If you like to sight-fish for tarpon with fly rod, then Sarasota is the best place that you've never heard about to do it. The tarpon have started to show up and it gets better as the water heats up.
A friend of mine, Rick Grassett, specializes in sight-fishing for tarpon and has done well over the past 10 years. He finds them in 3 to 6 feet of water over white sand. They're fairly easy to see.
And these are mostly big fish. Most go 125 pounds or more.
For this, you'll want a 12-weight rod, floating or clear sinktip line and 60- to 80-pound fluorocarbon bite tippet. We've had as many as 30 shots a day. Some days, you get only a few.