Schoolie-sized dolphin are fun to battle and a delight on the dinner table. Photo by Jimmy Jacobs.

On almost any given day of the year, an angler may have opportunity to catch a bonefish, tarpon, or dolphin in the Florida Keys. But those chances of success improve considerably with the arrival of early summer's weather conditions. At this time of year, these species congregate in peak numbers in the Keys' waters.

Given the wide availability of all these species, where you fish for them boils down to where you happen to be along the string of islands.

TARPON
Inshore
Sometimes as early as February, schools of migratory tarpon begin to show up in channels and basins on the Florida Bay side of the Keys. But as summer arrives, most of the fish move through the channels between islands, to linger on the Atlantic Ocean side until they migrate out of the Keys by late July.

Tarpon feed predominately around dawn and at dusk. They are very opportunistic feeders and tend to set up facing into moving water. When the tide is falling, tarpon often gather at the mouths of channels or in harbors to feast on the shrimp, crabs and baitfish washed along with the outgoing current. Broad channels where large volumes of water rush between the islands are spots where tarpon fishing can be productive.

Moving from the upper Keys toward Key West, examples of such spots are the Long Key Viaduct Channel, beneath the Channel Five Bridge at the east end of Long Key, the Seven Mile Bridge at Marathon, Bahia Honda Channel and Key West Harbor.

Tactics
There are two general approaches to tarpon fishing in the Keys. One style is done aboard a small open boat. Such skiffs anchor in the channel to fish, but are also suitable for targeting shallower water of the flats and basins where anglers can sight-cast to their quarry. This approach is the most popular for fly fishermen.

The second style of tarpon fishing is aboard a larger vessel, typically 21 to 30 feet in length -- commonly referred to as a light tackle boat. These vessels anchor in the deeper water of channels, passes and harbors to drift live or dead baits to tarpon feeding into outgoing tides.

Gear
Needless to say, big tarpon are extremely strong, tenacious fish. You can use both spinning and bait-casting tackle, but their drag systems should be extremely sturdy and able to sustain extended periods of duress.

Another important feature is line capacity. Considering that a tarpon is capable of ripping off a hundred yards of line or more before you can begin to follow it with the boat, your reel should have more than 200 yards of capacity.

For the fly fisherman, an 11- or 12-weight outfit is appropriate for tarpon fishing. The fly reel's line capacity is also important here: Use a minimum of 300 to 400 yards of backing connected to the fly line.