Tarpon Cay Lodge in San Felipe, MX Yucatan

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

We have had many good trips there and lots of good memories.

Keith Kaneko, Aaron Stiny and I took a fun group there a while ago.

Owner Marco Ruz has a program there where they have a shallow marshy sanctuary area near town for tiny Tarpon.


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After we get through this Virus let me know if you want to go there........... summer is best.

https://www.flywatertravel.com/destination/TarponCayLodge

[FISHEYE]

I have been to Rio Lagartos one time and we fish the same area. I have never seen as many small tarpon as I have seen there. It was absolutely incredible.

[dynaflow]

Some great memories there Bill....may I ask out of ignorance,are Tarpon good table fish?
Thanks in advance.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Actually Tarpon and Bonefish (boney fish) are both very boney, like the Shad, so they are not very popular to eat.

I heard in some very remote areas of the tropics the Tarpon are eaten as a tradition on special occasions.

The also heard the Bonefish were ground up and used as a sauce or spread over other food?

Also I heard they netted Bonefish and used them for bait to troll for billfish in the tropics.


Supposedly Bonefish, Tarpon and Permit are classified as catch-n-release fish in Belize but I heard there was little enforcement.


In Florida I believe you need to buy a $100 tag to kill a Tarpon....so cool.


For some of these reasons I think we still have lots of Tarpon and Bonefish.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I have been to Rio Lagartos one time and we fish the same area. I have never seen as many small tarpon as I have seen there. It was absolutely incredible.

We also had Beto, our concierge at Tarpon Cay Lodge, drive us in their van over to Rio Lagarto one afternoon to a bull fight.

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[DLJeff]

Some great memories there Bill....may I ask out of ignorance,are Tarpon good table fish?
Thanks in advance.

The short answer to your question is no, tarpon are not considered good table fare. As Bill notes, they are somewhat boney. But the meat is not very consistent and often has a strange taste. For a fish that swims constantly you'd think they would have firm, solid meat but that isn't the case. I've had tarpon in Panama one time and don't recommend it. That said, people who live off the ocean do eat them. The most common method is to steam the fish, scrape the meat off the bones, and then mix with rice and capsicums and onions and make fish balls. The same goes for bonefish. In Hawai'i bonefish are known as oi'o and were often reserved for special occasions, especially weddings. They were wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in an umu (that's what we called them in Samoa, underground oven of hot rocks). Then eaten with the fingers, more or less scraping meat off the bones.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Wonderful info DLJ.......thanks.

[DLJeff]

Thanks Bill. I was going to add that a few years ago a group of us were on a live aboard in Belize. The other skiff caught a tarpon, around 70lbs, and it died. They got in the water and swam it for 20 minutes and the fish didn't make it. The guide took it ashore to a little community there and they gladly accepted it. I got the impression they honor the protected gamefish status but when the opportunity arose they jumped on it. The guide told me they eat it essentially the same way I described above.

[dynaflow]

I've eaten Bonefish and they're OK baked in the ground island style.The bones in this fish aren't a big problem as they're soft,but they're not near as good as other tropical species like Sweetlips,Coral Trout and others..

[DLJeff]

I've eaten Bonefish and they're OK baked in the ground island style.The bones in this fish aren't a big problem as they're soft,but they're not near as good as other tropical species like Sweetlips,Coral Trout and others..

Not many fish can compete with coral trout and sweet lips as table fare.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Part of the travel to remote exotic tropical destinations is the food.....