Helios on the move!

In May The Bonefish and Tarpon Trust tagged a 45 lb Tarpon and named it Helios (it was sponsored by Orvis' Perk Perkins - which may be the first time naming rights have been "sold" for a fish).  It turns out the "Silver King" covers some serious mileage.

"I want to share a pretty cool story with you. As you may know, BTT began its tarpon acoustic tagging program in May 2016, and we just received our first detection of a tagged fish! It's a 45-pound fish named Helios (sponsored by Perk Perkins, CEO of Orvis) and it traveled over 400 miles in less than a month! This is amazing because it's the first time we've been able to track fish in this size range (previous satellite tagging efforts funded by BTT were limited to tarpon 80 pounds and up) and because it disproves the widely-held theory that tarpon don't migrate long-distances before reaching sexual maturity."

The BTT is a great organization that study the gamefish we all enjoy.   I'm looking forward to following Helios' travels. 

Found: A Passion for Tarpon: Andy Mill

The postman left something pretty nice on the doorstep of the FlyfishMagazine.com compound this past week, a review copy of Andy Mill's thirty year in the making book, "A Passion for Tarpon." published by Wild River Press, this book is an enormous compendium of man's hunt for big game in warm tropical water. I haven't read it yet (the sheer size will preclude it from going with me on my travels next week) but a thumb through reveals beautiful photography and the promise of some great stories. More later!

New North Carolina State Tarpon Record Set

According to a press release from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, a Carteret County angler, Malcolm Condie, set a new state record when he reeled in a 193 pound 5-ounce tarpon while fishing for king mackerel off a North Topsail Island pier.

“It hit the king rig at 12:30 (p.m.) and I landed it within an hour,” Condie said.
The fish measured 80 inches fork length (tip of the nose to the fork in the tail) and had a girth of 42 inches.
Jesse Lockowitz held the previous state record with a 175-pound tarpon caught at Bogue Inlet Pier Sept. 7, 2005. The world record tarpon was 283 pounds, caught in Africa.

Condie said he initially hoped to donate the fish to the N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. Instead, researchers with the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences happened to be in the area, so he allowed them to remove the ear bones and other fish parts for DNA, and age tests.

“They’ve never had access to a (tarpon) of this size in North Carolina,” Condie said.

Spearfishing for Tarpon: You have got to be joking?

We are stunned.

This hit the blogosphere via Pete McDonald at Fishing Jones and comes from an alert posted on the Bonefish and Tarpon Unlimited website. Apparently some folks in Louisiana are making sport of spear fishing for tarpon and bragging about it. Pete says it best in his post:

As tarpon aren’t regarded as table fare, the practice of spearfishing for them is pure blood sport. I have no problem with spear fishing if the fish targeted is to be eaten, in season, and within regulation, but to kill a fish like a tarpon just to kill it…

From the Tarbone.org posting:

Even as the last tarpon ‘kill’ tournament in Florida changes over to an all-release format, and the Mexican fishery turns more toward catch and release, it appears that tarpon conservation is not a high priority in some areas. Indiscriminate and wasteful harvest of this important gamefish should no longer be allowed.

It is clear that there are significantly fewer tarpon around now than there were 30 years ago. And it is likely that the killing of tarpon by recreational (and commercial) fishermen of yesteryear contributed to tarpon population declines. This is the principal reason that Florida, Texas and other southeastern US states have severely restricted the harvest of tarpon.

The message boards begin to buzz...

Links to coverage via Midcurrent and Moldy Chum.

**UPDATE** see text from the spearfishing group's own message board.

Just recovering from yesterday, the first dive of the day I shot intoa 150+lb. Tarpon. He pulled me into a pipe and was pulling really hardwhen all of a sudden he put it into Hyper-Gear. I was like holdingback a crewboat with 2-12 cylinder deisels. I didn't let go and ithurt. The spring slide ring I've been using for 20 years that hasnever let me down, let me down this time. The fish straightened thespring out and got my spear. I came up with the rope and a brokenfinger, the tip of my little finger. So I decided I had enough oftarpon for the day.Wil and Mark both shot into big (well over 100lb. tarpon) only to lose them also.

Florida's Most Valuable Saltwater Fish.

According to this article in Sport Fishing Magazine the Bonefish is Florida's most valuable salt water quarry bringing over one billion dollars into the the state's coffers. It's larger pal the tarpon does its part as well towards the 5.5 billion dollar total that comes into the state each year from sport anglers. They plan on taking good care of the resource:

The Bonefish and Tarpon Research Center will help focus scientific efforts in critical areas of applied research to support management decision making for the sustainability of these magnificent sportfish" said Dr. Jerry Ault, a Rosenstiel School professor of marine biology and fisheries and book editor of Biology and Management of the World Tarpon and Bonefish Fisheries. Ault will direct the new research center in collaboration with the various partners.

Smoke on the water...

According to the Chaser Key West Fly Fishing Report Blog, the tarpon, Summer, and smoke from Florida's forest fires, have all arrived in Key West.

"we have some summer weather and Tarpon showing up in the flats and shallows for Fly Rodden.Late but welcome, in spite of forest fire smoke blowing in from Florida to give an unusual eeriness to the early morning hunt."

Foyer Tarpon

Silver King by Kent Ullberg available via the IGFA online store for $9,990.90