A Tarpon Story (Guest Blogger Kent Davenport)
February 20, 2019
Aaron Caldwell
Another Guest post from Dr, Kent Davenport. Not only is Mr. Kent a great steelhead angler. He also for many years fished in Florida for Tarpon. Anyone who knows him Knows that he doesn’t really do anything half-assed. He included a short video link to aid in the telling of this story. Hope you enjoy.
I had an interesting experience fishing in Homosassa Florida for Tarpon. You must watch the video before proceeding.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6mPS7A-_WU
So, the local rep lent us a 12 wt 9 foot one piece weighing 4.6 oz. Even I could cast the whole intermediate tip line out so we took it out. The first week was a north storm and I had one fish of 120. there were 6 boats out for 20 square miles of flats. Last year they did not show up until June so it was a little more empty than usual. 4 fish caught the first week.
On May 10, the water went to 78 degrees and they showed up. We cast lots, but did not find anything interested, so Steve Kilpatrick tied a small stick bait out of some foam and we went out early to catch the tide (6am). At 9:20 we finally got in front of a school and I threw it out and got a tight line. Next a refrigerator came out of the water twice and ran under the boat in 10 feet of water. I was covered with backing as the wind was 10 knots. After 10 seconds I got everything back on the reel and came tight and the fish took off. We started the engine and 30 minutes later by moving the rod from side to side, the head started to turn a little. The fish got sideways to us and stopped running and we got about 20 feet away and a 12 foot shark swam under the boat. The fish ran off and we got right on top of it and Steve kept on revving the engine and the shark went away. After 50 minutes we got the fish up to the boat and Steve put away his cell phone, wallet, watch etc. and put on his gloves and got a 8 foot gaff out . He has the all time record of 202 lbs on 20 lb and he wanted the new record and said that this was going to do it. I had the fish next to the boat in a Mexican standoff. Nobody moved Steve was getting ready when the rod broke 2 inches above the first stripping guide.
If the rod breaks it cannot be submitted for a world record and that saved it from sure death. I landed the fish on 2 feet of rod and we were getting ready to tape it when it submerged and broke the leader.
News travels fast. That night we got telephone calls from 3 different states wanting to know the details. Andy Mill called and apologized about a dozen times and the Hardy rep flew in the next day and got the rod and sent it to England to be analyzed.I ended up with a Hardy Perfect Salmon 4 inch from them.
Steve was really disappointed because the salt water guides live on those type of things. I thought that it was OK that it survived. I think Hardy is going to send us a shit load of stuff as a test bed for breaking things. Just up my alley.
Just letting you know that I am just getting ready to cause trouble at steelhead camp this year. Practice makes perfect.
There was never any doubt that you would come and cause trouble Kent and we love it. AC