The Southwest corner of Florida is rich in tarpon fishing history. In 1885, an angler landed the first tarpon caught on a rod and reel near Sanibel, FL. Shortly after, word spread, and the tarpon craze began. Anglers flocked to nearby Boca Grande Pass for a chance at the Silver King. The Pass is one of the deepest in Florida, reaching depths of 80 feet in places, and annually attracts hundreds of thousands of tarpon. Here, the tarpon congregate in large schools, sometimes 20 feet or more thick, as they gorge themselves on crabs and other baits before spawning. With this many fish in such a confined area, “The Tarpon Capital of the World” rose to fame, bringing new techniques with it.
The Boca Grande “Jig“
For decades, the preferred method for catching tarpon in The Pass was to use live crabs as bait. It’s what the tarpon were here to eat, and when fished properly, would draw a strike. Over 80 years ago, the first tarpon tournaments in Boca Grande also grew in popularity, as anglers sought serious prize money. Some of these tournaments, like the “World’s Richest Tarpon Tournament,” are still held today. These tournaments were big money events, and in the fight to come out on top, anglers were constantly looking for the next best thing. In the 1990s, a new “lure” from Louisiana, known as the Coon Pop, arrived on the scene. Anglers fishing these lures rocketed to the top of the leaderboards, quickly outfishing livebait captains who had been doing this for years. But was the lure that much more effective, or was there something else going on?
The Coon Pop, which later evolved into the Boca Grande Jig, features a large circle hook attached to a heavy weight with a small plastic trailing off the weight. It was originally designed to be trolled for tarpon in deeper water, to get the bait to the needed depth. When a fish bit it, the weight and plastic would break off, allowing the angler to fight the fish with just the hook, reducing the amount of leverage on the hook. In Boca Grande, however, these lures were fished vertically, as boats drifted over the large schools of tarpon below. As the line drifted through the school of fish, it would eventually bump into one, signaling a false strike. Anglers then reel down, snagging a tarpon in the clipper or one of its fins. A snagged tarpon is nearly impossible to control, often resulting in fighting the fish to death or feeding it to one of the many giant sharks that call this pass home.
Banning the Jig
As captains and concerned anglers realized what was going on, a concerted push was made to protect the fish in The Pass. In 2013, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) voted 7-0 in favor of banning the tarpon jig in Boca Grande Pass. The ruling stated, “Fishing with gear that has a weight attached to a hook, artificial fly or lure in such a way that the weight hangs lower than the hook when the line or leader is suspended vertically from the rod is prohibited when fishing for any species year-round within Boca Grande Pass.”
Tarpon snagging with the Boca Grande Jig was now illegal.
Why it Matters
Today, anglers are unfortunately still using modified versions of the original tarpon jig and snagging fish. But why is this important to fly anglers? Mass tarpon congregations like the one in Boca Grande are especially susceptible to angling mortality and predation. Every year, sharks follow this annual migration looking for an easy meal. When a fish is foul-hooked, it’s an even easier meal. For those fish that avoid sharks, they are often fought to death, and in many cases, mishandled. While this is an issue specific to Boca Grande, tarpon are highly migratory, meaning they may eventually make their way to you. With that in mind, it’s important to call attention to this ongoing issue. Although the Boca Grande Jig was banned in 2013, proper management and monitoring of the resource is still just as important to protect this resource for generations to come.
