# 72 1/4 lb Tarpon caught a sand bridge pier



## wayne fowlkes (Sep 11, 2004)

Pall Rideout caught a tarpon on a pin rig at 8:00 pm. the fish weighed 72 1/4 lbs it was 691/2 long & the girth was 29" I have pictures but I do not know how to post them on this site. I will try later.


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## chriscustom (Jun 17, 2006)

*tarpon*

What day was this wayne?


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

wow!!!!!!!!!!


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## ryan511 (Jun 26, 2008)

*i heard it was caught off a boat*

I heard the exact same story today at virginia beach pier from my buddy who works the parking lot, but he said it was caught near sandbridge pier off a boat.


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## wayne fowlkes (Sep 11, 2004)

*Tarpon*

The fish was caught from the pier & it hit a pin rig the fish was caught last night at 8:00 pm 7/12/08. pall called me as he did not know where to have it weighed. we first weighed it at Rudy Inlet & then decided to take it to the pier. he plans on mounting it. I took pictures of it but I do not know how to post them on this site


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## ryan511 (Jun 26, 2008)

wayne fowlkes said:


> The fish was caught from the pier & it hit a pin rig the fish was caught last night at 8:00 pm 7/12/08. pall called me as he did not know where to have it weighed. we first weighed it at Rudy Inlet & then decided to take it to the pier. he plans on mounting it. I took pictures of it but I do not know how to post them on this site


awesome. Did it hit a blue or a spot or what?


Thanks for the clarification


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## Charlie2 (May 2, 2007)

*Mounting Fish*

Your friend, et al, are obviously unaware that you don't need to kill a fish to have a mount made. 

All you need is the measurements and they can make a replica that almost breathes. C2

.


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## Billy J (Aug 3, 2006)

yea but the replica is not the same thing i wouldnt wanna say yea thats looks just like the fish i caught


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## sudshunter (Jan 20, 2008)

Do We Have Pics Yet ?


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## cobiacatcher82 (Sep 19, 2006)

ahhh i left right before it


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## 1morecast (Jul 13, 2008)

*Tarpon*

The Tarpon was caught by Paul Rideout. The Tarpon hit at 8:15pm was netted at 9:14 on the North corner. When he hit he hit hard, did it's dance on top of the water right out front of the pier, a water dance I will never forget. He was 72lbs, 69.5 inches, with a 29 inch girth. About 8:30 there was a good size King that skyed . I have alot of pictures, and video on my digital camera. Water temp. was 78 degrees on the bottom. TYVM Hurricane Bertha. There were menhaden all around the pier from about 7:30 on also.
<a href="http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=38348229">Sandbridge Pier Tarpon</a><br/>


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## Charlie2 (May 2, 2007)

*Mounting Fish*



Billy J said:


> yea but the replica is not the same thing i wouldnt wanna say yea thats looks just like the fish i caught


I appreciate your wanting a 'real' mount, but be careful of what you wish for.

We used to make mounts using the fish skin, but discouraged it.

You never get the oils completely from the skin and it causes problems for years to come. You also have to poison the skin, usually with arsenic; I've heard of using formaldehyde, to keep it from decaying and vermin from feeding on it. 

You bleach the skin completely white doing this and you have to paint it. The oils in the skin cause the paint to fade and the mount looks pretty ratty with time, and it, too. often goes into the trash.

When we got a fish in, we took measurements and photograph then threw the usually spoiled carcass into the garbage.

We went to our stash of molds and selected one the same size or nearly so. and made a replica from fiberglass. We then, using the original photograph, painted the fish to resemble the original fish.

In this day of modern plastics, they may be using something else besides fiberglass.

This made up to be a durable wall mount that you would be proud of for your lifetime.

So much for the taxidermy lesson. It is a nice fish that one should be proud of..

BTW; I know of no taxidermist that is doing skin mounts nowadays. Correct me if I'm wrong. C2


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## dafishguy (Apr 13, 2006)

Awesome catch. What a thrill that musta been. WOW!!!!! Those kinda things make very special memories. 

Great job gettin the vid posted as well. Kinda confirms the whole thing.


