I WANT TO DO SOME TARPON FISHING AND NEED HELP FINDING A GUIDE. ANY SUGGESTIONS? WOULD LIKE TO GO TO GALVESTON, FREEPORT OR WITHIN DRIVING DISTANCE FROM DFW.

I've never used this guy, but he has been around for a while.

http://www.texastarponguides.com/

My advice--
if you want to tarpon fish-- fish texas.
If you want to catch tarpon -- fish florida.
I spent a small fortune trying to catch tarpon
in Texas and Belize, with a total of one strike
in several days of fishing. On my last trip
to Key West, it took about 2 minutes to hook-up.
On my best tarpon trip, in 4 hours, we jumped
7 landing 4. Almost half the fishing time was
spent on two big fish . Once the tide went
slack , we moved to the reef and had a blast
throwing topwaters to baracuda.
If you hire a texas guide- asked how many
fish they landed VS days fished.
Good luck
MO

I agree with the "Fish Tarpon in Texas, Catch Tarpon in Florida" deal...

But, I'd much rather CATCH a tarpon in Texas, then to catch one in florida.
Catching a Tarpon in texas is like a 10lb Bass, some people fish their whole life and never touch one.
Catching a Tarpon in Florida is like catching a 25" red on the jetties, it's very common.

I've hooked/lost one in Florida, in the 4 days I fished there, all off the bank in the middle of winter (40-50* weather). I've fished Texas my whole life and only seen a few...

Just a different way to look at it!

I'd be curious to know what the catch rate is for the Tarpon guides..

I, too, have long dreamed of tarpon fishing. I have done a little research by talking to guides and those that have fished in both areas (Texas and Florida).

I met a really nice guy on a party boat. He told me that he's fished with Silver King outfitter out of Galveston about eight times, if memory serves. He said that he had landed only one fish in all of those trips, but that he'd hooked nine before he'd actually landed one. I have the impression from talking to others that this is pretty typical of Texas tarpon fishing.

I do believe that Silver King is pretty well set up to chase tarpon in the Galveston area, but the fact remains that Galveston tarpon can't hold a candle to Florida. I have come to the conclusion that it's better to make a run to Florida. Or maybe even Trinidad...

I've fished for, and caught Tarpon in Costa Rica.

I live 2 hours from the TX coast and I have a boat of sufficent size to go for TX tarpon. I don't do it because my fishing time is too precious. If I need to catch another tarpon(yes. Lord, please let me! ) I'm going to Florida. I believe you WILL catch lots of 4 5 foot long sharks on your TX Tarpon trip. A great day on the water, I'm sure, but the odds of catching a trapon are far less here than in FL. (darn it) RichG

Believe it or not, the largest Tarpon I have ever seen was off of a party boat out of dolphin docks, when I was about 10yrs old. It was in the 6ft range and the guy was extremely pissed off that he had to release it, or mount it. They revived it and released it, huge fish!

There was also a very large tarpon caught off of the Bob Hall Pier last year that I saw on the website...They are out there, just hard to catch!

Texas used to have a great tarpon fishery, for some reason they disappeared. They are making
a comeback and some are caught, but it is
tough fishing. The fact that there are lots of them in florida doesn't take anything away from
the experience of having one on the line. It may
be common , but is nothing like catching a redfish. ( funny how people see things differently-- I have heard some refer to redfish
as " sea-carp")
If Florida is not an option-- just go for
blacktip shark. You will not be disappointed( good fight , some will jump and they are good to
eat) and if you get lucky and hook a tarpon--
wonderful.
I would love to catch a tarpon in Texas also,
and if the fishery continues to improve, maybe
someday we all will.
Good luck
MO

MO,

Funny you should mention 'Sea-Carp'.

When I was in florida, it seemed that a lot of people were nothing more then irritated by Redfish. They considered them 'pests' and hated to catch them (snook, grouper, and tarpon fisherman). My Uncle-in-law is the head park ranger at Fort DeSoto near St. Pete, and he is not a fan of redfish. His mainstay is grouper, snook, and tarpon. Weird how that works...he calls them rubber mouths or something like that...I can't remember.

Snook is on my list of fish I have not
caught. I will make a trip to the everglades
one of these years and mark that one off. Maybe
I will look into a location where I can catch
snook and roosterfish on the same trip.
That would just about complete my inshore
"want to catch " list.
good luck
MO

Mo,

I caught a few snook in DeSoto while I was down there. They would get land locked during low tide, and get caught in the tide pools. They eat all of the available food and once it's gone, they will hit anything that touches the water. It was kind of too easy, but still a blast, and they are still a tough fish to catch.

It was the middle of winter, so I guess a snook is a snook, no matter how you catch it...especially during the middle of winter. I was told that they hug the residential canals during the winter months because the water is warmer, but I didn't get to test the theory.

I've heard of a lot of snook caught in deep south texas, also out at big shell....and you will occassionally see one in the middle coast.

I have yet to touch one in Texas, but plan to eventually!

Roosterfish...now that's a 'Want to Mount' fish...

Shawn