| 2009 Florida Keys Fishing Reports |
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| Silver King on Fly Marathon, Florida Keys |
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Florida Keys Tarpon Report
June, 3, 4, 5, 2009
Greetings from Tarpon World:
June 3, 2009:
Donny Hatcher from Harkers Island NC and Stuart Florida, along his brother-in-law Bob Oliver from Morehead City NC, drove down from Stuart for several evenings of "Night Fly Fishing" for Tarpon. Donny had fished here last year with Chuck Laughridge so he new what to expect, however this was the first Tarpon on fly for Bob. The weather was nice with east wind about 10 knots with lots of feeding Tarpon, and a good light show from the lightning up over the everglades.
Bob was surprised when he hooked a 65 pound Tarpon on his second cast, this fish jumped twice and then spit the hook. The Silver King were biting good tonight however it was hard to keep them on after several jumps each, Bob wound up jumping a total of 8 Tarpon with one 100+ pound fish leadered and released.
June 4, 2009:
Tonight was Donny's turn to show Bob how it should be done, he hooked the first fish that he cast the fly to and 20 minutes later I grabbed the leader and released Donny's first Tarpon of this trip. Bob was next, he jumped two more fish, one bit through the 100 pound bite tippet while the next one spit the hook after several jumps and a 10 minute battle. Shortly after a violent thunder storm moved in so we called it a night.
June 5, 2009:
Tonight we had major violent thunder and lightning storms so we had a nice dinner and said good by, Both Donny and Bob said that they had a great time and are planning to return next year for more "Extreme Night Time Tarpon Fly Fishing", I look forward to fishing with them both. Stay tuned for more fishing reports.
Regards:
Jake
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| Nice Tarpon on Fly |
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Florida Keys Tarpon Report
May 28, 29, 30, 31, June, 1, 2, 2009
Greetings from Tarpon World:
May 28, 29, 30, 2009:
My friend and good client Gordon Burr from Denver has been fly fishing for Tarpon in the Keys, with me since the early 1990s. He has experienced days in the past where we caught as many as 7 Tarpon in one day however for the last 3 years he was shut out from fishing due to horrible weather. This time day one was beautiful with the fish forgetting about the worms and beginning to swim in their normal patterns.
May 28 we fished in the back country with wind and clouds, after four hours with no Tarpon found we got chased off of the water by a thunder storm.
May 29, we found four large schools on the 7 mile bridge flats, early in the day the fish were spooky and would not bite. Later in the late afternoon they turned on so we stayed and fished through the sunset and into the dark. Gordon wound up getting 7 Tarpon to bite his fly, got multiple jumps from three big Poons, and released a big female which was in the 120 pound class.
May, 30, we fished all day with cloudy skies, we saw quite a few schools of fast moving, deep swimming, Tarpon, but it was hard to get good shots with the glare from the clouds. Gordon managed to make a great cast and he Jumped one big Tarpon before we headed into the ramp as a thunder storm approached.
It was great spending this time with Gordon, he caught his first tarpon of the last 3 years, and we had a great time together. I look forward to fishing with him again in the near future.
May 31, 2009:
Bill Rusch and Gene Lambert from Fort Lauderdale Florida drove down to fly fish for Tarpon after seeing my big fish fighting demonstration in the "Big Game Room" at the Miami Boat show. Both of these gentlemen are relatively new to fly fishing so for the first hour of the 4 hour night tarpon on fly "instruction Charter" I spent time explaining how to feed, hook, fight, and release, these big Tarpon on fly. Conditions were not good as the wind was not being very cooperative and there were lots of big thunderstorms around where we were fishing, however we got 3 1/2 hours in before being chased off of the water by a storm.
Both Bill and Gene hooked two Tarpon on fly, Gene's two fish jumped several times however one came unhooked while the other one broke the 20 pound tippet when Gene forgot to let go of the handle as the Tarpon surged. Both of the Tarpon which Bill hooked were fought to the boat where I grabbed the leader and released those magnificent fish. Bill's Tarpon were both males one weighed about 80 pounds the big fish was close to 100 pounds. These guys had a good time and will be back for more fishing soon.
