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Print versionGrey Ghost Hunting
I’ve now lost track of the Tarpon we have caught since last week. I think it is a handful of small ones and twelve good ones with Andy’s 165lb monster still taking a clear lead in this trip to the Florida Keys. The shark fishing has been pretty good too. I haven’t counted the number of sharks we’ve had between 100-200lbs but we’ve gone through two packs of balloons. Circle hooks and sharks go well together!
Andy has just left for home and on his last morning we finally did get a Tarpon to the side of the boat long enough to photograph – a nice fish and a great fight on 20lb spinning tackle, but only about 50-60lbs.
Tarpon are such a hard fish to catch and photograph. Very rarely do they hang around long after the leader is touched and the fish claimed, but that doesn’t really bother me – in fact for some absurd reason this is what makes this species so appealing... Tarpon are so clever at all levels of the hunt – finding, tempting, hooking, fighting, landing and ‘capturing the moment’ – a fish that plays hard to get is like a drug – the more they don’t play ball, the more I want!
There is a formula to size a Tarpon which is length multiplied by girth (squared), dived by 800, but for the best part a best estimation is about all you’ll get, so I prefer to slightly under estimate my fish otherwise I feel I am only cheating myself. Keeping one by the side of the boat long enough to measure also seems a bit unfair after what can be a fight that can exceed two hours on light tackle. It kind of feels right that after an enduring battle of leaps, jumps and screaming runs, that with the leader touched, the Tarpon claimed and quickly estimated, that they should get the better of you and blow the hook or bust the leader – that way both angler and Tarpon win – the angler retains his catch and the Tarpon keeps something back of herself for another day. Nature will always win in the end, but isn’t that why we fish?
On the morning Andy departed we managed two more Tarpon – the 60lbs (as pictured) and another of 120lbs that blew the hook after grabbing the leader. It was then a mad dash to get Andy to Miami International Airport to make his flight.
The day previouse we had tried for bonefish. The Florida Grand Slam is a Tarpon a Bonefish and a Permit and they get tougher in that order, with Permit being the most irritating of them all. Bonefish are more difficult to locate than Tarpon, and easier to spook. Just 48hrs before Andy left for Coventry a Cuban friend gave me some numbers for a bonefish mark some 6 miles along the Atlantic coast from where we are based in the middle Keys, accessible only by boat, so we just had to give it a go.
After motoring up the coast, the engine was raised, the Minn Kota trolling motor was lowered and we quietly made our way in to the shallows. Once the boat was in 18 inches of water, the PowerPole was lowered, wade boots donned and it was time to wade across the shallows looking for fish to sight-cast at. On the flood tide, on warm days as the temperature cools, wading the shallows can be really productive for bonefish and also jacks, barracuda and small sharks.
The first fish we saw were two sharks – these were swimming between us and the main flats, so it was time to wait until they had passed by! Once out of the boat, a couple of rays cruised by and it was time to settle in for the long haul. Standing still or very slowly moving around we looked for bone fish to cast our live shrimp baits at. A 4ft, 10-15lb fluorocarbon leader is joined to the braided mainline on a 6lb class spinning rod. At the business end a 1/0 Owner SSW is baited with a live Shrimp and a split-shot is place directly above – this weight is just to add casting distance. When you sight a bonefish, basically you try to pre-empt the fishes movements, cast 30ft up in front of them (feathering the line down to avoid too much surface splash) and then cross your fingers that this fighter of all fighters continues on its path!
Sunburnt to smithereens, finally after an hour three Bonefish turned up but it wasn’t to be. On our first casts, the fish became spooked and returned to where they came. I was keen to nail a few bonefish this trip and whilst dropping Andy back to the airport, my mind continuously wandered back to the three bonefish.
Gerry and Mark Tattersal, a father and son team, have arrived now and I have big hopes for the coming week. Apart from the odd daily thunderstorm the weather is good and the fish seem to be on the move. Gerry is a keen angler who has now retired to Guernsey, and Mark his son, a cattle farmer from Scotland, used to fish but has been so engrossed in his farm that he hasn’t fished in 18 years. I have good feelings about the next week. Let’s see if we can get Mark hooked on angling again!
Last week you will see in one of the pictures that I’m wearing something that looks like a head scarf around my face and I’ve had a few emails asking why. The said item is called a Buff. It’s basically a stocking you pull over your face and neck for protection – protection from sunburn on the ears and neck, protection from mosquito bites at night, and the other thing that it comes in handy for is driving the boat at 38mph through rain storms, which actually hurts. It’s a harsh environment for an English white boy out here in Florida and these Buffs are a great bit of kit for face protection.
And finally, just for you interest here’s a couple of photos. We all know Americans like to do things big and bigger than everybody else. This is not always bad thing though and here in the Florida Keys, doing things big style, fishing wise – tackle, shops, boats and conservation, is what has made this chain of Islands into the Sport Fishing capital of the world! Have a look at this picture of Rapala’s Florida advertising campaign – what a witty advert! Fishing is so big here – if you’ve never visited the Florida Keys, a trip here is something you should add to your wish list!
And lastly here is a picture I got as 6am in the morning, while Tarpon fishing, of a forming water spout. It was an awesome sight.
Check out our website www.fishinginflorida.co.uk we have some great deals on Florida holidays for later this year and we’re already booking up quickly for next year’s Tarpon season – April, May and June.
Well that’s it for this week.
I’ll let you know how I get on with Gerry and Mark next Tuesday. I have good ‘skippers’ gut feelings about this coming week. Watch this space...
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