Well the front has came and gone. This morning we still had northerly winds and it was a bit chilly and overcast. The north wind is not great for the tarpon bite but we gave it a try anyhow. We fished hard for about an hour or so and finally got a good bottom bite. Nice ~100 lb fish came flying out of the water. We chased him through 3 different crab pots, unwrapping the wind-on leader from each one. Thankfully we did not lose him. I had Steven, grandson of Vin Sparano, who is a long time editor of Outdoor Life and close personal friend of my family – specifically my father. This was his first tarpon and he was very excited. Later on we did some rod bending and dinner catching. Tried the tarpon again in the afternoon. We set up with the tide opposite and the wind had swung now to the east, much better. However the tide was into the wind where I was fishing making things a little tougher. We got a bite on the live mullet after 30 minutes or so, big busting fish that screamed drag for a second but then spit the bait unfortunately. No other action and we called it a day after that.
Don’t be afraid to ask about tarpon fishing.. Though I am booked most every day the next couple months, I have several nights open. I’m not planning as fishing as much as I have in the past couple years as the every day and night thing wears you down and burns you out. But on evenings where I have plenty of bait and I think fishing will be good I may be able to be talked into it!