June 1 and 2, 2009:
Todd Kreikamp from Richmond VA contacted me to fly fish for Tarpon as a birthday present to himself. Tod is a hardcore fly angler who ties his own flies along with building his own fly rods, and he is a fellow Jones Brothers boat owner.
Todd and I hit it off well and he got lucky with great weather on Monday, we fished Oceanside flats near Big Pine Key in the morning where we had consistent casts to singles and small groups of migrating Poons. Todd made good casts but the best that we got was several fish following the fly in the clear water. Later in the afternoon we moved on up to an ocean side flat near the 7 mile bridge where four schools of at least 100 Tarpon per school swam past us in a hurry to get to their feeding grounds. Later in the evening we headed on down the beach and found these fish in their feeding mode.
We fished over these feeding Tarpon for about 4 hours, made 9 drifts over the feeding fish and Jumped at least one Tarpon on fly on each drift. Todd fought four of the nine tarpon which he jumped to the boat where I grabbed the leader and released these awesome Silver King. The four Tarpon which Todd released were 60 pounds, 85 pounds, 100 pounds, and 115 pounds, and then the weather chased us off of the water.
Tuesday Todd and I fished for 6 ours with cloudy skies and thunder storms surrounding us. I show Todd a trick about casting to a string of stretched out, (Un Happy) Tarpon, he used this casting technique and sure enough a male Poon raced up and ate Todd's purple and black fly. That fish jumped once and then charged the boat, Todd tried to keep up by stripping line in, and on the second jump with slack in the line that Tarpon spit the fly back at us. Again the afternoon storms chased us off of the water in the late afternoon, we had a lot of fun fishing together, and I am sure we will spend more time together. Todd's total for the two days of fly fishing for Tarpon was 10 Tarpon jumped with 4 caught and released.
Mother and I will be here in the Keys through June 28 and then we will head home to North Carolina. As soon as I return home we will be working on this winters Billfish School trips along with booking my NC fly fishing trips for this summer and my fall Albi trips. There are lots of Tarpon this year, My night fly fishing charters have a 100 percent catch ratio so fat this season, I really love this job. More reports to follow shortly!
Regards:
Jake
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| Big Night Tarpon on Fly |
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Florida Keys Tarpon Report
May 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 2009
Greetings from Tarpon World:
Tarpon fly fishing has been fast and furious here in the Keys, I have been fishing both daytime and night time charters for the last couple of weeks. We had 2 1/2 days of worm hatch which was wild while at the same time it makes the Tarpon act crazy and hard to catch while they are thinking about those Paolo worms. the weather has switched to the summer pattern with high humidity, HOT days and warm nights with relatively calm wind patterns.
May 20 & 21, 2009: My friend Tony Weaver was in the Florida Keys on a business trip this week and he booked me for two evenings of Tarpon on the fly. On Wednesday Tony hooked a 130 pound monster female on 16 pound tippet, he fought this beautiful fish for an hour and 15 minutes before I grabbed the leader and released that big Silver King. On Thursday Tony brought Howard Croston (from the Hardy company in the UK) who was in the Keys testing some Hardy equipment, along for a 4 hour charter. Howard and Tony both jumped several Tarpon while Howard caught a 110 pound female, he was pleased at how the drag on his reel worked against this magnificent animal. Tony got some good video on that catch.
May 22, 2009: This morning Mr. Rob Krutz from Philadelphia PA fished with me for a half day charter. Rob is a good angler however he had no experience with the Silver King. We saw at least a hundred Tarpon and had more than 20 casts at them, however we only had one fish eat the fly and then spit the hook on the first jump. We had fun and he will be back for more next season.
This evening my friend and good client Jeff Clarke brought his sons Trey and Will to enjoy some night time Tarpon on fly fishing. All three anglers jumped at least one Tarpon while Will and Trey each released a large Silver King.
