Far as I'm concerned, today's the day that High Season has arrived in South Florida. The reasons for this are firstly, the arrival of our first big cold front and secondly, a seasonally-appropriate push of tarpon into our backwaters to flee the sudden discomfort of the icy blast. I define icy blasts as any weather system dropping temperatures into the fifties- kind of cavalier, very subjective and "all about me" for someone so often blessed by life in the sun-kissed tropics!
The fish were where they needed to be and I stopped counting the rolling fish after one hundred- this, after only thirty minutes. The majority of the fish cavorted with hard rolls and tail slaps right back to the bottom. Occasionally, the bubbles of their burps would rise to the surface, give a fishy pop, and create a mini-fog in the cold atmosphere.
As I continued casting, a fellow angler ambled over to me and introduced himself. His name was Don and he was a recently-retired fireman from New York. As a novice angler to this fishery, he shared his utter fascination and helpless astonishment as he beheld this silver king extravaganza. I explained to him that tarpon often "carry on" like this, but eventually go on a "bite" of a comparatively short duration. This did eventually begin about an hour later as I hooked up with a fine fish of forty pounds. There was more oxygen in the cooler water, which enabled the tarpon to extend the battle to about thirty minutes. Don ran for his camera and got some shots of the fish being released for his friends back in the Big Apple. I found his excitement a thoroughly refreshing experience and such a welcome breath of decent fresh air compared to the asthmatic gulping necessitated by the oxygen-stealing of big ego I-can-cast-a-fly-farther-than-you types.
This was my first tarpon for 2007. It was a good morning made even better by Don.
Jan
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