I was lucky enough to get a hall pass while on vacation with my wife and kids this Summer. It was that time of year again to head to Clearwater to see my family and also to try my luck at some Tarpon.
My trip almost didn't happen due to the fact Tampa had record flooding and our flight was delayed by 3 days, talk about almost calling it quits due to no flights in or out for a few days.
I got out with a local Fly Fishing guide Brian Jill from Lost Coast Anglers. Many area know him as a great guide who grew up in the area and knows a thing or two about night fishing for Tarpon.
We started with some Snook bites dockside before heading over to fish some bridges. Due to the migration being over with, record flooding and off/on tides, it was not great conditions. Than again when Tarpon fishing it's never going to be perfect, you just have to make the most of being out and enjoy it!
We did manage to see a few Tarpon, not a lot but enough to get me excited. I did manage at around 1:30am to hook into a nice Silver that worked me pretty good. Long story short, 60lb mono was no match for this guy and it was fun while it lasted. Many stingrays and dolphins later, by 3am we were ready to call it. Great time though and learned much from Brian, can't wait to get back out with him again.
MORE AT FLYFISH ADDICTION
2 comments:
In the eight years I lived in South Florida, I only hooked one Tarpon. It was hook, run a long way, break off. Still a fond memory though.
Mark,
Great time out chasing Tarpon and like you said, it's one thing to hook one but another one to land it! When you throw in night time Tarpon, really tough to land.
Tradd
Post a Comment