one100grand
Well-known member
But at least I got to cross catching Tarpon off my bucket list!
I went out on a charter boat at 5 AM; my wife was supposed to go with me but was too sick when we woke up to go out. The guides offered light tackle tarpon fishing, which is something I've always wanted to do, so I couldn't resist. We were fishing with 6'6" medium action St Croix rods, 12# test (not sure the make), and Gamakatsu circle O hooks. When I talked to the charter guys, I told them that I wanted to catch something big - not go after numbers. We were on the water for no more than 10 minutes before I lost my first fish of the day (it was approximately a 50-60 pound fish). Not more than 10 minutes after that and I was hooked up again! I fought the second fish for about 30-40 minutes before finally landing it - the guide didn't have a scale but said it was about a 50# fish.
For the next several hours, we didn't hook into too much despite seeing several fish that were very sizable, nothing was interested in eating. We decided to go into a nearby bay and drift. The charter company ran 2 boats, the other boat was out on a trip as well with a guy and his wife trying to catch numbers of tarpon (we bumped into them at this spot and they had 0 fish on the boat). After not hooking up, we went out to a larger bay area and drifted some more - I hooked into another smaller fish and fought it for about 15 minutes before it tossed the hook (right near the boat). All of the tarpon seemed to be in this bay and we were able to hook up several more times, but only landed one more (it's the smaller fish from the pics.
In the end we were able to boat 2 fish out of 7 hook-ups. The guide told me that the expected catch rate depends on the experience of the angler, but more experienced anglers will generally land 3 out of 10 fish; he said that the tarpon's mouth is so hard it's very tough to get the hook through and land the fish. I've caught several fish of different species/sizes and I can tell you without a doubt that tarpon on light gear is something you have to catch to believe. These fish jump a clean 6-7' out of the water regularly and will test you as an angler like nothing else I've ever caught. After the first fish of the day, I had legitimate doubts about being physically able to reel another one in.
I went out on a charter boat at 5 AM; my wife was supposed to go with me but was too sick when we woke up to go out. The guides offered light tackle tarpon fishing, which is something I've always wanted to do, so I couldn't resist. We were fishing with 6'6" medium action St Croix rods, 12# test (not sure the make), and Gamakatsu circle O hooks. When I talked to the charter guys, I told them that I wanted to catch something big - not go after numbers. We were on the water for no more than 10 minutes before I lost my first fish of the day (it was approximately a 50-60 pound fish). Not more than 10 minutes after that and I was hooked up again! I fought the second fish for about 30-40 minutes before finally landing it - the guide didn't have a scale but said it was about a 50# fish.
For the next several hours, we didn't hook into too much despite seeing several fish that were very sizable, nothing was interested in eating. We decided to go into a nearby bay and drift. The charter company ran 2 boats, the other boat was out on a trip as well with a guy and his wife trying to catch numbers of tarpon (we bumped into them at this spot and they had 0 fish on the boat). After not hooking up, we went out to a larger bay area and drifted some more - I hooked into another smaller fish and fought it for about 15 minutes before it tossed the hook (right near the boat). All of the tarpon seemed to be in this bay and we were able to hook up several more times, but only landed one more (it's the smaller fish from the pics.
In the end we were able to boat 2 fish out of 7 hook-ups. The guide told me that the expected catch rate depends on the experience of the angler, but more experienced anglers will generally land 3 out of 10 fish; he said that the tarpon's mouth is so hard it's very tough to get the hook through and land the fish. I've caught several fish of different species/sizes and I can tell you without a doubt that tarpon on light gear is something you have to catch to believe. These fish jump a clean 6-7' out of the water regularly and will test you as an angler like nothing else I've ever caught. After the first fish of the day, I had legitimate doubts about being physically able to reel another one in.
