An Outdoor Happening: One Bait, One Big Tarpon!

There’s a longer story about how my favorite boat launch is closed and government-contracted work to rebuild a wooden pier takes three to four times longer than it should. But I sneaked my way onto the water with some ingenuity and made the 3-mile paddle to what I’ll call my tarpon spot (not its name on the map).

That wasn’t my main objective—no, that was sight-fishing for black drum, which I did, and caught a good one. But then they hunkered down and I managed to land a 12-inch ladyfish and put it in the bait bucket with the shrimp I’d bought, just in case.

Well, the current was ripping through the tarpon spot, so I paddled to shore, rerigged a double uni knot to 50-pound fluorocarbon leader and a 6/0 circle hook. I hooked the ladyfish through the nose and floated through the hole with the bait trailing 25 yards behind me.

I didn’t see any tarpon roll, so I paddled back upcurrent through the hole and anchored off to the side. I checked the time, 2:13. I’d give it five more minutes, then change the GoPro battery and keep searching for black drum tails.

I slid my phone back into my pocket and then: There’s a tarpon. It rolled 30 feet from my kayak. I reeled in the ladyfish and pitched it where the tarpon rolled. Another tarpon splashed farther down my line of sight, closer to shore. I felt the ladyfish make an urgent pull then, thump. I squeezed the rod handle. In a matter of seconds a giant tarpon was pulling line and jumping out of the water.

At least 30 minutes later, maybe 40 (much longer than I would have liked), now standing waist-deep in water on a little grassy high spot with two mangrove trees, I got both my hands in the tarpon’s mouth. It gave one last thrash, breaking my rod. I really didn’t care. I couldn’t believe I landed it. What an incredibly powerful, relentless, mysterious, air-gulping, iridescently magnificent fish.

I’m guessing it was around 100 pounds (I’m 5' 9" for reference).

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• This story was featured in the August-September 2024 issue of Florida Sportsman magazine. Click to subscribe.

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