Tampa Bay On Fly

[green lurchers 16,729]

got myself set and im out looking to catch tampas finest gamefish , snook redfish and lastly tarpon ,spent most of the day looking for redfish and snook , after a a few shots with the 6wt I see that these fish were not gonna hang themselves , cast to a few laid up snook with no joy the reds were cagey as hell got one good shot at a feeding snook tight under the mangroves and he nailed the fly , spent an hour looking for tarpon got a shot at 2 fish both over the 100lb mark but no joy , but still ive waited a long time to get a snook and got back happy , it was clear that none of the fish were gonna jump the fly unless I hit the spot , having fly fished for many years in the salt I thought my casting would hold up for the rest of the trip but it let me down casting into wind and bobbing about on the front of the boat looking at these huge tarpon, after 3 days id seen 12 tarpon all big girls and made 7 shots with only 3 on the button with one fish aiming at the fly , took another snook under the mangroves so was focusing more for these huge tarpon for my last few days , I read this article on wed morning it fired me up,,,,,,,,,," anglers should be aware of the two different types of tarpon. Not the differences between Atlantic and Indo-Pacific tarpon, but between jumpers and evil tarpon. The term jumper is given to a poon that takes the bait, peels the drag and then makes a lofty leap towards the heavens. Nine out of ten tarpon hooked are usually jumpers. Some tarpon are late jumpers, while others jump right off the get. Either way when a tarpon jumps it expends energy, tires out quicker, and is brought boat side sooner. That is not the case with evil tarpon, evil tarpon are generally larger tarpon that sound when hooked. The evil tarpon is a diver, he smokes your drag, but never jumps. He is sometimes mistaken for being a big shark because he never shows himself. The only time the angler catches a glimpse of him is when he is coming to the surface to gulp air before making another run. He is the fish that never seems to tire out, the one responsible for the agonizing lactic acid burn in your biceps, back and shoulders, the one you cuss in ten different languages, he is the truly evil one. Evil tarpon make worthy opponents and test the mettle of their angling adversaries to the bitter end. They are wise brutes that do not waste energy jumping, therefore are able to prolong the battle and wear down the anglers leader with their abrasive jaws. If there is a way out, the evil one will find it. The anglers only defense against the evil tarpon is to apply the down & dirty technique, holdfast and pray! By Capt Sean Hagen

[Terra Firma 136]

My friend caught an evil tarpon, 156lb nearly 3 hrs to land it, 3rd biggest caught in key marathon at the time, good few years ago now, great place to go fishing.....

 

I'll go back one day.....

[green lurchers 16,729]

developed tarpon fever over the next few days sightcasting to these huge fish ,the weather came good and see over 120 tarpon in a single day making plenty of shots but still not easy , yourlooking at hitting an 18 x 18in box a foot past and infront of the fish at 20 to 30 yard cast with the wind against or not favouring a righthand cast ,still I got a few bang on and had only a handful show interest , spent the next day taking a few relaxed casting lessons from the guides ,fish pressure was my problem ,,no fish no pressure , put 20 tarpon coming on you at 40 yards over white sand in 5ft of water and my heart was climbing out , spent some time casting to huge cobia again got a few follows right to the boat with the fly inches from being inhaled but no connection , caught bluefish now theres a fish willing to hang itself but tarpon was all I wanted so gave up on the easy catches, out on the hunt again this time in flat calm conditions looking for laid up tarpon inches under the surface there only sign being a fin poking up a couple of inches , a funny fish the tarpon primarily a night time feeder presentation of the fly is critical, again I cast a few shots and only the best casts drew any response had 1 0r 2 inhale the fly but not hook up ,too short a cast and they aint looking too wide and they not interested , the guide said they acting sluggish and to keep at it , I fished with 3 guides, great lads they are ,,they done their job and put me on the fish , the rest is down to me , the weather was ok but may is when they realy chew so I was a tad early and the temps could have been better esp the water temp, I got my chances, my casting could have been a heap better ,but under the conditions situations and pressure its understandable, its the most intense sightcsting ive ever done, in amongst the good the bad and the ugly I managed 1 tarpon with a fight I,l never ever forget I,l call it a fish of a lifetime for me ,one thing is for sure I,l be back but next time I,l pick a rod up and practice before I go cos I missed plenty of chances , ive never used a 12 wt rod before but next time I,l be ready for the tarpon and now know what it takes . conservation of these fish means they don't leave the water and a measurement of length and girth is taken to achieve the weight accurate to 3lb either way , we both had slr cameras on board but the tarpons recovery was far more important than to fk about with cameras, so whilst I held the fish as we trolled the engine letting water run through his gills the guide took 2 pics on his camera phone and I took a photo of the fish with my phone after , probably could have wrote this a lot better and described the fight in detail but hey ive rambled on enough

Edited April 19, 2016 by green lurchers

[green lurchers 16,729]

[air gun ant 1,666]

That Is a fish of a lifetime gl! Was Shea normal tarpon or evil?!? Lol

[green lurchers 16,729]

That Is a fish of a lifetime gl! Was Shea normal tarpon or evil?!? Lol

cheers ant, not sure about evil lol but she cleared the water once had a few gulps of air and ran me all over tampa bay for over an hour

[mackem 27,028]

My mate steve has fished for those,he spends most winters in tallahassee fishing,i think he has tried for them in belize as well when he stayed with sue harris,he said they are incredible fighters and well worth the effort to get over there and fish for.

[green lurchers 16,729]

My mate steve has fished for those,he spends most winters in tallahassee fishing,i think he has tried for them in belize as well when he stayed with sue harris,he said they are incredible fighters and well worth the effort to get over there and fish for.

I knew many years ago I,d end up in the pursuit of tarpon on fly ,your mates right they are incredible fighters I cant wait to get back out there

[stone rose 353]

fantasic well done mate atb

[green lurchers 16,729]

fantasic well done mate atb

cheers mate

[green lurchers 16,729]

short vid of the guides I fished with doing their thing on a day off https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq35cv2jJys

[green lurchers 16,729]

1st snook on fly from under the mangroves

[green lurchers 16,729]

[green lurchers 16,729]

[stone rose 353]

brilliant video that mate atb