May 23, 2009: Today Jeff Clarke, Will Clarke, and Trey Clarke, joined me for a half day of Dolphin fishing off shore. We found lots of weed lines and bait however they were void of life and we only managed to catch one Dorado during this trip. We came back in, took a break for dinner, and then returned for more Tarpon on fly action. Tonight the trio got lots of bites however they were hard to stay connected too. All three anglers jumped at least two Tarpon, (8 jumped total) and we landed two fish both nice sized Tarpon. I really enjoyed fishing with Will , Trey, and my friend Jeff.
May 24, 25, 26, 2009: Cas Cader from Morehead City brought his son Eian to try for some Tarpon on fly here in Tarpon World.
Sunday produced slow fishing during the daytime until 5 PM when the worm hatch began, lots of Tarpon showed up, however they were so busy eating worms that it was hard to hook them. We took a break and then came back out to a wild hatch and the POONS ate well, both anglers jumped lots of Tarpon and Eian caught his first Tarpon on fly, a large male of 95 pounds. Cas had two fish within 3 feet of the leader however in each case the hook came out before the Tarpon was landed. We wound up jumping a total of 8 fish with Eian releasing two nice Silver King.
Monday the worm hatch was in full bloom, there were lots of fish and more worms in the water from 5 PM until dark, Cas jumped 3 big Tarpon while Eian had one nice fish on for several jumps. Then later it really turned on and both anglers began jumping fish on every cast, when we ended the night we had jumped 8 more Tarpon, Eian landed another male while his dad had a big female almost to the boat. Today our total was 12 jumped Tarpon with one caught and released.
Tuesday the worms disappeared, I had a fuel line problem based on the mandatory use of ethanol in fuel, (Every two stroke engine will eventually fail due to this stupid policy of our government) so we didn't get out till late in the afternoon. We got no bites and headed in at sunset after a fun 3 days of fly fishing for Tarpon. Cas and Eian jumped a total of 19 Tarpon on fly while getting three to the boat for release. We had a great time and I look forward to fishing with these folks again next year.
May 26, 2009: My friend and good client Gordon Burr is here from Denver for four days of fly fishing for Tarpon. The weather was calm with 90 degree sunshine and high humidity with blue skies. We fished from 9 AM to 5 PM, saw more than 100 Tarpon in small groups, got dozens of good shots, with several follows, and no bites. I think that the Tarpon will return to normal now that the worms are over, we are looking to cast to some poons that do not have worms and sex on their mind. It was great to spend the day with my friend Gordon aboard the skiff and I am sure that fishing will improve tomorrow. Stay tuned for more reports.
Gone Fishing:
Jake
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| Targeted Species, Tarpon on Fly |
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Florida Keys Fly Fishing Report
May 14, 15, 16, 17, & 18, 2009
Greetings from Tarpon World:
May 14, 15, 16, I was off during the last 3 days which had sunny and windy weather (15 to 25 knots) from the south east. I got a lot of maintenance done on both the "Fly Reel" and my "Skiff" during this time period. I did get to go wreck fishing with another charter boat captain from Marathon, who had the 16th off. We caught Several Cobia, Jack Craville, Black Fin Tuna, Barracuda, Snapper, Shark and several other species. This was a test run for fly fishing some gulf wrecks about 45 miles out in the gulf, it was real rough out there but the fish did eat well, I think that I will be offering this as an optional trip here in the Keys during next years Tarpon Season.
May 17, 2009: Paul Moses from New Braumsfeld Texas and his daughter Christin from the New Orleans area who are new fly anglers joined me for several nights and a day of trying to catch Christin a Tarpon on fly. We left the Marina at Bahia Honda State Park at 7:00 PM and headed to a flat behind an island where a channel full of Tarpon was close by and we were protected from the east wind. After 15 minutes of instruction on how to hook and fight these big Tarpon we began to look for the Silver King. We saw hundreds of fish rolling on the surface and 2 minutes after we began fishing Christin hooked a 110 pound Tarpon (on a 12 weight TFO Fly Rod and a Mako #9550 fly reel) about two miles out in the bay. She did a great job and had the leader inside of the rod tip (caught fish) within 25 minutes. Both Christin and Paul hooked multiple Tarpon during the next four hours and we ended the evening with Christian catching and releasing three Tarpon with the two anglers jumping a total of seven Silver King.
