| 2006 Florida Keys Fishing Reports |
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| Ben Mitchell Extreme Tarpon Jump |
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Final Keys Report
June 28, 2006
Greetings from my days in the Florida Keys:
I finished my last day of fly fishing for Tarpon with Gary Fredenhagen and John Reed from Wisconsin on June 24th. We had poor conditions and then it rained and blew for two days. Gary and John each caught Two Tarpon during their two and a half days of Tarpon fishing, All fish were between 60 and 90 pounds. We had a great time and look forward to next year.
I prepared my skiff for storage and put it away until next Tarpon season when I will return to my Florida Keys in pursuit of the Silver King on fly. I will be contacting my clients when I return home from Alaska to begin taking reservations for next Tarpon season in the Keys.
I have been loading a U-Haul trailer with all of my worldly possession for my trip to my new home in Havelock North Carolina. Below you can find my new contact information, be aware that my cell phone number and E-mail address will remain the same. When I get settled in North Carolina I plan to update my website and I will send a report with any new information regarding my fishing trips for the rest of this year and during 2007.
My Mother and I will leave here on Friday morning when the new owner of my Keys house takes over. We plan to stay at my Mothers home in Port Saint Lucy, FL over the weekend, then travel to NC on Monday arriving Tuesday evening July 3rd.
Next week I will have some news regarding Guatemala, Galapagos, Alaska, and North Carolina fisheries. I will also be purchasing a new 21 foot Jones Brothers Sport fishing Boat for use in exploring the many fisheries in North Carolina.
I will miss my beloved Keys however I am very excited about the many new adventures which await me in my new home. More reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
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Tarpon Fishing Report
June 10 through 23, 2006
Greetings from Tarpon World:
June 10, through 17, 2006,
A tropical low pressure wound up over the Keys and it rained and blew for days, Gordon Burr canceled his trip and Jimmy Silkwood missed his first day of Tarpon fishing. On June 15th through June 17th I fished Jimmy Silkwood from the Oregon coast but the storm had made the Tarpon unhappy and very hard to catch. Jimmy managed to hook several fish but did not land a single fish.
June 18, 19, 20, 2006,
Danny Cline from West Virginia came down for his third Tarpon trip of the season. Fishing was slow but Danny did manage to jump a few fish and did land one nice fish while here. As usual it was a pleasure spending time sharing my skiff with Danny Cline, he is a good angler and a class act.
June 20 and 21, 2006,
Henry Nichols from Washington State joined me for a lesson in fly fishing for Tarpon, he received some good learning experience. Henry Jumped two Tarpon during his first day and landed a Tarpon about 60 pounds. Then on June twenty first
We hit it large with Henry jumping a total of 5 Tarpon of which he caught and released 4 of those hot Tarpon up to ninety pounds. Henry will turn out to be a very good Tarpon angler, he sure has the Passion!
June 22 and 23, 2006,
My friend John Reed and his friend Gary showed up for four days of fly fishing for the Silver King. On day one John landed his first jumped Tarpon of the trip, a male of about 65 pounds.
The next Morning Both Gary and John sight casted to schools of happy Tarpon, both anglers hooked up, and Both landed and released Tarpon between 70 and 90 pounds. Later in the evening Gary hooked and fought a 80 pounder which we released after a 20 minute battle. We have two more days to fish, I do hope that these Tarpon keep eating the flies as they did today. Both Gary and John are two for two on the fly, that is good Tarpon fishing.
My last day of Tarpon fishing is Sunday, June 25th, I will put my skiff away on the 26th then begin to pack a U-Haul trailer on the 27th. My last day in my Keys home will be the twenty-ninth of June then my Mother and I will head north. We plan to stop in Port Saint Lucy for the weekend then head to my new home in North Carolina, arriving on July 3rd or 4th.
I had a great Tarpon Season and plan to be back in The Fabulous Florida Keys for another Tarpon Season next April, May, and June. You will hear from me regarding my fishing adventures in North Carolina, and then in Alaska during August and September.
I plan to fish in North Carolina during October, November, and December. Next week I will send out a report on my new ones Brothers Skiff for NC fishing, next years Sailfish Schools in Guatemala, and my Marlin Schools in the Galapagos. I will also let you know regarding my speaking engagements at The Flyfishing Shows through out the country during January, February and early March of 2007.
