Ive made arrangement to go tarpon fishing this June around the 20th thru the 24. Why so late you ask?
Well Ive been in Florida fishing late Feb,and the first day I got there it was colder at the airport when I landed than it was in NJ the day before, cold front means fishing for fun fish if you fish at all.The last day there it had warmed up and we poled for tarpon for an hour, saw none and off we went.
A few years ago I booked a trip early April out of Marco and we fished the 10000 island area mainly for snook and redfish but with cooperative weather you can get some shots at tarpon too and the guide brought the big stick just in case. Cold front hit the day before we got there, result snook and redfish picky, the second day it warmed up and we looked for tarpon to keep Michael happy but saw none.
Because I turned 60 last year and didnt like the poles that the guides called 12 weights one of which had the reel set up on the newbie side[How am I going to get used to this if I ever hook a tarpon I asked?]I went and bought my own set up determined to have something to cast in the yard so I could get used to it the infrequent times I fished with it.Actually if you look around you can find some that actually have some flex in them and are half fun to cast.
Last year not being fooled by the lure of a winter fishing trip I booked a trip exclusively for tarpon starting the day after Memorial day into the first of June.Seems when I got there they were stuck in a weather pattern where the wind was blowing out of the northeast at 20 to 25 knots for days.
These are not ideal conditions for tarpon.The first day having nothing better to do I talked the guide into going out. Wind was blowing so hard he had to anchor, put the bow of the baot into the wind, get off the poling platform and stand in the well of the baot. We anchored in a spot dwonwind of a small cay with him cussing the weather and moaning you cant fish for these GD things if you cant see them, weathers been like this all May etc etc.It was just plain cloudy and windy like a northeast around here.
However after about an hour the sun broke thru and standing on the deck having the better view I saw a tarpon at about 75 feet come up, I told him to duck and made the cast, put it about 5 feet right of where it should have been, the tarpon came up higher in the water so i could get a better view of him and I was "poon" stuck at the sight of it, the damned thing was huge, it swam off its course toward the fly then dissapeared.It all happened so quick it was great just seeing the thing. And with the guide not spotting it first I was on to something as I was looking here and there to see soemthing..
I got to go pick up my wife I fisnsih this later.
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