I picked up Mike and Bob at Gasparilla Marina at around 5:30 in the morning. With tarpon on the fly on our minds we headed south to a pre-designated spot that I had chose because of the recent tarpon traffic I had seen there. As the thirty-plus minute run came to an end, the boat slowly slid off plane as I pulled the throttle back to neutral. I switched the key to off and began the waiting process of fly-fishing. The three of us stared out into the graying sky hoping that our wait would not be long. A great rush of air shot out of the surface a short fifty yards away. I could see Mike and Bob hone in on the surface disturbance. They both pointed and looked back at me with hopeful eyes. I merely said, dolphin.

On my next breath I saw a long silver flash almost two hundred yards away. I smoothly handed the fly rod to Mike loaded with the proper fly for the situation. I told them what I had seen and began quickly instructing them on the technique that had worked in the past. Mike began ripping line off the reel and placing it on the deck, while I hooked up the dual 101 trolling motors on the stern of my 22' Pathfinder. As I lowered the second motor, I looked up to see that the tarpon had closed the distance by half. Do you see them,I asked.

Mike answered, "ya I see em."

The tarpon were perfect. They were moving slowly. Rolling enough to keep an eye on them. Most of the time their fins stayed above the surface, making it easy to spot at least fifteen fish in the bunch.

I positioned the boat perfectly for Mike to deliver the fly. With a few short strokes of an experienced caster, the fly was well on its way to the right spot. The fly hit a short ten feet from the lead fish. I never said a word as the fish approached. Mike began his strips when he thought the fish was in range.

The water exploded with foam as the fly line left the deck in a flash. The swell the tarpon was creating from swimming just below the surface was two feet tall. Mike did his best to clear the line onto the reel while making sure the hook was secure in the tarpons mouth. The fish took to the air three or four times in the short time he was hooked. All the line wasnt even on the reel yet and the fish just kept jumping. As the final section of the fly line was coming to the reel, the fish surged with great force for a ten-foot gray hounding jump. As Mike bowed to the king for this great leap, a loop in the line was thrown over the butt end of the rod. As quickly as the fish had struck, the thirty-pound class tippet snapped. The fish gave one more leap to say farewell.

Bob and I saw it happen in almost slow motion. As Mike slowly handed the rod to me to be rerigged I tried to assure him that it happens to everyone. Mike quietly sat on the cooler and had a coke while Bob stepped up to try and take a shot with more success. Although we fished for many more hours with plenty of shots, none were quite as exciting as that first one.

Last week was a good week. I know of several guides that were still fishing in the heat of the day, myself included. For the most part the fish were still biting. I know for a fact that the tarpon are in the harbor and were hungry if your bait got in front of them. Capt. Waylon Mills had a good trip on Friday. Their plan was to do some tarpon fishing in the morning and try for snook in the afternoon. After leaving the dock at 8 a.m., Waylon and his crew had released two tarpon in the fifty-pound class before 9:30. Before the morning was over, Capt. Millsclients had jumped off two more fish. Granted this doesnt sound like much, but the tarpon in the harbor can be finicky and this was a great morning. Also, a lot of times in the harbor the fish that are caught arent much bigger than fifty or sixty, but there are still chances of catching a hundred pound fish. In the afternoon after lunch, Capt. Waylons crew opted to continue to tarpon fishing. Their day ended up with one more landed fish and three more jumped off.

I was also out on that day but went to try a little different fishing. The guys I had on my boat wanted to try a little fly-fishing if it was possible. There skills ranged from medium experience to novice. The most fun I thought these guys would have would be to go offshore to find some bonitos. Bonitos are members of the tuna family and are powerful fighters that range 8 to 14 pounds. If you can get some bonitos around the boat it can be some of the most productive fishing possible. At our first stop, I began to throw out small minnows as chum and it wasnt long before the bonitos arrived to dine. Within seconds we had one hooked up on fly and another on bait. Bonitos are very strong and fast and I try to avoid having more than two on at a time. It could get messy and fish could get lost. On this particular day we probably landed close to fifteen, maybe twenty fish in a two and a half hour span. Even on the thirty pound spin rods and 11-weight rods the bonitos still take ten or fifteen minutes to land. At one point a couple of little sharks came around the boat and as I began to rig a rod for sharks, I noticed that the bonito that had been hooked on the 8-weight was close to the end of the line. I informed the angler that he would have to slow him down before the end of the line snapped off the reel. When, soon after, the bonito started to lose steam I turned my attention back to the sharks that were still circling and finished the shark rig I had been working on. In a few minutes, I had the rig ready with a cut piece of bonito attached to the hook. After lowering it in the water, a four foot shark showed interest and soon the battle was on. Within ten or so minutes the small shark was boat side ready for pictures. Sharks are thick this time of year and are great on the line and some are great on the table too. Just be sure you have a sharp hook and some steel wire.