Well lets just end that part of the story right there by saying "DON'T EVER EAT AT THE SONNY'S IN BRADENTON".
After leaving there we had 4 miles to go to Capt. Tom Stephens' house. We arrived at nearly 8:30.
We unloaded our stuff and took a tour of the Stephens' house. The tour ended with a good look at what would be our vessel for 2 days of fishing. A 26' foot Gause custom. The back boat in the picture is the Gause. The boat in front is a 23' Dorado run by his son Tommy.
We talked game plans for Monday and we settled on a plan for tarpon fishing. 4:30 was the wake up time. Off to bed.
Monday morning. 5:15. We slip the boat in the water. Tommy is already out catching bait (live crabs) for our quarry. We dip up a few under the bridge and go to catch pilchards. 20 minutes later and we have a livewell full.
About the time we get loaded up on bait Tommy calls and says there are tarpon everwhere. He has a school of 500 fish all around his boat. It is barely quarter of 6. We still need to go by the baitshop at New Pass to pick up the crabs that Tommy left us. Capt. Tom pushes the 225 Yamaha to full throttle to get to the bait shop. Tommy calls us mid way to tell us he has a triple hookup on tarpon. Now the pressure is on. We can't get there fast enough.
We arrive at the baitshop...The first hints of sun are breaking.
Looking back over Sarasota Bay....
"Hurry your sorry ass up!"
After loading up a dozen or so crabs we are hauling ass South arriving at the fishing grounds about 6:30.
After a quick lesson on how to throw to a tarpon and setting the hook we had our first shot at a school.
We approached the "happy fish" as Capt. Tom says, and I put a cast right in the middle of them. 20 seconds go by.....tap....tighten up on the line....HOOK SET....HOOK SET....HOOK SET....HOOK SET....HOOK SET....HOOK SET.....IT'S ON NOW! Hook up at 7:00. The fish goes airborne right next to the boat. The one and only jump.
7:05....
7:15....
7:20....
As you can probably tell I'm a little tired. The heckling on the boat hasn't stopped since it began 1 minute into the hookup.
7:30 The beast makes an appearance...
7:40 The beast is boatside. Oh wait...No Pictures....
As you could tell, I am busy. Capt. Tom is driving the boat, chasing the fish and finally grabbing the leader. That leaves one person to take pictures. You guessed it.
Now as most of you know, cameras are not TC's friend. Hell with a face like his they are more like his sworn enemy. Needless to say, that was the end of the epic battle. As Capt. Tom pulled the fish up by the leader to grab it, the 100 pound fish made one more bolt for the bottom and broke the leader.
It's just as well. There was no way I could get that fish back up. My arms hurt, my back hurt, my fingers hurt, it's 85° and 100% humidity at 7 in the morning, and I have to have relief. Tarpon fishing is 5 minutes of fun and 40+ minutes of agony.
I CAN'T WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN!
Now it's TC's turn.
Did I mention what tackle we were using? 6 1/2 foot SPINNING rods with Shimano Baitrunner SPINNING reels.
Now we already know that cameras aren't TC's friend, well you can add spinning tackled to that list as well. The next 30 minutes or so went like this....
Capt. Tom: "There they are, cast to them! 12 o'clock!
Capt. Tom: "No, that's 2 o'clock, reel it up and try again."
TC: "Mumble....Mumble....Spinning rod....Mumble....Grumble...."
Capt. Tom: "10 o'clock!"
Capt. Tom: " That's one thirty, reel it up!"
TC: "Mumble....<explicative>....Spinning rod....Mumble....Grumble...."
Capt. Tom: "Tom rig me up a rod, I'll make the cast."
TC: "Mumble....<explicative>....Spinning rod....Mumble....Grumble....<explicative><explicative>"
Capt. Tom: "Here hold this and when he hits it set the hook"
SUCCESS!!!
10 minutes into the fight the hook pulled. Don't know what happened. We didn't give old TC too hard of a time.
That was the end of the tarpon fishing for the day. We chased fish for another 2 hours but never did hook up again.
"Let's go find a snook" says the Captain. Off down the beach we went towards Casey Key.
We eased up up to a fishy looking spot on the beach and commence to freelining live pilchards up around the structure. FISH ON!!!
First Ever Snook for Me!
Did I mention we were using SPINNING tackle?
TC: "Mumble....Mumble....Spinning rod....Mumble....Grumble...."
2 snook, 3 snook, 4 snook...I'm putting on a clinic. Capt. Tom got a nice one...
TC finally gets the hang of things...
We are having a great time catching these fish. They hit harder than just about any fish out there. They run, they jump, and you can lip them. They may be the perfect fish.
We moved a little down the beach and I made a cast next to the structure. What happened next is a little bit of a blur. The fish hit and almost instantly ran 20 yards of line off. Then it jumped. BIG FISH!
I looked down at the reel as the fished peeled off line. I was already in the mono backing of the reel. Capt Tpm pulled anchor and cranked up after the fish just as can start to see the spool underneath the mono.
By some sort of luck, this fish ran away from all the structure and into deeper water. About 5 minutes later this baby came to the boat.
Can you say MOGAN????
Other pics cannot be shown since they would give away the spot. The fish went 35" and 15+ pounds. This fish was the highlight of the trip for me.
We continued down the beach to another spot and TC put it on me, catching 7 fish in 8 casts.
Sort of paraphrasing Forrest Gump, "Snook Fishing is FUUUUNNNNNN!"
We decided to give the tarpon one more look on the way back but didn't find any. We came back into the pass scooping up a few crabs along the way. We stopped to drop them off at the bait shop. Had a few cold ones and a cheeseburger at the Shop and sat and watched the boats go by.
Did I mention why we caught as many crabs as we could find. It's because they are $2.50 A PIECE! Talk about a racket. TC and I were seeing a retirement opportunity unfolding in front of us.
We put the boat back on the trailer about 3 and headed to the house.
The real reason we had come to Sarasota in the first place is because the Donzi plant is there. You see the last time I fished with Chalk I stole one of his tackle bags and sold the contents on EBAY. I took half that money and put in an order for a new Donzi and they were wet testing it for me that day. Here she is....
Day 2 would start much earlier...
TO BE CONTINUED