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## Entropy (Mar 9, 2008)

Charlie2 said:


> I appreciate your wanting a 'real' mount, but be careful of what you wish for.
> 
> We used to make mounts using the fish skin, but discouraged it.
> 
> ...


QFT

measurements and a clear photograph are really all that is needed for a mount to be made. hell, even a ruler in the picture would be enough for a skilled taxidermist to use to scale the size of the fish. a tarpon has next to no food value so IMO it should have lived to swim another day.

but amazing catch, non the less. congrats to the angler.


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## OBX Jay (Sep 3, 2007)

Charlie2 said:


> Your friend, et al, are obviously unaware that you don't need to kill a fish to have a mount made.
> 
> All you need is the measurements and they can make a replica that almost breathes. C2
> 
> .


Somebody always has to start chit. What a shame.

I would be celebrating :beer: and looking for the next one.

Congrats to the REAL fisherman who caught it and I'm sure he'll enjoy the real mount. Awesome!


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## saltandsand (Nov 29, 2007)

Fantastic! Are tarpons an unusual catch in that ares?


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## Brooksobx (Feb 10, 2008)

We were cobia fishing just off the Boiler south of Oregon Inlet a couple of weeks ago and ran into several pods of tarpon that were headed north. They wouldn't hit anything we threw at them. Glad somebody got one. 
As far as mounting goes, You need to get with the program. If you're not going to Eat it, Don't kill it!


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## drawinout (May 11, 2008)

Nice fish!!!!


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

Yes, certainly a nice fish and congrats to the angler but cmon, killing it just for a mount.


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## 13lbflounder (May 4, 2008)

Wow! What a catch. I want one.


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## Billy J (Aug 3, 2006)

thats all i was trying to say dipnet anyway nice fish hope he gets a good mount with the real thing also it was his fish its legal to keep so people need to quit starting junk and let him enjoy the awesome catch


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## sand flea (Oct 24, 1999)

That is an unbelievably rare catch from a pier that far north. Congrats to the angler. I think the one bystander had it right: "Good God Miss Agnes!"


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## saltandsand (Nov 29, 2007)

Here's what miffs me. Tarpon are highly managed down south, yet may not be managed at all in other states. Yeah, I know, it's not supposed to make sense, guess it's all about tax revenue...

Well here's one site about tarpon issues: http://www.2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=159835

I personally haven't caught one. Like to target to catch this species.

Are they any good to eat?


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## Lip Ripper (Dec 8, 2003)

awesome catch, defiantly a fish of a lifetime from that pier!!!!!!!!!


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## incucrash (May 7, 2008)

Charlie2 said:


> Your friend, et al, are obviously unaware that you don't need to kill a fish to have a mount made.
> 
> All you need is the measurements and they can make a replica that almost breathes. C2
> 
> .





Billy J said:


> yea but the replica is not the same thing i wouldnt wanna say yea thats looks just like the fish i caught





Charlie2 said:


> I appreciate your wanting a 'real' mount, but be careful of what you wish for.
> 
> We used to make mounts using the fish skin, but discouraged it.
> 
> ...





Entropy said:


> QFT
> 
> measurements and a clear photograph are really all that is needed for a mount to be made. hell, even a ruler in the picture would be enough for a skilled taxidermist to use to scale the size of the fish. a tarpon has next to no food value so IMO it should have lived to swim another day.
> 
> but amazing catch, non the less. congrats to the angler.





dipnet said:


> Somebody always has to start chit. What a shame.
> 
> I would be celebrating :beer: and looking for the next one.
> 
> Congrats to the REAL fisherman who caught it and I'm sure he'll enjoy the real mount. Awesome!





Billy J said:


> thats all i was trying to say dipnet anyway nice fish hope he gets a good mount with the real thing also it was his fish its legal to keep so people need to quit starting junk and let him enjoy the awesome catch


This is for all of you =]

:beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:


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## Billy J (Aug 3, 2006)

oh i am:beer:


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## Sea2aeS (Jan 7, 2005)

Hell of a catch and congrats:beer: you earned it. Do what you want with the fish, after all it is legal to keep a tarpon.