I do hope that you have enjoyed my fishing reports from the Tarpon capitol of the world, More Fishing Reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
Tarpon Fishing Report
June 6, 7, 8, 9, 2006
Greetings from Tarpon World:
June 6, 2006,
Bob Droll from Olympia Washington came to the Keys for the first time to try his luck at catching a Tarpon on fly. We fished all day in breezy, partly cloudy, hot conditions, and saw lots of Tarpon. Bob had practiced his casting however, there is nothing like casting at these big, moving fish in choppy, hard to see, conditions. We never connected with a Tarpon although we did have quite a few shots at these spooky Silver King. We had a good day of fly fishing and will do it again, Bob did learn that there is nothing like a Tarpon when it comes to fly fishing.
June 7, 2006,
Ben Mitchell from San Francisco, CA arrived today for three days of Flyfishing for the elusive Silver King. This was Ben's first trip to the Keys and would be his first time hooked to a large tarpon on a fly. Ben is a good caster and a young boat savvy angler so he fit into the game easily.
We fished in the early part of the day on the flats near Big Pine Key where we had dozens of shots at single cruising fish. Ben made some good casts but those early fish would not eat the fly. Later they turned on and Ben wound up hooking and jumping a total of five Tarpon, four of which were over 100 pounds. The first three fish spit the hook after several jumps, one broke the fly line off on a bridge piling and the other one a big female finally let us leader her before letting Ben's first big Tarpon on fly swim off.
June 8, 2006,
This morning the fish were not cooperating so we took a break after a few hours and came back out after dark for some night Tarpon Fly Fishing. We call this Extreme Tarpon Fishing, and it was. Fishing in a 20 knot wind which was blowing directly into the current we fished for four hours while dealing with four foot swells.
Ben, now used to dealing with these Tarpon managed to get multiple jumps from three Tarpon and released two both in the 70 to 80 pound class.
June 9, 2006,
Ben's final morning showed signs of the on coming tropical depression, with strong south wind, cloudy skies, and muddy water. We did have several shots but decided to wait for this evening and do some more Extreme Tarpon fly fishing.
Tonight the wind switched to the South east, and the conditions improved slightly. Ben hooked and got multiple jumps from four Tarpon. By now Ben's fish fighting skills had improved and he managed to leader and release Three of these magnificent creatures. We had a great time and both enjoyed this great Extreme Tarpon fly fishing, Ben Jumped 12 Silver King and released six during his three day Tarpon Quest, Wow!
The Tropical storm has arrived and we are receiving lots of wind and rain, my friend and client Gordon Burr from Denver headed out of here leaving me with my first three days off in quite a while. I begin fishing my next client on Tuesday, hopefully this rain will cool the water and keep the Tarpon around for a while.
I am using these days off for maintenance on my skiff and equipment, and to begin packing my personal property so I will be ready for my move to North Carolina on June 30th. More Reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
Tarpon Fishing Report
June 3, 4, 5, 2006
Greetings from Tarpon World:
June 3, 2006,
Steve McManus from Charleston South Carolina began his first of three days of fly fishing for Tarpon with me today. We saw lots of Tarpon in the morning and Steve hooked his first Tarpon during his first hour of fishing. Unfortunately he forgot to let the line slip through his fingers and he broke that fish off. Later in the evening we jumped 3 more fish, and fought two of them to the boat where we got the leader into the rod tip before letting them go. The largest fish towed my skiff from the back country of the Gulf of Mexico out through the bridge and about three miles out to sea. I estimated the size of that fish which we let go at 9:30 PM to be over 130 pounds.
June 4, 2006
Today we fished hard, saw hundreds of spooky fish and never got a bite until late in the evening when they began to eat staves flies. When we quit for the day Steve had jumped 6 Tarpon and released one about one hundred pounds.
June 5, 2006
Steve and I began fishing at 9 AM and fished in hot calm water with sunny skies to very spooky Tarpon. We had dozens of good shots and many follows however we did not even get one bite today, That is Tarpon fishing. Steve is a great person to spend a day fishing with, we plan on more trips next season. More reports to follow.
