Tarpon!

[Cowtown guy]

Well I'm headed to Florida in the wee hours of the morning. Before I get my picture with Mickey and Minnie my lovely wife was kind enough to let me book a trip in Tampa Bay for the Silver King. I can't wait. If the Tarpon aren't cooperating, the guide says he has been getting on some great shark bites lately. Either one is good for me.

Here's to hoping.

If I get lucky I'll throw up a few pictures. If not... this thread never happened.:sHa_sarcasticlol:

[flygirrl]

Watch out for the :shark: Have a blast

[fluxcore]

I cant get enough of that fishing show where they compete with standings for tarpon, it insane watching them maneuver through all those boats with a 200LB tarpon on the line then toe it in to get it on the scale and released. Tarpon are defiantly on my bucket list

[Cowtown guy]

I cant get enough of that fishing show where they compete with standings for tarpon, it insane watching them maneuver through all those boats with a 200LB tarpon on the line then toe it in to get it on the scale and released. Tarpon are defiantly on my bucket list

It just so happens that one of those fellas is my guide. Last time I seen the show he was in 5th.

I'm out! See you in a couple weeks.

[pdfish]

FYI, I don't think its prime tarpon season til late June. At least thats what I've seen when I was looking at booking a trip. Anyways, I wish a luck, hopefully you hook onto a couple.

[pyke88]

Enjoy yourself. I had the opportunity to go tarpon fishing in Nicaragua in February. Unbelievable. Have fun.

[Exploits]

I was down there this time last year fished all around the bay. We caught trout, red fish and small shark in the bay. Another day we went 30 miles offshore and
filled the biggest cooler I ever saw with grouper. A guide is the way to go, save you alot of hunting for fish. Good luck.

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

DUDE THATS COOL . ENJOY , have a good trip .:sSig_cool2::sSig_cool2: <<< your fishin trip is still cooler then this guy .

[Cowtown guy]

Well I'm back. We had a blast! We caught Snook, Jack's, Trout, Sail Catfish, Bluefish, Redfish, Mackrel, Grouper, Flounder, Snapper and Tarpon. Of course the guide caught tons of baitfish with a cast net. That was pretty cool to watch also.

Although I didn't get my fish in the boat for a picture he was at the leader three times. As we were turning the boat to get him on the lee side (because of the 5 foot waves we were in) to unhook him and take pics, the hook pulled straight. That was a big old 6/0 circle hook! What an unbelievable experience! The guide said he was in the 85-90lb range. He took drag like a bandit and the fight was about 20 minutes or so. 3 big juimps and some tailwalking topped it off. The guide grabbed the leader and was reaching to mouth him at one point. Well he really didn't care for that and took at least another 100 feet of line in seconds.

My buddy hooked into a monster also. It only stayed on for about 2 or 3 seconds and wrapped him around a bridge pillar and broke off. He was jumping trying to shake the hook after he broke off and was only 25 feet or so from the boat. The guide figures he was in the 150lb range.

All in all a great trip with a great guide. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone that is debating to do it. Even with the strong winds we could still make out the Tarpon rolling behind the structure in the current. It was amazing.

[walleyechaser]

Sounds fun, I got to do that someday

[whitewolf]

where did you fish as i am from kissimmee florida

[Cowtown guy]

We were under the Skyway Bridge for the Tarpon. Then we went into the river for Snook and out on some of the flats for the Redfish and Trout and into a little creek for Reds as well.
Forgot to mention before that I caught and landed the biggest Ladyfish the guide has ever seen also. I believe that makes a total of 12 species.

[whitewolf]

ya that sounds like the banana river i used to fish on...throw your lure in and who knows what you will get and those sail cats are slimey buggers...you get snot all up your line...if ya thought a pike felt slimey sail cats are ten times worse and those lady fish are funny....run like crazy and jump all over the place..sounds like ya had a good time...miss the action down there...some of those rivers you can get large mouth bass one cast and a red fish in the next cast...gotta love it !

[Cowtown guy]

ya that sounds like the banana river i used to fish on...throw your lure in and who knows what you will get and those sail cats are slimey buggers...you get snot all up your line...if ya thought a pike felt slimey sail cats are ten times worse and those lady fish are funny....run like crazy and jump all over the place..sounds like ya had a good time...miss the action down there...some of those rivers you can get large mouth bass one cast and a red fish in the next cast...gotta love it !

That Ladyfish was a scrapper! I thought it was a baby Tarpon at first.

As for the river...It is the one right at Bradenton. We fished all over the place in that river as the wind wasn't a huge factor in the tighter confines. Also some great looking houses along that river to gawk at while fishing.

Guide says that the Tarpon are usually in the river by now but with the colder temps this winter everything is about 2 weeks behind schedule.

We also got to see some Manatees in the river and some Dolphins at the bridge. The guide seen the Dolphins and told us to get our lines in ASAP as the Dolphins would hit the baits and strip the tackle in a hurry. My buddy got 3 cranks of the reel when a big 'ol boy grabbed on and luckily busted everything off right away. He said he has seen them strip line off so quickly that before you know it they are running like crazy in and out of the bridge piers.

I think I'll try to talk the missus into a vacation property down that way:thinking-006:

[BobLoblaw]

Sounds like a blast!
Surely you must have taken a picture or two (hundred)...???

[whitewolf]

ya those salt water fish...when they take off i am sure there doing a hundred...they can really get a real screaming...we used to keep the lady fish we caught to go catch goliath grouper around the bridge bases and steel pileings...i found down there you can take a person fishing that has never fished before and they end up hooked on it for life...did you guys have the chance to fish useing the flocks of birds feeding on baitfish...that can be crazy fun !

[Cowtown guy]

We followed the birds and fished in those areas. I lost quite a few Threadfins to the gulls. It's quite interesting how accurate they are. I could feel my bait flipping around on the end of my line and the gull would still get it almost everytime it dove for it.

[whitewolf]

lol...ya they are quick...glad to hear you had fun