Billy Pate |
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The determined poon zigzagged through a group of boats where everyone watched it jump, and they too got excited. The tarpon headed out to sea, and I followed for a couple of hours until the magnificent fish finally turned back toward shore. A nearby guide radioed that he’d provide assistance if I needed it, while remaining close by. I finally got the fish to boat side, and quickly reached for a lip gaff. Perhaps charged with adrenaline, I decided to stick the big tarpon myself. Holding the fly rod in my left hand, and readying the lip gaff in my right, I still couldn’t reach the enormous tarpon.
The guide, who had now maneuvered alongside, climbed into my skiff and read the girth of the twisting fish on the tape measure at 45 ¾ inches. My previous 188-pounder taped at 43 inches, but this one seemed a little shorter in length. The guide urged me to take it in, saying, “That’s a very big tarpon.” I radioed the dockmaster as I ran in. I arrived to a crowded dock, and hung the glistening silver king on the scale. Alas, 173 pounds, 15 less than my record. My heart sank, though everyone said they were amazed that I hooked, fought, and landed that world-class tarpon all by myself- a feat I have yet to match.
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Although my 188-pound tarpon on fly stood as the world record for many years, it’s actually not the feat for which I’m proudest. Instead, it’s a 173-pound tarpon that I hooked and landed completely by myself with no one else to maneuver the skiff, and no one else to help boat the monstrous fish.
Let me explain. My skiff is equipped with two electric motors with foot controls on the casting deck and on the poling platform where the guide usually stands. I didn’t have a guide that day off Homosassa, Florida, so I maneuvered the boat myself. After shutting down about five miles south of the river mouth, I spotted a pod of a dozen silver kings. I turned off the electrics to cast to the lead fish – often the largest in any pod – and noted its huge girth. The tarpon engulfed the fly, and when it lunged completely out of the water, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest – it appeared larger than my current record.
I took a calculated risk and swung at the fish’s open mouth. Amazingly, I impaled the gaff into its lip. I pulled the huge tarpon to the side of the boat where I tried to pull it in. No way! Placing one foot on the gunnel for leverage, with one last heave, the mighty tarpon slid into the boat.
