Can you pull a tarpon out of the water?
NO. The state of Florida's fishing enforcement unit the Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC) recently changed the laws about landing a tarpon. The newest laws will not allow any tarpon to be lifted out of the water that is more than 40 inches in length.
A tarpon can be harvested only for those anglers that are seeking a state of Florida record for tarpon fishing. A special stamp must be acquired along with a saltwater fishing license to harvest a tarpon of any size.
The author of this article is a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN on the Treasure Coast of Florida. He has been fishing the grass flats, oyster bars and mangroves all over Florida for more than 40 years. In the article below, we will talk about the rules and regulations and best tips and techniques for catching tarpon in Florida.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below to learn more about bringing a tarpon out of the water.
NO. The state of Florida's fishing enforcement unit the Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC) recently changed the laws about landing a tarpon. The newest laws will not allow any tarpon to be lifted out of the water that is more than 40 inches in length.
A tarpon can be harvested only for those anglers that are seeking a state of Florida record for tarpon fishing. A special stamp must be acquired along with a saltwater fishing license to harvest a tarpon of any size.
The author of this article is a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN on the Treasure Coast of Florida. He has been fishing the grass flats, oyster bars and mangroves all over Florida for more than 40 years. In the article below, we will talk about the rules and regulations and best tips and techniques for catching tarpon in Florida.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below to learn more about bringing a tarpon out of the water.
Tarpon is a catch-and-release only species in the state of Florida. You cannot keep any tarpon unless you have a special permit to harvest them. It is considered harvesting if you lift a tarpon larger than 40 inches out of the water.
The Florida Wildlife Commission will cite you and you could get big fines and jail time for lifting a large tarpon out of the water. You are only allowed to fish for tarpon with a hook and line. You cannot snag them; spear them or use multiple baited hooks or baited treble hooks to catch them. All of the above mentioned techniques can result in you doing jail time and paying a very large fine.
Once you catch a tarpon you must try and revive them so that they don't just sink to the bottom and die. You cannot tow a tarpon unless that is the only way that you can get the tarpon to revive. If you have to tow the tarpon for some reason, then you should go as slowly as possible to keep oxygenated water moving over its gills.
It is best to use heavy fishing gear to fish for tarpon because they will fight to the death. When you use light line and fishing rods and reels you give the fish undo stress that may harm or kill it. The goal is to catch them and get them to the boat or land as quickly as possible to keep from harming the tarpon.
You can learn more about catching a tarpon by checking out another article that I wrote on this website about tarpon fishing. You can read that article by clicking right here.
Tarpon that are less than 40 inches in length can be removed from the water but you must support them horizontally when they are removed from the water. In other words, you shouldn't lift them out of the water by their jaws because you can damage them.
You should also not target tarpon when you know that there are predatory sharks in the area. This is especially true when there are hammerhead sharks in the area. They target tarpon in nature and are especially likely to eat them when you are fighting them. Bull sharks will also eat your tarpon so watch out for them too.
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Conclusion:
There are lots of rules when it comes to tarpon fishing so make sure that you know the deal when you start to fish for them. They are very highly regulated because people come to Florida from all over the world to get a shot at catching a personal best tarpon.
Tarpon are responsible for bringing millions of dollars to Florida so don't make any mistakes when you are fishing for them or it could cost you a ton of money. If you ever want to come to Florida and target tarpon from a kayak, then you might want to check out our Kayak Fishing Tarpon Charter in the Summer months.
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