Regards:
Jake
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| Tarpon Lap Dance |
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Tarpon Fishing Report
May, 31, June 1, 2, 2006
Greetings from Tarpon World:
May 31, 2006,
Rich Christians from Saint Petersburg, FL and Tony Reinhardt from Missoula, MT hit the Worm hatch. Today the Tarpon were still eating worm flies even though there were no worms around. Today Tony and Rich jumped three Tarpon each, both anglers caught and released POONS, Tony's was over 70 pounds, and Richard's Tarpon was about 50 pounds. We lifted Rich's fish into the skiff for his first Tarpon "Lap Dance."
June 1, 2006,
Today the Tarpon were plentiful however they were very spooky. We had lots of good casts but the Tarpon were refusing our flies. Late in the afternoon when the sun went behind the clouds, we found some rolling Tarpon which ate the fly of each angler on two consecutive presentations. First Richard jumped a big 100 pound plus Tarpon which spit the hook on the second jump, then Tony hooked a giant 120 pounder which jumped 5 times before ripping off 200 yards of backing. Twenty-five minutes later Tony reeled the leader into the fly rod and we released that big fish.
June 2, 2006,
We fished the flats in front of Marathon today, both Tony and Rich had dozens of shots at swimming Tarpon. Both anglers hooked a Tarpon and both got multiple jumps before the fish spit the fly back at us. During the last six days Tony and Richard jumped a total of 18 Tarpon and released seven on the fly. This was the second year that these two anglers joined me here for some of our excellent Florida Keys Tarpon fly fishing. They have already reserved their dates for next year. More Reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
Tarpon Fishing Report
May, 28, 29, 30, 2006
Greetings from The Tarpon World:
May 28, 2006,
Rich Christians from Saint Petersburg, FL and Tony Reinhardt from Missoula, MT arrived yesterday for six days if fly fishing for Tarpon. We fished between Marathon and Big Pine Key where we saw several hundred Tarpon but only had one bite. The fish were acting weird and sure enough this evening was the beginning of the worm hatch.
May, 29, 2006,
Today we saw thousands of tarpon heading toward the Worm Bar, however they were not interested in any flies that we presented to them. All day we saw school after school with lots of great shots but until 5:30 PM we only got one bite, a 70 pound Tarpon landed by Tony.
Then beginning at 5:30 we began to see worms and lots of Tarpon. Rich hooked and landed a 60 pounder, then Tony jumped one and rich jumped another one. By the time we headed to the dock each angler had jumped two Silver King and they landed one each.
May, 30 2006,
More of the same, hundreds of Tarpon in Daisy Chains all over the place, giant schools moving towards the worm bar, not interested in any fly. At 5 PM they all arrived at the worm bar where there were no worms. The Tarpon were looking for worms but the hatch was over so they ate our worm flies pretty good.
Tony landed an 80 pounder and jumped another fish, Rich jumped 2 but did not get one to the boat. The fish dried up at 7:00 PM as they discovered no worms. Tomorrow the fish will be back to normal and we should slam them during the regular hours. More reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
Tarpon Fishing Report
May, 25, 26, 27, 2006
Greetings from The Florida Keys:
May 25, 2006
Danny Cline from Charleston West Virginia is here for his second trip of 3 during our 2006 Tarpon season. On May 25th Danny had 6 Tarpon eat his fly one of which never came tight, he got multiple jumps from 5 then caught and released four Tarpon on fly.
May 26, 2006,
The weather is calm and overcast, the Tarpon are spooky, and hard to feed. Danny made dozens of well placed casts to Tarpon, some fish followed the fly however we only got one bite all day and that hook came out before the Tarpon jumped. No Tarpon caught out of hundreds seen.
May 27, 2006,
Today the weather was hot, calm, and overcast, but the Tarpon were happy. I found several schools of happy Tarpon moving slowly on the surface, they were eating orange flies (Worms?). We saw more than a thousand Tarpon today, got 5 to eat the well placed fly, three gave us multiple jumps and Danny fought a 70 pounder to the boat for a release. Tarpon season is here, I love my JOB! More reports to follow.
Regards:
Jake
Tarpon Fishing Report
May, 23, & 24, 2006
Greetings from The Florida Keys:
May 23, 2006,
John Ziarnik my friend from Cudjoe Key Florida joined me on this cloudy calm day for some fly fishing for Tarpon. As I was driving over the 7 mile bridge I saw 3 schools of Tarpon rolling and moving slowly to the West. Jon met me at the Bahia Honda State park where we launched the skiff and headed east to Money Key bank.