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## Charlie2 (May 2, 2007)

*Awesome Catch!*

First; that fish is an awesome catch; one that the person should be proud of. Good on you!

I'm sorry that some people took an honest attempt to pass on my personal experience with fish mounts as anything other than to inform him and others of the modern process of mounting fish. He did said that he was going to take it somewhere to have mounted and I wanted to save him some disappointment caused by a skin mount and what to expect from a mount in general.

Many people don't understand the modern practice of taxidermy and needlessly kill fish to have a mount made. I was merely passing on information for those who wouldn't take it as criticism, but something to further their fishing education.

I have been fishing for probably 70 years and making world class cast nets and fishing rods for some 60 years and have seen many changes in the fishing world.

My personal experience with skin mounts dates back to many years ago as a young boy, when I took a correspondence course from Elway School of Taxidermy.

I immediately tried mounting a fish the then accepted way of using the skin stretched over a form. It came out looking pretty good and I was proud of it; both it and the fish.

Then the wheels started coming off the wagon. The mount looked worse and worse each day until I couldn't stand to look at it any longer and it went into the trash.

Needless to say, that ended my fish skin mounts. BTW, I have seen some professionally mounted fish and even they deteriorate with age.

I further researched modern taxidermy methods and found that some people were not using the skin, but painting various replicas of the fish, at one time, wood, Plaster of Paris and later fiberglass. 

Like I said before, they're probably using graphite or some other modern plastic, as a material. I used fiberglass. I have also used foam.

I pass on my fishing and tackle knowledge for those who accept as such and is no attempt to chastise or criticize anyone. If people take it as such, I can't help it.

Keep your eyes and ears open and you may learn something. As General Robert E. Lee once said, and I probably misquote;" A man stops learning when he dies". I try to learn something new every day.

Sorry about the length of the post, and it will be my last on this forum. I don't want to offend anyone. If I save one fish from being needlessly wasted, it was worth it.

Have a nice day. C2


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## lil red jeep (Aug 17, 2007)

Charlie2 said:


> Sorry about the length of the post, and it will be my last on this forum. I don't want to offend anyone. If I save one fish from being needlessly wasted, it was worth it.
> 
> Have a nice day. C2


This shouldn't be your last post. Just because some here may disagree with you doesn't mean you shouldn't post. Like you said, you've been fishing probably 70 years... WOW, what experience you have in this art form we call fishing. Keep sharing your experience. I know that I could sure benefit from it. More folks here agree with you than disagree with you, so keep posting.:fishing:


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## steve grossman (Feb 1, 2008)

Hey Charlie2--You are definetly right on with your comments. Id bet you that the ones who dissagree are the young ones without the wisdom of 70 years fishing. As one grows older, hopefully one grows wiser, and learns what it means to keep an open mind.

By the way Charlie, which day next week will I have the greatest success fishing???

Steve


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## sudshunter (Jan 20, 2008)

great fish, great videos, awseome catch !!!! :beer::beer::beer: tight lines.... that pier is gonna be packed!!! :--|


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## saltandsand (Nov 29, 2007)

Here's a nice summary about tarpon:

http://www.tarbone.org/tarpon_facts.cfm

Says they can jump 10 feet into the air when caught...man that's gotta be alot of fun!


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## Dixie719 (May 12, 2003)

saltandsand said:


> Here's what miffs me. Tarpon are highly managed down south, yet may not be managed at all in other states.


Yeah, that's what get's me as well. 

No regs at all in VA. I know they are rare, but sturgeon are too, but there is a reg for them.

Be nice to see a reg put in place to manage them and possibly include them on the tagging program as well.


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## fin&scale (May 7, 2008)

Congrats on a great fish. Here is something that some of us here in Florida do to commemorate our tarpon catches. When we get them up we pull a scale or two off somewhere behind the middle of the fish behind the gill plate, take some pictures (more is better) and revive and release the fish. You can press the scales in a book like you would do a flower. Cover the scale in a piece of wax or freezer paper to avoid it becoming stuck. It will preserve it neatly and they display beautifully. 

