This is an interesting story to read...

I was fishing with my guide - William. We set off with the specific intention of catching some tarpon. The first hour was spent poling over a larger area with no luck. William then decided that we would go to his secret spot. This was an area at the tip of a long beach. We found some very large permit and snapper but could get no takes; one medium sized tarpon which I hooked. This fish jumped a couple of times and then threw the hook. At this point the waves were making it difficult to stand up in the boat, so we decided to make a move.

A couple of miles further down the coast we came to an area were the flats came very close to the edge of the reef. We poled along about 50 yard from the edge the inside of the reef. There were lots of coral heads, so a few blind casts for snapper were made, resulting in a follow from an enormous Cubera snapper that turned away at the last minute. However, about 200yards away we could see a white hole about 50 yards across with fish moving in it. Nearing the hole we could see that they were tarpon of around 20- 40 lbs, and the school had about 30 fish in it. First cast in front of the school resulted in a hook up, the fish jumping out of the water and throwing the hook. I continued to strip and another fish took the fly, this time throwing the hook after three jumps.

“Good gracious me!” I said…or words to that effect. During this time the boat had drifted past the hole and we noticed that there were permit there as well. William poled down further and when he thought it was safe to do so, he started the motor and we returned above for another drift. William was excellent and started again at least 150 yards away from the hole… the fish were still there. On the first cast I hooked and landed a fish of about 25lbs or so.

I was using a Sage Xi2 11wt with Sage tropical fly line on a Charlton reel. I dropped my Tibor Gulfstream during a customs check at the airport so I used my back up reel. The Charlton is really a fantastic product and I set the drag very tight. I checked it with my Boga Grip and it was only 10lbs but it seemed like a lot more to me. I was using 40lb leader with an 80lb shock tippet. I decided that I would fish down and dirty and I gave the tarpon no chance. Rod tip in the water, they all came in very quickly. After releasing the first tarpon I saw a bigger fish swimming about 20 yards away. I did not even have time to put my cap back on before making another cast.

I like to use Tarpon flies tied with rabbit and strip the fly with slow short strips so that the fly pulses in the water. This fish came slowly up to the fly went to take it and missed… and then missed again! This happened five or six times before it was finally in its mouth. It was just a couple of seconds but felt like a lifetime. It feels like you stop breathing and your heart stops.

The fish then swam off and I had the opportunity to get a good hook set by strip striking hard. I think that when tarpon fishing if the fish jumps very quickly you can't get a good hook set. Anyway he was on and there was no way I was going to loose it. Using good old down and dirty tactics I had the fish to the boat in 10 mins. After landing it we measured it and carefully revived and released it. When we got back to the lodge it was calculated to be about 65lbs. I thought it was a little bigger but after all, I am an angler....

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