The tarpon: the silver king of the flats

The tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) is the silver king of the flats: a huge, silver fish of the warm Atlantic that can grow past 2.5 m, breathes air by gulping it at the surface, and leaps when hooked, flashing its big mirror-like scales. Those leaps, and the patience it takes to fool one, have made it one of the most famous fish in sport fishing.

Why the tarpon is called the silver king

Its sides are covered in very large silver scales. When a tarpon jumps they catch the light like a sheet of mirrors, and that flash gave the fish its nickname. Our embroidered tarpon keeps those big scales, in silver and navy. See the Tarpon design.

A fish that breathes air

A tarpon can gulp air from the surface. Its swim bladder is modified with spongy tissue and connected to its throat, so it works almost like a lung, and young tarpon must breathe air to survive. This lets tarpon live in warm, still water with little oxygen, where other predators struggle. Anglers often spot them by the roll they make when they come up to breathe. Adults roll and gulp air even in water rich in oxygen, and some researchers think they learn it by copying other tarpon.

How big tarpon get, and how long they live

Females, which grow larger than males, can exceed 2.5 m and approach 161 kg. Tarpon live a long time: males can pass 30 years and females 50, and a female kept at an aquarium lived to 63. Like bonefish and eels, tarpon begin life as a transparent, ribbon-shaped larva before they take the shape of a fish.

Where tarpon live

Tarpon live on both sides of the Atlantic. In the east they range along West Africa from Senegal to the Congo; in the west from Nova Scotia and Bermuda south to Argentina, through the Caribbean and Central and South America. They use coastal waters, estuaries, lagoons and mangrove shores.

The tarpon and the flats grand slam

On tropical flats, a bonefish, a permit and a tarpon caught in the same day is called a grand slam, one of the hardest days in fly fishing. All three are in our range: the Bonefish, the grey ghost of the flats, and the Permit, with its tall navy sickle fins. Most anglers release tarpon, and careful handling and reviving help it swim away strong.

From ribbon larva to giant

The tarpon larva goes through three stages over several months, and in the second one it actually shrinks, to about 14 mm, before it grows again and turns into a small fish. The young then settle in nursery areas, where they must breathe air. Adults are mainly sea fish, but they often enter river mouths and even travel upstream into fresh water, and they make long migrations to offshore spawning grounds in early summer.

Releasing a tarpon well

Most tarpon fishing is catch and release, and studies follow how well released fish survive. A tarpon that has fought hard needs time: keep it in the water and let it recover until it can swim off strongly on its own, because fish that are not revived properly may not survive.

Silver and navy

We drew our tarpon long and deep, with its big scales and its upturned mouth, in silver and navy only, because simple shapes in a few threads keep the embroidery clean and clear on a cap, where it sits about 8 cm across on the front.

A tarpon hat for the flats

If you searched for a tarpon hat, our Tarpon is machine embroidered on eight caps and hats: the bucket hat for shade on bright flats, the rope cap and trucker cap for the boat, and the snapback, dad hat, washed cap and corduroy cap for the rest of the week. It also comes on a heavyweight tee, a crewneck and a hoodie. The Tarpon is part of our Inshore line, with the redfish, the snook and the hamour. See all bucket hats.

Every piece is made for you after you order, and shipping is free.