The Tarpon God

Let me start out by saying that this blog took me a couple of days to finish because I had to regain the use of my upper extremities. Keep reading, that will make more sense in a minute.

In our lives we meet people every day, but very few of them leave a lasting impression. Every now and again we are lucky enough to come across one of those rare gems that leave a "Joe Has Been Here" sign hanging from our hearts. The Joe I'm speaking of is, in my book, the Tarpon God, also known as Captain Joe.

Joe is a fishing guide with over 50 years of experience. His specialty is Tarpon, but if you ask him he'll tell you that he fishes for anything with fins and a tail. He very generously offered to take us Tarpon fishing and after thinking it over for about 2.5 seconds we said, "OK!!" He seems to think that Andrea did something nice for his wife, personally I think he's suffering from a case of mistaken identity but not being one to look a gift tarpon in the gills, I kept my mouth shut. ;)

We started the morning out catching some Pin Fish for bait. We caught them the old fashioned way with a rod and reel. I was looking around for the cast net and Captain Joe pulls out two small rods with tiny little hooks on them. I thought, "holy cow, this is gonna take us a week!!" When we went out with Captain Rachel, she must have caught 3,000 Green Backs before we started fishing, of course she was using a cast net. By the size of the Pin Fish we were pulling in, I was starting to realize that we weren't in Kansas anymore. This was some serious fishing we were about to do. :o Gulp.

Although Andrea's fishing skills have vastly improved, the poor girl still suffers from a case of premature jerkulation. The minute a fish even looks at her hook she jerks it out of the water. Captain Joe brought me to my knees when he told her that the first rule of fishing was making sure that the jerk was on the right end of the line!! I knew right then I was gonna love this guy. Between his quick witted humor and the fact that he used fishing line to hold his hat and sun glasses on, I knew that we were going to have a great time even if we didn't catch a Tarpon.

After we caught 10 or so Pin Fish we headed out to the spot to start fishing for Tarpon. I probably should mention that I have never fished for Tarpon and until today I had never even seen a Tarpon except on fishing shows. Andrea went out with Jason a few months ago and saw quite a few but she had never caught one either, and she really wanted to. It wasn't at all like I expected. We just put the huge Pin Fish on these huge hooks that were tied on to these huge polls.....can you see where this is going? Anyway, we just threw them in the water under bobbers and waited.

Now I had been hearing some rumors that this guy Joe was one of the best Tarpon fisherman around these parts but after he tried to club a 2 inch Cat Fish and it ended up sticking him in the hand, I started to get a little bit nervous. He assured us that it would only burn for a couple of weeks or so. But honestly, what's a fishing trip without a Cat Fish incident anyway? Casualties were still at a minimum so it was all good.

With our bait in the water we watched and waited for our bobbers to go under, well actually to disappear, never to be seen again until the predator that had taken hold of the line started to get tired. Speaking of bobbers, one of Captain Joe's friends, appropriately named Bob was fishing for Tarpon near by and they were keeping in contact via radio. I never got to meet him but I heard him cheering for me when I was fighting my Tarpon so I can only assume that he was a really nice guy. Poor guy was fishing in the same spots we were and didn't get a thing, so we deemed him our honorary good luck charm for the day. Thanks Bob, maybe we'll meet again in a Mr. Donut somewhere!! ;)

Well I guess I let the cat out of the bag, I caught a Tarpon!! Where in the hell did that stupid saying come from? You get clawed and scratched to death trying to get a cat in a bag, so why would you want to turn around and let them out? Unless it was an accident. I digress.

Anyway, I had been standing in front of my huge pole for only about 3 minutes and all of a sudden it doubles over. I grabbed it and immediately felt the power of this incredibly huge fish. It was at that moment I realized why the huge Pin Fish, huge hook, and huge pole. It was also at that moment I started to wonder what in the world Captain Joe was trying to tie around my waist. What an inappropriate time to measure me for my custom Tarpon fishing outfit. Then I thought, oh thank God, he's tying me to the boat so I don't get pulled out. Actually, it was a belt that had a place to rest the butt of the rod so that you could use your body weight as leverage. For the record though, I would still like to have a custom Tarpon fishing outfit. Just sayin'.

This fish was so awesome, it jumped high into the air several times. It looked to be about 3 to 4 feet long and Captain Joe said it was about 100 pounder. It took me about 45 minutes and every ounce of strength and determination that I had to land it but I did it, all by myself. All hail the Silver King!! It was an absolutely amazing experience that I will never forget. Like your first true love, you never forget your first Tarpon. Apparently this Captain Joe really did know what he was doing!! The rumors must have been true!!

Poor Andrea was all to pieces because I brought a different camera that she wasn't used to and the whole time I was fighting the Tarpon she was muttering to herself about the camera and how she hated that camera and then she walks up to me and says in a really soft and calm voice, "Keeum, I know your kind of busy right now but I cain't see anything through this camera." I unintentionally ignored her, because I think I was in shock, so she just started snapping pictures even though she couldn't see a thing.

As it turned out, the problem was that the batteries in the camera were going dead. Another thing that annoys Andrea beyond belief. Ooops, my bad. I remembered to clear the memory card, I just forgot to change the batteries. Sheesh, I can't remember everything!!!

Ok, on to Andrea's Tarpon. Captain Joe said it was about 75 pounds but it looked every bit as big as the first one. I can't really remember how much time lapsed before Andrea hooked it but it wasn't too long at all. I remember watching Captain Joe baiting up both polls and thinking to myself, "dear God please don't give me another one right now." Bob yelled congratulations to me from his boat and I could barely lift my arm to wave thank you.

For some reason, Andrea's Tarpon didn't jump as much as Tarpon usually do, at least that's what Captain Joe said. Actually, it only jumped once. She did an absolutely awesome job of fighting it. A couple of passers by even stopped their boat to watch her. She stayed calm and cool and kept the jerk on the right end of the line. LOL! I had changed the batteries in the camera by that time and I got some good pictures of her and her Tarpon. Captain Joe did some video taping as well.

Andrea got her fish to the boat a bit quicker than I did so it was still pretty frisky when Captain Joe went to grab the leader. All three of us ended up getting a big splash as the fish slapped it's tail against the water in protest. It felt great but caught us totally by surprise. Joe was soaked and so was his camera.

We actually hooked a third Tarpon as well but it jumped very aggressively three times in rapid succession and snapped the line. It was an incredible show though. We were most definitely members of the Tarpon club now!!

It was an absolutely spectacular day, one that we will cherish always. Honestly, I don't know which was more fun, catching the Tarpon or spending the day with Captain Joe. His hilarious stories and quick wit make him quite the charmer. Not to mention the fact that he is an encyclopedia of knowledge about all things fishing!!

Thank you Captain for one of the most memorable days in our lives, and thank you Bob for being our good luck charm. Until we meet again, remember to keep the jerk on the right end of the line!! I know, I'm wearing that saying out, but it just kills me!!

Pictures are coming soon, I promise. We are experiencing some minor technical difficulties but please stay tuned.

Peace, Love, and Tarpon!!