30 minutes later Jon jumped his first Tarpon of the day from a happy school of POONS. We fished that area all of the way back down the beach to Bahia Honda State park and Jon jumped 4 fish but could not stay connected and didn't land one.
May 24, 2006
Today we headed to the Big Pine Key flats to look for Tarpon, Jon had a few shots but the light was bad and the fish were deep. We moved back up to the seven mile bridge flats later, and found a big school of happy fish. Jon hooked one Tarpon but the hook came out and the rain came before we hooked another fish. We called it a half day and headed in to the dock.
Danny Cline from Charleston, WV arrived and called me late this afternoon. We decided to go out in the evening and try the night time fly fishing for Tarpon. The Tarpon were eating real good, Danny and I fished from 11:30 PM until 2:30 AM and he hook, jumped, caught, and released four Tarpon out of 4 bites all over 80 pounds. Then to top off this great trip Danny hooked a 100 pound plus crazy monster Tarpon which jumped 7 times in the first minute, ran under the boat, jumped again at least 15 foot in the air, then spit the hook! We laughed for 15 minutes then headed for the dock. Danny and I are going fishing tomorrow at 11:00 AM. More Reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
Tarpon Fishing Report
May, 18, 19, 20, 21, 2006
Greetings from The Florida Keys:
May 18 & 19, 2006'
John Ziarnik my friend from Cudjoe Key Florida has been fishing with me for 18 years so he knows how cantankerous that these Silver King can be. We fished all day on the 18th and saw a few dozen fish, even had a couple of them followed John's fly.
The weather was mostly cloudy with hard north wind, it had been blowing north for 3 days now with a hard rain for two days, which made for hard fishing. We ended the day with one almost bite.
On the 19th the weather was very cloudy in the morning then partly sunny in the PM. We fished all day and I never saw a fish, NOT ONE TARPON! John and I will fish again next Tuesday and Wednesday.
May, 20, 2006,
I got canceled for the 20, 21, & 22 and could not re book the dates so I took my friend Ben Ferimski and his girlfriend Tanya Christensen, from Colorado Tarpon fishing on Saturday and Sunday.
Ben hooked 2 Tarpon on fly and landed a big (110 pound) female in the same place that we didn't see a fish the day before. The big story was that Tanya (New to Fly Fishing for Tarpon) cast to, hooked, fought, and released a giant 115 pound Tarpon on 20 pound tippet! That is 2 big fish caught out of 4 jumped on our first day.
May, 21, 2006,
Today Ben Jumped three Tarpon, he released a small male in the 50 pound class, but he also hooked a monster which was well over 160 pounds (maybe over 200) which ripped off over 200 yards of backing in 10 seconds before breaking Ben's fly line which must have had a nick in it.
Tanya however proved to be a great angler and a strong fish fighter who can follow directions well. She caught 2 big female Tarpon today, both fish were between 100 and 120 pounds. We had excellent fishing and the both left with a Big Grin on their faces.
I was off today and worked on my equipment, I start again tomorrow with John Ziarnik. It is raining as I write this report I hope it gets good for Jon Ziarnik tomorrow! More Reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
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Tarpon Fishing Report
May 13, 14, 15, 2006
Greetings from Tarpon World:
May 13, 2006,
Twenty knot north wind with cloudy skies greeted my good friend Jon Ziarnik and I as we began our fishing day. We started in the basin where we saw some rolling Tarpon however we could never get near them and with the glare and dark skies fishing was real hard. We headed in and called it a half day at 10:30 AM.
May 14, 2006,
Steve Jacobs from Durango Colorado is in town and booked me for a day of fly fishing for Tarpon on Mother's Day. We fished the Big Pine Key area where we had a tough time finding many Tarpon in the morning hours. About 1:00 PM the Tarpon started to move at the same time as the sun came out. Steve had several good shots but we ended the day with one eater and no caught Tarpon. We had a great time and later Steve joined my Mother (96 years Young) and I for a great Mother's Day dinner.
