Puerto Rico is one of the most popular resort destinations for Caribbean travelers, most of whom stroll right past the capital city’s feast of tarpon on the fly.

Dawn is breaking, and 40-pound tarpon are pushing wakes and rolling lazily over the calm surface of Laguna San Juan. Their body language tells us they are not feeding yet, but we think that’s about to change. The lights of office buildings glimmer on the far shore. Above us, flags of Puerto Rico and the United States line the Teodoro Moscoso Bridge. It is a weekday in June, and we are the only boat on this sprawling lagoon in the heart of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

I am fly fishing with Capt. Till Brauser, one of the island’s most experienced tarpon guides. We had arrived on the scene in style, in his vintage Hewes Bonefisher, after navigating a network of mangrovelined lagoons and narrow canals. Our hope is to intercept the early morning tarpon bite here on the west side of San Juan’s international airport.
Brauer is pleased with the windless morning, the calm surface, and the early shows of tarpon. “Man, this is beautiful. We are very lucky, ” he says. “They are all around us, and we’ll watch for them to get organized.” We plan to start out trying for one of the larger fish in the open lagoon and then move into the canals to target San Juan’s famous baby tarpon later in the morning.

Little strips and clumps of baitfish start to dimple the water around the boat. Brauer points to a sizable fish moving broadside to us, and we make hurried casts, trying to lead the fish. The sound of a fly reel going off shatter the morning calm.