The long, silvery fish launched into the air, twisting and cartwheeling crazily before crashing back into the water. Then, it began a smoking run toward far away places.

Holding the rod, I felt like the man in the story "Acres of Diamonds," who left home and searched throughout the world for diamonds for years without success. Finally, after returning home, he discovered that his house was sitting atop a mother lode of the precious gems. Like this character, I had found my own acres of diamonds—tarpon, in this case—almost in my own backyard.

Captain Keith Kalbfleish and I had been trolling live bait just off the beach south of Port Canaveral. I was only an hour’s drive from my home near Orlando—just two cups of coffee away, in fact. Like many anglers, I’ve visited Florida’s famous tarpon hotspots—Boca Grande Pass, the Florida Keys and others. On this June morning, I was reminded of the great tarpon fishing available on our central Atlantic coastline.

While I fought my fish, Keith wasted no time reeling in the two remaining lines, rigged with live menhaden that we’d been slow-trolling from the stern. He then grabbed the wheel, eased the boat seaward and bought me some extra line.

The fish settled in for a strong, steady run. Then, suddenly, just after Keith killed the engine, the tarpon made a turn back toward our boat. I reeled like crazy to take up the slack, worried that I had lost the fish. This happened twice.

The frequency of its jumps increased with its proximity to the boat, making the end-game even more exciting. Finally, we worked the fish alongside the gunwale for a few photos. The fish decided when the posing would end.

"I can’t hold him much longer," Keith warned. "He’s strong and he’s coming around!"

"One more shot," I pleaded. The tarpon cooperated, but then it suddenly jerked out of Keith’s hands, splashed water on both of us and sped away as if it had never been hooked.

I really enjoy fishing for tarpon off Port Canaveral with Keith. Our friend Bob Abernethy usually fishes with us, but he had to work that day. We can fish the three of us comfortably out of Keith’s boat. Occasionally, we take Bob’s 20-foot bay boat out, but usually we go in Keith’s versatile 17-footer. Fishing out of the port to the south is convenient, productive and, on a calm day, does not require a large boat to get to the fish. In fact, we have been turned back by rough seas only once out of the past four trips. We fish from just off the beaches to a half-mile offshore most of the time. On summer mornings, it’s common to have a westerly breeze, which makes for slick-calm water this close to shore.

When everything comes together, and you have dependable reports of fish in the area, you’ll want to be ready to fish on short notice. Keith phoned me the night before our last trip, just as I had started to pack for a Montana trout-fishing trip that I would leaving on in less than 32 hours.

"I had a last minute cancellation from a client, would you like to go tarpon fishing early tomorrow morning?" he asked.

"Does a bullfrog like to jump?" I answered. "What time do you want me to meet you?"

I met Keith at the Port Canaveral launch ramp at 6 a.m., backed his boat into the water as he fired up his outboard and soon we were off seeking baitfish inside the port. In less than half an hour, Keith had caught enough menhaden (pogies) in his big cast net for a full day of fishing.

Next, we headed south out of the port for several miles and began trolling live baitfish in 30-plus feet of water just off the beaches. After trolling three lines for 30 minutes without a strike, we reeled in the baits and headed out to slightly deeper water. After re-baiting and dropping the three lines back into the water, Keith began another slow, zig-zagging troll. It’s nuances like this that often pay off.

In less than 10 minutes in our new location in 38 feet, the tarpon struck, Keith yelled and I grabbed the rod. By 9 a.m., before the summer sun had had enough time to heat up the day, we had already caught our first tarpon. The day was young, so I would have plenty of time to pack before my trip out West.

When tarpon have not yet arrived to the beaches in the Canaveral area, or have contracted a bad case of lockjaw, jack crevalle, king mackerel, sharks and a variety of other species fill in to take their place. They’re all fun to catch, but nothing compares to a big silver king dancing atop the water.

If you want to give summer beach tarpon a try, here’s the basic drill. This is the method we use off Port Canaveral, but really it works anywhere along the fish’s summer migratory route.

Catching baitfish is first on the list. Try inside the port or just off the beaches and use a 10-foot, 3/4- to 1-inch mesh, heavy-weighted cast net. Use pogies (Atlantic menhaden), Spanish sardines or greenies (threadfin herring) for bait. If you can’t locate schools of menhaden to net, try using a sabiki rig along the channel markers just outside the port for threadfin herring and Spanish sardines. Don’t try to catch menhaden on sabiki rigs; they are algae feeders and won’t hit the rigs. Use your cast net for these.

After catching your baitfish and leaving the port, head south (the area to the north along Cape Canaveral was long the most productive fishing area, but it has been closed since 9-11 for security reasons).

Troll at a slow speed of 1 knot in 20 to 40 feet of water along the beaches (from 200 yards to a mile off the shoreline). The best time for tarpon is from sunup to 9 a.m. You get a second shot if it clouds up in the afternoons, or after summer showers. Tarpon action usually slows after 9 a.m., but fishing for kings, big jacks, barracudas and sharks often picks up later in the day.

We use smaller TLD-15 levelwind reels on limber 20-pound rods so that the baits live longer. Troll three lines off the stern (we don’t use outriggers).

Using a double-uni or no-name knot, tie 8 to 10 feet of 50-pound fluorocarbon to your main line (we like braided lines). This is your base leader that you can adjust for tarpon or toothy critters. For tarpon, add three feet of 80-pound fluorocarbon and a 10/0 circle or a 7/0 octopus hook. For kings, ‘cudas and sharks, add 10 to 12 inches of 60-pound braided wire. Hook the baitfish in the clear cartilage area just in front of the eyes.

Set drag at three pounds and increase to six pounds while fighting fish after hookup. Begin trolling from shallow to deeper water; go back and forth. If you see tarpon rolling, don’t cut into the fish. Try to troll or drift in the direction the fish are moving.

Drop one line 100 to 200 yards behind the boat and be sure to monitor it on the way out to avoid a bird’s nest in case a fish slams the baitfish. Troll a second line 70 to 100 feet back and a third just 30 feet behind the boat. A flashy set of teasers just behind the boat helps attract tarpon.

One of the advantages of fishing in a smaller boat is that it’s easier to maneuver when doing this type of fishing. When a fish hits and one angler is fighting the fish, the other anglers need to reel the other two lines in quickly. When Bob Abernethy was fishing with Keith and me, we had two fish on at the same time several times. When that happens, things can get real interesting.

Once you hook up, aim the boat toward the fish and keep the line tight as you regain line. Once you’ve gained line, kill the motor and fight the tarpon from a dead boat, walking the deck and always keeping the rod pointed toward the fish. Do the dance!

When you get the fish near the boat, make sure the motor is trimmed so that the fish won’t run into it and cut your line. When the fish goes under the boat, point the rod straight down under the water and the fish will eventually swim back around.

When the fish tires and you get it to the boat, remove the hook or cut the line while the fish is still in the water. These are big fish and you really don’t want to deal with a tarpon inside your boat—especially if you’re in a small boat. Also, the tarpon has a better chance for survival if you free it without bringing it aboard.

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see big schools of tarpon rolling like you see at Boca Grande. You may see only an occasional roll, but the tarpon are there—just off the beaches south of Port Canaveral—as they are just off the beaches of both coasts of Florida.