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Tarpon in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico Fishing

 Puerto Rico has some good offshore fishing for pelagics such as Marlin and Wahoo in season but to me the overlooked gem of this island is the Tarpon fishing.  The Torrecilla Lagoon right near the airport offers fantastic Tarpon fishing all year round, although the bigger fish come into the lagoons more in the winter months. There are Tarpon of all sizes in the lagoon and some good guides to take you out.  You can step off the plane and literally be on a boat with a rod in your hand 20 minutes after leaving the airport.  The name of the game here is live bait, usually Sand Perch for the bigger ones and sardines for the smaller ones.  However, they can sometimes be taken on artificials.  The fishing area is pretty small, but it has never been particularly crowded when I have gone.  I was told by one of the fishing guides that culturally Puerto Ricans are not that into sport fishing.  That’s fine; more fish for me.  All Tarpon are released here as they should be.

There is also a good fishery for Peacock Bass in some of the lakes here such as Carraizo, although they top out around 10lbs and anything over 6lbs is a big fish.  There are also some exotics like Jaguar and Midas Cichlids as well as Largemouth Bass.  This guy can put you on the Peacock Bass and exotics as well as the Tarpon:  http://www.peacockbassandtarpontours.com/bass-fishing.php  

This guy is excellent for the Tarpon:  http://extremefishingpr.com/

Click Here for the Species Pages to find out how to catch these or click on a pic below to enlarge: