Despite the fact that this species has been on Earth for millions of years very little is truly known about their habits. Only in recent years have we finally begun to peal back the mysterious life cycle of these awesome acrobats. For many years it was thought that tarpon spawned in brackish backwaters and mangrove swamps. Recently, we have learned that this presumption is false. Tarpon spawn along the continental shelf in the deep waters of the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The prevailing currents then sweep their larval young until they make their way into brackish backwaters to spend their formative years. Once protected by the maze of mangrove roots, they may spend tens years growing to sexual maturity and a length of about four feet. These tarpon teenagers then head back out into the open waters of the Gulf to spawn the next generation.

It is when these fish venture out into the open Gulf of Mexico that they become the most illusive and mysterious in their travels. Along the Texas Coast, there are years we seem to be covered up with tarpon, and there are other years we seem to be completely devoid of fish. During those lean years, why and where did they go? Seem to be the most common questions.

Trying to formulate an understanding of tarpon migration must start by recognizing the facts, which are indisputable. For example, we do know that tarpon like warm water. Although there have been reports of tarpon being seen by winter sport divers who visit deepwater oil platforms off the Louisiana coast, it would appear that the majority of tarpon leave the upper and middle coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico when old man winter grabs hold. In fact, when a really cold front hits, these fish seem to bug out almost instantaneously. One theory, which seems intellectual credible, is that a tarpon’s feeding behavior is quickly curtailed by cooling water temperatures. This decrease in feeding activity occurs in conjunction with a rapid urge to migrate to southern latitudes. This fact may account for fewer hookups as these fish rapidly move away from the cooling water temperatures. Whatever the cause, any tarpon addict knows that once the surface water temperatures start to hover around seventy-five degrees, the fish are all but gone.

Once these fish leave our waters, they do not begin to show up in force again until the following spring in Florida. Where they go between fall and spring is somewhat of a mystery; however, there have been some winter tag returns from Vera Cruz and the Yucatan, which suggest the fish may find a wintering home along the coastline of the Southern Gulf.

In addition to a flurry of activity along the Florida coastline in spring, there is also a recognizable concentration of fish which begin to show themselves off Vera Cruz starting in late April and May. By June, there are often reports of a number of schools of tarpon being cited off the lower and upper Texas coast. So what is the explanation for two schools of fish?

Texas tarpon guide, Capt. Mike Williams has his own theory. He believes that there are two distinct schools of migrating fish each year. This theory is based on probably more years of observing tarpon than any other tarpon captain in the state. Williams thinks that the school of fish migrating up the Florida coast contains a population of larger fish. This theory appears to be supported by the reports of fish caught off Texas in the spring. These early arrivals are rarely larger than 120 lbs. The thought is that the tarpon which comprise Texas’ first schools of fish may be a separate population which was significantly and adversely effected by gill net fishing activities in Mexico in the late 60's through the early 80's. The decrease in this western Gulf population may have caused the apparent disappearance of tarpon by most observers along the Texas coast.

Williams however believes that the tarpon never really disappeared. This may be because he has primarily focused on the schools of tarpon, which were coming through the waters of the Lone Star State after having migrated around the Gulf from Florida. This is the group of silver kings, which is comprised of the record breakers and account for the majority of the landings from August through the middle of October along the upper Texas coast.

Williams believes that both the early Texas school of tarpon and the Florida school meet off the mouth of the Mississippi River in middle and late summer after spawning. For the remainder of the warm months, the combined schools of fish feast on the abundance of bait fish cast out into the gulf through the myriad of passes along the delta. Once the water begins to cool and the days begin to get shorter, these fish begin their migration south through the Lone Star State.

Having fished in both Florida in the spring and spent many hours trolling the passes along the mouth of the Mississippi on hot midsummer days, I believe Williams’ observations are probably correct. There is rarely a day when fishing in the summer off the Louisiana coastline that I have not seen more than a hundred fish rolling. On some days, thousands are seen. In fact, I have seen more fish off Louisiana in one day than I have ever seen on any given day fishing in and around Boca Grande in Florida.