May, 18, 2009; The weather was tough for sight fishing with mostly cloudy skies and 15 -20 knot south wind, but we went up into a protected bight with light bottom where we were protected from the wind. We launched the skiff at 9:30 AM and spent about two hours with a casting course, and then I began to pole the flat looking for laid up Tarpon. Twenty minutes later we saw a 90 pound male tarpon moving slowly toward us, I positioned the skiff so the sun was behind us (shining in the face of the Tarpon), the wind was coming at the left shoulder of Paul (a right handed caster), and I stopped the boat with my push pole. Paul made his first cast and it was way off, he picked it up and tried again, and again not close, the third cast landed the fly 20 feet in front of the Tarpon and I told him to let it sink. As the Tarpon approached about 5 foot from the fly, Paul striped the fly and the Tarpon swam up under the fly and thought about eating this purple and black baitfish pattern. Strip, strip, strip, the Tarpon just inches from the fly, and then that Tarpon looked past that fly and directly into my eyes and he turned away without eating that fly! We had several more shots at laid up fish, (one a 150 pound female) however never got the fly in a location where the fish would eat it. At 3:30 we headed back home to get ready for a night trip which would begin at 8:30 tonight.
As we drove over the 7 mile bridge heading for the marina to go fishing there was a giant thunder storm which moved in on us, we headed home and never got to fish. There was at least 4 water spouts which came across the Bay and passed over the 7 mile bridge, I hate to miss the fishing however this was a big storm and we got the first rain here in the Keys since I arrived in early April. I am off today, it is raining, however if the weather gets a little better I plan to go out this evening with a friend and do some damage to the Thousands of Tarpon that are hanging around waiting for the worm hatch which should take place next week. Stay tuned for more Reports, I love this job.
I still have the following nigth and day charter dates available: May 19, 20, 21. June, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13. This has been one of the best Tarpon seasons for numbers of fish and not as many boats chasing them, that I have seen in the last ten years. If you feel that you would like to catch some of these awesome giant Tarpon give me a call or send an E-mail. I look forward to sharing MY Tarpon with you! Some of the awesome photos in this E-mail were supplied by my friend Pat Ford, one of the best Out Door Photographers that I have ever seen.
Regards:
Jake
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| Jon's Big Tarpon on Fly May 2009 |
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| Jon Ziarnik, with his first 2009 Tarpon on Fly |
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Tarpon Fly Fishing Report
May 9, 10, 11, 2009
Greetings from Tarpon World:
May 9, 2009:
Ron and Kelly Thayer from Utah came to the Keys for two nights of Tarpon fishing, this was their first time in the Keys or fishing for Tarpon. Ron and Kelly own a 31 foot Bertram which they keep in Cabo San Lucas where they fish for sailfish and marlin. Our first night was on the full moon and we had a shrimp hatch which took place between 1:00 Am and 5:00 AM. The moon was bright and the seas were dead calm, we had a great night fishing with the couple catching mutton snapper, bonnet shark, cobia, along with 5 jumped Tarpon of which each angler released a Tarpon over 100 pounds.
May 10, 2009:
Tonight the shrimp went off at 2:00 AM and lasted through 6:30 with all kinds of fish eating shrimp on the surface. Tonight jumped 7 Tarpon with Kelly landing a 120 pounder while Ron released two fish both in the 100 pound plus range. Ron and Kelly have decided to return next year fro 4 nights of extreme Tarpon Fishing here in the Keys.
May 11, 2009:
My longtime client John Ziarnik joined me for a day of fly fishing for Tarpon today. It was sunny, hot, and calm, with blue skies and lots of Tarpon on the flats. John and I looked for laid up Tarpon early this morning and we had a few shots which had the Tarpon refusing the fly. During the afternoon we went to the ocean side flats where we found several schools of happy fish with at least 200 Tarpon in each school.
