Key West Tarpon Fishing In The Dark

Ol’ Ray Charles must’ve been down Key West tarpon fishing when he penned these lyrics:

I know the night time (night and day, oh)
Whoa, is the right time (night and day, oh)
To be with the one you love, now (night and day)
I said to be with the one you love (night and day)
–Ray Charles: Night Time Is The Right Time

Simply a classic song that certainly hits the nail on the head. Fishing in the dark for tarpon is altogether another sport in and of itself. In fact, fishing for these bohemoth’s is easier at night as they are mostly a nocturnal species. There are two well known facts that can help you in deciding if night time tarpon fishing is for you. First, it’s a proven fact that most tarpon fishing is done during the day when an angler can see the fish. Second, Tarpons feed best when tides concentrate their food. When does that normally happen? You guessed it, at night for the most part.

If the conditions are right, there is no better type of fishing than Key West tarpon fishing at night. Keep in mind though, you will lose more tarpon than you will catch. The plus side of it all though, with an experienced guide, you should hook more than you ever would during the day. That being said, count your “jumped fish”. Where would you go to catch tarpon at night. Simple. If there are tarpon at the bridges and passes during the day, these same bridges and passes will hold tarpon at night. In fact, it’ll probably be even better at night. These places become “raves” for tarpon after dark and they just get plain silly.

“Come to the light”, I’m sure that’s what the tarpon are hearing. The bridges that have lighting act like bug zappers to tarpon. Come on, you know you’ve seen’em. That unsuspecting bug hovering around that bright green flourescent light. One little slip and “whammo”, another one bites the dust. Key West Tarpon are the same. They hover around the little lights waiting for that unsuspecting bait to stray a little to far out into the danger zone and “bam”, you get the picture. If you do go out guided at night for some Key West Tarpon fishing, you’ll notice the guide probably talking alot about the shadow-line. That’s where you’ll want your bait to be. That simple little cut between light and dark on the edges. That’s where the tarpon will be. Best part about it all, if you aren’t using artificials you will probably catch your bait right there under the lights. Typically either a pinfish or ladyfish. Reel’em in, hook-em up on your tarpon rig and float it back to it’s destiny.

If you have a really good guide, you might even be in for a special little treat. Some of them will motor up just under the bridge in the “light-zone”. That’s when the fun can really begin. Who cares about sight casting for tarpon when you can get the tarpon to come to you. Putting a little live pinfish out in the zone and actually watching a tarpon tranced like motion as it creeps up to it only to snatch it and get that satisfied feeling of an evening meal is quite a sight. However, it gets even better when you whack it and set the hook and it realizes somethings wrong. Stand back for the aerial show of your life when it goes airborne just feet from you. No worries though, you will still more than likely have enough light and backlight for when he reels off a hundred or so yards to still see his spectacular jumps on the water.

A key thing to remember when Key West tarpon fishing at night is that tides are critical as in any other form of saltwater fishing. Probably the best time for this type of fishing is during a high outgoing tide. These outgoing tides carry all those little goodies that Key West tarpon feast upon. Crabs, shrimp and little fish, just float along unknowingly meandering along until they reach the mouths of these giants. It’s not uncommon under full moons to see these tarpon picking there prey right off the surface. One specific piece to note is look for the high tide to be just after sundown. That’ll make for some great Key West tarpon fishing throughout the first several hours of darkness. If it lands during a full moon then even better.

If you are going to go Key West tarpon fishing at night though, I’d suggest getting an experienced guide for the trip instead of going at it alone. Get someone experienced at operating the boat at night, has been on the water a lot and knows the lay of the land. The water can get very shallow in parts and there are plenty of obstructions including pilings that can really fowl things up.

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