If you didn’t know it was there, you’d pass right by it. Lake Tarpon is not only one of Florida’s top bass lakes, but has the distinction of occupying a huge 2600 acre chunk of densely populated Pinellas County real estate.  Yet, most in this saltwater oriented community are totally unaware of what lies just beyond view in the heart of a bustling urban area. Lake Tarpon is located about 10 miles West of Tampa, and straddles two Pinellas communities. 

There are two public entrances – at Booker Creek via McMullen Booth Road and at Anderson Park to the north, with the entrance off U. S. 19. There are also a few private launch areas across the lake, but Booker Creek and Anderson Park are the two entrances that most people access.

Because it is situated so close to Tarpon Springs and saltwater fishing, Lake Tarpon is often part of half-fresh and half-saltwater fishing charter trip specialty of many local guides. According to author Larry Barker, “there are not many places in the country where you can get a top notch freshwater and a top notch saltwater experience in the same day.” And it’s not uncommon for many who fish saltwater to swing into Anderson Park at the north end of Lake Tarpon to drop their boats briefly in for a fresh water engine flush..

Barker is one of the genuine experts on Lake Tarpon is author Larry Barker who, with top bass guide Capt. Lenny Crispino, co-authored the book, “Fishing Florida's Top 10 Bass Lakes: Volume I - Lake Tarpon." Being a PhD, Barker is also a highly skilled bass angler, who many call “Dr. Bass.”  He shares this great fishing site with many other well known angling celebrities.

One of the most famous Lake Tarpon enthusiasts is ESPN’s “Bass Professor,” Doug Hannon, who lives nearby, and has fished there over the last several years. “” He has caught more tem pounders out of this lake than anyone I know,” said Barker.  “Lake Tarpon has always had great populations of good size bass and even today, with all the additional fishing pressure it gets, there’s still plenty of nice fish to be caught there.” Hannon prefers fishing during the week, when the boat and fishing traffic is down.

This year, Lake Tarpon has been a more productive bass fishing site than in recent memory. This wasn’t always the case. According to Barker, “there were a few years when SWFTMD tried to balance the lake for use by both boaters and anglers. They did quite a bit to destroy the natural cover for bass – which the boaters preferred – and quite honestly, some of the fishing went down. . “Quite honestly, Lenny and I would drive two hours to fish Lake Walk-In-Water, but now there’s no need to do that with the great fishing that’s available here on Lake Tarpon,” said Barker. “Beginning last year and into this year, it’ really picked up.”

Barker’s co author, Capt. Lenny Crispino, is proprietor of Tarpon Tom’s Bait & Tackle in Palm Harbor is not only on of the top guides on Lake Tarpon, but also a mentor and fishing buddy to Barker.  “I must confess that many years ago I gave up bass fishing and moved into saltwater,’ he said. “Then I happened to move and live on Lake Tarpon where I had to re-learn my bass fishing techniques from Capt. Lenny.”  Barker added that “I give him complete credit for whatever level of skill I have.

The most difficult aspect of bass fishing for Barker to pick up again was just how slowly one must fish a worm. “Lenny is the master at that. And he’ll often use “dead-sticking” – where you just let the bait sit and don’t do anything with it. Barker adds that this is a highly productive technique, especially in the hands of a skilled fisherman like Capt. Lenny. “Frankly though, I prefer more action using baits like the “Horny Toad,” said Barker. “I ran across it at Lake Okeechobee for the first time at a tournament. Under certain conditions, particularly with heavy top cover, you just rip that baby across the water – and it’s pure dynamite. It’s my favorite kind of bait to fish with those conditions because it’s pretty much weedless.”

In certain times of the year, especially during springtime, many Lake Tarpon fishers will work the connecting canals leading into the lake. “However, it isn’t as esthetic as the lake itself, because there are houses, office buildings and shopping malls all along these waterways,” said Barker.  “But the canals can be quite productive – especially in the early spring  -- where the larger bass are bedding.

Now launching at the ramp in Anderson Park, what would be a good direction for fishing Lake Tarpon? Barker said that newcomers to the lake would do best  if they stayed right there in Anderson Park. “Year in and year out, it’s one of the most productive fishing spots in the lake. There’s some deep water towards the mouth, and then it get shallower. The lake has a lot of hydrilla -- even though they frequently cut it back,” he advised. “The truth is you really don’t need a boat to fish Lake Tarpon, There’s that ledge on the outer side which you can actually cast to from shore.”

What are some of the best baits for these Lake Tarpon bass? 

According to Barker, it’s seasonal – and depends on one’s level of skill. There’s no question that in spring, winter and fall – golden shiners are gonna catch more than anything else – and it’s virtually impossible to out-fish them with any artificial.”

Now in the summer, barker said that shiners are not nearly as effective. “so I go with your basic plastic worm – “Florida Style” where  you have a peg in the sinker, which keeps the worm straight and doesn’t clink against the worm like a Texas rigged bait does – and will not hang up as often in the underbrush.”

As for worm colors, most prefer “Junebug.  After that the purple with the black tail is probably the second best. “And now when the bass are schooling during the early morning hours -- from late spring, into summer and the late fall, there’s a bait that Lenny and I use that is so productive that he has is own stock made, “ said Barker. “It’s a plastic shad that simulates bait shad in the lake. It’s grey, with silver specks used with anything from an 1/8^th and 3/8^th jig head.” He said the best way to work it is to jig it pretty much as one would in saltwater. “For the schooling bass, it is just dynamite. And I believe Lenny’s Tarpon Tom’s is the only place they sell that jig. Now the sizes average from 2 ½ to 3 ½ inches – and we try to go with the size of the bait.”

If you will be fishing Lake Tarpon for the first time, you would do well to swing by and make a pit stop at Tarpon Tom’s Bait & Tackle, 36717 U.S. 19, in Palm Harbor. And for more comprehensive information on the lake, pick up a copy of "Fishing Florida's Top 10 Bass Lakes: Volume I - Lake Tarpon" authored by Larry Barker and Lenny Crispino, published by BEI Outdoors Publishing - available on Amazon.com.