May 15, 2006
Nick Smith, from Stuart Florida drove down for a couple of days of fly casting instruction and to attempt to catch a Tarpon on a fly. Now, my friend nick has caught more Billfish on fly than anyone even more than me, however Billfishing is his only fly fishing experience.
In the morning the clouds made seeing the Tarpon difficult but by noon the sun began to shine, the wind was blowing from the South at 14 knots, and some Tarpon began to move on the ocean side of the Keys. At one PM a school of near 200 "Happy" Tarpon swam up to us, Nick made a good cast and had his first Tarpon eat the fly, only to spit it out on the strike. I poled the skiff in front of this happy school of POONS, Nick made a cast and thirty minutes later I released Nicks first Tarpon on fly.
Two hours later I found the same school about two miles down the beach and nick hooked another Tarpon about eighty pounds. After a fifteen minute battle Nick beat that fish and I released Nicks second tarpon of this good day of fishing. The weather looks bad for the next day or so, more reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
Tarpon Fishing Report
May 10, 11, 12, 2006
Greetings from Tarpon World:
May 10, 2006, Austin Hepburn from Radnor, PA arrived fir the first of his two days of The Tarpon School. Austin had never had any luck in his several earlier attempts at catching a Tarpon on fly so he called me and asked for instruction.
Today in the morning we spent a couple of hours at casting and fish fighting class, then went looking for Tarpon with the fly rod. The first Tarpon that ate Austin's fly spit the hook as Austin forgot to set the hook. We took a break and decided to try the night thing, it sure was a good idea as Austin jumped and fought 4 Tarpon in the 80 to 100 pound class. We lost one of the fish to a Bull Shark, broke one off on a bridge piling, and fought two up to the side of the skiff for two released Tarpon on his first night fishing.
May, 11, 2006,
Today we fished from 11 AM until 7 PM and had lots of shots at over 500 Tarpon swimming in schools of up to 100 fish per school. They were finicky and hard to feed, however Austin did manage to hook one giant 120 pound female but when the fish took off Austin made mistake #216 and forgot to let the line go after the strike. That big female broke that 20 pound tippet and swam away giving us the fin!
May 12, 2006,
My friend John Ziarnik and I fished all day today, the light was poor due to clouds and that made feeding the Tarpon hard. We saw about 40 Tarpon today but we got no bites. Hopefully the Tarpon will become happy tomorrow and we will have better fishing.
I still have May 20, 21, and 22 available due to a last minute cancellation, let me know if you can make it on such short notice?
Happy Mother's Day!
Regards:
Jake
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Tarpon Fishing Report
May 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 2006
Greetings from Tarpon World:
May 6 & 7, 2006,
Jeff Clark and his thirteen year old son Will Clark booked two nights of fly fishing for Tarpon. Jeff had shoulder surgery so Will was elected to do all of the fishing. We fished Friday and Saturday night from 8 PM to midnight using a twelve weight fly rod, a Ross Canyon Big Game #7 fly reel, with a weight forward 12 floating fly line.
The first night Will hooked and fought a 90 pounder through the bridge and had the leader wound into the rod tip when mister Hammer Head Shark shows up. The Tarpon escaped under the boat but pulled the rod against the gunnel and broke the rod in two. Will didn't panic and wound that fish up to the boat for a quick release before the shark got our fish.
Will hooked, Jumped, and fought 4 more Tarpon on Friday evening however we never got another fish to the boat. The next night Will Clark jumped three Tarpon, all well over one hundred pounds, but all three wound up breaking us off on the Bridge. We had a great time, Will Clark is one tough angler, I was proud to fish with him.
May 7, 8, 9, 2006,
Danny Cline from West Virginia joined me for three days of fly fishing for Tarpon. On Sunday the wind blew at 20 knots from the South and made all of the good ocean side flats muddy, we didn't see many Tarpon and got no bites. On Monday we had the wind in the morning and had one fish follow the fly but refuse to eat it. We traveled 70 miles and fished 10 different spots without much luck. We did see close to 25 fish but Danny never got a bite. Finally the wind slacked off on Tuesday and my friend Danny Cline got to cast to quite a few Tarpon. Two of the fish ate the fly, but unfortunately the fish did not stay hooked up for very long. Danny will be back in two weeks for 6 more days and we will catch lots of fish.
