The Atlantic Tarpon is a large hard fighting game fish, which exists in the Atlantic Ocean, primarily off the west coast of Africa, and more commonly in the Caribbean, Costa Rica, Cuba, Florida, and South Carolina.

The Forida Keys has long been famous for its tarpon fishing, and Islamorada, the small island between Marathon and Key Largo has been labelled as "the sports fishing capital of the world". The waters off Islamorada offer some of the finest tarpon fishing available anywhere, and at certain times of the year the fish can average over 100lbs in weight. To date, the largest tarpon caught in Florida weighed 243 pounds.

The tarpon is primarily an inshore fish, that favours the shallow waters between the Keys and the Everglades. Every year, betwen March and April, thousands of these ocean travelling fish arrive in Florida, from the south. They stay in and around the Keys and the Florida mainland until July when they move north again heading for the Carolina's and Virginia.

There are two main reasons for this annual migration. Firstly, the Atlantic Tarpon's travelling is effected by water temperature.


The Florida Keys
At Islamorada


Atlantic Tarpon


Megalops Atlanticus


The Atlantic Tarpon is a large herring like fish, which is silver coloured, with a huge mouth, jutting lower jaw and a short dorsal fin. It has a deeply forked tail with pelvic fins located far back on the body. The Tarpon is a large hard fighting tropical/subtropical game fish, and has been aptly nicknamed "the silver king".


The Atlantic Tarpon can reach huge sizes and specimens have been caught up to 300lb+ off of the west coast of Africa. The average size however is considerably smaller, with typical fish in the carribean weighing 30-50lb. The Florida Keys has large numbers of very big tarpon, where fish are caught between 100 and 200lbs in weight.