John made several good casts to the first big school and we watched a 110 pound female turn and eat the well presented black and purple baitfish fly, and then go crazy.
After we released this fish, John rested for a while in the 94 degree heat and then we chased another school for about two miles without getting a bite. John made the decision to quit about 3:30 so we were back at the dock by 4 PM after a good day of Tarpon Fishing. We are planning to fish the same area tomorrow, hopefully we can find some Tarpon which will eat flies a little better however any Tarpon caught on a fly makes for a great day, I do love my job! more Reports to follow.
Tarpon Fly Fishing Report
May 6, 7, 8, 2009
Greetings from Tarpon World:
May 6, 7, 8, 2009:
Nikki and Steve wells from Toronto Canada, attended my Bonefish School in the Bahamas several years ago, since that time they have fly fished all over the world. Two years ago they joined me here in the Keys during early June where they experienced windy, rainy and rough weather. We fished night Tarpon on fly during that time and they caught a few Silver king, enough for a return trip this year.
This year was different, the wind died down to under 10 - 15 knots, the sky was blue, and the sun/stars were bright. The water temperature was 79 degrees when they arrived and it was up to 83.7 when the left this morning. We fished three half day trips from noon to 4:30 PM each day and then we also fished the night Tarpon tides from midnight to 4 AM each night.
On May 6, the couple who rotate their shots at fish, wound up jumping seven fish, each angler released 2 on fly, all fish were between 90 and 120 pounds. The next day, May 7, we saw lots of fish, during the day however we could not get them to eat. The night shift was a little different as Nikki and Steve together jumped a total of ten Tarpon and released a total of 5, all of these fish were between 100 and 135 pounds and all were caught on 20 pound tippet.
May 8 we found a large happy school on the ocean side of Bahia Honda Key, which we followed for several miles with several looks at the fly but no bites. When we hit the water at 1:00 AM there was a shrimp hatch going off under the full moon, looked like daytime. The fish were eating aggressively (Shrimp Pattern) and we spent the next 4 hours hooked up to Tarpon. Most of our bites were big females (up to 150 pounds) and they were popping the shrimp in the surface, unfortunately it was hard to keep them hooked up and the ones that we did keep on were so big that my clients had a hard time getting them to the boat for a release. When we finally quit at 5:30 Am as the moon was setting and the sun was rising, Nikki and Steve had jumped 17 (THATS 17) big POONS on fly and landed one fish about 140 pounds. WOW!!!!! what a great evening, I do really love this job! Lets go fishing, call me?
Regards:
Jake
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| Nikki Wells giant night Tarpon, Florida Keys, Captain Jake Jordam |
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| Michael Thompson big Keys night Tarpon |
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Tarpon Fly Fishing Report
May 4, & 5, 2009
Greetings from Tarpon World:
May 4, 2009:
Tonight my long time friend/client Michael Thompson and his friend Loren Barr, both from the bay area of California, fished their second night of three scheduled fly fishing for Tarpon charters. The wind has dropped down to 15 knots from the southeast which made the night fishing very pleasant as we could hear the Tarpon feeding. Loren was hot tonight, he jumped 4 big female Tarpon and released two of them both fish were over 100 pounds, (Remember that Loren had never seen a Tarpon before this trip). Michael who wanted his friend to do most of the fishing, also jumped two nice silver king but both came off before we could get the release.
May 5, 2009:
We decided to go out at noon today as the wind had dropped down to 10 knots and the sky was blue with lots of sunshine. The water temperature is now back up to 80 degrees so there should be school fish migrating on the ocean side flats. Michael was the angler today as we fished along an ocean side flat neat Big Pine Key. During the 4 hours that we fished we saw about 30 POONS and had half a dozen shots. One of the singles, a female of near 120 pounds, swam past the fly, turned around in a full circle and stuck her head out of the water as she engulfed the black and purple bait fish pattern. Michael set the hook, she leaped toward the skiff and we all saw the fly fall from her mouth as she splashed us and then swam away.
