I will say this up front, I am not a bottom digging fish lover. I don't get a thrill out of pulling fish from the depths like Grouper. I would rather fight Redfish, Snook or Trout on light tackle and listening to line scream from the reel. I am the Web Producer for the Reel Animals Team and it is Mike and Billy that have taught me to fish over the past few years.
That said, I would go Tarpon fishing any day after having done it this past week with Captain Mike in Boca Grande Pass.
The experience in Boca is kinda like a wild carnival ride. Think of bumper cars except replace them with about 50 boats of varying sizes and put them in rough waters with a playing field the size of about 3 football fields stacked side by side and the goal is NOT to run into each other, but stay as close together as possible.
As the captain scans his radar for fish, he must also dodge other boats, be wary of boats with hooked fish and try to assist his crew in hooking fish. It was kinda like a merry-go-round of boats bobbing and weaving. Or better yet, if you are familiar with driving in Boston, think of the first time you had to drive into one of the roundabouts with cars whizzing round in circles and you just have to ease your way into the flow and go with it. There is no chance for second guessing in this mixture of boats and churning water.
For Captain Mike, you could tell he is a seasoned pro at it as he guided his Dorado 23 in and out of spots without banging sides and constantly carrying on a chatter with other captains that make this part of a May-July ritual. I would think it would be as much fun to just sit outside the drift and watch the ballet of captains guide there boats like an orchestrated dance back and forth to follow the school of Tarpon swirling around the Pass.
Once you get a Tarpon hooked (ya gotta have fast hands when ya feel the thunk of the hit) it is "wobble" to the chair and hold on. Ideally the Captain works to get the fish out of the pack of boats and it takes a team effort to make sure the Captain knows where the fish is as you are at the mercy of the fish as he goes left, then right, then back and then might take off straight ahead.
The anticipation of finally seeing your fish come to the surface is the biggest thrill to me. You don't know what you have or how big it is until it comes to the surface to roll for a breath of air or in a flash, it breaks the water with a sudden burst of energy, shaking it's mighty head trying to throw the hook. Forty minutes can fly by as you are pulling back and reeling down and the pain in your forearms is a foregone conclusion that you just choose to ignore as you will the fish to tire and let you get it to the boat. Your rod is bent like an upside down J for most of the battle and you just hope it doesn't snap like a toothpick.
I was able to wrangle my 160 pounder (that is what Mike said) to the surface several times and got to see a spectacular leap right off the bow of the boat. As we tried to get her next to the boat the line broke right after Mike got a hold of the leader and in a second she was gone. No pictures but it will be emblazoned in my brain for years to come as one of the biggest thrills in my fishing escapades.
If ya haven't done this, ya gotta splurge one time and give it a try. You will not regret it. Get three buddies and go down and split the costs and I guarantee you will be swapping stories over beers for years to come,
I am hoping that the ache in my left forearm will go away in the next day or so, but each little twinge reminds me of one of the greatest days on the water - ever!
-Huskie
mess with these fish but when we got the call from our Boca Grande Crab Connection, Jimmy Porter it was game on. Jimmy was going out to one of his favorite snapper spots and killing it. Don't tell anyone but I'll tell ya how to do it. 
The fish were stacked on a shoreline on the north end of Captiva. Billy and Ozzie were putting on an absolute clinic and making sure I new it. Both of them caught and released several big fish in the 10 to 12lb range. I could only manage a couple of 25 to 26 inch fish.
he Tarpon bite in Boca this week was as you would expect on the new moon in June. Off the chain. We started our week with my good friend David Voyken nearly jumping an 80lb Tarpon into my boat. If you’ve never been that close to a grumpy 80lb fish, you have to try it. We were drifting crabs on the out going tide and could hardly keep our lines in the water without somebody hooking a fish. The key to drifting crabs in a strong current is attaching a #3 split shot just up from the hook. This will allow your crab to get down into the feeding fish. It also works well when fishing the Skyway or Gandy Bridges with crabs or big threadfins. We probably caught and released close to 25 big Tarpon this week from 80 to 170 pounds and had several more fish on that jumped off. 
