Florida: Tarpon Fly Fishing, The Silver King Wins Again!

Tarpon Hook-Up

I step up on to the casting platform and begin to strip line off the reel. My pulse quickens, legs begin to tremble and my breathing becomes more rapid and shallow. There are at least fifty tarpon rolling out in front of me. I pick one fish about sixty feet out at 10 o’ clock. As I start to work out the line with a few false casts, the 12 weight rod is broom handle stiff and loads easily. I try to be mindful not to rock the boat as I cast, knowing that these fish are in 2 to 3 feet of water, spooky and could blow out on us easily. My first cast is short. The guide re-directs me, “do you see the bubbles”? “pick it up and throw it a little farther” I do as instructed, everything is in super slow motion now. The 8 inch black and purple muddler pattern hit the water soft, I let it sink for a second or two and began the retrieve. Three strips in and a massive push of water develops right behind the fly, one more strip and show time! The massive tarpon rips the slack line from my hand as it clears off the bow of the boat. Drag is screaming and line is peeling off the reel and all is good, or so I thought. The monsters next maneuver was to charge the boat head on, at full speed. I was left with 80 feet of slack line in a matter of two seconds. I recovered the line, regained contact with the fish and then the hoop of my bent rod went as straight as a flag pole. I would have to say that bar none, this experience was the most exhilarating of my fly fishing career. The sheer power of these fish is unparalleled to any other species I have yet to experience. I was humbled, speechless and weak in the knees for a little while after all of that transpired.Thanks again for everything Headrush. These memories will last a lifetime.