At 4:30 we put the skiff on the trailer and went home for a nap, and then we headed back out at 10:30 PM to try again for some night tarpon on the fly. Tonight Loren only got one bite, he fought the 90 pound male Tarpon to boat side where I released that awesome POON. Michael was red hot tonight, he jumped six Tarpon of which he landed two, the first was 130 pounds and the other one was close to 100 pounds. As usual it was a pleasure fishing with my friend Michael Thompson and his friend Loren, I am sure that both of these anglers will be back next season and they will probably be fishing with me at Casa Vieja Lodge in early 2010. Tomorrow I will begin three days/nights of fly fishing with Nikki and Steve Wells from Toronto Canada, stay tuned for more fishing reports. Call for available dates! Oh, and by the way, I love my job!
Regards:
Jake
Tarpon Fly Fishing Report
May 2, & 3, 2009
Greetings from Tarpon World:
May 2, 2009:
Today I took Neil and Paula Yeager from Wyoming for some night time fly fishing for Tarpon. We fished for about five hours and had pretty good fishing considering the 20 knot south east wind which keeps blowing. Neil jumped the first two Tarpon, which both spit the fly and then Paula caught her first ever Tarpon. I demonstrated how to hook and land several nice Tarpon along with some Lady fish and then Neil jumped several more and Paula jumped one more fish. When we finished the evening I had landed five POONS from five bites while my friends jumped 11 and landed 3. Neil and Paula said that it was there best fishing trip ever.
Tonight my long time friend/client Michael Thompson and his friend Loren Barr, both from the bay area of California, fished their first night of 3 scheduled fly fishing for Tarpon charters. Michael has been fly fishing for Tarpon with me since 1994 and has caught dozens of Tarpon on fly while this was the first time for Loren. We did not fish during the daytime as the south east wind at 20 knots made it hard to sight cast to Tarpon. We left the Dock at 8:30 PM and fished until 12:30 AM. in windy choppy conditions. The conditions made it hard to stay connected as the Tarpon were jumping toward the boat, creating slack in the line allowing the fish to become unhooked after several jumps.
Michael hooked and jumped 6 large Tarpon tonight but did not land any while Loren jumped three fish and we got the leader on a Tarpon which was about 90 pounds. Hopefully the wind will lay down soon so we can fly fish the flats for Tarpon from my skiff. However the nighttime fly fishing for Tarpon from my Jones Brothers Cape Fisherman, "Fly Reel" has allowed me and my clients to fish and catch Tarpon on fly every night that I have been booked for a charter. Today the wind is blowing from the south east at 18 knots, and the ocean side flats are rough and muddy, so we will fish again tonight. Please stay tuned for more fishing reports, I do love this job.
I still have some prime dates available for both day and night time fly fishing for Tarpon charters, my available dates follow, call me should you have the desire to catch some of these wonderful Silver King.
Gone Fishing:
Jake
Tarpon Fly Fishing Report
May 1, 2009
Greetings from Tarpon World:
May 1, 2009:
Today I fished with Jim and Tracy Carroll from Pennsylvania, this was their first time ever in the Keys and they have never seen a Tarpon. The wind was blowing from the east at 20 knots all day, so I fished in a channel on the leeward side of a key. We met at the launch ramp at 6:00 PM where I had plenty of time to explain what to expect when we got to the area where the Tarpon would be feeding.
At 7:00 PM Tracy hooked a 90 pound Poon which jumped more than a dozen times before being released. Just as the sun set Jim hooked a 100 pound plus female which was landed and released after a 20 minute battle. During the next 3 hours Tracy and Jim hooked and jumped 10 more Tarpon several were over 125 pounds. Our final score at 11:00 PM when we headed in to the dock was 12 jumped Tarpon with 3 caught and released.
Of course we spent the whole evening laughing and enjoying these very special fish, I am sure that Jim and Tracy will be back for more of this "Extreme Tarpon Fly Fishing", I still have a few open dates in May and June, call me if you are interested. More reports to follow, I do love this job,wish you were here.
