by Capt. Greg Poland
It’s Tarpon Season in the Florida Keys and the bite is on. This time of year it’s hard to get me to think about any other species then the Silver King, I wait all year for the chance to chase Tarpon and in my opinion they are the perfect fish. Once you hook one of these gladiators they will run off 50 yards of line before you know what is happening then jump out of the water and do a summersault like an Olympic athlete, then the battle begins and although some are caught in only 10min many an angler has spent more than a few hours pulling on these amazing fish.
Years ago in the Gold Cup Tarpon Fly Tournament a client of mine hooked a fish just after 7am and we lost it about 2:30pm after having it give us a battle of a lifetime and chasing it for over 10miles from the ocean to the backcountry and through 2 different bridges the rod broke, the line broke and our spirits were broken. I hope to never meet up with that fish again, I don’t think I could handle it.
Whether you are standing on the bow of a skiff with some chicken feathers tied to a hook or letting a live mullet swim under a cork at a bridge get out there and experience what a tarpon can do when attached to your to the end of your line. There are a lot of fish in the sea but ever sense my first battle with a tarpon they have been my favorite. Here are a few photos from recent trips, we were using live mullet or crabs on conventional or spinning outfits with 20lb line and a 60lb fluorocarbon leader and a circle hook.
Capt. Greg Poland
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