Fished in the Ed Alber Tampa Bay Watch Tarpon Rodeo Saturday with some work buddies aboard Hook'em Harry's beautiful 26' Calcutta. Rough seas and strong winds but the boat made butter out of the chop as we rode down to Anna Maria Island for some poon hunting.
An hour in to the day I hook on to my first ever tarpon. He didn't strike the bait as hard as I thought he would, instead it was a gradual pull followed by 20 minutes of thrilling fight for his life jumping, pulling and circling the boat. I bowed to the king perfectly on each of his 5-6 aerials and ran around the boat like a mad man trying to keep him away from the motor and anchor line. He finally tired and we were able to get the desired photo of us touching the leader right before he snapped off.
Capt, Harry said he weighed about 75 pounds but I told everyone he will be forever remembered as a 120 pound giant!
It was an otherwise slow day on the water for all the anglers and we finished in 2nd place with the catch. One boat landed 3 tarpon south of us to take home the trophy.
I cant wait to get out there and try for one on my own!
