On May 15 I got married to my sweetheart of 7 years, Rachel. We had talked about going to the Keys on a trip for awhile now and decided to go to Key West for our honeymoon. She was gracious enough to accompany me for a full-day with Capt. Mike Bartlett to chase big, migrating Tarpon while we were there.
I booked the day back in January and couldn’t wait! Originally, Rachel was also going to fish, but after seeing the first Tarpon she decided to just watch, take pictures, and enjoy the scenery of the Keys backcountry.
Headed out - 6AM We met Mike at Garrison Bight Marina and shoved off.
It was a stormy/partly cloudy day. Mike took us out to some spots near sandy bottoms first because of the low-light conditions. I thought the grey day would be good, but Mike said he really preferred bright, sunny days on the flats. We saw some cruisers in singles and pairs during the morning and one giant permit who wouldn’t eat my fly. The storm caught up to us and we ate lunch on an uninhabited island to ride out the storm. It passed and we got back to fishing.
About 11:15 we started seeing big schools of big fish cruising across the flat and feeding hard near the surface.
I jumped a fish and missed two others soon. At 11:45 I really stuck the first good hook-up. The topwater takes were incredible. The toad fly we were using floated just under the surface, so you could see everything at the big moment!
I really wanted to get a boatside or out of the boat pic with the fish, but it was not to be. After fighting this 100+ pound fish for a long time, I pulled too hard right at the boat after Mike had leadered the fish for an official catch and popped the 50 lb. fluoro shock tippet. (**(), boated fish but no picture boatside. WOW!!! W