Bridge fishing for tarpon means anchoring up-current of a bridge span and presenting live bait to the big fish that stage in the shadows, waiting for the tide to funnel an easy meal through the pilings. There are forty-two bridges in the Florida Keys and most of them hold tarpon, so this is one of the most productive ways to catch one. In this How 2 Tuesday I sit down with Captain Anthony Vargas, who runs our boat at Hawks Cay and does a tremendous amount of bridge fishing, to cover bridge fishing one-oh-one.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
You approach the bridge slowly, watch how the other boats are positioned, and run up through the bridge to set up from the bay side so you are not crossing anyone's lines. Anchor ahead of your span with a big claw anchor and heavy chain so it has time to set, then fish down tide toward the ocean. Tarpon stage at bridges because the tide funnels bait through the spans and gives big fish an easy, sheltered place to ambush a meal. Match your setup to the tide and you put yourself right in the strike zone.
Captain Anthony Vargas runs about the biggest claw anchor he can find, rigged with heavy chain and a rope that has quick-release loops and a float already attached. The moment a tarpon eats, he tosses the loop and float overboard and is instantly free to chase the fish. He also rigs a breakaway zip tie at the front of the anchor, so if it lodges in the rocks he can pull hard, pop the tie, and retrieve it from the front. With current ripping through a bridge, that quick-release float is close to a necessity.
Live silver mullet six to fourteen inches are the top bait, with live pilchards and pinfish as solid backups. Vargas runs an eight to ten foot shot of fifty to eighty pound fluorocarbon spliced to the main line with a double uni knot, choosing the heavier end when the tarpon are not leader shy. For mullet he likes a six-aught to eight-aught light circle hook, and he scales down to a four-aught or five-aught circle for smaller pilchards and pinfish. He typically fishes just two rods so he can clear the deck fast when a fish eats.
Vargas likes the outgoing tide, fishing down tide toward the ocean with his stern anchored under the arch. His favorite window is the very end of the outgoing, with the beginning of it a close second, because as the tide slacks the bait that had been rushing through the span just sits there confused, and the tarpon go crazy on it. If tide is not a factor, he loves the evening bite from about four-thirty to eight-thirty, when bait is moving and the fish feed up before night.
Closer than you might be comfortable with at first. There are forty-two bridges in the Florida Keys and most hold tarpon, but popular spans like Long Key get crowded, so you have to share. Run through the bridge and set up from the bay side so you never cross anyone's lines, give every boat a calm, no-wake pass, and pick from the numbered spans that are open. Fishing tight to other anglers takes some getting used to, but good etiquette is part of bridge fishing one-oh-one.
Reset immediately. A lot of people underestimate how hard the tide rips at a bridge like Long Key, drop too small an anchor, and start dragging. The danger is getting pinned against the bridge wall, which is genuinely bad news. That is exactly why Vargas runs an oversized claw with heavy chain and anchors well ahead of his span, giving the anchor plenty of time to bite before he ever reaches the bridge. The second you feel it slipping, pull up and go set it again.
Here are the steps Anthony and I walk through. We cover the details and stories behind each one in the episode.
We unpack each of these in the episode. Press play in the player above.
A bridge concentrates everything a big tarpon wants. The tide pushes bait through the spans, the pilings break the current, and the fish stage in the shadow lines waiting to ambush. Anthony explains how he reads which span to fish and how he isolates a starting point on a bridge as big as Long Key. I get into all of it with him in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The quick-release loop with a float already attached is, in my opinion, an absolute necessity here. The second a tarpon eats, it is going straight back through the bridge and zig-zagging you through the pilings, and you have seconds to get the boat moving. Anthony walks through his oversized claw, heavy chain, and breakaway rig in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Live silver mullet is Anthony's first choice, and the very end of the outgoing tide is his favorite window, when the bait stalls in the slack and the tarpon light up. He paints the picture of his ideal Long Key conditions, stern anchored under the arch, fishing toward the ocean on that evening bite. I have him describe it in detail in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Bridge fishing rewards preparation and etiquette. Set up clean from the bay side, anchor early with the right gear, match your bait and hooks to the conditions, and time the outgoing tide, and you give yourself a real shot at a bridge tarpon.
Captain Anthony Vargas runs our boat at Hawks Cay and is a spectacular dude and an even better camera-boat driver on Saltwater Experience. If you want to fish the spots we show on the television show, Anthony knows where they all are. Press play in the player above.
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
Captain Anthony Vargas · tarpon · bridge fishing · Hawks Cay · Long Key Bridge · Channel 5 · Florida Keys · silver mullet · pilchards · pinfish · claw anchor · double uni knot · circle hooks · How 2 Tuesday · Saltwater Experience
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill or lesson at a time, from fishing technique and gear to the habits that make you a better angler, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
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