I ended up taking the family out on the Marathon Lady. Top notch staff, the rods were sufficient (glad I brought my own) and the boat was clean. We caught several snapper. Folks on the stern caught a few sharks and a couple grouper.
Most of my fishing was off the pier at Key Colony Point. Great little spot. Caught endless Mangrove Snappers (biggest was a 15 incher). Saw a few Cuda and Tarpon rolling about.
On my heavy bait caster I kept a fish head with a couple ounces of weight, 50 lb leader and a #7 circle hook. Probably had 10 hits, either tarpon or large cudas. Some were nice enough to break the water and give me a show as they made off with my bait.
Friday was our last night, it was dusk. My wife brought a bottle of wine and a couple glasses. We reminisced about the week and what a magical place The Keys are. I lit a cigar and told my wife what a great fishing spot that was and how great it would have been to actually LAND a Tarpon.
Not even a minute passed by when my 6500c started singing!! Holy Crap, huge Tarpon bite!! He jumped a couple times as he swam out towards the channel. I forced myself to wait a few more seconds before engaging the drag. Line was coming off super fast.
I turned the handle finally and engaged the drag that was set to medium..... the fish did not slow down at all! Turned the drag a bit higher and he started to slow down and eventually turn.
I fought him for a few more minutes. He made a couple mad dashes for the pier pilings as he got close. Luckily I was able to keep him away.
He was tired when I got him close and I was worried about getting him off the line. My plan was to cut the line, grab his tail and get some water through his gills.
I reached down, cut the line as close to the hook as possible. He laid stunned in the water for about a second and with a big splash, swam off strong.
I must have fished for 50 hours off that pier. What an amazing send off to actually catch a Tarpon!