Sorry for the short reports, I am real tired working day and night, I do love my Job. I just got word that one of my clients had to cancel his Tarpon Trip scheduled for May 20, 21, 22, so those dates are now available. Should you decide that you can make it to fish on these dates please let me know right away. More Reports to Follow.
Regards:
Jake
Tarpon Fishing Report
May 1, 2, 3, 4, 2006
Greetings from Tarpon World:
May 1, 2006,
Moe Roy and Barry Boccasile from Springfield Mass arrived to fly fish for Tarpon for four days. Both had some experience as fresh water fly fishers however they told me that they would need some instruction to get this job done.
Barry had a pinched nerve in his neck so Moe did most of the fishing. After several hours of fly casting and fish fighting instruction we went looking for POONS. We did see about a dozen Tarpon on this first day after the hard 30 knot plus winds had cooled the water for 3 days. We never got the fly in front of a Tarpon and got no bites today.
May 2, 2006,
Today we headed to the Big Pine Key flats and began seeing laid up Tarpon right away. The wind was blowing at 10 to 15 from the East and the tarpon were more plentiful than yesterday. Finally after several missed shots Moe made a good 40 foot down wind cast and a 70 pound Tarpon attacked his fly. The Tarpon engulfed the fly, turned came tight and Moe forgot to let the fly line go after setting the hook. That POON jumped and broke the twenty pound tippet then swam away. We saw at least 60 Tarpon today but got no more bites.
May 3, 2006,
The weather was beautiful today and there were lots of Tarpon swimming around. Moe made several good casts to fish and he had two Tarpon eat his fly. The first one ate the fly but Moe forgot to set the hook and the fish spit it out. His second fish ate the fly, he set the hook, then after a jump the fish swam towards our boat and created enough slack that the hook came out and the Tarpon swam away.
May 4, 2006,
This is the final day for Moe to use his newly learned skills, and a great day it was. We saw at least 400 Tarpon today and they were creating constant shots for the last 4 hours of our fishing day.
Moe had several fish swim up and look at the fly however they were very spooky today and we only got one bite. As luck would have it the one bite was coming at us and Moe couldn't feel the bite to set the hook. The Tarpon spit that fly back at us then gave us the Finn and swam away. We had a great time, the guys learned a lot and are both determined to return next year as better casters to do battle with the magnificent Silver King. More Reports to follow. Regards:
Jake
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Tarpon Fishing Report
April, 27, 2006
Greetings from Tarpon World:
April, 27, 2006:
Gary Caputi, Offshore Editor of Saltwater Sportsman Magazine, Joined me and my friend Bob Jones for an evening of Tarpon fly fishing in Florida bay north of Marathon. Gary was trying to get some photos of Tarpon Jumping at night for an article that he is working on. The Tarpon were eating flies and plugs well and Bob Jumped 8 Tarpon during the three hours which we fished. The seas were choppy so we only landed one Tarpon in the 70 pound class. Gary got some good pictures of Tarpon jumping and fighting at night using his flash camera. I am off today but will start again tomorrow, more fishing reports to follow.
Regards:
Jake
Tarpon Fishing Report
April 23, 24, 25, 2006
Greetings from Tarpon World:
April 23, 2006,
Keith Reed brought his friend Frank Tatum, both are from Anchorage Alaska, to fly fish for Tarpon with me here in The Florida Keys for three days. Today we launched neat Big Pine Key and fished the back country for laid up POONS. The weather was partly cloudy with southeast wind at 10 knots and a water temperature of eighty-one degrees. We found some laid up Tarpon and Keith made a good cast to a big female that was escorted by two smaller males. One of those 70 pound males charged up and ate the fly, Keith did the typical trout hook set and pulled the fly from that Tarpons mouth.
Later in the evening frank hooked a Tarpon which looked to be about 110 pounds that jumped 3 times before heading for Cuba as we followed with the boat. That Tarpon changed direction and put slack in the line so Frank raised his rod tip and got the backing wrapped around the tip of the rod. As that big Poon took off this time the rod tip broke off and we lost the fish.
