Tarpon Frustration
Capt. Carl Ball
February 28, 2009
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
Tarpon fishing in Miami around Biscayne Bay was good last week. Let me just clarify that. The fishing for them was good. However, my luck was not. We did catch some, but we lost some and missed several bites. What could have been great fishing trips turned into somewhat disappointing excursions.
Tuesday, Shelly Demartino brought one 70 lb tarpon to the boat, jumped another that threw the hook and missed a bite. Rollin Karg fishing with his wife Karen got four tarpon bites where they broke two off, pulled the hook on one and missed a bite. Mike Nelson had three tarpon bites only to pull the hooks on two of the wild jumpers and missed one bite. Things got better for Mike and Larry Monaco; the brothers got seven tarpon bites all together. They each got one to the boat, jumped off three, broke one off and missed one bite.
That just goes to show how brutal tarpon fishing can be. They certainly don't make it easy on you by going absolutely crazy once hooked. Generally, if you are going to lose one, they are lost on the first or second jump. While break offs are rare, pulled hooks are fairly common. Most trips, 50% of hooked tarpon come to the boat. Most break offs are due to the tarpon eventually chewing through the 80 lb mono leader. Missed bites are a combination of anglers not recognizing the bite or overreacting by trying to set the hook.
All in all it is great excitement and very rewarding when these monsters of the sea come to the boat. The ones we lose give us a better appreciation for the ones we catch.
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