A Shot in the Dark

A long day of traveling…and a few beers later..I was lying on the floor down for the count. Still semi-conscious I heard the words “There are a few pair of glowing eyes facing shore right down the street!”. In an instant I staggered to my feet. I was about to get my first ever shot at a tarpon. We grabbed our ten weights off the porch and made the short walk down the street.

Perched on a concrete wall we strained our eyes to see the dark silhouettes of tarpon in the crystal clear water. Before long Mark spotted four tarpon cruising right at us. I had to squint and let my eyes adjust before I seen them…It was go time.

My heart pounded as I stripped off line. I had to react quickly before they disappeared into the night. With no time to think I dumped a 20 foot cast. Stripped once and watched as one of the tarpon blitzed away from his three counterparts and porpoised out of the water as he took my fly. In this instant..or so I was told..Haha!..I lifted my rod tip up high..classic mistake. But with Matt’s words ringing out “SET!...SET!” I remembered the strip set and pointed my rod at the fleeing tarpon and let him have it about three times. After a few moments the shock wore off and I started laughing uncontrollably as the fish jumped and tore off towards the dark horizon. With Marks aid we landed the fish and the fly instantly fell out…never piercing past the barb of the hook.

Laughing Uncontrollably

The Audience Arriving

Fly Fell Out

My First

Later that night we continued our search for tarpon. With a fresh case of buck fever flowing through my veins I let my guard down…and fell in a hole. In the next few days...after many jumped fish I came to realize how lucky I was to hook and land the first tarpon I ever casted to. The stars had definitely aligned.

"First Blood"