Capt Brian Vaughn, Off The Hook Fishing Charters, with a recent tarpon catch
It looks like I'll be missing out at shots for tarpon for 2026, but there's always next year. Just like learning striped bass starting almost 20 years ago it'll take me a bit to get caught up on these fish which invade the Lowcountry during the summer months.
What I've come to learn is this, thanks to several on-line resources. There's two species, the Atlantic Tarpon and the Indo-Pacific Tarpon. And the Atlantic Tarpon migration can be broken down into the West (Gulf of America) and East Coast (Atlantic Ocean). It kinda sounds like the East and West Coast rivalry that happened in the rap world in the 1990's between Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur.
And while I'll never be able to learn there about tarpon around the world I guess I can take a shot at tarpon and their migration up around the Lowcountry. One of the hotspots is the waters in and around the Port Royal Sound which sits between Hilton Head Island and Beaufort.
The Boat House sits roughly 20 minutes from the Broad River Bridge boat ramp which you can see in the upper left of the map above. If I'm thinking of fishing out front there's closer ramps to put in at.
I'm learning tarpon and 75 degree water temperatures go hand in hand. The fish, at least the ones they see in South Carolina, winter over in Florida and then make their way up into the Lowcountry around the beginning of July and then split when the first cold spell hits.
In addition to the temps the available baits also come into play. Mullet begin their southerly migration and just like we see, or once saw, with striped bass and that second week of September mullet bite, tarpon, redfish, and sharks feast on those perfect meal sized baits. One thing I know is that Popovic's Siliclone, which I could never get right, or Hollow Fleye's will work perfectly when I'm not trying to trick the predator fish with crab and small minnow patterned flies.