April 24, 2006,
Today we fished the ocean side flats near the Seven Mile Bridge which produced large numbers of migrating Tarpon. Keith made a great cast and hooked a 140 pound plus monster at 1:00 PM and fought that big Tarpon until 2:20. The big fish got the backing around a Lobster trap line and cut the backing so we lost that fish. Later Frank caught a thirty-six inch Lady fish on fly.
April 25, 2006,
The ocean side fish were hard today as the clouds moved in and the wind increased to fifteen knots from the South. We fished for four hours and never got a shot so we took a break and returned to try the night shift. Tonight the fish began to bite better and Frank Tatum hooked and jumped 3 Tarpon on fly that averaged about 90 pounds each. Two of those fish pulled the hook after several jumps and the third came off just as Frank got him up to the side of the boat.
Frank and Keith left for Alaska this morning and I am fishing with my friends Gary Caputi and Bobby Jones for the next two days, hopefully the fishing will improve, More Reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
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| Night Jumping Tarpon |
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| Michael Thompson Jumps Tarpon |
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Tarpon Fishing Report
April 21, & 22, 2006
Greetings from Tarpon World:
April 21, 2006,
Michael Thompson from San Francisco, CA is back here in the fabulous Florida Keys for his annual Tarpon quest. Today the wind blew from the Southeast at 15 to 20 knots which made fishing this morning difficult. We had about a dozen shots but never got a bite. We took a break and went back out for the evening feeding time at Tarpon world, they did eat well this evening. When we quit Michael had Jumped a total of eleven Tarpon on fly and he caught and released three of those fish. The largest fish that he caught was over 100 pounds. I hope the wind dies down for tomorrow.
April 22, 2006,
Today the wind dropped down to 10 to 15 knots from the Southeast with sunny skies. We had lots of shots at laid up Tarpon and Michael finally put the fly on the nose of a 115 pound monster which gobbled that fly and went ballistic!
Forty minutes later I grabbed the leader and released Michael's beautiful Tarpon. We fished for about four hours and took a break to do battle again this evening. The Tarpon were feeding again tonight, Mike Jumped 5 Fish and caught three between 70 and 100 pounds. We had a great time and plan to fish more dates later this year.
I just got word that my client for April 28, 29, 30, 2006 will not be able to fish next weekend. If you have the desire to fly fish for Tarpon and wish to purchase these three dates please give me a call on my cell phone or contact me by E-mail. More reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
Tarpon Fishing Report
April 20, 2006
Greetings from Tarpon World:
April 20, 2006,
Marc Richman from Maine and Fort Lauderdale Florida joined me for his second day of fly fishing for laid up Tarpon. The wind was dead calm for the first four hours with 85 degree air temperature and 79 degree water temperature with glare and sunshine plentiful.
Marc had shots at over 100 Tarpon today and wound up hooking three, of which he landed a fish of about seventy-five pounds. On his last hook up Marc wound up with the fly line wrapped around both legs between the reel and the first guide. When that 100 pound plus Tarpon came tight it jumped and broke the tippet. I love my Job! More reports to follow, wish you were here.
Regards:
Jake
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| Gerry Wendrovsky Releasing Tarpon |
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Tarpon Fishing Report
April 18, & 19, 2006
Greetings from Tarpon World:
April 18, 2006,
Today Gerry Wendrovsky from New York and I fished all day in hot weather with partly cloudy skies, with lots of glare and many rolling Tarpon. We had lots of shots at the rolling fish however the glare on the surface made feeding the Tarpon very difficult. We ended the day without catching a Tarpon today which made Gerry's score for the 4 days of fly fishing for laid up tarpon, 9 Tarpon jumped and two landed, one was about 70 pounds and the other over 130 a monster fish. We had a great time fishing together and Gerry is coming back again next year.
April 19, 2006,
Marc Richman from Maine and Fort Lauderdale Florida began his first day of a two day fly fishing trip for Tarpon with me here in Tarpon World. This was the first day that Marc ever fished for Tarpon, so I gave him a lesson for the first 15 minutes before we started fishing. While I was showing Marc how to feed a fly to a Tarpon, six 100 pound plus POONS swam up and tried to eat my fly. As the lead fish tried to eat the fly I showed Marc how not to set the hook by lifting the rod and removing the fly from the Tarpons mouth.