As additional credence to Williams’ theories, the activities of tarpon off the Florida coast in late spring and early summer are markedly different than their conduct off Louisiana. In Florida, the fish are in the passes feeding and/or close in shore along the beach. When these fish are on the beach, they are often seen daisy- chaining. Some believe this to be a pre-spawn activity. By the time they show up in the Cajun State, daisy chaining no longer takes place. This would lend some credibility to the thought that daisy chaining is a pre-spawn activity and the fish arriving in Louisiana are post-spawn fish. Once off the mouth of the Mississippi, the tarpon seem to have one thing in mind, food.

If these theories are right, how do you explain the inconsistent appearance of these fish along our coast from year to year? I certainly will not profess to know all the answers to that question but I have made a couple of observations over the past twelve years. I believe the major factor to their early appearance in Texas is run-off.

After spawning in the open Gulf, these fish are looking for food, and the more, the better. Baitfish need nutrients, the Mississippi discharges millions of tons of nutrients and baitfish a day. Salmon are known to be able to follow the scent of their stream from hundreds of miles offshore. In fact, salmon can detect the specific scent of the stream in which they were hatched. Why not tarpon? Having spawned, I believe tarpon sniff the Gulf currents for fresh water sources. They follow the scent of ever freshening water right to the mouth of the Mississippi, knowing there will be tons of baitfish to devour.

If this is true, why do we get fish periodically throughout the summer and why are there some years we seem to have fish all summer long? The answer to that question seems to simply be that tarpon are not perfect. Sensing fresh water, some fish find any pass along the coast. The Galveston Jetties are a big source of fresh water being pushed into the Gulf. Some tarpon find that source in search of the Mississippi, but most do not get lost and hit their mark. Only when they begin to migrate south in the late summer and early fall do we get consistent activity along our coastline.

What about those summers when the tarpon are here all summer long? Well, when I look back at my log book over the past twelve years, I have found that the years when we had massive floods in May and early June and the Mississippi River basin was rather dry, we had plenty of tarpon to go around all summer. This is not to say that fresh water is the key. Most Texas tarpon guides will say that too much fresh water is not a good thing. It is my observation that lots of fresh water followed by a rapid dry spell which returns the beach waters to their regular salty state seems to be the key to summer long tarpon along our coast. I believe that when we have such massive freshwater run-off, the post-spawn tarpon in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico become confused and head to our coast thinking they are headed for the Mississippi.

Whatever the prevailing theory, there is no doubt that more scientific observation is needed. The number of scientists who dedicate a large part of their life to studying tarpon can probably be counted on one hand. When considering the great angling appeal of this resource, the lack of real knowledge is somewhat discouraging. Tarpon take so long to mature and so little is known about their adult vulnerabilities that without further scientific study into their habits and lifecycle, any change in fishing pressure and habitat could spell disaster for this king of sport fish.

I have fished for tarpon from Florida to Texas to Costa Rica and what I call the "Noise Factor" is conveniently dealt with differently in each location. Regardless of how you limit your boat’s noise production, a clear understanding of your boat’s effect on a school of tarpon can increase your chances of catching one of these premier game fish.

In the skinny water of the Keys and Florida’s West Coast, outboard motors are a necessity. Without the creation of the flats boat design, many of these shallow water hot spots would be inaccessible. A necessary element in the design of one of these sleek smooth water bullets is the stern mounted outboard motor. Those who regularly chase tarpon in flats boats quickly learned that their outboards may be a necessity in reaching their fishing destination; however, once there, their outboards were a handicap in chasing schools of fish. To overcome this problem, flats boat captains found suitable solutions to their problem. Today, almost every flats boat that is designed to chase tarpon comes equipped with either a polling platform and/or at least one trolling motor. Each addition being used at different times under different circumstances. The solution was simple, stop the noise and catch fish.

In most deep water venues, local tarpon aficionados have also learned the woes of the outboard motor and either overcome it or switched to alternative power plants. Unfortunately for most Texas anglers, the outboard still seems to be the rule rather than the exception.

The two most common questions I have heard outboard boat owners ask me over the years are first, "Why is the outboard so bad?" and second, "My outboard is alright, it is so quiet in idle you can barely hear it, right?" Both questions come from a lack of understanding of how an outboard motor works.

