Richard Simms, is an outdoor writer and guide from Tennessee. We fished with him in the fall of 2016, he wrote a great article about our adventure on charlotte harbor. ( You can read it here ) I remember stopping to throw some bait busters at rolling fish in the harbor. He told how he's always wanted to land a tarpon. It was one of his bucket list fish, we made sure to get him on the books during tarpon season.
Fast forward to this past week. We set out about 5pm, hoping for a sunset bite with the flushing outgoing tide. Calico or "pass crabs" flush out into the Gulf of Mexico on an outgoing tide. Causing a feeding frenzy of tarpon, an exciting sight for any angler! Barbara hooked up first, she did a great job fighting her first tarpon. Getting the leader all the way in before her fish dropped the hook next to the boat.
No worries as we were fishing a pod of happy eating fish, it wasn't long before we had more bites. As the clouds came over us, and it started to drizzle Richard hooked up. His fish was a bit larger than the ones previously on the line. We knew right away he was going to be in for a fight. Tarpon are tenacious fighters, anglers have been known to fight them for hours. He was comfortably seated on the Deck Gear fighting stool, that was until it began to rain. Thankfully with no lighting in sight, Richard kept fighting. After a little over 30 mins, this fish was finally ready to give up. I was able to grab him boat side for some photos before the release. Richard revived him and I grabbed a scale for him to take home. A small piece of the giant fish he finally landed. Congratulations, I am thrilled to of been the Captain that made this possible for you. Video of their adventure below!
Looking for a tarpon charter? I have THREE days left in MAY and a few in June.
Check out my online booking section for my calendar or call or txt 941-661-0304.