Tarpon Fishing at Anna Maria Island: Bean Point, the Beach Trough, and Tampa Bay's Front Door

Anna Maria Island is the southern gatepost of the Tampa Bay tarpon migration, and from May through July it offers some of the most consistent big-fish water on the coast. The marquee spot is Bean Point, the island's north tip, where the Gulf beach wraps into Passage Key Inlet at the mouth of Tampa Bay.

Tarpon stage here in strings and daisy chains, and on the strong outgoing tides around the new and full moons, crabs flush out of the bay and the fish feed on top. Time your session to the tide charts, because moving water makes this fishery.

Idle or pole the trough that parallels the whole island in 8–20 feet, look for rollers at first light, and lead the string with a live pass crab, threadfin, or scaled sardine on a 5/0–7/0 circle hook and 60–80 lb fluorocarbon. Calm mornings in late May and June are the prime windows.

Passage Key Inlet itself is a bird sanctuary on the island side — no landing — but the water fishes well, and the passes-and-inlets guide has the layout. Launch at Kingfish Boat Ramp on the Manatee Avenue causeway, rebuilt after the 2024 hurricanes with around 50 trailer spots (see the boat-ramp directory), and you are 10 minutes from the point.

Statewide rules hold here: tarpon are catch-and-release only, fish over 40 inches stay in the water (FWC tarpon rules), and a fast fight on heavy leader beats a long one on light gear — the hammerheads that follow these schools tax slow releases. If the beach turns rough, the fish often slide inside toward the shipping channel and the flats off the Bulkhead.