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duncsdad -> Tarpon Trip 2008 (7/6/2008 2:29:32 PM)
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The last week of June marked the 8th Annual Tarpon trip to Islamorada. Below are some photos and the box score for the trip.
[image]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/Duncsdad/Day1Fish2Resized8X10.jpg[/image]
This fish, estimated at about 90 pounds, was 45 minutes into the fight when it realized that if it kept circling the boat, it could come up for air (Tarpon can breath air and water) and never need to give up. With many Tarpon moving through the area, it was decided to make a leader touch catch and intentionally break the fish off in order to try for others.
[image]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/Duncsdad/HeadShakeResized8X10.jpg[/image]
For me, this is what Tarpon fishing is all about -- the huge head shake. What was odd about this one was that this shake came at least 20 minutes into the fight. Head shakes are usually reserved for the initial jumps. It was a great job by the guide to capture this one on digital.
[image]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/Duncsdad/FlyinCornerResized8X10.jpg[/image]
We busted this one the whole way into the boat. The fly can be seen in a perfect corner position.
[image]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/Duncsdad/ReleaseResized8X10.jpg[/image]
This fish, estimated at about 100, is being revived before release.
As for the box score for the trip,:
Day 1 Morning -- 21 opportunities
Day 1 Afternoon -- 17 opportunities
Day 1 Total -- 38 opportunities
Day 1 weather was perfect. Visibility was such that fish could be seen coming for more than 100 yards, so it was easier to get in position for a reasonable cast. The wind was 5-10 knots, which wasn't bad at all.
One fish struck the fly, but didn't close its mouth, so the strip strike didn't bite.
Opportunity # 10 bit, took the strip strike, and came off after five quick, spectacular, close-to-the-boat jumps.
Opportunity # 20 was caught and is the fish pictured in the first photo above.
Day 2 Morning -- 20 opportunities
Day 2 Afternoon -- 7 opportunities
Day 2 Total -- 27 opportunities
Day 2 weather was tough. The wind increased to 10-15 knots, which isn't terrible, but the in and out cloud cover made visibility almost nil. Many opportunities were less than 40 feet when spotted and required one close range cast. Several fish followed the fly until the leader was in the guides and then spooked from the boat. I think that if visibility were better, these fish would have been at a greater distance when presented to and may have been more apt to take the fly. In the afternoon, the fish simply quit moving. There was a pretty substantial thunderstorm that evening, so that may have pushed them off the flats and into the channels.
Opportunity # 10 jumped once and was off.
Day 3 Morning -- 14 opportunities
Day 3 Afternoon -- 4 opportunities
Day 3 Total -- 18 opportunities
The wind increased to a steady 20 knots. Visibility was good, but I found my casting skills lacking when needing to start a cast when the fish were 100 feet away and try to judge their speed and tack, plus factor in how far the flyline and fly would get blown in order to calculate lead.
Opportunity # 9 is the fish pictured in the three last photos above.
Opportunity # 18 jumped three times and came off. It was by far the largest fish to take my fly that week. I estimate it at about 150 or so. At that point, we called it an early day.
On one of these trips, my goal is to hook a fish per day. This time around, out of 83 opportunities (this may be a single Tarpon or a pod of 50 or more and may be comprised of one cast or several depending on conditions), I caught one and lost one on Day 1; lost one on Day 2; and caught and lost one on Day 3. In other words, I expect to hook 3 and in this case hooked 5.
As always, the guide was great. The flats were vast. And the memories will last long after the line burn blisters fade away.
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