Huge tarpon caught Sat. in FL

[charlie sterner]

Hi guys,

Well we just returned from a 3-day escape in sunny Florida. Weather was beautiful. A hell of a lot better than the snow and cold here in PA. We all managed to get sunburnt.

Saturday, my buddy and I took our wives on a charter trip. The captain was fairly certain we'd have some luck on tarpon. We certainly did! We hooked 9 fish and landed 3 in about 5 hours, but over 3 of those hours was spent fighting fish! No kidding. It was one of those things me and my buddy always wanted to do. We can remember watching Kurt Gowdy on TV when we were little kids dreaming of the day that I'd be doing it. Now we've done it. The Silver King! What a rush!

My wife landed the first one...125 lbs. Took her 45 min. to bring it in on 25# mono!

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/1149/suetarponja7.jpg

Mine was shorter, but fatter. Kinda like me. :D It was about 125 lbs. too. Took me ab out 10 Min. but I had slightly heavier tackle.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/6121/charlietarpongi1.jpg

My buddy fought one for about 45 minutes. Another huge fish but it straightened out the hook! :eek:

His wife then latched into one. It was the biggest we landed, at 150 lbs. Again, it took her 45 minutes to land it, even on heavy line.

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/1425/pamtarpongn6.jpg

We ran out of bait, got sore muscles, and decided to spend the afternoon fishing for snook. Caught a bunch of small ones (3-5 lbs). Had a great day on the water.

Now I'm back at work. It really sucks. :(

Charlie

[10MMGary]

WOW! very nice Charlie, glad you had a good time in the Sunscam state. Those are some really nice sized fish. I have lived and fished here(FL.) for over 25 years and have never boated a silver king the size of those, who was your Capt? I fly fish (11-12wt) for them now and have hooked a few monsters and enjoyed a couple of spectacular jumps befor they schooled me. They were at least kind of enough to spit the fly back in my general direction:D .

[charlie sterner]

WOW! very nice Charlie, glad you had a good time in the Sunscam state. Those are some really nice sized fish. I have lived and fished here(FL.) for over 25 years and have never boated a silver king the size of those, who was your Capt? I fly fish (11-12wt) for them now and have hooked a few monsters and enjoyed a couple of spectacular jumps befor they schooled me. They were at least kind of enough to spit the fly back in my general direction:D .

They're the silver kings! You gotta bow to 'em gary! LOL

We were live baiting them with big threadfin shad (greenbacks). Nobody knows these fish are there yet. This guy's been catching them for 2 weeks now. He's a young kid, but really knows how to play the game, and knows the water like the back of his hand. All I can say is we went out of Bradenton with Captain T.J. Stewart of Castaway Charters, Inc. He'll do fly fishing if that's what you want to do. Later in the year would be better for flies.

http://castawaychartersinc.com/

Charlie

[HEAD0001]

I will bet those were some great looking fillets!!! I remember one time a friend and I brought back 700 pounds of tuna fillets. I have never had so many friends. Tom.

[charlie sterner]

I will bet those were some great looking fillets!!! I remember one time a friend and I brought back 700 pounds of tuna fillets. I have never had so many friends. Tom.

catch and release. It would be a shame to kill these big spawning females. We have pictures and some HUGE scales for trophies. The scales are as big as the palm of your hand!!!

Charlie

PS...if you got any extra tuna, I could take some off your hands. LOL

[HEAD0001]

I must admit that I know nothing about Tarpon fishing. I just assumed if you took them out of the water, handled the fish, and put those big gaff hooks into them that you were going to keep them. I am only familiar with fresh water catch and release, and I would never handle a fresh water fish like that, then put the fish back. I guess salt water fish are tougher than fresh water??? Whenever we have fished for salt water fish, we always kept them for the table??? Sorry, Tom.

[charlie sterner]

I must admit that I know nothing about Tarpon fishing. I just assumed if you took them out of the water, handled the fish, and put those big gaff hooks into them that you were going to keep them. I am only familiar with fresh water catch and release, and I would never handle a fresh water fish like that, then put the fish back. I guess salt water fish are tougher than fresh water??? Whenever we have fished for salt water fish, we always kept them for the table??? Sorry, Tom.

