Tarpon on fly (with pics)

[SteveGibson]

I did my obligatory tarpon trip with my good friend, Rick Grassett. We love to fly fish for tarpon "after the season is over."

We anchored on a shoal in the inshore Gulf of Mexico and had several shots. Finally, I connected in early afternoon. I used a chartruese Toad. Took 32 minutes to land the 110-pound tarpon. It was a single fish and took an 80 foot cast.

The fish was swimming along the bottom in 5 feet of water. So, I put the fly about 20 feet in front and let it sink until the tarpon was within a few feet. I twitched it a couple of times and the tarpon inhaled it.