Lucky tarpon
Austin, Adam and I ran out to Port A South and it was the same situation, stained water with sections of green water trying to sneak closer to the jetty later in the evening. When we first showed up there were groups of smacks and ladyfish working glass minnows pretty hard. I cast to them and picked up a few ladyfish, but no smacks. There wasn’t much else going on other than that.
Austin picked up a 20″ smack and I was starting to give up on the fishing at this point. I sit on Cranes Rock and just stare at the water hoping for tarpon or kingfish skyrocketing. As the sun began to hit the horizon I am really losing faith in the fishing, then I see a king skyrocket a few hundred yards off the jetty. I re-tie all my knots and start fishing. After a few casts, the fishing hasn’t changed much but there isn’t very much light left so I stick it out and keep casting.
Finally my line goes tight and I see a tarpon go airborne. At this point I still just feel pressure in my line but can’t feel the fish. I think I might be caught up on Jeremy’s line and that he has the fish hooked and my line is tangled with his. Jeremy continues to reel in and finally catch up with the fish and he realizes I am hooked up instead. The fight didn’t last long but was much more aggressive compared to my previous tarpon. This one went on a few good 20’+ runs and wasn’t as aerial.
My assessment of this fishing trip confirms my thoughts on tarpon: they do whatever they please. They don’t adhere to tide patterns or water clarity, if they want to feed they will do it. We also only saw one tarpon roll and it was 200 yards off the jetty. The only tip I can give when trying to catch a tarpon is keep casting, and try to keep a fly in the water at all times.