The design of an outboard motor causes it to commit two audible sins. First and foremost is the exhaust infraction. An outboard motor’s exhaust is incredibly loud. Even when the motor is in idle, an outboard makes a distinctively high-pitched popping noise under water. This noise is a lot louder than one might think. Listening to the motor standing on the stern of the boat does not even begin to compare to the ruckus underwater. To make matters worse, when the outboard motor is running at any speed above idle, this popping noise becomes a deafening. The high rpm of an outboard and its poor exhaust design are the major curse of this power plant.

The other noise problem with the outboard motor and also the inboard/outboard motor with a diverted exhaust system is the gear noise. Even with inboard/outboards that have exhaust systems, which are diverted through mufflers and long exhaust hoses, the whining which is created by the lower unit is amazingly loud. If you doubt this, jump over the side of an inboard/outboard boat with it in idle and just listen.

Because of these drawbacks, outboards and inboard/outboards have been abandoned in almost every deep-water tarpon venue except Texas. The only exception to that is probably Costa Rica where the outboard motor and the acceleration it provides are necessary to get through the treacherous river passes. Costa Rica luckily has enough tarpon that simply drifting and blindly casting lures actually works well. Also, the outboard is overcome in Costa Rica by brute physical strength. Often when a school is located, you can find the local captains on the bow of their boats actually paddling toward the school to get their clients into casting range.

In Florida’s world famous Boca Grande Pass, inboards are the rule. They not only help make the boats more maneuverable as they drift through the crowded pass, but they offer a quieter alternative that does not spook tarpon. In fact, many of the old-timers in Boca Grande call outboards "ass-grinders" and regularly cuss their appearance when one gets in their way.

The comparison between the different power plant alternatives has probably undergone the most non-scientific research off the Louisiana shoreline. The hardcore tarpon chasers out of Venice have spent years trying to find the perfect boat. In fact, they have tried everything from outboards, to trolling motors, to drifting and the most consistent winning combination is a single gas inboard.

These Cajun tarpon addicts underwent their power plant experiments out of necessity rather than by chance. In Louisiana, the primary fishing method is trolling an artificial lure called a coon-pop behind the boat. Often, seven to ten baits may be trolled at a time. To catch fish, you have to have a boat that does not disturb tarpon. Any noise, which is unsettling to the fish, will mean that you spend the day idling around in the hot sun for nothing.

The single gas inboards used in Louisiana not only do not scare tarpon they seem to attract them. When a tarpon takes a coon pop trolled behind a single gas inboard, one of the baits most frequently taken is the one closest to the boat. This bait is so close that the swivel on the six-foot wire leader is a couple of inches above the water while the bait is being trolled. Because of this fact, the Louisiana chapter of the tarpon addicts club seems to have universally abandoned the outboard and the inboard/outboard motor. Since these folks probably have logged more time successfully chasing and landing large tarpon, their power plant choice has to take precedence over all others. If you doubt this fact, just look at the results of every tarpon rodeo in Louisiana, you will not find an outboard or an inboard/outboard owner in the winner's circle.

In Texas, outboards have remained the mainstay of most tarpon fisherman. In fact, Texas anglers are only recently recognizing the woes of the outboard. Texans seemed to be married to their outboards and a divorce is unlikely. The type of fishing, which usually occupies most Texas fisherman for the better part of the year, precludes the use of inboards. Running shallow bays is not always a good idea for an inboard motor.

Ironically, twin gas inboards are a common sight in the offshore waters along our coast. Using these boats to fish for tarpon is easy and under utilized. All that is required is to turn one engine off and troll very slowly. How slow? About two to three knots is the maximum speed for trolling coon pops. In fact, the slower you can go the better your chances.

As for me, I will take my Shamrock any day. I fish from a 22-foot center console gas inboard. It has a keel to protect the prop and shaft in shallow waters and a single Ford 351ci engine under the console. It may not be fast but when it comes to fishing for tarpon, I wouldn’t trade it for all the outboard boats in the world.

When I am trolling baits, I regularly have schools of tarpon swim so close to the boat that you can sit on the swim platform and touch them on their backs. Furthermore, I have idled up on schools of tarpon feeding on minnows on the surface so close that I could spit into the middle of the school of baitfish. Two years ago, such an encounter resulted in six jumped fish and a quadruple hook-up. You have never seen a proverbial Chinese Fire Drill until you have fought four tarpon completely by yourself.

