Summer Tarpon Run - Brevard County, FL

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:24:49 -0500

During the summer my fishing posse and I began Shark fishing off the beach. We used cut clams to catch bait using our in-shore rods, usually we caught Whiting which in their own right are good table fair. Many beachside anglers target this species but we had other plans.
We used heavy tackle Penn 113's and Shimano TLD's teamed with heavy action rods with steel rollers, our line of choice is 60 lb mono tied to 200 lb steel leader and 6-10 oz. egg weights sinking 12/0 circle hook into the bait. On an ocean kayak we paddled the baits out any where from 100 to 200 yards offshore. Generally we caught Black tip, Nurse, Lemon and the occasional Spinner shark but we released all of our catches to give other anglers a chance for a fun fight.

Penn Reels:
http://www.pennreels.com/01_products/reels/conventional/04_senator/senator/113.htm
Shimano Reels:
http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content/global_fish/en/us/index/products/reels/conventional/tld.html

On our trips we were very successful fishing off the beach and spent the majority of our nights in the sand. In June, we heard on the reports that the Tarpon were starting to run. We decided to give it a shot. I loaded the gear up in my truck and headed out. Stopping by the bait shop, I grabbed some clams for bait. The weather wasn’t exactly perfect for a night at the beach but at least the ocean was calm.
We caught our bait and paddled out our long lines. I set my drag, turned on my clicker, cracked open a frosty beverage and began the waiting game. I had no idea that I was in for the night of my life.
An hour passed by and we were all getting pretty anxious. We had three long lines spread about 50 yards apart. All of the sudden we heard a reel zing - it was mine! I grabbed it and ran towards the dunes to tighten the line for a good hook set. Whatever it was it was runnin’ and my reel was screaming. I could hear the fish breaking water and I could feel some serious head shaking. After about half an hour of not knowing what the hell was on the business end of my hook I had the fish in close enough to get some light on it. Even though it was my first Tarpon I knew exactly what it was when the light hit it.
We got it up out of the water and snapped a picture. Our estimates were that it weighed in around 75 lbs. I was pumped, I thought my first tarpon was a beast! We waded out in the water to revive and release the fish. It swam off just fine. After that I didn’t really care what I caught, it wasn’t going to top that. I paddled my bait back out and began the waiting game.
Around 2 hours later I was ready to pack it up and head home. As soon as I decided to reel in I heard the zing and this time it was serious. It almost had me spooled before I could tighten my drag. As soon as the fish realized it was hooked it made a beeline for the beach. I couldn’t reel fast enough to keep the line tight and thought for sure I had lost the fish. I guess I can thank my 10 oz. weight for keeping the hook set, because once I got the tension back he was still on and took off again.
I could see the white water from the fish jumping under the glow of the moon. To be honest, I had no clue what I had but I knew it was big. I kept asking my friends, “What kind of shark this big jumps like this?” The only input I received was, “Mako?”
This fish was not giving up. I spent an hour and a half running up and down the beach trying to land the beast. Finally I had won the fight. The fish was now about 15 yards from the beach, we still didn’t know what it was, but we could see something about 7 ft long. My buddy didn’t care what it was - we weren't gonna lose it. He ran in the water and grabbed the steel leader. I asked "What is it?" He waited, then replied "Tarpon!" He grabbed the Tarpon by the jaw and pulled it in.
I ran out in the water and splashed some of it on myself. It may have been my first Tarpon but I knew the correct way to handle them. Tarpon have a slimy coating to protect them from infection, if you touch the fish with dry hands it removes this coating and can cause the fish problems. We pulled the beast up and posed for some pictures this fish put my first Tarpon to shame. It took two of us just to hold it and we were still struggling. We don’t know the exact weight, but we think it would have gone close to 200 lbs.
To end the night, we got the fish in the water and waded out with it, then we walked it down the beach to revive it. When it was ready to go the Tarpon let us know and swam off to fight another day. This night will never be forgotten and I'm sure I'll never get tired of respectfully rubbing it in the faces of my fishing buddies.

Check out the Texas Parks and Wildlife site for Tarpon facts:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/tarpon/

Jarrett’s Blog

Summer Tarpon Run - Brevard County, FL