Victory to the Fish – Tarpon Fishing
In my early fishing days I had to make due with what I had and what I had when I first moved to the Florida Keys was an old fiberglass canoe. I am not complaining; I caught my fair share of fish out of that boat and some of my fondest memories came from those simpler times when fishing meant grabbing a few rods and loading up the canoe in search of relaxation. One lazy fall afternoon after a morning of fishing I anchored my old canoe up behind a point to take a little siesta on the deck. After a few hours of drifting in and out between mosquito swats I was abruptly awoken as the waters around me were churning with tarpon feeding on a large knot of mullet as they came around the point. These fish were so close that I was getting sprayed with water as they fed next to the boat. Of course, in my excitement I tried lure after lure to get one of these bruisers on the line, but with luck. On the other hand, luck did play a part in this story as a chunky mullet jumped right into my canoe while being chased by a tarpon. Now armed with the real thing I tied on a hook an pitched that mullet back into the fire, with a swirl it didn’t take long until I was hooked up to my first 100 plus pound tarpon. We fought back and forth until the fish pulled my little boat out a mile or so from shore. There I was standing up with the rod bowed in two on a nice fish…then all at once…the line snapped. The fish went one way and I went straight back into the drink. I had no hard feelings however, this was battle and I came up hooting and hollering in excitement. In the end it was a great day. To hear more tails of whoppers and mishaps give me a call and let’s put together a fishing trip and until then “catch em up”!