Cocoa Beach Tarpon Fishing Guide

Full Time Professional Florida Fishing Charter Fishing Service

Tarpon fishing in Cocoa Beach Florida with a professional fishing guide can be a fun challenge for anglers of all ages and experience. Lagooner Fishing Guide, Captain Richard Bradley uses his lifetime experience during the summers and early fall off the beaches in his hometown waters in Brevard County to help his customers catch that giant silver king that many Florida anglers visit the Sunshine State for.

Keep in mind that tarpon in Central Florida are not year-round residents, but migrate southward during the winter and colder months toward the Florida Keys. Small juvenile fish will remain in backwater areas where the water remains warmer and becoming more active between cold fronts. Winter time tarpon can be difficult to predict and can shut down, providing small windows of opportunity for fishing guides and their anglers. The best bet for winter tarpon is definitely in south Florida where the water is comfortable tarpon reside during that time of year.

"When a tarpon jumps many skilled anglers learn to bow the rod toward the water to keep the line in the water where the fish is less likely to throw slack and spit the hook." Professional Cocoa Beach guide, Captain Richard instructs his clients on the skills of fighting big fish with light tackle. "Put the line in the water to prevent the fish from throwing shockwaves in the fishing line and using that momentum to either throw the hook or break the line."

Tarpon will often respond to artificial lures, but when a properly presented live bait is thrown nearby, you'd better hang on and watch out! Tarpon like crabs, finfish, shrimp and will often eat dead bait in certain situations. In Cocoa Beach we use live herring or pogies to entice the fish to strike when they're feeding in the ocean. Anglers often observe tarpon rolling and feeding on bait pods off the beaches of Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach during the summer months. Schools of 100 pound tarpon are common this time of year and anglers have a better opportunity to hookup with these feisty, jumping giants.

Our booking agent Captain Gina spends her summer months looking for and fighting tarpon off the beaches with her husband fishing guide, Captain Richard Bradley. "Summer is the time of year to slip into a bikini and get a tan while looking for tarpon along the beaches in our hometown of Cocoa Beach", explains Gina. "Captain Richard takes family or friends with me out when the tarpon are rolling on the baitpods and we almost always get a good fight out of one of these giant silver kings."

September Tarpon Fishing in Cocoa Beach

Tarpon will continue to show up in the fall all the way to the first blows and coldfronts. The last run of tarpon is usually at Sebastian Inlet at the first signs of fall on the outgoing tide. This run will last a week or so and then the tarpon fishing is pretty much over for the year. October can have great tarpon fishing off the beaches of Cocoa Beach if the weather cooperates and September is the same. Fall is the last chance for big Cocoa Beach Tarpon before the winter comes and the bite quits in Central Florida.