 |
Fishing Report for Homosassa, Florida
Capt. Mike Locklear
June 2, 2004
Homosassa - Saltwater Fishing Report
Sport of Kings-Tarpon On The Fly- Homosassa Style
Oh how beautiful the clear gulf water flats were on June 1. The sky was blue and nearly cloudless. The warm gulf breezes and salt air was thick with humidity and haze, but not overbearing. A little sweating is good for the body.
Homosassa tarpon fishing is the best when attempted with the fly rod.
As I slowly drifted on the Hells Bay Marquesas 18’, focused on the gin clear 4-foot depths, a medium size tarpon of 60 pounds lay motionless into the incoming current from the west. My angler for the day was a newbie to the sport of kings. Curtis Duffield of Sorrento was up to bat in the big leagues for the first time in his career for giant tarpon.
Nothing about this sport is easy. A professional baseball pitcher can throw strikes at will. All his life he practices from a mound and has a strike zone in which to deliver the ball. I don’t know everything about baseball but compared to fly fishing for tarpon, baseball is a cake walk. Baseball is a sport I really admire and trying to hit a ball going 90 MPH is not an easy thing to do much less to hit it totally out of the park for a home run.
There is also a strike zone for a tarpon to eat the fly. The zone measures approximately the width of a baseball diamond. Lay the fly inside or outside that area and if a tarpon is swimming head on towards the boat, chances are the fish will ignore it like it was never there. Tarpon like to use as little energy as possible to feed while traveling inline.
The strike zone of a tarpon is several folds. Not only must the fly land inline with path of the tarpon, one must lead the fish the right distance much like a batter swings before he hits the homerun. You must anticipate the lead properly according to the speed of the fish, the depth of the water and distance between the fish and the boat.
Cast too soon and drop the fly too far in front of the fish, then the tarpon can switch directions and leave you like an overthrown ball by pitcher to a catcher. The timing of a fly landing in the very right place is critical to watching the sliver king elevate and garbage a fly.
Duffield made the cast and the fly landed three feet in front of the tarpon. Speaking of garbage, the surface grass clogged the fly and the tarpon departed from its resting spot. Another roll cast was made by Duffield, the fly landed too close and the fish quickly left the area. Fly ball. Out one.
A few minutes had passed when a string of 6 tarpon lit up the sand flat like a sore thumb. They were tracking head-on towards Duffield. Some inside cast which were too short. Strike one and two. A near perfect shot that landed within the middle of the string and the next to last tarpon ate. Somehow the line never got tight and we both watched the fly come out the estimated 80 pounder’s mouth. Strike 3 and out 2. We both looked at each other in disbelief much like a hitter looks at the umpire when struck out without swinging.
Not long after that, a daisy chain of 4 fish circled each other and Duffield delivered a lobber into the wad and one of the fish reacted, elevated and inhaled the fly past the bite tippet to the skinny 20 pound test class tippet. The fish broke the line immediately upon impact.
That is like being in center field and trying to make the catch of a lifetime, only to have a spectator reach down below the line and catch the baseball. Go to second base.
With two outs, I mean eaters; Duffield got one more at bat. We were about done for the day when a bogey was baring down on us at 1:00 off the bow. Two big tarpon were swimming faster than normal towards the boat.
As I swung the boat and instructed Duffield to cast, it would be similar to high arced softball pitch of 25 feet. As the fly landed 20 feet away from Duffield, I yelled for him to strip the slack out of the line. Just as the line got tight and the fly moved, the last giant tarpon showed us his big black mouth and flared his red gills. She ate the fly and turned away as Duffield got a piece of her jaw with cold steel. Steee-rikkkkeeee!!!!
What a hit!! She reacted in a way, which only a tarpon can do, taking off like a fast pitched baseball. When the line got tight on the reel she leaped 10 feet into the air. After the huge splash, the line when slack, the fly fell out of its mouth. Out 3, I mean he launched one into the air, which was great. High fives should have been exchanged! But the fight was over before it started.
It is not over entirely for Duffield of Olson Electric. He will return next season to challenge the sport of kings, the mighty tarpon of Homosassa and perhaps deliver a home run by landing one.
As Duffield reeled in the line and I raised the trolling motors and put the push pole in its holders, the seas remained emerald, the scenes of three tarpon eating the fly were embedded deep in the minds of both angler and Captain.
Oh how beautiful is God’s creation, Glory and praise to the highest, thank you Lord.
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
