Tarpon fishing in The Everglades

In The Everglades, tarpon peak April–June and October and are around year-round, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. April: Migrants arrive along the outside beaches and Cape Sable; fish in the big bays.

1. JanuaryAroundResident fish — juveniles and some big ones — deep in the rivers and creek bends (Chatham, Lostmans, Shark River) where the water holds warm. Slow, deep presentations on the warm afternoons.
2. FebruaryAroundWinter residents rolling in the backcountry rivers on warm spells.
3. MarchArrivingFish move from the rivers to the river mouths and outside points as the water warms.
4. AprilPeakMigrants arrive along the outside beaches and Cape Sable; fish in the big bays.
5. MayPeakPeak: fish along the outside from Marco to Cape Sable and laid up in the basins of northern Florida Bay. Fly fishing's spring classic.
6. JunePeakStill strong outside early; afternoon storms build by noon.
7. JulyAroundWet season: fish at the river mouths on the outgoing; babies in every creek.
8. AugustAroundHot, wet, buggy — and the reds start to school. Reds gather on the outside bars and Florida Bay flats; snook under the mangrove shade on the strong tide; fish the outgoing at dawn.
9. SeptemberAroundRedfish schools build; the bait run starts on the outside. September reds on the outside bars and beaches with the mullet; snook and tarpon follow the bait along the outside.
10. OctoberPeakFall fish on the mullet along the outside beaches and passes.
11. NovemberAroundThe first fronts drain the backcountry — sight fishing begins. The dry-season pattern starts: low water, clear water, fish on the open flats and in the creek bends. Snook closes the 30th.
12. DecemberAround

Mangrove islands, tidal creeks, oyster bars and the outside beaches from Marco south to Cape Sable, then Florida Bay's shallow basins and banks. Almost none of it developed. The most tide-driven water in the state.

Fish Scouter charts 40 pass / inlet, 30 beach / surf, 5 channel edge spots in the The Ten Thousand Islands & Everglades 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 · The Ten Thousand Islands & Everglades, the whole year