Tarpon fishing in Biscayne Bay

In Biscayne Bay, tarpon peak March–May and September–October and are around year-round, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. March: Peak spring push at the inlets and bridges; shrimp-run nights on the outgoing in Biscayne Bay are the classic.

1. JanuaryAroundNight fish under the bridge lights and at Government Cut — Miami has a real winter tarpon fishery.
2. FebruaryArrivingThe first migrants join the residents; Government Cut, Haulover and the causeway bridges on the night outgoing.
3. MarchPeakPeak spring push at the inlets and bridges; shrimp-run nights on the outgoing in Biscayne Bay are the classic.
4. AprilPeakStill strong at the cuts and bridges; beach fish at dawn from Key Biscayne to Haulover.
5. MayPeakFish moving north up the beach; the cuts still produce at night.
6. JuneAroundBeach and inlet snook at dawn; snapper spawn on the reef. Snook in the surf and the inlet on the first light; mangrove snapper thick on the reef and the bridges; bonefish on the oceanside flats early.
7. JulyAroundSummer: snook, snapper and bones before the heat. Fish the first two hours of light: snook on the beach, bonefish on the flats; then the reef and the bridges for snapper.
8. AugustAroundBonefish and permit peak on the flats; snook stack at the inlets. The best flats month of the summer for bones and permit; snook in the inlets on the night outgoing.
9. SeptemberPeakThe fall mullet run reaches Miami — tarpon blowing up mullet schools on the beach and at the inlets.
10. OctoberPeakMullet run peak in Dade and Broward: fish on every inlet and beach on the bait.
11. NovemberAround
12. DecemberAround

Biscayne Bay's grass flats and the finger channels between them, the bayside mangrove shorelines of the national park, the inlets (Government Cut, Haulover, Port Everglades), and the reef line within a couple of miles of the beach.

Fish Scouter charts 20 beach / surf, 18 pass / inlet, 1 channel edge spots in the Miami & Biscayne Bay map area — the kinds tarpon hold on.

• Blue crabsWhole and small for permit and tarpon; halved or quartered on the bottom for black drum, redfish and cobia.
• Threadfin herring (greenbacks)Nose-hooked on a circle hook and free-lined, or slow-trolled. Fragile — handle them wet and fast.
• Pilchards (whitebait)Free-lined or under a cork, hooked through the nose on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook. The one bait that catches everything inshore.
• Finger mulletLip-hooked on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook and free-lined, or on a fish-finder rig in the surf. Cut mullet on the bottom for redfish and drum.
• PinfishHooked through the back ahead of the dorsal on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook; the small ones free-lined, the big ones on a fish-finder rig.

• Leader50–60 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook5/0–8/0
• Jig head1–1 1/4 oz
• Braid40–65 lb

Feeds in 74–90°F water, best at 78–86°F.

All about tarpon · Miami & Biscayne Bay, the whole year