by Brian » Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:04 pm
Larry,
My tarpon quest in the Keys was mildly successful. I say mildly because I didn't manage to land any, but I did manage to see a few and hook one. It was actually in a channel right under the dock on a tidal flat. There were two, staying just out of the light, that would surge in and take the krill, or whatever those glowing creatures were, right off the top of the water in front of me. I tied on a hook, and without a sinker tossed a live shrimp up current and waited. I floated it past the dock three times before the larger of the two smashed it. About 5 drag screaming seconds later, POP! it snapped the line right at the hook knot. In my excitement, I failed to replace my old line from this past summer, I guess it is a hard lesson to learn, it was kind of deflating as no others showed up for the rest of the week we were there.
However, we chartered a boat and managed to catch tons of other fish. We managed to catch Spanish, Cero, and King Mackerel, Yellowtail, Mangrove Snapper, Triggerfish, Porgy, Red, Black and Gag Grouper, tons of Grunts, Blue Runner, and even a few interesting characters such as Remora and Puffer Fish. I never knew that Triggerfish snapped their teeth the way they did. You would almost be better off smashing the end of your finger with a hammer than sticking it in the mouth of one of those characters! I thought I was looking into the mouth of a squirrel! We managed to get two good fish fry dinners out of 8 hours of fishing with plenty more to spare. We tried trolling around the edge of the reef for larger Kingfish and any Sails, but the water was way too rough and choppy, only managed one good sized Cero. The lines kept getting tangled in the floating grass as it was everywhere and the water was a pea green color from being stirred up so much. I had a fantastic time and can't wait to tangle with old Mr. Tarpon again. And, though the water was rough, I managed to keep anyone from getting sick by giving everyone Ginger Root. It worked fantasticly as one of the people claims they are a deep water chum expert if you know what I mean.
Take Care
Brian
Let's Go Pens!
To the Cup!