Am planning to head to southern Florida and the Keys in either late March or early April of 2016 with the intent of trying to fulfill my dream of catching a tarpon, but am also interested in shark. Given we will be flying there, I've resigned myself to the fact we will need to hire a guide which is something I've never done before. Any suggestions on places to go or reputable guides that won't cost me an arm and a leg? Also, is there a certain time within the months of March and April that would give the best odds of catching a tarpon?

Thanks for any advice you are willing to share and if you prefer to do so via private message, that is fine.

March/April would be a little early for the main tarpon run in
the keys. Late April thru May would be better. Theirs always a
chance of catching one but the peak season is far better.
Sharks on the other hand are always a fairly easy target.
There are lots of good guides thruout the keys. In the central
keys/Marathon area Buddy Lapoint would be hard to beat for
anything that swims. Call early.

Thanks for the input.

I agree with the central Keys suggestion. I've been three times for bonefish and tarpon and was never disappointed, but once spent five days sitting on my butt in Key West because everything was blown out by wind. Islamorada, Marathon... these are world-class fishing destinations, so the best guides are often booked way in advance. As with hunting, do your homework and check references.

i have always had good luck fishing around marathon for tarpon
May on..

For those of you who think I only shoot stuff, here, from the central Keys, are a 10 lb. bonefish... and a thumper tarpon. :-)

I think" thumper" is an understatement,,nice fish

Awesome fish KW, any guide references you would be willing to pass on?

PM's welcome.

Bwana, yobuck's right. Sharks are pretty easy to find and attract to hit. Tarpon can be picky sometimes, even when presentation, tide, bait are all correct. But, get a good one on and you're in for a workout.

Nice fish, KW. "Thumpin" is what he/she was probably doing to the bottom of your skiff and shoulder blades.

Here's pic of a young fella' bigmouth bass fisherman named Francisco I taught how to go after big snook in the brackish canals around here using a strategy I call "poor man's outrigger".
He was already a savvy bass fisherman, so didn't take much teaching so he could land this 40" 17 lb'er that had recently dropped her roe. She went back in..


Here's a pic of another local young diehard fisherman friend, Alonzo, with a nice 12 lb'er taken from another local canal.



And, here's me with a little 7-8 lb peanut out of Snake Creek, Everglades National Park.