So I was in New Orleans this weekend for a bachelor party. I got back late Sunday night to a text from a buddy of mine asking if I wanted to fish early Monday... I rarely get a chance to fish offshore so I called off work and gave him the affirmative.
In the PM the forecast was pretty grim, but we decided to give er hell for the first half of the day. The bait situation wasn't ideal. I was at the bow tossing the net, but the bait was swimming deep making it difficult to get the net on top of them fast enough. I ended up offering to buy bait (we NEVER do that) just because I was anxious to get out with bad weather rolling in later in the day. Stocked up with 4 dozen pinfish we head out.
We go out about 7 miles and decided to turn back, the 4-5" swells were too much for my buddy who was getting sick as a dog. He felt aweful since I had bought the bait and all but whatever, this stuff happens. On the way in he asks if I want to sit a channel connecting the gulf and the intercoastal waterway to see if we can pick anything up cruising through. Of course I say yes because given the choice I will ALWAYS fish.
We fish for three hours with not one bite. I mean, I am fishing EVERYTHING from bottom with a 5/0 j hook, 4 oz egg sinker strung with 50# braid, to free-lining a live baitfish, to hard plastics in the surf and I am getting no love. I do not claim to be an expert by any means, but I literally fished every inch of the water column with every bait (artificial and live) I had and nada.
At this point my buddy asks if I want to call it, and I regretfully accept thinking this day was doomed from the get go. I'm hungry, sunburned and sleepy from my long weekend. Worst part yet is that I have not had even one take.
My buddy starts up the boat and I draw anchor. Out of nowhere he asks if I want to try to free line a little eddy on the other side of the bridge, where we has seen some bait flashing a little earlier... of course again I am game. The angle of the little area we were fishing is such that he needs to keep to the boat controls giving her a little every so often to keep our nose pointed into the current so I can cast. Three drifts later and I am on... first hit of the day AND IT IS A SEA MONSTER. This thing is just stripping line. Whatever it is is a leviathan, because with my drag set for big fish it is just peeling it off... zzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
The fight was about 30-40 min in total, with my buddy manning the controls and me navigating the entire length of the boat trying my hardest not to screw up and lose this fish... The rig I was using was a 7' Shimano Terez medium paired with a Quantum Cabo PTsD 50 (~5000 class) lined with 30# Momo Diamond Braid (50# flouro leader).
The end result of the day, my first Tarpon. ~60lbs. I can now die a happy man.
Check the shirt... Go Irish!
The fish dragged us from all the way from the bridge in the background, jumped 3 times and literally shredded the right side of my body hah.
And a safe release.
hwhateve
