# Sebastian Tarpon



## riomar (May 15, 2005)

Caught this Tarpon from the Sebastian Surf last night around 7:30 ... Arrived at the beach and was setup by 7:00 chunked a big mullet I had netted in the river a couple of day ago and threw in the freezer. I had threw out one bait, had one hit, and caught one fish.. then went home as it was getting dark after landing the fish. The fish made three or four jumps and ran parrallel to the beach fo the most part.This is my first Tarpon since moving here a year ago. I have been spending most of my time in my Kayak fishing for reds and snook.. but after seeing Airnuts posts I got motivated to toss some big baits into the surf.. The picure quality is poor I had a another fisherman take it with my cell phone in low light conditions.. Im not sure of its wieght.. I wanted to get it back of the water as soon as possible.. The picture does not do its size any justice. Im 6'-2" so maybe if you compare the size somebody would like to take a guess at what the wieght was.. My biggest fish before this was a 42lbs Striper in the surf in Rhode Island and this Tarpons fight put that to shame..

Equipment used:
Penn Mag 525 w/ 14 pound test Trilene Big Game Supreme
Tica 11'.5" 4-10oz rated
40 pound shock with appr. 10 wraps plus rod length
80lb Mono Breakway rig, 7/0 circle hook, 5oz pyramid


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## BrandyFish (Jul 27, 2005)

sweet fish.........great job


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## airnuts (Oct 13, 2003)

nice, really nice, about 60 lbs or so ??
I will get one tomorrow, I can feel it, you will see.
CONGRATS AGAIN.


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## sand flea (Oct 24, 1999)

Wow! Nice catch.


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

Awesome. Congrats.


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## derek (Nov 6, 2003)

Well, the length of the tarpon is about 4 times the width of your hat, and the width is just under 1 hat width. Measure your hat, find one of the online fish weight calculators, and you can make a pretty reasonable estimate. 

Nice fish, btw.


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## BentHook (Dec 22, 2002)

Now your hooked and this is what will happen next.
You will spend every free minute chasing the silver king.
You will quite your job to free up more time to find those mullet on steriods.
Your family will leave you.
Any other fish including flounder and snook,will become potential bait for your next poon.
Your next goal will be a 100# tarpoon then 150#.
The best bait I have found is a bluefish head that I stomp on to get the juices flowing a little better.
Never ever share your tarpon hole with anyone, this includes wife,children,brother or friends.  
Do you have a backlash problem with the 14# line on a 525?


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## sprtsracer (Apr 27, 2005)

Great fish and great report!!! Thanks for including all the info on rod, reel, line, hook, bait, leader, etc. Answered all my questions. Now...go get a bigger one, and congratulations again!!!


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## sprtsracer (Apr 27, 2005)

*P.s.*

Don't pay any attention to what Benthook says...you can share the info on the tarpon hole with me


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## riomar (May 15, 2005)

BentHook said:


> Do you have a backlash problem with the 14# line on a 525?


I have had problems with lighter line backlashing occasionally. The line capacity on the 525 is not the greatest and when putting 25lb test line Im down to about a half spool after a good cast.. That makes me nervous. The Big Game Supreme 14lb has a dia. that is slightly larger then other 14lb lines and seems to flow smoothly on a conventional. I also find that I have to keep the mag setting maxed out If I have any kind of head wind. I will probably bump it up to 20lb knowing there are probably some 100lb and bigger tarpon out there and Im to afraid to switch to braid.. 1 bad backlash = $25.00 or more...


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## Reelbehind (Jul 30, 2003)

Nice fish


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## b3butner (Oct 1, 2003)

Very nice work with 14#. Congratulations.


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## BentHook (Dec 22, 2002)

You could put a 150 yd spool of 30# Powerpro on first and then 17-20# mono. It would take a powerful cast to get to the PPro then. You can also add a single magnet to help control any backlash or thicker oil.
Next time you take a picture, try to get some background in it so I can figure out where your at.


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## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

Nice Poon! 

Here's a tip, spool up with PowerPro at Sports Authority. Have them bulk spool it for you as opposed to buying it off the shelf. It's about half as expensive there as it is anywhere else on the planet, starting at .03 cents per yard. They use PP as a loss leader product to get people in there to buy their other stuff that is overpriced. 

Oh yeah, this 25% off coupon might help with paying to spool up with PP too: 

http://www.aximdeals.com/coupons/COUPON.PDF


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## riomar (May 15, 2005)

Thanks for the spooling suggestions.. I will probably try some braid shortly. KodiakZach thanks for the coupon. Im curious how the braid will handle Tarpon jumps. One thing I noticed or didnt notice is much variation in line tension during leaps. Im assuming this is because there is so much stretch in 14lb mono. I think I analyze things to much..


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## Railroader (Apr 13, 2005)

*Good catch....*

I hung (very briefly) into a big 'ol tarpon at J-ville Pier....It was the biggest, fastest, most heart stopping hook-up in over 30 years of fishin'.......I'm hoping for another chance!


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## VICIII (Apr 8, 2005)

*When are we going to fish so you teach me how to do that....?*

come on tell me when... I have got to get away and fish with some one that knows how to fish like that. If you need flyfishing lessons on casting I can do it but this shore thing is killing me. I want to fish for TarPooooonnsss soon...


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## Anthony (Jul 3, 2002)

How long was that tarpon? An amazing catch from the surf.


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## riomar (May 15, 2005)

Anthony said:


> How long was that tarpon? An amazing catch from the surf.


It looked like 4' to me.. I never lifted the fish any more then a few inches to get a measurement in order to get it back in the water as soon as possible after a long fight... as it was it after releasing it it swam out around 20 yards then laid on its side.. Me and another fisherman swam out to revive it some more but as soon as I laid my hand on it she swam off pretty strong..


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