Islamorada Florida Five Day Tarpon Trip

Every angler has a bucket list of fish they want to catch. 

You may think you’ll never have the opportunity to catch your dream species – perhaps you don’t know where or how to catch them. However, with a few simple steps and some research you can move closer toward fulfilling those dreams. 

Pete’s longtime friend and mentor Bill Roberts kept mentioning that he wanted to catch tarpon, that was his bucket list fish. Pete was all about wanting to make that happen for him but then he passed the buck to me -- he said, “Here’s your chance to coordinate a trip from start to finish.” With those words, I became Half Past First Cast’s very own Julie McCoy. 

My first call was to my saltwater guru and friend Elliott Stark. I knew he would know something about tarpon and the best places to catch them, along with some great guides, ideally within the continental US.  

Of course he did! 

Thanks Elliott. 

Second call was to Capt. Mark Cockerham of Islamorada Florida’s Key Hopper Charters. From the first conversation, I felt like I’d know Mark for years. He provided a plethora of information and helped with everything from how to get there, where to stay, places to eat and getting other guides to fish with our group. 

The best time to catch tarpon in Islamorada is mid-March through the first couple weeks of June – usually later within that window is better. We chose our dates with that information in mind. We fished Sunday through Tuesday as the boat traffic on the weekends can be insane and spook the tarpon. As we got closer to our dates Capt. Mark contacted me to make sure everything was still a go and he asked me if I had any other questions. I knew this was going to be a great trip. 

The trip was great, and even though the tarpon may not have exactly cooperated, that’s fishing. I want to take you on a rundown of what we did from day to day and get you excited enough to get down to Islamorada and check tarpon off your bucket list or just go fishing for whatever other species bite. 

Arrival Day

Saturday morning Pete and I arrived at the airport with plenty of time but even if we didn’t, we subscribe to CLEAR which takes the hassle out of standing in long lines. It’s a perk you should think about if you tend to run late or just like convenience.  We flew American Airlines and the flight was on time and got us in early. We had a row to ourselves and our friend Duncan sat a few rows ahead of us.

We picked up our luggage at baggage claim where we met up with our friend Jennifer Combs, and then took the “people mover” to the rental car center. Lucky for us, they didn’t have the “standard SUV” we’d reserved so we were upgraded to a luxury Infiniti model with three rows and ample luggage space.

By that point, we were hungry, and we knew that there could be traffic on the way to Islamorada, so we looked for something on the way. My backseat drivers found us a lunch spot on the way down, we stopped for Cuban food at Mario’s Family Restaurant in Homestead (when in Rome). 

The drive from the Miami airport to Islamorada (our hotel, the Sunset Inn, is at MM82.2) generally takes 1 hour and 15 minutes and we ran into only minimal traffic. We checked in and dropped our luggage off and headed off to Publix for food, water and adult beverages for our fishing adventure that started bright and early the next day. When the rest of the crew arrived, we grabbed some beers and rum punch and went to the courtyard pool, which was inviting and warm. What a great start to our vacation. 

For dinner we chose a  place called Lazy Days and the food and drinks were plentiful. Indoor and outdoor tables. Large bar area, lots of seating and they will cook the fish you caught that day. The service wasn’t lightning fast, but we weren’t in a hurry.

Capt. Mark asked that I contact him the evening before our first day to coordinate timing. The marina, Worldwide Sportsman, is just a mile from the Sunset Inn, how convenient.  

Day One Fishing 

Sunday we all decided to meet for breakfast at Mangrove Mike’s Café, which just so happens to share a parking lot with the Sunset Inn. We stumbled over when they opened at 6. Huge menu with choices for everyone and the service was great. The food came out fast and it was good to boot. Then we drove to the dock (Worldwide Sportsman Marina) to meet our respective guides at 7:15 am. We were zipping along the placid Florida waters by 7:30 am. 

Mark had caught shrimp and pilchards for bait before we got to the marina that morning so we went and collected them from his cages on the water, outside the marina. He also had mullet, frozen and live already in the boat. This time of year, most of the large tarpon are caught near the many bridges that cross the keys. They hold there because of the shade (they are nocturnal but can still be caught during the daytime), the current, the plentiful bait and the ditches. 

Once hooked, the tarpon almost always jump immediately. I don’t know if I was more excited to catch one or take pictures of Pete’s jumping out of the water. Unfortunately, we didn’t get many chances as we had a “super moon” while down there and it is possible they went offshore to spawn.  

We didn’t give up. 

After we landed a handful of sharks, Pete’s rod went off and the tarpon shot up out of the water. Everything happens so fast, the fish takes off for the pilings of the bridge and made a beeline to go through the pilings It was too narrow and had no clearance for the boat to get through, so we had to employ Plan B. Quick thinking Capt. Mark wrapped a lifejacket around the rod and then asked Pete if he liked to swim!?!?!!? Without hesitation, Pete was about to jump in and I said, “STOP, take off your glasses” and wouldn’t you know it, I had the voice activation turned on, on my Insta360 video camera and with all the commotion I had no idea the camera turned off. I didn’t get him jumping off the boat, swimming through the piling, and trying to get the rod back to the boat so we could get the tarpon to the boat. Perhaps it’s a good thing I didn’t get it on camera, as he moved the rod under the concrete arch the line rubbed against the barnacles (I HATE BARNACLES) and the fish took off, free again. 

