Catching a Tarpon at the Bahia Honda Bridge

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Tarpon Jumping
Now I understand what all the fuss is about! Once you hook up to a tarpon you are hooked! To see (and feel) something that big and powerful at the end of your line is amazing.
In fact I just caught my first Tarpon yesterday and it was awesome! We were at the Bahia Honda bridge for about 2 hours with our bait out just patiently waiting. We saw tarpon rolling a couple times around the surrounding area and a couple of guys hooked up on a boat off in the distance.
My husband and I were in a canoe so the experience is a bit different than being in a bigger boat!
So I was sitting there in our canoe thinking how cool it would be to just see how it feels to get hooked up with a tarpon and about 2 hours later I found out!
tarpon jumping
I felt the bite and then got ready to fight it… Or as ready as I could be…
I listened to my husband as he coached me and cheered me on. I reeled down and gently pulled up to make sure it was hooked. The next thing I know he started taking off and all of a sudden he jumped up out of the water. I had no idea we were going to hook up to something THAT big. I think I was in awe for a few seconds because I remember just seeing that amazing acrobatic display and sheer size of the fish and not doing anything but holding on to the rod. Then it clicked in my brain that I needed to start reeling. I reeled down the slack and off he went. I had the drag down pretty tight and my husband maneuvered the canoe to try to keep us out of the bridge and pylons. I fought the beast for awhile then handed it off to my hubby in the back of the canoe.
tarpon fishing
We were heading out towards the open water and it was getting a little much for the canoe so we handed the rod and reel off to a fellow boater hoping they would be able to land it. The man fought it for 5 minutes or so but it finally spit the hook out.
tarpon fishingI keep picturing the size of that fish as he jumped out of the water and replaying the excitement of the fight! I can’t wait to go tarpon fishing again and now I can say I understand why people are all about hooking up with a tarpon. There’s nothing quite like it!