No offense taken. That's standard procedure down there. No different than a bass or whatnot. These fish have a real bony mouth. The gaff didn't hurt 'em. The fish was only out of the water maybe a minute, snap a photo or two and release them. The captain took great care releasing them. We held them off the side of the boat and slowly motored forwards getting water through the gills, only releasing them when they were ready. Believe it or not, tarpon actually breathe air. In the summers, they often surface to "gulp" air. That's how they get by in real shallow, hot water.

Here's a pic during the release...

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/4250/p8290548ik7.jpg

[HARRY]

Great fishing story and pictures...

HARRY

[10MMGary]

There is a lot of disagreement on Tarpon(and most other fish as well)in regards to handling and pulling them out of the water for photos and long fights on medium or light weight tackle. More and more Capt's won't pull the really large ones on board and photograph them along side the boat while still in the water. Additionally they won't let their clients use med or light tackle unless they know they are master Tarpon anglers and and are going for world records. If I recall correctly the world record on a fly rod is right around 240-250 pounds.



This time of year with cooler water temps and relative lack of hammerhead sharks, I don't worry too much about the long fights and some type of acid building up in the system killing or incapacitating them and being eaten by sharks. Since I fish from a kayak I don't have to worry about pulling the fish in the boat, instead I worry about the fish pulling me in the water or out to sea:eek: . Being that I am still a bit top heavy and fish from a kayak I can only bow to the king so much without going in the drink:D .

Gaffing them through the lower jaw won't hurt them a bit in my experience. I agree that all due care should be made to release the fish in as good of condition as possible. However if one is really interested in causing no harm one doesn't fish period and I ain't doing that. What is weird is that for the most part only in this country are they treated as prized trophy game fish, in many central and south American countries they are considered food and eaten daily.

FWIW in Tampa bay and south FL there are schools of resident tarpon that migrate very little other than to breed and the old timers can catch them year round except on the coldest of days. In south FL there are also land locked Tarpon that live in sweet water. I have caught small ones(5-35 pounds) in golf course ponds retention ponds and canals 100 miles from either the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic ocean.

In FL. if one plans on keeping one for a mount or submitting one for IGFA record consideration the state requires you to purchase a Tarpon tag in advance and it cost $50.00 per fish. Now days most people that want a mount don't keep the fish, they take several measurements and photos and get a replica made. The replicas look better and are much easier to maintain.

[PH]

Well done sir. Big applause from here in MD.
I had ONE big one hooked on light tackle in Puerto Rico and LOST it. For the first couple minutes I thought I was making good progress on a small fish and then IT WOKE UP and took off like a freight train with lots of aerials. Long story short, he won, but I had a blast. YOU guys kicked serious tarpon butt! Those are some BIG fish.

[VSSF]

Charlie, Those are some BIG fish!!

[doughboy]

Hello Charlie, That is one great charter day, were you in the Keys?
Nothing like a tarpon jump to get the adreniline going, One of the only things I miss about FL, Saltwater fishing that is
Mike

[charlie sterner]

Hello Charlie, That is one great charter day, were you in the Keys?
Nothing like a tarpon jump to get the adreniline going, One of the only things I miss about FL, Saltwater fishing that is
Mike

we fished in Tampa Bay, out of Bradenton.

Charlie

[doughboy]

Wow, My wife and I lived are whole lives in Tampa Bay until 8 yrs ago, Last place I would go and expect such a great day like you enjoyed, was that the Skyway Bridge? If so I bet you had quite a current. Used to spearfish the Skyway back when they diddnt think you were setting explosives :D
Mike

[charlie sterner]

Wow, My wife and I lived are whole lives in Tampa Bay until 8 yrs ago, Last place I would go and expect such a great day like you enjoyed, was that the Skyway Bridge? If so I bet you had quite a current. Used to spearfish the Skyway back when they diddnt think you were setting explosives :D
Mike

skyway bridge is correct! Current wasn't too bad. Nice and steady. Enough to keep the fish active.

[doughboy]

Hope ya tipped the Lad well, He put ya on a day you will always remember,
Glad ya had a great time, I love getting women hooked on fishing.:)
Off to work
Mike