by Capt. Bart Marx
This is the month that the Big Silver Kings come to town, better known as tarpon. And tarpon are bait for another large meat-eating machine, the shark. Yes, tarpon as big as 200lbs, I have seen eaten in two bites by big hammerhead sharks. And what kind of fishing pole do you need to battle one of these big tackle testers? In SWFL we use stingrays for bait, along with mullet and several others, too. In the past I have used a 6/0 Penn reel with 50-80lb Dacron line. These days we use braid 50-80lb. with a 100’ top shot of mono up to 400lb. test with a wire leader about 2’ long and a large circle hook. This is usually a good connection between you and most of the sharks around. This can become an obsession fighting with these guys in the grey suits. There are folks that do this from the beach, but the State of Florida has changed some rules about beach fishing for sharks, so check before you attempt it from the beach. In the past some guys would use a 14/0 Penn reel so they could have lots of line fighting from the beach. Also, there are others to catch like black tips and they are good eating, too. If you plan to harvest a shark make sure you know the current regulations on size and species. To harvest, have a cooler with ice big enough to put the whole fish. You need to gut them ASAP as when they expire they urinate through their skin. You can steak or fillet and skin them. They are great fried, grilled, or google shark recipes.
So sharks eat tarpon and people eat sharks, people don’t eat tarpon. Why? They are boney and oily, only if it was a survival situation would I even try it. But they are great sport when you have one on the end of a line stretched out and drag singing. This is when you need to learn the technique of bow to the king. When the tarpon jump, you drop your rod tip down and pray the hook stays in till you have had enough fun. Depends on where you encounter these acrobatic fish as to what type tackle you use. Running the beach most use big spinning gear to cast crabs, shrimp, squirrelfish, pinfish. In the deeper pass waters, they use conventional gear with live and artificial baits; this is for experienced anglers. It can get crazy when you hook into a poon with 100 boats in a pack looking for a bite. I encourage those just starting to hire a guide to learn the safe way to approach tarpon fishing. And giving just one piece of advice, DO NOT bring a tarpon into the boat. If you do, you will never forget this warning. They will destroy a boat and quick.