Now you see them, now you don’t………….
I had a tip off that the tarpon were showing in the secret lagoon. Ok, not exactly a red hot tip off because the rainy season had started the previous day and a good flush had drained off the swamp into the lagoon. This always wakes the tarpon up. But had the tarpon actually left the lagoon, or were they there all the time? My thinking is that they were there all the time. We have seen them lurking deep in the fallen timber, seemingly not feeding or moving much.
Yesterday however it was all different. Now we are back to the normal behavior (or so I thought). The tarpon, mainly small fish up to say 10lbs, in pods of four or five were porpoising right out in open water pretty well the whole length of the lagoon. Unfortunately I was late on the water, and a light breeze had sprung up, and this immediately switched off this behavior. Not before I had hooked one fish and played it for several minutes before my knot failed.
We were chatting about knots failing the other day, and all of us agreed that it was something no one likes admitting. Sue says it’s a man thing. It’s a bit like your pride in being a good driver (no one EVER admits to being a bad driver do they?) We ALL tie good knots ALL the time don’t we? Well actually no we don’t! And we NEVER have a knot fail do we? Well yes we do, actually! If we are honest. A lot of the time it is not the knot’s fault, it’s just been tied badly. Generally speaking, the more complex twists and turns the knot involves, the more opportunities there are for a careless moment which might (as in this case) cost a fish- and a lure as well!
Anyway, the fish was lost, and as the breeze strengthened, the fish faded away. And one thing I have learned here is that when the tarpon say no, they mean it. No amount of persuasion will tempt them
So back next morning at the crack of dawn. Flat calm, exactly like yesterday. Well with one difference, where were the tarpon? Not a sign. So Sue and I eased gently down the lagoon in our boat Patience, scanning the water all around us. Tarpon are prone to rolling in the wake of your boat although I can’t think why. Nothing doing. Eventually I spotted a couple of fish porpoising, so we glided gently over to them. Sue hooked one immediately but after one surge the hook hold gave and that was that. So we decided to move back down towards the sea inlet which takes us past a couple of trolling hotspots. We trolled right down to the entrance without seeing a fish, turned and came back up debating whether to call it a day. Just as we approached the second hotspot, Sue spotted a pod of tarpon rolling just ahead of us, so we thought we might as well troll over them just in case. Well I got a big hit as we passed by and 100yds of line melted off the reel in no time. The fish jumped twice in quick succession and then turned and started to run straight back towards us. For the next 20 minutes or so the fish ran back and forwards, but the jumps became fewer and smaller. Fortunately I had hooked the fish out in open water so there was no real danger of snags. However as the fight developed, the boat was drifting perilously close to the edge of the lagoon where there is plenty of timber and refuge for a hooked fish. I knew that I would not be able to stop a determined effort to get into the timber, as my light spinning rod and 12 lb line were already at full stretch. The fish by this time however was tiring and after a couple of slow runs beside the boat, Sue was able to lift the fish on board for unhooking and a quick photo. She has been moaning about a sore finger, raked by the gill rakers ever since – but I think she is secretly proud of the battle scar.
So here is a pic of the morning’s efforts. Not a monster by any standards, but a brilliant fight on light tackle. My little soft plastic fish had survived the battle and so lives to fight another day. That seemed to be a good moment to run back up to our mooring and then home for breakfast.
Whichever way you look at it, it’s a good way to start your day.