We tried a few more times but ran out of bait and it was close to quitting time so we called it a day. 

While at the marina we had a drink, talked shop (tarpon fishing was a bitch!) and then we were off to clean up and go to Island Grill for dinner. 

Day Two Fishing

Mangrove Mike’s Restaurant was our choice again. Not only was it open precisely at 6am, but it was much better than the other option, Burger King, across the street. 

At 7:30 am we left the dock and decided to give the tarpon a rest and go to the backcountry to see what we could catch. The region has many species including snook, redfish and trout. We also found out there are a lot of sharks in the water. You can also catch tarpon but they will tend be on the smaller size, not the hundred-plus pounders you catch on the bridges. 

We found a spot where we caught snook after snook after snook. You could see them in the water, pitch in and whack ‘em. We released the redfish and snook, but we caught some mangrove snapper and grouper and threw the larger ones on ice to be filleted at the marina and taken to Wahoo’s for a family style dinner. The restaurant prepared the fish three ways: grilled, blackened and fried. Each pound came with two sides. We had more food than we could eat but how cool to know that the fish was swimming just hours before we sat down for dinner. 

Here's the kicker and something I don’t think most captains/guides would do for their clients. Capt. Mark called me before bedtime to discuss our options. He wanted to know what we wanted to do on our last day of fishing. He knew we were there for tarpon and he didn’t want to disappoint but he also knew the fishing was difficult. The options were, fish all day for tarpon, fish all day in the backcountry or split the day in half, starting in the backcountry and seeing if others were getting tarpon bites. If so, we could change things up in the afternoon. We settled on the latter. We knew our choice would make Capt. Mark have to work a lot harder but he was so amenable and just wanted us to catch fish and have a good time. 

Day Three Fishing

Groundhog Day: Mangrove Mike’s for breakfast at 6 am.  

On our final day of fishing we started at 7:15 am, the earlier the better. Capt. Mark said, we needed to catch bait for the tarpon as mullet had been close to impossible to come by the last few days. We went to a spot to catch the next best thing, ladyfish, with popping corks and Gulp soft plastics. Here’s something we learned: ladyfish are a cousin to the much larger tarpon, but  apparently the families don’t get along too well. In other words, they eat their own. 

We found ladyfish and several other species in open water areas that had channels with some current. When the boat drifted out of the channel the bite turned off and we set the boat up for another drift. We stocked the livewell and set off to catch more snook and redfish. Upon getting to our spot, we saw a bunch of tarpon rolling. Capt. Mark quickly rigged up a tarpon rod for Pete to cast (too many lures in the water may spook them and we didn’t have time or chances to waste).  

The tarpon in the area rolled and rolled and rolled but didn’t want to eat. We weren’t giving up. Pete continued to cast and I sat behind him with the camera to hopefully get the jumping shot I was dying for. Persistence and patience paid off, Pete hooked a smaller tarpon (probably about 30 pounds). Again, there was a huge commotion with all kinds of different instructions being told to him at once. The fish jumped a few times and then the line broke. The devastation on everyone’s face was evident. 

Capt. Mark was “guiding” Pete through the catch on what to do, different than when you catch a bass. Both were on the front deck so I was sure I had pictures of hairy legs and no pictures of the jumping tarpon. However, I was surprised that thanks to my catlike reflexes and a terrific camera, I got the jumping shot! I know that Pete would have rather had the fish in the boat, but there is still evidence of him fighting a tarpon (his second). 

We decided to go and catch more ladyfish and then head in to switch from Mark’s flats boat to his center console and see what our luck would bring us on a last chance effort at the bridges and channels. Well, we saw some rollers but came up short, story of my life. As they say, that is why they call it fishing and not catching. 

Capt. Mark worked so hard, kept us out late and just really went above and beyond his duties. He was disappointed even though we truthfully told him we had a blast. We learned so much about the backcountry, tarpon fishing and why they are such A-holes. In fact, we are already trying to figure out when we should go back!

Back at the marina we learned that everyone in the group either caught or hooked a tarpon – that provided some relief to this trip planner. They also caught many other species, including snook, redfish, permit, tripletail and tons of sharks.

Our final evening’s dinner was at Morada Bay, where we ate al fresco and watched the sunset. The menu had solid seafood options for everyone and the drink specials were fun and quite tasty. 

After dinner we went to the local brewery, had a few drinks and sat and talked about the great few days we had.  Everyone raised their glasses and offered cheers to Julie McCoy for putting together a flawless trip. 

Departure Day

Our flight wasn’t until 3:30 pm so we were able to sleep in a bit and took off around 9:00 am in order to stop if we saw something we thought worthwhile, such as a tackle store. (Pete always likes to stop at the local tackle store, I have learned to embrace these stops (happy husband, happy wife). The back seat drivers decided to stop in South Beach, Miami, for lunch as some of our group hadn’t ever been.  

After lunch, we headed to the airport, dropped off the car, went through security and made it to our gates with plenty of time to chill before getting on the plane and heading home to the suck. 

This trip was a long time in the making and when you have others relying on you for things that may be out of your hands you still worry that everyone has a good time.  The fact that over the weekend we saw Facebook posts, received emails and phone calls from the group about the great time they had means that I can check this off my goals list for 2022 (OK maybe I didn’t catch a tarpon but I caught the tarpon fever!!).