Capt. Robert Sloan prepares to unhook and release a huge 185 pound tarpon that hit a 2 ounce grub tail jig. Photo from Robert Sloan

Tarpon fishing along much of the Gulf Coast usually comes to life in June and gets better as we head in the hot months of August and September. Many are caught in October, or until the cool fronts begin to chill the water. In fact the Texas state record 210.70 pound tarpon was caught on Oct 4, 2006.

So where is the best place to fish for tarpon along the Gulf Coast? Based on personal experience, you can’t go wrong out of Venice, La. Along the Texas coast tarpon fishing can be pretty darned good from the Sabine jetties and south to Port O’Connor.

How good can tarpon fishing get along the Texas coast? One of the greatest days of Texas tarpon fishing was back in 1995 on Labor Day. That’s when Capt. Jim Leavelle jumped seven and caught five. Capt. Dana Bailey jumped 14 and caught five. And, Capt. James Plaag jumped 20, leadered eight and broke off four. Tarpon fishing doesn’t get better than that anywhere on earth.

Mobile is a key word when hunting Texas tarpon. You’ve got to stay on the move. The first tarpon I ever jumped was at the Port O’Connor jetties. That was in 1973. Since that time I’ve caught them while fishing out of Venice, La., Sabine, Port O’Connor and on down to the South Padre jetties. Heading farther south I’ve had some classic battles with fly fished tarpon at places like the Yucatan, Campeche, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, the Caimen Islands and out of Belize. But for numbers of big tarpon I don’t think the action gets any better than what you’ll find out of Port O’Connor from now through October.

My best day so far this summer was 23 shots at tarpon up to about 130 pounds while fishing the area of water from the Port O’Connor jetties and on over to Pass Cavallo, a few miles east of the POC jetties.

Great tarpon guides along the Texas coast have all their favorite options for baits. Many use fresh dead baits like shad, mullet, sand trout or pogies. Most of the time those baits are rigged on 14/0 to 16/0 circle hooks. A live mullet is excellent tarpon bait. Ditto that for big shrimp, piggy perch, croakers, sandtrout and hardheads.

The most exciting option for hooking up with tarpon is to use artificial lures. Some of the best are the 77M MirrOlures. A Coon pop jig has caught tons if big tarpon. Another good jig is a 3 oz. Texas Tarpon Pop (one of my favorites). The Coon Pop, Term Pop and Texas Tarpon Pop are very similar. Basically it’s a lead head jig attached to a plastic curl tail grub. The jig and grub are wired to something like a 16/0 circle hook. The Coon and Term Pops are rigged on 2-ounce lead head jigs. My personnel best tarpon, 185 pounds, was caught on a Coon Pop. Louisiana’s Capt. Lance “Coon” Schouest invented the Coon Pop. Many look-alike Coon Pops have been developed over the years.

Casting, trolling or bump trolling with a trolling motor are very productive ways to catch tarpon.

One of the heaviest tarpon ever caught along the Texas coast weighed an estimated 237 pounds. It was 6 feet, 9 inches long with a 49 inch girth. That one was caught on a dead shad. Just so you’ll know a 200-pounder will have a girth of 45 inches or more.

Of all the sporting fish in the world there aren’t many as profoundly beautiful and talented as tarpon. And guess what, the time is right for catching one off the Texas coast right about now.

Capt. Robert Sloan runs tarpon fishing charters out of Port O’Connor. He can be reached at 409-782-6796 or www.hightailangler.com.

Tarpon facts

Texas record on rod and reel – 210.70 lbs., 91 inches long, caught on Oct 4, 2006 in the Gulf of Mexico by Jeremy Ebert while fishing with a dead menhaden.

Texas limit – One per day, minimum length is 85 inches.

Sisters Buzzy & Christina with red fish caught while fishin’ with Capt . Henry

Rhett fishin’ with his dad

“It’s great that so many dads are taking the kids fishing & having fun together.” Capt. Henry

Chase and his dad, Matt, with 20 inch flounder

Chase and Matt with red & trout

10-year-old & his redfish Capt. Kris Kelley

Remembering that first Redfish; I had a couple of anglers on the boat this week that had yet to catch a Redfish. One of them was an eager 10 year old fishing with his twin brother and dad and the other was in his 20’s. That got me to thinking back on it, can you remember your first Redfish? For some it will jog the fog of many years ago as a child. For others, the experience may be more recent. Well, early August will emblazen the memories of the two anglers that tangled with their first Redfish with me last week. For the 10 year old, it was a solid 25” fish coming out of a foot of water over mud/grass with his brother and dad watching. For Marcus, in his 20’s, it would be a bruising fish in the upper middle slot coming out of similar shallows.

