Tarpon on the FLY in Puerto Rico
Capt. Francisco Rosario
July 7, 2010
Boqueron Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Tarpon on the FLY in Puerto Rico
Written by Brad Kemis ... Ver más
Friday, 05 March 2010 00:00
I spent a day 2 weeks ago with my new friend Capt. Pochy, the owner and guide of Light Tackle Adventures in Cabo Rojo, PR. Boy can Pochy put you on the Tarpon, skip Florida and head straight to Capt. Pochy. This was my first trip fly fishing in the salt and I made my fair share of rookie mistakes, I even hooked Pochy on the backcast once (sorry about that Pochy). Right away we started seeing Tarpon and I started scaring them away with my slow on the target and off ta rget cast. He took me into the mangroves to work out the kinks and we saw dozens of baby (10-30 pound) fish. I ended up jumping one in the mangroves and blew my chance at many more.
A word about Tarpon fishing - you have to be quick on the draw (I mean real quick); once a moving Tarpon is spotted you have about 5 seconds to get the line in the air and land the fly a few feet in front of the fish. No false casts or the guide will yell at you and the line will scare the Tarpon. Once you get the fly in the correct spot you need to let it sink and strip and jiggle the fly just right to get the Tarpon to strike. And then the strike- wow, like nothing else.
Back to the story. After the mangroves we went over to a dock structure, I laid down 15 feet of line and it was literally a Tarpon frenzy. There were Tarpon fighting over the fly! Insane! I ended up hooking one but again made a rookie mistake....I had the leader knot on the wrong side of the tip top. Bang, the rod tip pulled off and the line broke. The adrenaline was pumping now and I was ready for more. I made a few more short casts but the Tarpon were long gone.
We poled up the shore but nothing was happening, starting to get worried that I blew all the chances Pochy had given me.
We then motored over to another bay and started scanning the waters for the silver shadows. Pochy spotted a pod of 4 working the area 100 yards in front of us. I quickly spotted them and started getting ready. Man the adrenaline was flowing now and I knew I had at least one more chance. I made the best cast I made all day and landed the fly 5 feet in front of the lead fish. Bang, she struck, I waited a split second and made a monster strip set the and the fish jerked the line out of my hand. The fight was on! She immediately took off and went in to the backing. Still running she made a few jumps.
Strike!
Now the work began. She ran a while surfaced for some air, them went back to the bottom. Tug and tug, she wasn't moving. This epic battle continued on, based on the size Pochy predicted a 1:45 minute fight, we were only 30 minutes into the battle and my arms were fried. Finally, after 2 hours, she was getting tired. Pochy termed the battle "the young man and the sea", funny guy that Pochy. I pulled her close to the boat and Pochy grabbed the leader, she was tired and he puller her into the boat.
A few quick pictures and she was released. Estimated at 62" and 100 pounds. To book your own Tarpon on the Fly adventure get a hold of Capt. Francisco "Pochy" Rosirio at Light Tackle Adventure and tell him that Brad from the land of 10,000 lakes sent you!
Target Species:
Tarpon on Fly
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