Tarpon Fishing Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay is second most popular tarpon fishery on the West Coast of Florida behind Charlotte Harbor. Egmont Channel is the Tampa Bay equivalent to Boca Grande Pass in Charlotte Harbor. Thousands of tarpon gather in Egmont Channel to feed on pass crabs and baitfish during the spring tide during the months of May and June. Tarpon also hold on the many bridges that cross Tampa Bay. These bridges hold millions of baitfish and the tarpon use the structure to ambush bait in the shadow lines at night from April though July. Upper Tampa Bay also has a very good resident tarpon population throughout most of the summer and into the early fall.

Pass fishing for Tarpon in Tampa Bay

Fishing for tarpon in Egmont Channel is similar to fishing for tarpon in Boca Grande Pass in Charlotte Harbor. The tarpon will school in very tight pods in deep water and they can be caught with live bait or they can be caught by vertical jigging. On the spring tides, the tarpon move into the pass to feed on pass crabs that are flushed out of Tampa Bay. Drift fishing or sight fishing schools on the surface is the most common technique for fishing the strong tide of Egmont Channel.

Bridge fishing for Tarpon in Tampa Bay

Most of the bridge fishing for tarpon in Tampa Bay is done at night in the shadow lines of the light along the bridges. Sight fishing for cruising tarpon or drift fishing with threadfin herring or mullet are the usual techniques for catch tarpon on the bridges of Tampa Bay.

Tampa Bay Tarpon Fishing "Hot Spots"

• Egmont Channel.
• Skyway Bridge.
• Gandy Bridge.
• Howard Franklin Bridge
• Courtney Campbell Causeway
• Hillsborough Bay