackle in the Keys, with bites frequent and some really good sized fish lurking in local waters. The boats which transport light tackle anglers here are some of the most flexible angling boats anywhere in the world. They can handle close in work in inshore waters, and cope just as well with going out beyond the reef in search of large sailfish, largely thanks to their central console system.

These boats often use chum and by-catch from shrimping boats to help entice the fish in. Indeed, such is the density of fish in the harbor, that it is not unusual to see tarpon anglers enjoy multiple hook ups on multiple occasions during a trip. If you want to add to the variety of the experience, then angling at night for this kind of fish can also be classed as a different sport.

With this type of angling at night, it is often best to use spin tackle, and fish close in to the deep channels. Dusk is often the most productive time of the night for this style of angling. Setting the hook hard is also crucial, as tarpon have hard and rough mouths.

Key West tarpon fishing really is a great way to spend a holiday. Whether you prefer working by night or angling with the sun on your back, this part of the United States offers angling holidays to dream about. Every level of angler can enjoy a really memorable vacation in the Keys.




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