FORT LAUDERDALE NIGHTTIME TARPON FISHING REPORT – JULY 2025 Capt Dennis Flat Bottom Fishing Charters Region: Fort Lauderdale, Florida Time of Day: Night (5 PM – 1:00 AM) Target Species: Tarpon (20–100+ lbs) Water Temp: 83–86°F Tide Influence: Outgoing tide remains the most productive after sunset NIGHT FISHING OVERVIEW Nighttime tarpon fishing in Fort Lauderdale is hot in both action and temperature during July. As the sun goes down, the heat eases off, and tarpon become more aggressive, especially around well-lit structure like bridges, inlets, marinas, and dock lights. Using live pilchards and artificial lures after dark is one of the most consistent methods for hooking into both juvenile and trophy-class fish this time of year. PRIME NIGHTTIME LOCATIONS Bridges & Dock Lights Las Olas Bridge, Sunrise Blvd Bridge, and 17th Street Causeway are prime spots. Look for fish staging in current seams and shadow lines. Tarpon ambush bait flowing with the tide under the lights. ICW & New River Calm canal edges with overhanging docks and dim light provide cover for rolling fish. New River near downtown has been producing well around 10 PM–midnight. Port Everglades Inlet Larger tarpon are active on the outgoing tide at night, especially when bait schools flush through the channel. South side of the inlet, just past the jetty is a prime spot to find both snook and tarpon. LIVE PILCHARDS: NIGHTTIME TACTICS ✅ Setup Rod/Reel: 7′ medium-heavy spinning rod with 5000–6000 size reel Line: 30 lb braid to a 50–60 lb mono leader Hook: 5/0 circle hook, nose-hooked pilchards for freelining How to Fish Them Freeline with the current near light lines and shadow edges. Cast up-current and allow the bait to drift naturally into the strike zone. Keep the drag light — tarpon often hit without warning and go airborne fast. Try a splitshot when the current is strong to keep your bait streamlined. Hot Zones Pilchards drifted near bridge fenders and pilings are getting crushed. Fish are often suspended in 4–10 ft of water, close to structure. ARTIFICIAL LURE REPORT: NIGHT BITES ON PLASTICS & PLUGS Top Performing Lures Lure Type Recommended Models Notes Soft Swim Baits Z-Man DieZel MinnowZ, 3 & 4″ JYG Y Tail Match pilchard color: silver/green or pearl Suspending Twitchbaits MirrOlure MirrOdine XL, Yo-Zuri 3DS Minnow Work slow near light lines Topwater (Calm Nights) Rapala Skitter Walk, Heddon One Knocker Right at dusk Jigs 3/8–1/2 oz bucktail with soft plastics Cast near bridge pilings and work slow Retrieve Tips Use a slow, steady retrieve with occasional twitches near shadow lines. On slick calm nights, long pauses often trigger a strike. For suspended fish, let twitchbaits sink 3–5 seconds before working them through. MOON & TIDE INFLUENCE Moon Phase: Full Moon on July 10 — expect increased activity 2 days before and after, especially during outgoing tides. Best Tides: Outgoing tide from 9 PM to 1 AM has been most productive. Tarpon are staging at choke points, waiting for bait to flush out under dock and bridge lights. FINAL THOUGHTS Fort Lauderdale’s summer nights are alive with tarpon activity. Whether you’re freelining live pilchards near a bridge light or working a swimbait through a quiet canal, this is the time to hook into a silver king. Just remember: stay quiet, fish smart, and be ready when that drag screams and the fish takes to the air If you are in the Ft. Lauderdale/ Miami area and are looking for an inshore fishing charter give me a shout! Stay up to date on our local weather forecast And take a look at our FAQ page to see what you can do to be most prepared for your next fishing charter! Captain Dennis Crowley Flat Bottom Fishing Charters

The Shrimp Run is here and in full effect! This is one of my favorite times of the year, the Shrimp Run! Cold weather kicks off this huge flow of shrimp and the Tarpon can’t get enough! Fishing the Shrimp Run for Tarpon in Miami is one of the most exciting times of the year! Drifting by the boat by the thousands these shrimp shine like diamonds at night. Their eyes glow in the dimmest of ambient light from bridges, docks and buildings and the tarpon glide sideways just below the surface scooping as many as they can. This time of year brings out some of the biggest Tarpon, this past week we’ve hooked into some fish pushing 150LBS!! And all caught on light tackle with just a shrimp and a circle hook!! Between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale finding the bait is key. A few nights we fished downtown Miami on the incoming tide, cruised around until we started seeing the shrimp on the surface in big numbers then started drifting our baits. When the shrimp are that thick it doesn’t take long for the tarpon to show up. I’ll fish 3 lines at a time, one on a float, one on a flat line and one with a small splitshot this way we cover most of the water column on our drift. Fishing for tarpon with live shrimp can be tricky as sometimes the bite will feel like a grunt just picked you up and sometimes the fish will damn near knock the rod out of your hand. We fish open bail and when you feel a strike no matter how big or small you feed the bait to the fish for a few seconds then close the bail and hang on!! We also put in some time at Haulover, fishing close to the bridge near the slack tides when the tarpon start to roll around. That inlet has a crazy current so the bridge only has a short window where you can get a clean presentation for these big fish. Anchoring way up ahead of the bridge and drifting baits back in the current works best for me. Here in Ft Lauderdale the shrimp are just starting to show up in small numbers and the incoming tide at night has proven successful. Drifting the inlet close to the jetty is one of the most effective ways to find big fish when conditions allow. It takes some time and patience to get a clean spread out there when drifting shrimp with a few lines and as the tide and current change almost each drift is different. Take your time, get those lines out there and wait out these big fish. When the bite really turns on you can start throwing artificials out at these fish and they’ll bite. I like using the large profile shrimp lures in a white color at night. Less is more when using these lures, a slow retrieve with just a little bit of action gets the job done. It’s only gonna get better in Ft Lauderdale for tarpon fishing as the season goes on. Soon the fish will stack the bridges and the inlet and will form a consistent pattern as the shrimp start to fill in here. If you are in the Ft. Lauderdale/ Miami area and are looking for an inshore fishing charter give me a shout! This is one of the best times of the year for BIG Tarpon!!

It's been a tough fall season for tarpon fishing in Fort Lauderdale the past few weeks with all the high winds but last night we had em' goin for the entire outgoing tide. Ive been fishing with mullet for the past few trips but last night we switched it up and used shrimp and crab, getting picked up on almost every bait we threw out. Stepping down the tackle and drifting in the current keeping a few up top on floats and a few down on split shot hooking up on every drift. The bridges paid off until the current was too strong then we moved into nearby canals just out of the wind and current and got right back on em'. Fishing light tackle near structure is always a challenge, there's a big tradeoff between getting the presentation right and having enough pulling power to get em' off the bridge. It's what makes this kind of fishing so much fun! Using the current and the boat to help you land these big fish. If you are in the Fort Lauderdale/ Miami area and are looking for an Inshore Fishing Trip give me a shout! Captain Dennis Crowley Flat Bottom Fishing Charters **hidden content** **hidden content** Find me on Instagram @flatbottomcharters