Regards:
Jake
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| Jim Carroll Jumping Keys Tarpon |
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| Releasing Keys Tarpon caught on Fly |
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Florida Keys Tarpon Report
April 22, & 23, 2009
Greetings from Tarpon World:
April 22, 2009:
Tonight Mark Silverman from Alaska and his friend fished with me for the first time. We began fishing about 11;30 PM and fished until 3:30 AM, the wind was calm and the Tarpon were not eating the flies very well. We did manage to jump 3 tarpon, all were over 100 pounds but we had a real tough time keeping the hook in the fish, all three either pulled the hook or broke the 20 pound tippet. We had a great time together and these guys will be back for more next year.
April 23, 2009:
My friend Pat Ford wanted to try to shoot pictures of jumping Tarpon in the pitch black for that silvery on black photo look. I invited my friend Captain Lenny Moffo and his client Don to join us as anglers. We fished for 2 1/2 hours and Don caught 2 Tarpon of the 4 that he hooked while Lenny hooked two more fish and handed the rod off to Don to wind up to the boat for pictures.
Unfortunately the very high tech cameras which Pat brought with him had a very hard time focusing on the jumping Tarpon in the pitch black conditions which would not let the flash work properly. The picture on this page was shot with my low tech point and shoot camera. Regardless we had a great time catching a few nice Tarpon. More Reports to follow.
Going to Bed:
Jake
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| Large Keys Tarpon on Fly |
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Florida Keys Tarpon Report
April 20, & 21, 2009
Greetings from Tarpon World:
April 20, 2009:
Robert Plant from Vero Beach Florida brought 3 of his friends to the keys in search of a Tarpon fishing adventure. All four of these anglers are experienced conventional fishermen so the other captain and I would fish with bait and plugs with this party. We would use live crabs, live pinfish, and plugs in the same area where we were fly fishing during the last 4 nights.
Two of the anglers fished with me aboard "Fly Reel" while the other two anglers fished with Captain Dave Wiley. The wind died and we has flat calm seas which turned off the feeding Tarpon. David and his anglers jumped quite a few fish many of which were lost due to bridge pilings, while my two anglers managed to jump 4 poon's but could not keep the hook in them.
April 21, 2009:
Tonight the group of anglers switched boats and then we headed out into 15-20 knot north west winds with choppy seas. My anglers hooked lots of Tarpon however the fish were in the shadow under a bridge which made it very difficult do land them. We did manage to Captain Dave's anglers jumped a lot of fish, and wound up catching a really large Tarpon (150+). All in all every one of these anglers caught a big Tarpon and had a great time.
As I write this report the wind has swung to the east north east (good wind) and I will be fly fishing tonight with Mark Silverman from Alaska. Tomorrow night I plan to take my friend Pat Ford out to get some GOOD photos of night time jumping Tarpon. Stay tuned fro more Tarpon fly fishing reports, call me if you want a fishing adventure of a lifetime.
Regards:
Jake
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| Don Butler Jumper |
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Florida Keys Tarpon Report
April 19, 2009
Greetings from Tarpon World:
April 19, 2009: Don Butler from Connecticut and North Carolina along with his son John Butler from central Florida fly fished for Tarpon with me tonight for there third consecutive night. We left the dock at 8:30 PM in 20 knot south east winds, with clear star filled skies, and a 1 foot chop in the cut where we were fishing on the lee side of a Key.
We spotted a pod of Tarpon feeding on the surface about 10 minutes from the dock, Don made a cast and hooked a 120 pound Silver King and the battle was on. Twenty minutes later I took the fly from that fishes mouth and it swam off. Next John hooked a 75 pounder that jumped 9 times and fought like a real big fish for about 5 minutes . That fish then swam under my boat and tried to stay under there until the 400 pound Bull Shark showed up and chased that Tarpon out from under the boat. John pointed the rod at the Tarpon and held the reel so it could not turn. The fast moving Tarpon easily broke the 20 pound tippet and escaped from the shark to fight again another day.
