Why This Lifelong Fishing Guide Can’t Wait for Tarpon Season: It’s in His System

Tarpon fishing in the Florida Keys isn’t something to simply watch. As a seventh-generation Keys native and second-generation fishing guide, this pursuit is deeply personal to me. It has settled in my bones, and it continues to overtake my senses every time I’m on the water. It’s been that way since I started fly-fishing here at the age of 6.

It’s no exaggeration to say that much of my life revolves around the incredible fisheries of the Florida Keys. I have been a saltwater fly-fishing guide my entire adult life. Tarpon season, in particular, doesn’t just mark a time of year in the Keys; it defines it. My family jokes that there are two seasons: tarpon season and everything else. Winter gives way to early spring, and the fishery begins to shift. Cool mornings transition into the hot, sticky calm that signals the arrival of summer, and with it, the silver king. Early mornings, late nights and constant anticipation shape our rhythm of life.

In seconds, that peaceful moment turns into pure chaos. For me, it’s that swing from stillness to adrenaline that makes tarpon fishing so addictive.
—Brandon Cyr

For me, most days begin in the dark. Running the skiff across glassy water before sunrise, there’s a quiet anticipation in the air. As the first light stretches across the horizon, I hear the tarpon before I see them. The unmistakable sound of a 6-foot fish gulping air on the surface instantly fills me with possibility. Every morning feels like it could be the one.

There’s something almost spiritual about watching these fish. Tarpon have been migrating through the Keys for thousands of years. They roll softly and deliberately, metallic-hued scales flashing beneath turquoise waters, as they rise to the surface to breathe. For a moment, everything feels peaceful. A massive fish glides through calm water, existing exactly as it was meant to.

Then it happens.

A well-placed fly lands on the water’s surface, the fish tips up, and suddenly the entire ocean erupts. A hundred pounds of silver explodes from the water, shaking its head midair and ripping fly line through my hands. The jumps are violent and acrobatic, the power nearly unmatched in any other saltwater fly-fishing. In seconds, that peaceful moment turns into pure chaos. For me, it’s that swing from stillness to adrenaline that makes tarpon fishing so addictive.

But what truly keeps an angler launching a skiff at the crack of dawn is the challenge. Tarpon can be pursued in countless ways: rolling fish at sunrise, daisy-chaining schools, fast-moving ocean strings or dark-water Everglades fish. Each demands a different approach and endless patience.

That’s what makes them unforgettable. Tarpon are everything a sport fish should be: powerful, intelligent and endlessly humbling. In the Florida Keys, they are more than just a fish. They’re a tradition, an obsession and a rite of passage.

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