I was surprised that it was an easy recollection for me, the year was 1989, October 16th to be exact. I was new to the Gulf Coast of Texas having spent my youth prowling the freshwater lakes from Texas to New England. My passion for fishing came as a kid fishing with my mom and grandparents on small farm tanks around the Waxahachie and Ennis, Texas area. At a young age, we relocated to Cedar Cove living on Lake Tawokoni in East Texas. At the time, it was a hydrilla choked lake that yielded some great fishing around every corner and in every pocket of those grass beds. I can remember stick steering Skeeter boats and shotgun starts with flares and fireworks as the new breed of Bass Anglers raced from tournament starts. Those are some fond memories as I recall barefooting it all over every creek and cove in that area. Bull frogs, Cane poles and Crappie, Black Bass, Bluegills, and Catfish off the docks were great entertainment for me and my friends.

On that day in October, I made my first run at some wade fishing on Galveston Island. I had gathered as much information as I could, picked a location, and set off around mid-day. It was heavy overcast and there was some rain bouncing around. I pulled up to the area and started getting my gear together, I had a new Shimano Bantam level wind and a Shimano Rod to match. Gold spoons with the trademark hot pink teaser were the bait I’d heard about the most; that and some strawberry/white shrimp tails. I eased into the water shortly after lunch. The overcast was building and I could see rain squalls bouncing around. A little rain wasn’t going to stop me. I worked the tail end of this cove on the South shoreline fan casting as I eased around. I was not too sure about retrieve speed or much else but as luck would have it, on one of the cast the retrieve came to a stop and I rared back and set the hook! I can remember being impressed with the fight of the fish; that feeling that at times both rod and line were maxed out. I remember working the fish down and flag poling the rod as we both worked to see who was going to win the battle of the moment. As the mid-slot fish came to hand, I was absolutely in awe of the size and beauty of it. I knew that I had just tackled a magnificent fish. I placed him on the stringer and began dialing in on what I’d just learned. By now, the rain was getting worse. As luck would have it, I managed to tangle with several more of the bruisers stringing a limit. As a bonus, I managed to pick up a handful of Flounder as well pushing 22”. What a great day. It was getting close to dinner time as I exited the water, the weather was continuing to deteriorate. Returning to my truck, I squared away my gear and flipped on the radio. That’s about the time I learned that Hurricane Jerry was approaching landfall on Galveston Island! I saddled up and skeedaddled the Big Island and made it back home shortly after it made landfall around 7:00pm.

While this wasn’t my first time saltwater fishing, it would be the basis for a new found love of saltwater fishing. Where was I? On that day, my Hot Spot map had taken me to Jumbile Cove next to Jamaica Beach. I fished it alot as I cut my teeth on foot in saltwater. Little did I know where the experience would lead me.

Fishing Report

Trout to 28” and Redfish in the slot and above dominate this weeks report. Capt. Jake put a solid thumping on a mixed bag including a solid 28” beauty that he released while wade fishing live bait with guests mid-week over sand/grass in W. Matty. In SAB, Trout seem to have made a move slightly with depths from 4-6’ paying off while Redfish continue to invade depths of as little as 10-12” en masse over mud/grass; sand/scattered shell.

We hope you have a great week and that your fishing is “catching”. Come see us!

Capt. Kris Kelley, Castaway Lodge
1-888-618-4868 www.seadriftbayfishing.com

Fishing with Capt. Kris Kelley

Current year Texas hunting and fishing licenses (except year-to-date fishing licenses) expire Aug. 31, and new licenses for 2011-2012 will go on sale Monday, Aug. 15.

In additon to 200+ sales outlets, for a $5 administrative transaction fee, licenses may also be purchased online through the TPWD Web site or by phone (800-895-4248). Call center hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday — Friday. The online transaction system is available 24/7. A transaction receipt may be printed at the time of purchase for online and a confirmation number is provided for phone orders, and the physical license is mailed separately. Confirmation numbers will verify that a license has been purchased, which is sufficient for dove hunting, but will not allow hunters to take fish or wildlife that require a tag.

Fishing License Exemptions

Recently the legislature created an exception for fishing licenses. In addition to allowing the public to fish at state parks without a license, resident fishers born prior to Jan. 1, 1931 are exempt from purchasing a state fishing license. These senior anglers are free to fish any state water body without purchasing the required annual license. Resident anglers 65 and older qualify for reduced price fishing and hunting licenses.