Originally Posted by local_dirt
Originally Posted by JeffA
Originally Posted by local_dirt
Originally Posted by JeffA
Originally Posted by local_dirt
Originally Posted by kingston
Originally Posted by local_dirt
NOT when they're attached to 80-150 lb leader, 40-60 lb running line, and a rod the size of a pool cue or broomstick on the other end.


Who fishes for tarpon rigged like that?




Very common.


My thoughts went to Boca as soon as you posted that gear setup.
You ever place for any of the payout slots?

I remember a new Grady White and $200K in total prizes the last I ever payed attention to that event....




Jeff, I never placed. That tournament has gotten to be the Rolls Royce of tarpon tournaments. You gotta have $$'s and lots of time to fish to stay in the money slots. A fellow I know from high school who has been very successful in the restaurant business has a son who fishes the Boca Grande tournament every year. You probably know him. He was on Tucker a couple weeks ago. His son is a damn good poon'head and has had success. But, because Dad has the big bucks, he's not under any pressure financially, either in the tournament or out in the world. That tournament has gotten to almost be a who's who list.

That said, I've caught some serious fish in that pass. And not just tarpon. BTW- you want sharks? You came to the right spot. lol. There are some monsters in there.

Here is a perfect example of why you use the tackle I described in an earlier post. You try to get them to the boat quickly, because you otherwise stand a real good chance of getting cut off on another boat, or losing the fish to one of the many big sharks that patrol the area during tournament time. But, I'll stop rambling because you already know all this.

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I heard it's $5K per team to sign up now. I wounder how many Pin fish the bait shops go through for bait during that tournament?

We do most our Tarpon fishin' with flies by sight as they roll up on the flats on the south side of the Skyway...

We get plenty of shark action there too while fishing, typically once a big shark get on one we are landing they go on self release, just a big run that never stops until the tippet pops

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Jeff, cool pics.

$5K now? Geez.

That's my old stomping grounds. Great snook and reds fishing there, too. Had a 13' Whaler back in my younger days that I set up with fold down seats and a deck to cast from behind the seats. 40 Yamaha motor. Helluva little boat. Wish I had it today. Used to do a lot of wade fishing around there, too. And south side of Ft DeSoto, between there and the bridge.

Our last sled was a Ranger Ghost 169 flats boat. Can't find pics of it right now. Might have gotten eaten with photobucket fiasco. ??



I too started with a 13.6 Boston Whaler running a 25hp Johnson.
We put in at Ft. Desoto one day and went over to Egmont Key for some shark action.

The sharks were thick in the ships channel there and we were catching one after another.
I was down to using my pliers for a weight to get to the bottom, the sharks had torn up all our gear.

We had 8 or 9 sharks layin in the bottom of that boat when one came to life outta no where and started rippin from one end of the boat to the other biting everything he could get his jaws wrapped around.

There just not too many places to get outta the way in a 13 ft boat, I dam near jumped overboard.

Finally got a gaff in him and settled him down...

Did a lot of night sharking off the Big Indian Rocks Pier, you had to be a member of the Sun Coast Shark Fishing Ass. to spend the night out there. We had a small row boat for setting out our baits and a davit for hoisting the sharks, our membership fees paid for that.

Crazy days and a great place to grow up as a kid...

A couple of the guys I grew up with there own these two boats, that's what I go out in when I visit the area there today.
These pics were taken at the Maximo Park boat ramp......

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