I made my first trip down to the Florida Keys this past November and of course, with how much I like tarpon I had to go feed one. So I did the tourist thing and visited Robbie’s of Islamorada on our first full day down in the Keys when we had about an hour to kill before a snorkeling tour. Located right off of U.S. Highway 1 (Overseas Highway) on the right as you cross the bridge onto Lower Matecumbe Key. Robbie’s has shops set up out front of the dock as well as a waterside restaurant that lets you watch all the tarpon craziness going on. They are also a fully functioning marina that has several outdoor activities available for people to partake in such, as boat tours, snorkeling, boat rentals, jet ski rentals, and fishing charters.
Fishing Coverage on AllOutdoor
While I would have loved to go out on a party boat trip to chase after some patch reef yellowtail or whatever was biting, we were running on limited time that day. We had a 20-minute drive back up to Tavernier to meet the boat, so this was the perfect activity to get the most out of our time. A short little adventure before having to make our way back up north U.S. Highway 1.
When you pull into the parking lot you will see a lot is going on at Robbie’s, there are several shops selling different souvenirs and apparel. Once you get inside Robbie’s propper you just see about every wooden surface covered in dollar bills, except for the tarpon. As the sign says don’t put dollar bills on the tarpon, do not the tarpon. Make your way through the center towards the drink coolers and you will find a manned register where you pay for admission or fish to feed to the tarpon.
So there are two costs to get access to the tarpon feeding area. You can just pay $2.50 per person for entry just to walk around the tarpon feeding area. But that’s not what most people are here for. The buckets of baitfish to feed to the tarpon cost an additional $5 per bucket. Each bucket has anywhere from 5 to 8 baitfish, this day it all looked like alewives/pilchards. Though it might be something else another day. Not going to lie this was definitely the most I’ve ever paid for some dead alewives, right under $1 a piece with 6 bait to the bucket.
Bucket of dead fish in hand we went past the register and out onto the dock. To the right, you can see the outdoor eating area of Robbie’s restaurant, a good use of old busted fishing rods for an interesting-looking fence. To the left, you can see the water just boiling with a mess of big tarpon. These fish know the deal and are very ready for a free meal. The smallest of the tarpon probably ranged into the 50lb range with the largest one I saw being well into the 150lb+ size being well over 6ft long.
The tarpon understand very well what is going on here, they will gather around anyone right near the edge of the dock expecting a treat. They will eyeball you trying to see if you have a bait for them. It’s honestly super cool to be so close to impressive fish, they are called the silver king for a reason. The closest I’d ever been to one of these in the wild before was 25ft up from the pier so this was a nice treat. Beyond just the tarpon, the dock had a bunch of pelicans, these birds are assholes. They will bite the piss out of you if given the chance. They will steal your bait from your hand or bucket if you don’t pay attention to where they are. I saw at least three other tourists get their baits stolen while we were there. Robbie’s even has grate put up under the dock to make sure pelicans can’t hide under the dock and snap at any hands that come down.
To feed the tarpon grab the bait by its tail in a pinch grip, and bring it pretty close to the water. Make sure to keep the bait bucket in front of you to help keep the pelicans from stealing your fish. Then just wait, the tarpon have excellent eyesight and will size up the bait. Then just wham a 50 to 150+lb fish will burst out of the water and inhale the bait. Most of the time, they will just grab the bait, but a couple of times they inhaled my whole hand eating the bait. Also, don’t be that asshole who tries to grab and pick up the tarpon out of the water. It’s terrible for the fish and you’ll get kicked out of Robbie’s so fast it’ll make your head spin.
Once you’re out of bait, you don’t have to leave right away you can just stay and take in the sights, just be sure to leave your empty bucket at the table. There is plenty to see besides just the tarpon, this big nurse shark came out from under the dock as well to see if it could snag a bite to eat as well. When you’re done though just head out the exit gate, and walk around some like we did. The shops were pretty neat and a couple had some cool shot glasses we grabbed for our collection. If you have a little time to kill in the middle Keys I definitely recommend you make a stop here.