We keep them in baseball card holders and we pencil the date of catch length and estimated weight of each fish. Hand someone a scale the size of the meaty part of their palm and they'll get some idea as to the size of the fish you caught. They also look great in a photo album under the best pics of your fish.

PS everything else aside I think you will be greatly disappointed with a skin mount (if you could get any taxidermist to even undertake such a proposition). The only way you could get anything of the real fish mounted would be just the head and then a fiberglass repro of the body. Even then you will experience "grease bleeding" ie yellowing of the mount in the span of 5-7 years (less in most cases). If you absolutely had to have something lasting rendered from your exact fish it would entail having someone actually take a real impression from the specimen you brought them........It is called sand casting...it is expensive labor intensive and unless you wanted to pay for the mold a marine taxidermist would have no use for a mold of your fish since to him it is exactly the same as the ten other molds he has of tarpon of similar size. It is close to impossible to skin mount a tarpon without experiencing some scale buckling, major soft tissue shrinkage in the head area and ridiculous amounts of grease bleeding from the mount in less than a year. A tarpon is the largest member of the herring family....something of a overgrown sardine making them some seriously oily bastages. Trust me anyone who takes on the task of skin mounting it is setting themselves up for failure...they will either render a product that is subpar from the onset or one that will become that way in short order despite their best efforts.

Consider the option I suggest.....it is a neat way to retain something real and tangible from your catch and still release a fish who's flesh will almost always go to waste. I will say again congrats on your catch and I support anyone harvesting whatever they are allowed to keep by law so please do not take offense to anything posted by me...none was meant or implied


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## demonfish (Mar 31, 2002)

great job pall. your fish and not illegal here so power to you. in fl you have to buy a tag to keep a tarpon, ive caught a few myself, largest estimated at 150 lbs, 13 jumps and an hour and a half later, walked him to the beach a pulled a scale. that was your trophy before release. but you caught a beautiful fish and should be proud. you must have got there right after i pulled up my pin as i left at 7pm. luck on your side. see ya on the planks.

frank


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## Jesse Lockowitz (Feb 13, 2006)

Congratulations on a helluva Fish!!!!!! That is awesome to see the tarpon that far north! ..Again, CONGRATULATIONS AND DONT LET ANYONE'S DOWNTALKING OPINIONS GET TO YOU! Lot of people on this board talk about "well, i wouldnt have killed it IF i caught it, bla bla bla, facts are, they didnt catch it, so it doesnt matter. Congratulations on your fish!!!!!!!!!


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## Jesse Lockowitz (Feb 13, 2006)

Cdog said:


> Yes, certainly a nice fish and congrats to the angler but cmon, killing it just for a mount.


his fish, he could strap it to the hood of his dang car if he wanted too. because its HIS FISH.

chances are that tarpon wouldnt have made it after that fight/netting and being outa the water anyway. its ONE fish

concentrate your efforts on the longliners offshore decimating populations, and give the guy with his ONE trophy fish of a lifetime a damn break.


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## edgotbait (Sep 29, 2004)

i thnk it was a catch of a life time in this area 
just remember you cant get a citation for a dead tarpon
you have to release them 
it was his fish and he can do as he please


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

Jesse Lockowitz said:


> his fish, he could strap it to the hood of his dang car if he wanted too. because its HIS FISH.
> 
> chances are that tarpon wouldnt have made it after that fight/netting and being outa the water anyway. its ONE fish
> 
> concentrate your efforts on the longliners offshore decimating populations, and give the guy with his ONE trophy fish of a lifetime a damn break.


Jesse, I believe the tarpon you killed was a state record was it not?

Might seem weird but I don't see a problem with that, it was a record after all. 

But, killing a fish like that just to mount it seems petty to me.

But we do agree on one thing. 

It is a hell of a catch and congrats to the angler.

BTW my opinion counts as much as yours...


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## Shooter (Nov 14, 2004)

OK so we all agree, it was a hail of a catch amd promps to the angler.

Now since we can't seem to get along on this topic and before any more words are passed say Goodnight.


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