Tarpon Fishing at Sebastian Inlet

Tarpon at Sebastian Inlet

Tarpon are why some people fly to Florida. A hundred-pound fish that jumps, shakes its head in the air and throws the hook more often than not — there is nothing else in this water like it.

Captain Richard Ladrew is straight with guests about tarpon: they are a genuine possibility at Sebastian Inlet through the warm months, not a guarantee. Hooking one is realistic. Landing one is an achievement, and the ratio is not in your favour. Anyone who promises you a tarpon is selling something.

They are also strictly a catch-and-release fish, which suits them. Tarpon are not good eating and they live for decades — the one you release may well be older than you are.

Where Captain Richard Finds Them

Tarpon move through the inlet on the tide and lay up along the beaches outside it. Captain Richard also finds them around the bridges and in the deeper lagoon channels, where they roll on the surface and give themselves away.

A rolling tarpon is the thing to look for. They gulp air at the surface, which is how they survive in water other fish cannot, and it is how you find them.

Best Time of Year

Tarpon are a warm-water fish here. They show from late spring, peak through May to August, and taper off as the water cools in autumn. Outside those months they are largely absent from this stretch of coast.

How Captain Richard Fishes for Tarpon

• Live bait — mullet, crabs, pilchards — fished where the tide carries it naturally past a fish is the standard approach.
• Big soft plastics and swimbaits take tarpon around bridges and lights at night.
• Everything about tarpon tackle is heavier, and the hook set is different. Captain Richard will brief you before you cast, because the moment it eats is not the time to be learning. Bow to the fish when it jumps or it will throw the hook.

Rules and Regulations

Current status: Catch and release only — over 40″ must stay in the water

• Tarpon are a catch-and-release only fishery in Florida.
• Any tarpon over 40″ must remain in the water — it cannot be lifted into the boat for a photograph. Captain Richard will get you a picture alongside the boat instead.
• A tarpon tag may be bought only by someone pursuing a state or world record, one per person per year. It does not apply to ordinary charter fishing.

Regulations checked September 2026. Size limits, bag limits and seasons change — the current rules are always on the FWC saltwater regulations site. Captain Richard Ladrew fishes to current regulations and will tell you on the day what you can keep. On a Zookeeper Charters trip you are covered under his licence, so there is nothing for you to buy.

Trips That Target Tarpon

• Half Day Inshore Fishing — Half Day, $600
• Full Day Inshore / Nearshore — Full Day, $975
• Night Fishing — Half Day, $600