Night Tarpon Fishing — Miami, FL

Night Tarpon
Fishing in Miami

World-Class Tarpon Under the Miami Skyline

There is nothing in fishing like it: the Miami skyline glowing on the water, the city quiet behind you, and a hundred-pound tarpon erupting through the surface six feet in the air with your line attached. Night tarpon fishing in Miami isn't just a charter — it's the most electric few hours you can spend on the water in Florida.

MB Snookin runs private night fishing charters targeting world-class tarpon in the shadow lines, channels, and bridges of Biscayne Bay and downtown Miami. If the Silver King is on your bucket list, this is how you cross it off.

Why Tarpon Fishing Is Better After Dark

Miami's tarpon feed hardest at night, and the city itself is the reason. Bridge and dock lights create sharp shadow lines where tarpon hang like torpedoes, ambushing shrimp, crabs, and baitfish swept past on the tide. Instead of blind-casting open water, you're hunting visible, feeding fish — watching them roll, picking your shot, and feeding the exact fish you want to hook.

These aren't juveniles, either. Miami's night fishery regularly produces tarpon from 50 pounds to well over 100 — drag-screaming, backing-into fish that jump like nothing else that swims. Every fish is fought and released boatside, healthy, so the fishery stays world-class.

Your Captain: Mateo Burrell

Captain Mateo Burrell has been chasing tarpon since he landed his first one at five years old in the Florida Keys. Today he's a full-time inshore guide featured in Saltwater Sportsman, with a social following (@mbsnookin) built on one thing: big fish, caught consistently. He knows which lights hold fish on which tides, how to present a bait so a tarpon can't refuse it, and — most importantly — how to coach you through the fight so your fish ends up boatside instead of thrown off on the first jump.

Never tarpon fished before? You're in good hands. Capt. Mateo specializes in walking first-timers through the "bow to the king" — and there's no better classroom than a lit-up Miami night.

5-hour
private charter

$700

(includes 2 anglers)

Additional
anglers

$50

per person

Extra
time

$100

per hour

Miami holds tarpon essentially year-round, with the spring migration (March–June) producing the biggest numbers of giant fish and the winter shrimp runs lighting up the bridge bite. Outgoing tides after dark are money. Tell us your dates and Capt. Mateo will line your trip up with the best tide and moon windows available.