North West Florida Tarpon

Eric and I spent 2 days chasing Tarpon this past week... day one was ON: we saw 150+ fish, had 20+ legitimate shots, 5 eats/hook-ups, and 1 landed fish, a 90lber (pictured in the jump shots below). Day 2 was brutal... wind, waves, glare, churned up water... all the things you don't want. We saw a few fish first thing, and a few more throughout the day... and we were lucky to land 1 tarpon (pictured below in the next to the boat shots) that was caught on a blind cast toward nervous water (or what Doug called "reloading the bucket"). It was a blind eat... and fish ran under the boat. I'd like to think the hook up was a result of good streamer fishing instincts but in reality it was just pure dumb luck. All in all a great trip that validates the rumor that North west Florida tarpon like to eat the fly. Doug Henderson was a blast to hang with... and he really knows his stuff. We'll be back for more.

spring smallies

Ben getting dirty with the carp

cape cod stripers on the fly

Steve, "Got about 20 of these this morning". GS Replies, "Nice!!" and Bart, "That is awesomely awesome! You've got a "cat that caught the canary" grin going on... Enjoy your "work" trip! Wish we could be there...