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Bow to the King - Fishing for Tarpon in the Florida Keys
(continued)
 
It was towards the end of the day when I made my
biggest mistake of all, underestimating just how powerful these fish really are.
I was fishing with a light inshore
rod with an Okuma Helios 40 sized spinning reel and only 20lb. leader, and I was about to get taught a painful lesson in underestimating
your prey.
For fun I started casting lures
with a smaller and lighter Okuma outfit
The hookup was unmistakable, and as I carefully
put pressure on the fish it reacted with a violent surge, ripping line and
testing the upper limits of the small Helios reel’s drag. What ensured was a fifteen minute battle in which I
continued to lose ground. I tightened the drag and when I finally got the fish
to the surface we estimated it to be around the 40-50 pound class. A small Tarpon
by Keys standards, but still a lot of fish for the setup that I was utilizing,
which would have been better suited for fighting Jacks than tarpon I was
battling.
The Hyperlastics Dartspin, from
ABOA, is a super tough swimbait with a molded in willow blade. This particular
bait was rigged by Patrick
Sébile to get down quicker to target the tarpon in fast moving
currents
I tried desperately to tire out the fish, and
Captain Glyn tried to get me on top of the fish multiple times, but with each
passing minute I was getting closer and closer to the very last bit of my
remaining braided mainline. It didn’t help that the fish finally swam around a
bridge piling, right when I hit the knot at the very end of the spool, and with
that my lesson was complete. I missed my first opportunity but I learned a
valuable lesson, and would make sure to fish with a more appropriate setup on
the next round.
Hooked
up with a tarpon on light inshore gear and a bass sized Okuma Helios. I was
asking for trouble...
The fact is that landing a tarpon is a major feat.
This is why the term “jumping” a tarpon is considered a half-victory in itself,
as so many of these fish are lost during the fight.
I wasn’t interested
in half victories, I came to Florida to check Tarpon off my list, and right
after refueling at dinner we head out once again, this time with one of my
favorite captains, James “Marko” Markovitz, of Goliath Fishing fame.
Dave working a mullet in the current at sunset
Tarpon are nocturnal hunters and as long as you
know what you know what you are doing, and where to fish, there is a shot at
landing a fish under the stars.
We head out of Faro Blanco, east towards some
local docks and bridges where James picked up some fresh bait with a few
well-placed throws with his cast net.
Captain
James Marko skillfully places his cast net. There is nothing like fresh bait
As we searched for visual signs of Tarpon we found
them schooled up near a pier that was lit with colorful underwater dock lights.
As we cast the free-lined baitfish Marko told us to be careful, and to not set
on the fish and allow them to get properly hooked before proceeding to “bow to
the king” and lower the rod tip and reel down on the fish. As a bass
fisherman it was hard to not lift up on the rod instinctively during strikes,
but I tried my best to comply with the directions.
Rigging
in the dark aided by boat lights
Casting
ahead of the current to work the docks where we could see tarpon chasing
baitfish
The result was an increase in hookup ratios but I
still was unable to get a fish past the first or second jump, and out of five
more bites for the boat we managed to land only one. We had one fish on that was
so powerful that even as we chased it with the boat we were unable to catch up
to it, and when it broke the surface it easily shook the circle hook loose. Day
or night it didn’t seem to matter, these fish were definitely getting the better
of me!
John
Bretza, Okuma Product Manager, lands his first tarpon in the dark
Next Section:
When the Taxman comes calling...
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