Like many of you I’ve been a fishing addict, since I was 4. It’s been a dream of mine to catch a tarpon for many, many years. I usually only get to Florida for a week, or two each year, so this was kind of a bucket list thing for me.
I’ll get to the story, but first want to thank a few people who helped make this happen. First to my family for supporting my tarpon obsession, and to the Marshalls who vacationed with us, and took these great photos. Rik and Zero-six, thank you for all the sound advice, over the last year, you helped with considering safety aspects, tackle selection, techniques to tire fish quickly, and revive them, I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge. Lastly thanks to Al at Economy Tackle for setting me up with a kayak, waiting for mine to come in.
Last July I was unsuccessful… I had hooked a couple of tarpon, one shook the hook, one my reel jammed and broke off. Then I had a long fight with a big shark, but all I wanted was a tarpon…
This year was going to be different. I had heavier tackle, a drift chute, and saw lots of fish every morning. I had been fishing mostly in the mornings, with pinfish. I just couldn’t seem to find bait along the shore, or schools of threadfins out in deeper water. I had tussled with a couple of big sharks, had two tarpon smash pinfish, and not get hooked. Near the end of our vacation, I saw some bait near the shore, and managed to catch some nice big threadfins with my cast net. I hadn’t fished much during mid-day, but thought I’d give it a try. I wasn’t out very long, when I saw a wake go by in front of me, and there was no boat in sight… then the fish broke water, and my reel started screaming. The next couple of minutes were kind of a blur. I got my drift chute out, turned on my gopro camera, and cleared my anchor line. I had the drag turned down a bit, for an initial run, but the fish kept jumping. I was lucky, the fish headed towards the shore, so I lifted my chute, and gave chase. Then I threw my chute back out, when I was on the first sand bar. I was able to control the fish, somewhat, and tried to keep the pressure the opposite direction the fish was going. I’d upgraded to a heavy 8 ft St. Croix, and it helped tire the fish in under 20 min. I had about 13 min on my camera, and I’m sure it was a few minutes before I turned it on. A crowd had gathered on the beach, and sandbar, and I could hear my three little ones cheering me on. I was able to get a hold of the fish, and jump out for a quick photo. It was hooked perfectly in the corner of the mouth, and I watched it swim away strongly. People behind me couldn’t believe I’d let it go so quickly, but I was more concerned about the fish than letting everyone see it. A day I will never forget
Here’s the video.
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Neil
