Tarpon charters
Tarpon Fishing Charter Bradenton
The tarpon migration moves through the passes from May to August. A short season, booked early, and the reason many anglers come to this coast at all.
From $425 for three hours · priced per boat, not per person · six anglers maximum
The fish
Tarpon on the migration.
The water
The passes around Anna Maria Island and lower Tampa Bay.
The season
May to August.
Built to breathe air
Tarpon have a swim bladder they can fill at the surface, gulping air like a lung. It is why you see them roll on calm mornings, and why they hold in backwaters that would not support other fish. The species has been around, largely unchanged, for tens of millions of years.
The Silver King
Scales the size of a coaster, a hard bony mouth that is difficult to set a hook into, and adult fish commonly over a hundred pounds. The nickname comes from the way the sun catches them when they clear the water.
Why they go back
Tarpon are not eaten here — this is a catch, photograph and release fishery. They are slow to mature and long-lived, with documented fish over fifty years old. The photograph is the trophy.
The migration
Tarpon Season on a Bradenton Fishing Charter
For a few months each summer, tarpon pour along this coast. They roll in the passes around Anna Maria Island, push into lower Tampa Bay and give anglers here a shot at a fish that can outweigh the person holding the rod. The season runs from May to August, and a tarpon fishing charter in Bradenton during that window is the trip a lot of visitors plan their holiday around.
Watching for rollers
Much of tarpon fishing is looking. The fish come up to gulp air, and a silver back breaking the surface shows where a school is moving. Charlie sets the boat ahead of them on the Power Pole Move trolling motor, with the outboards off, and the baits go out in their path.
Then you wait. It can be twenty quiet minutes and then everything at once.
When one eats
A tarpon’s mouth is mostly bone, so plenty are hooked and lost on the first jump. Nobody minds much. Seeing one come out of the water is the bit people describe afterwards.
If the hook holds, settle in. A big fish takes long runs, jumps more than once and can keep going for a good while. Bow the rod when it jumps, wind when it comes towards you and let it run when it wants to. Charlie talks you through it as it happens, and the twin Yamahas mean the boat can follow a fish that heads for open water.
Back in the water
Every tarpon is released. Big fish stay in the water for the photo, held alongside the boat, then revived until they kick off on their own. Handling rules come from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and are followed on every trip. You go home with the picture.
Booking the season
The window is short and the best dates go first. If you’re coming to Bradenton in June or July and tarpon are on the list, book that trip before anything else and fit the rest of the week around it.
Timing inside the season moves a little each year with water temperature. Early on, fish often travel the beaches and passes. Later they settle around the bridges and the deeper water of the bay.
Our season-by-season fishing calendar shows where tarpon sit in the wider year.
Patience, and taking turns
Tarpon suit people who are happy to trade a steady stream of bites for one big moment. Groups usually take turns on the rod, so everyone gets a go when a fish eats. The charter is private and priced per boat, not per person, for up to six. Kids are welcome and there’s no minimum age, though a young angler will want an adult on the rod with them.
Bring a camera, or a charged phone. On this trip the photo is the only thing coming home.
Gear and bait
Tarpon tackle is heavier than anything used on the flats: stout rods, big reels holding plenty of line and strong leaders to cope with that rough mouth. Live bait is the usual approach, set out where the school is heading and left to swim naturally. Everything is rigged before the first fish shows, so when the chance comes, nobody is fumbling with knots.
Some mornings the fish roll all around the boat and refuse every bait. Other days one eats within minutes. Most trips fall somewhere in between.
Fitting it into a week
Some visitors book a tarpon morning plus an inshore trip on another day, so the group gets one big moment and one steady day of bites. Others book two tarpon trips, knowing the season is short and the fish are worth a second go.
Common questions
How long should we book?
Six or eight hours gives the best chance. Tarpon move with the tide and the light, and sometimes you have to wait for them to show. Shorter trips are possible.
Where do we leave from?
The dock at 801 Riverside Dr E in Bradenton, where parking is free. The passes are a run down the river from there.
What about summer storms?
Afternoon thunderstorms are common in tarpon season, which is one reason many trips start early. If it isn’t safe, you’ll talk about moving the trip.
In the price
What is Included on a Tarpon Fishing Charter
Rods, reels and tackle
Bait
Ice
Bottled water
Fish cleaning
Kids’ rods
Your fishing licence
The boat
The Boat - 25ft Parker Centre Console with Twin Yamahas
2021 Parker 25′ centre console
Twin Yamaha outboards
Power Pole Move trolling motor
EPIRB emergency beacon
Deep-V hull
Six anglers maximum
Book a trip
Book a Tarpon Fishing Charter in Bradenton
Check availability
Nautical Native Fishing Adventures
801 Riverside Dr E, Bradenton, FL 34208
Free parking on site
We fish the passes from