Two hours later after 6 or 7 shots at POONS Marc made a good presentation to an 80 pounder, stripped the fly twice then that Tarpon ate the fly and roared out of the water. Of course Marc used a Trout hook set as do many beginners, and that Tarpon spit the hook, and swam off. Mark had just Jumped his first Tarpon ever on a fly. We have one more day and I feel sure that we will land one tomorrow. More reports to follow!
Regards:
Jake
Tarpon Fishing Report
April 17, 2006
Greetings from Tarpon World:
April 17, 2006,
Today Gerry Wendrovsky from New York and I launched at 8:00 Am near Big Pine Key and headed to a well known Tarpon flat. Gerry Hooked and jumped a fish over 100 pounds 15 minutes after we began fishing. By Noon Gerry had hooked 5 and got multiple jumps out of four all of which were between 70 and 110 pounds.
We fished the same flat all day and never went longer than 15 minutes without casting to some Tarpon. The weather was perfect ant the POONS poured all day. When we quit at 3:30 PM Gerry had hooked 7 Tarpon total and fought 5 for many jumps, however we did not land a POON today. What a great day of fishing, I love my job, wish you were here!
Regards:
Jake
Tarpon Fishing Report
April 15 and 16, 2006
Greetings from Tarpon World:
April 15, 2006,
Today Gerry Wendrovsky from New York began his quest to catch a Tarpon on the fly rod. Last year Gerry was here for a few days in early July but hit bad weather and did not land a fish.
This morning the wind dropped to under 15 knots and the sun was shinning with not a cloud in the sky. Gerry cast to 4 fish during the first 2 hours of fishing then at 11:00 AM I spotted a big female with 2 males following her. Gerry made a good 50 foot cast and that big fish followed the fly for 15 feet before deciding to open her big mouth and gobble that fly. About one hour later after Gerry had the leader inside the tiptop for the third time we released that 130 pound Tarpon; Gerry's first ever.
April 16, 2006,
We fished in the Basin today and there were lots of Tarpon, the weather was beautiful, hot with blue sky's and east wind at 10 knots. Gerry caught a red hot Tarpon between 60 and 70 pounds which I photographed for this fishing report. We had lots of other shots but could not get another monster to eat the fly. We had a great time and are looking forward to another great day tomorrow. More reports to follow.
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Florida Keys Fishing Report
February 2, 2006
Greetings from the Florida Keys:
Yesterday I worked on my skiff all day and got it into perfect condition and ready for Tarpon season which is almost here. This morning I set my alarm so I would wake up at one AM for a good tide of night tarpon fishing. I launched my skiff at 2:00 AM and headed to where the tarpon should be if they are here yet.
At 2:25 Am I hooked my first Tarpon of 2006, a beautiful 75 pounder which headed out into the bay and gave me the opportunity to land my first Tarpon of the season. By 5 AM I had jumped 3 more and decided to head home and get to sleep before dawn. Hello, it's Tarpon Time, my loneliness went away as that first Tarpon (love of my life) exploded on that Black fly!
I do have a few prime Tarpon dates which have not yet been booked, should you have the desire to catch one of these wonderful animals on the fly, contact me NOW! These dates are available to the first fly angler to confirm the dates and send a deposit check. Dates with the astrik ( * ) are good night Tarpon tides.
Available Tarpon Dates
April, 12* 13* 14*
May, 7* 8* 9*, 15 & 16.
June, 12* - 20* 21* - 26* 27*
The Marlin fishing is red hot in the Galapagos, and there are a few dates still available (www.artmarina.com). Give me a call if you want to go this year, or if you want to travel with me to one of my "Galapagos" Marlin Schools in 2007 please contact me right away as these trips will be sold out quickly.
I still have space available for my Bonefish School at the Peace and Plenty Bonefish Lodge from April 2 through 9 2006. let me know right away if you have any interest? Also Brad and Cindy at the Billfish Inn in Guatemala have a few spots left this season aboard Decisive. You may contact them at www.guatbilladv.com .
I look forward to another great season and sending out some fun fishing reports.
I will be presenting PowerPoint programs pertaining to catching Billfish on the Fly at the Bellview (Seattle) WA show February 10, 11, 12, and at the San Rafael (San Francisco) CA show February 17, 18, 19, 2006. I am off to Guatemala this weekend for another Sailfish School. More Reports to Follow!
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