Model Agency 411

If you have ever had the priviledge of hooking up on a big
tarpon then you know the exhilaration and thrill of testing
yourself in battle against one of the most sought after
gamefish in the world. This distinction is easy to see at first
glance as the tarpon starts a series of spectacular acrobatic
leaps in the air that will have your heart pounding, your rod
bending and your drag screaming. You better hold on!

Since the tarpon’s habitat is so close to the shoreline,
fishermen of all types and skill levels can catch them. They
can be caught from jetties, passes, docks, bridges,
beaches, piers and rivers. Tarpon can be caught while
using many types of tackle, rods, baits, lures and rigs either
while fishing from a boat, canoe, kayak or walking and
wading from the shoreline as the tarpon work up and down
the beaches.

Live bait fishermen’s bait of choice is the ‘dollar crab’. A
small live blue crab about two inches across its carapace,
hooked through one end of it’s shell or underneath through
a swimmer leg. Other extremely effective live baits include
pinfish, threadfin herrings and pilchards. On days when the
tarpon is being finicky in it’s tablefare selection, try these for
the best results, and oh, by the way, don’t forget about a live
mullet. If you can get them, use them. Flyfishermen are not
left out either. The stealth of casting the right fly can
sometimes be the trick to hooking up.

But Just What is a Tarpon?

Scientific classification:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii

Order: Elopiformes

Family: Megalopidae

Genus: Megalops

This exceptionally fine creature is a prehistoric animal and
the only fish with an air bladder. This allows it to absorb
oxygen and live in waters with very low oxygen content. You
can see them gulp air at the water surface. Tarpon are also
called poons, tarpum, sabalo real, cuffum, silverfish or silver
king and belong to the bony fish family Elopidae. The Latin
designation is Megalops atlanticus.

While only microscopic at birth, tarpon have been
documented at lengths of more than eight feet and weighing
280 pounds. Catches weighing more than 200 pounds,
while uncommon, do occur. Many fish caught are well over
100 pounds. Their growth rate is slow, taking 8 to 10 years
to reach maturity, and generally those over 100 pounds are
female. Tarpon can live 55 to 60 years. They are greenish or
bluish on top, and silver on the sides. The large mouth is
turned upwards and the lower jaw contains an elongated
bony plate. The last ray of the dorsal fin is much longer than
the others, reaching nearly to the tail.

They are found primarily in shallow coastal waters and
estuaries, but they are also found in open marine waters,
around coral reefs, and in some freshwater lakes and
rivers. Their normal migratory pattern ranges from Virginia to
central Brazil in the western Atlantic, along the coast of Africa
in the eastern Atlantic, and all through the Gulf of Mexico and
Caribbean Sea. Florida is widely regarded as having many
of the best tarpon fishing locations in the world, especially
the world-renowned Boca Grande Pass in Southwest
Florida.

Fishing for the tarpon can at times be an excercise of
patience and discipline. You may be surrounded by large
schools of rolling tarpon containing hundreds of fish and
they will not hit anything you throw at them. Other times, it is
a feeding frenzy. So, go fishing for tarpon every chance you
get, that next world record catch may be waiting just for you.

Greg Smith is a life-long fisherman and publisher of fishing
information websites. Visit http://www.tarpon-fishing-i.com/
for more resources, tips, tricks and techniques.

Fishing is often seen as a solo pastime; a lone fishing zealot leaving his house at some unholy hour on a freezing winter day to seek out some lonely spot next to a river, with his flask of hot drink to keep him warm. Even though that impression is well drawn for a good number of angling diehards, it’s at the same time an extremely inaccurate picture of numerous other fishing enthusiasts, as they see angling as being a people-facing event, making new friendships, and at the same time being a good reason to take trips around the country and even the world by getting engaged in fishing trips.

Not only that, but angling contests have become very popular - and they’re a wonderful means for people to get together and discover new angling tips, while having a great excuse to go on a small holiday. In fact, there are people who suppose that angling is simply a reason to meet people and travel! That being said, angling is still considered a serious pasttime by many of its hobbyists and they are prompted by the social scene in the main to discover more about angling through swapping tips and advice with other people.

In the last 10 years, the web has genuinely served in the growth of the fishing communities - via Twitter, blogging etc, it’s now painless to organise or just go to a fishing competition or informal get-together, while swapping handy tips and tricks on forums and blogs.

When it comes to angling equipment, the web has absolutely aided anglers in locating the most suitable tackle, rod, reel, catfish tackle etc due to the fact that these days they can compare with countless online stores instead of only being restricted to their near-by angling shop.

Another day in cabo san lucas fishing for stripped marlin. Anyone who has caught one of these fish know they put up a huge fight. Well it was about four in the morning when the alarm went off, time to roll out of bed for another day of tag and release fishing. There is nothing better than spending the day on the water with some good buddies collecting data on such a remarkable species. So as we got to the boat our friend and captain was already at the docks warming up the boat and buying bait from one of our locals.

So once we got there it was just time to untie the boat and push off for a day on the water. Well once we got past the port captain on the way out of the harbor, we stated to talk about where we wanted to fish for the day. We thought since there was plenty of the day boats heading up north to the pacific side we decided that we might head up that way as well. So I said to the guys why don’t we go hit up the golden gate fishing spot. This is a spot that many of the locals take there day trips to, because it is known for producing tons of fish. The problem is sometimes you will get out there and it looks like the whole marina is parked out there on this one fishing spot. Anyways it was early and we made it out there before all of the day boats arrived. So as we released all the lures in the water and started to fish, we stated seeing alot of birds feeding up about a mile north so we fished our way up there.

Once arriving to the spot where the birds were feeding it was like marlin madness. I mean there was about 15 marlin I could see right at first, and I am sure there was more below. I told the guys to pull in all the lures and put on live bait since that’s what there feeding on. I got us right up on a nice sized marlin and we got a bait right in front of his nose, and he took it. The reel started screaming, and I think from the co motion of one fish being hooked up we hooked up two more right away. So now we have 3 marlin hooked up and its a mad house in the cockpit of the boat, three guys fishing and one guy running around getting tags ready. Well needless to say that day we tagged and released over 10 stripped marlin, making it one of the best days of marlin fishing for us.

We never take any game fish from our waters as they are becoming over fished. So please remember when fishing only keep what you need, and just take pictures, your friends at home will like the pictures just as much as three of four coolers full of fish. And when you can go check out save the pacific, there a new non profit that are dedicated to helping protect and preserve our fragile oceans.

Thanks for reading, I will be posting alot more fishing and conservation stories so keep your eyes open.

http://www.savethepacific.org

Pinfish are great bait for a wide variety of species; they are easy to catch and are found all over the shallow waters of the Suncoast. Put a little bit of bait (squid works very well) on about a #2 or #4 hook and toss it over some grassy bottom - it won’t be long before the well is full of ‘pins. You can also chum them up with catfood and bread and throw a cast net over the whole lot - ‘pins are fast though, and often can run faster than the net can sink. Sabiki rigs work well for catching pins, but sometimes you need to add a tiny bit of squid to each hook to make it more effective.

Pinfish are very hardy as baitfish go, often outliving everything else in your baitwell. When handling them, watch out for the very sharp dorsal spines - they can really stick you good (that’s how they get their name). Hook them just under this fin and fish them with little or no weight inshore. Offshore, a live pinfish will often get grouper to bite when nothing else will. This is a great baitfish that will also give beginning fishermen a very nice tussle on super-light tackle (nice way to entertain the kids on a windy day).

Be sure to check out the fishing forums, blogs, pictures and articles at FishingRecreation.com