The other primary benefit of a gas inboard is your ability to approach schools of tarpon without spooking them. You can actually idle right on top of a school. You simply take the boat out of gear and let the baits sink. This often results in more than one fish being jumped.

If gas inboards work, what about diesels? The answer to that question is simple. While most diesels are quiet, the rattle, which is associated with these engines, is also too loud. For example, two years ago I was fishing a massive school of tarpon off Southwest Pass in Louisiana. I was using my gas inboard and a guide was fishing with six customers trolling with his single diesel inboard. The school of fish was enormous. It was probably ten acres across. Between 9:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., we jumped eleven tarpon and caught seven. Every one of our fish was taken trolling. The guide, with his diesel boat, jumped three and caught two. Each of his fish was taken while his boat was drifting with the engine off and his clients were casting. What more proof to you need.

The gas inboard alternative also has some additional advantages. First, you can get rid of that slimy nasty shad. Coon pops trolled behind a gas inboard can match a dead shad tarpon for tarpon when the fish are feeding. Second, you do not have to drift and can cover more ground on calm days than you would attempting to drift. Third, the low hum of the engine and transmission seem to also attract tarpon to the boat. Finally, since you are not using dead bait, you will not catch all those sharks and jacks. If you are really after tarpon, coon pops and a single gas inboard are the ticket.

Whatever your power plant choice, always be cognizant of engine noise. If you are stuck with an outboard, running around a moving school of fish may do nothing more than continue to spook the school. Watch the traveling school and when it calms down and stops, that is when you want to approach it slowly and cast a bait into its path.

In Florida, people who run at a relatively fast speed to get in front of a fast moving school of tarpon rarely hook-up. This maneuver is called "shot-gunning" and is detested by guides. Most Florida guides who fish along their beaches stay away from a traveling (gray-hounding) school. They simply have patience and wait for the school to stop. That is when they approach it using a trolling motor and begin casting. This technique comes from a clear understanding of the effect of noise on tarpon.

Although they are about as ugly to the human eye as any fishing lure I’ve ever seen, the tarpon seem to think otherwise. Red/white and red/white with red or black stripes seem to work the best for me, although I’m sure other colors are effective at times. I’ve also caught fish on the red/yellow and broken off several fish on a sort of bone-colored one.

Two advantages I’ve found over other plugs, such as big mirrolures are 1) they are heavy (2 oz) and you can cast them a mile, even into a slight breeze, and 2) they are all hooks so that when a tarpon does grab hold, the hook-up is usually solid. On the downside, because of #2 above, they are often quite difficult to remove from a tarpon’s jaw at boatside and, like mirrolures, offer you a great opportunity to bury a big treble in your hand. Be careful!!!

I am currently rigging them with ~3 feet of 200# mono and a good quality barrel swivel (at least 200#). I use crimps because I like a loop where the leader is attached to the lure and I haven’t perfected the loop knot with 200# yet. Attached to the swivel is ~10-15 feet of 50# big game for a wind-on leader. I use a short spider hitch or bimini on the main line (20-30#) and attach it to the 50# with a no-name knot. I currently use a calcutta 700 and 720M rod but am seriously considering upgrading to a 30# class rod for the days when the big dogs are biting.

When I first started fishing coasthawks, I tied them directly to the 50# wind-on leader. Although I’ve caught several fish this way, including a 170+, I’ve broken off too many due to chaffing of the leader. A heavier mono leader certainly allows you to land more fish even if you don’t get quite as many bites. Ande 125-150# also seems to do well. I have only broke a 200# leader on one tarpon and that was while leadering the fish at boatside after a 1h battle. I think I will experiment with heavy, single-strand wire leader this season.

As far as working the lure goes, I try to use the same technique as I do with mirrolures. Quietly ease the boat into position ahead of a slow moving school and kill the outboard motor. Cast the lure ahead of the fish, allowing it to sink anywhere from 2-20ft or so and begin jigging back towards the surface. I set the hook hard almost instantly after feeling the bite. The hook-up is usually solid on the first bite but I have had fish hit and miss a couple of times and continue to chase the lure right up within 20-30 feet from the boat. The same technique also works when you locate a school that is milling or actively feeding.