Tarpon Fishing Gets In Your Blood
Capt. Mike Locklear
May 19, 2008
Homosassa - Saltwater Fishing Report
Without a doubt, fly fishing for tarpon gets in the blood and when you come from a family of tarpon guides I think it is in the genes. As much as I try to relax about the sport I still get so excited when I look at these huge fish that Homosassa offers.
Being back on the poling platform requires me to stay calm and give instructions to my client so he does not get too excited. It does not always work.
I knew that on May 5, my season fish was hooked up with long time visitor Peter Moyer of Homosassa. We guessed the 7-foot thick and wide toad to be 190+. I could go into the poetry and art of how that big fish reacted but I just can't bring myself to write it right now. Like Flip Pallot once said, the memory of the experience is burned into the mind forever and can be played back at will.
More importantly the man on the other end of the rod is the more interesting subject to write about. I do not have enough time to write but a piece of it now.
From experience of more than 15 seasons of 14 straight days Moyer has figured the game out from an angling sense that he is one of the top producers of the sport. Only his neighbor, Tom Evans has more time on the water spending the month of May with his dedicated captain.
His captains' guide him to fish and positions the boat so as to provide a clear shot with his 10-weight fly rod. I have witnessed a 7-weight in his hand and watch him bring in an 80-pound tarpon on it.
Many hours of preparation goes into his hand tied flies that he prepares while out in his home near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He will be watching tarpon videos and perhaps pulling on a Michelob Ultra or something better.
With Moyer and friend Tom Schell gone, the fish will have a rest from these eccentric weirdoes. Truly the big tarpon are having a full moon party somewhere far away from here. No one has seen a school of fish the past few days. They have gone away to who knows where.
They will be back though and so will the anglers return year after year.
That huge tarpon was not touched by man and I did not get close enough to get a DNA sample but I did hold the tippet in my hand and said good bye to a friend, not a foe. Moyer was very pleased and got his fish of a lifetime perhaps a 200 pound plus tarpon.
This is what Homosassa tarpon fishing is all about. Getting a shot at a fish of a lifetime and preparing for it because it is in our blood.
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