Don and John wound up the night by jumping 12 Tarpon on fly of which John caught two while Don released four, two of which were between 120 and 130 pounds. During their 12 hours of fly fishing for Tarpon in the last 3 nights, the two anglers wound up jumping 33 Poons, while catching and releasing a total of 18 magnificent Silver King on Fly! These numbers are amazing, fishing is red hot and although we never launched the flats skiff during the day time due to the rough windy conditions, these two fly fishermen had the best trip of their life. More reports to follow, I do love this job, wish you were here:
Jake
Florida Keys Tarpon Report
April 18, 2009
Greetings from Tarpon World:
April 18, 2009: Today the wind blew from the east at 20 to 30 knots all day so Don Butler and John Butler joined me for a ride up to Islamorada to visit the fly shops in the area. We took a nap, got up, ate dinner at the Barracuda Bistro and then headed to the launch ramp at 7:30 PM for a night Tarpon on Fly charter.
We left the marina in the "fly reel" and traveled about 10 minutes to the same area where we fished last evening. We began seeing Tarpon rolling as we approached the spot where I wanted to fish. As I turned off the motor John made a cast and hooked a 65 pound Silver King, after a short 10 minute battle I released John's first fish of the night. Next, Don caught a 100 pounder and then John got his second Poon, all before sunset.
We fished until 11:30 in 20 knot plus wind and choppy seas with the Tarpon eating as if it was there last meal, at one point we hooked 6 Tarpon on 6 consecutive casts. John hooked and fought six tarpon on the same fly, 3 spit the hook and he released the other three. Don, while fighting his 4th fish of the evening had a 120 pounder next to the boat and ready for release when that big tarpon charged under the boat, breaking the TFO Blue Water Light rod as it slammed into the gunnel of the boat as that tarpon jumped on the other side of the boat.
When we got back to the dock we were all laughing at the great night of fly fishing for Tarpon, between the two anglers they jumped a total of 16 Tarpon with 8 of them fought to the boat for a release. WOW, fly fishing for tarpon was red hot, I sure hope that these Poon's continue to eat my flies aggressively. More reports to follow, I love my job, wish you were here.
I still have a few Tarpon dates available, April 23, 27, 28, 29, 30, May 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and June 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 12, 13. Give me a call if you have any interest.
Regards:
Jake
Florida Keys Tarpon Report
April 17, 2009
Greetings from Tarpon World:
We arrived here in Marathon (Florida Keys) on Tuesday evening and then moved into the same rental house as last year. On the 15th I launched my Jones Brothers Cape Fisherman "Fly Reel" , put her in the slip, and rigged that boat for Tarpon season. After turning on all of the utilities and doing the grocery shopping we now feel at home. On April 16, I picked up my skiff from my friend Bob Jones in Islamorada and then spent the day cleaning and doing maintenance to prepare it for Tarpon season.
April 17th, the wind is blowing from the east at 20 to 30 knots from the east, most flats guides are hiding behind an Island trying to find clean water and some laid up Tarpon. My good friend and client Don Butler and his son John Butler (Birthday) arrived at 3:00 PM, checked into their hotel, and then after dinner met me at the Marina at 7:00 PM.
We fished in a channel adjacent to a flat, on the west side of a key, so that we would be out of the wind. This was my first charter of the season so I was pleased that we began to see rolling Tarpon almost immediately as we arrived. Don was the first to hook up a 90 pound Tarpon on my "Poon Bug" fly, 15 minutes later I released that first Tarpon on Fly of the season. On the next drift John caught and released his Birthday Tarpon, a fish of about 75 pounds. We fished until 11:00 PM in choppy seas with solid 25 to 30 knot east wind, the final score was 5 bites with 4 Tarpon Released, Don Butler, 2 one fish of 110 pounds, and John's second fish was a 100 pounder.
It feels good to be back in action, I do love my Job. More reports to follow.
Regards:
Jake
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