You’re sitting at your favorite Trout spot when all of a sudden you see a huge splash and a silver flash. Your jaw drops and you totally forget to set the hook. You look down and your spool is spinning faster then the turbine on a F-16 jet engine. Within seconds you are down to your last 20 yards of 12-pound test. Off in the distance you see a 100-pound plus fish tail walking with your finger mullet hanging half way out of his mouth. Though you are separated by a couple hundred yards of fine monofilament you can hear his gill plates rattling louder than a diamond back 6-inches from your nose. Seconds later an explosion resounds in your ears louder than the backfire of a 1970 Grand Torino station wagon in downtown traffic, as your line pops free of the spool. You have just encountered the Megalops atlanticus. No, this is no prehistoric creature; however it is one of the oldest fishes, the Silver King, a.k.a. Atlantic Tarpon.
As we are in the true dog days of summer here in the lowcountry and water temperatures are in the mid to upper 80’s Tarpon encounters become quite frequent. Though many anglers are starting to target the Silver King here in Carolinas and Georgia, by and large the majority of encounters remain purely accidental. Since most fish are hooked by chance, proper tackle is rarely in use, making it almost impossible to land one of these incredible game fish.
About 10 years ago my father took Andy and I on an awesome trip to the Florida Keys. We had been several years prior but had no luck on the Tarpon. This particular year dad lined up renowned guide Robert Trossett, a.k.a. “R.T.” for two days of Silver King fishing out of Key West. To date R.T. still holds multiple world records and it is almost impossible to pick up any of the major sport fishing magazines without seeing a picture of R.T. endorsing some product out of his boat the “Spin Drift.”
Though we were not fishing in the peak of the season we still managed to hook well over a dozen fish during the 2 days and b