Cheers for the Tarpon
Capt. Mike Locklear
June 8, 2008
Homosassa - Saltwater Fishing Report
He faced away from us less than 30 feet. After a low sidearm cast, Bob and I watched the prey land lightly then float down in front of the 5-foot long predator, then in a micro-second the prey disappeared into the Predator's bucket sized mouth with an influx of sea water produced by the opening of the flood gated gills.
The 80-pound fish let the clutch out when in 1st gear, mud clouding six feet around in the shallow gin clear waters.
He quickly became airborne with one 5-foot high leap followed by a 10-foot high display of aerial twisting and turning.
All while being fought hard by a man of mighty muscle and a physical shape like Hercules. Hurt from the landing, the silver king did not jump again, the blood from gills clattering and him hitting rock bottom stirring more clouds of mud in waist deep waters. He was like a boxer with a bloody nose, stunned but not to be outdone.
Then the tarpon's foe bore down on him hard as he may have gotten 100 feet of line while losing traction slowly as in a tractor pull. Tarpon stopped, we poled forward on him and it was almost close enough to the boat we could call it a gentlemen's catch. {--in fact we did--after she won.} She then lunged away from seeing her captor in one last valiant effort as he forfeited the fight by tightening the drag to "lock down".
The line broke in the designated spot near the hook thus released unharmed to fight again another day. This is when the tarpon's foe turned into a friend.
Time elapsed of the fight was 3 to 5 minutes. Winners were both the Angler and the Tarpon.
Moral of the Story: Fight it Hard & Release It Quick!
By Mike Locklear
Join: tarbone.org & ccaflorida.com
Homosassa Fishing Forecast:
Tarpon fishing is just beginning to bite aggressively with the hotter nights and days.
Redfish schools are starting to come in shallow
Cobia are both deep and coastal
Bull Sharks up to 8 feet are here for the challenge.
Target Species:
Tarpon -- Redfish -- Cobia -- Bull Shark
More Fishing Reports:
