# Somebody tell me again….



## Brent (May 26, 2004)

More appropriately, tell me for the first time....why do I continue to tarpon fish on the upper Texas Coast? Why would I get up at 4:30 AM and trailer a boat 180 miles round trip&#8230;&#8230;.drive the boat another 80+ miles&#8230;...looking for a fish that I probably won't find&#8230;...and if I do find it, the chances of catching on it are even worse. That is under the very best conditions. If I do beat all odds and catch one, I can't eat it&#8230;.I can't mount it&#8230;.I can't even keep it. There is not even a good reason why I would want to! I have done it before. I have the scales, the stories, and the pictures. I'm glad I did, but why can't I be happy with it and move on? The whole situation makes golf look practical.



I did pass the first hurdle today and found myself right in the middle of a bunch of randomly rolling tarpon. Right time, right place, the opportunity was there. Even though there may have been a handful caught from that bunch, there were a lot of guys there a lot better at it than I will ever be, right there in the thick of them too. With talent and experience on their side, most of them didn't score either. So why was I even there?



I took my 14 year old son with me for the first time. He was BORED OUT OF HIS MIND!!!! At first I was disappointed. But on the return segment of that 180 mile round trip, I decided that he is just a lot smarter than I am. Maybe he is&#8230;&#8230;


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## Bill C (May 23, 2004)

Remember the feeling that your bait or lure has been snagged by a passing truck as you watch the line scream off your reel? Then seeing 6' of chrome truck bumper skyrocket 15 feet into the air time after time?

That's why you do it. And you are a smart man for making the effort.


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## david (Jul 20, 2004)

It is the same reason my son Has a tarpon tatooed on his leg. You are addicted. He was on the water 7 days straight last week doing the same thing but the persistence paid off and he found some fish.


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## Jake Reaves (Oct 1, 2004)

david said:


> It is the same reason my son Has a tarpon tatooed on his leg. You are addicted. He was on the water 7 days straight last week doing the same thing but the persistence paid off and he found some fish.


Actually, I didn't find them...


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## Brent (May 26, 2004)

You both have to be right. I made that rant Sunday evening, and by mid-morning Monday I was already thinking about the next run. But without a teenager in a bikini in the boat, it may be a while before my son will be interested in another trip.......


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## Tarponchaser (May 25, 2005)

The Tarpon Tomorrow Tournament was my first time to fish the Galveston area. While I was there, my partner & I complained to each other about how hard it is to fish the area... long runs, scattered fish, etc and how much easier it was to fish POC & PA.

We decided that Monday morning we would start making up a great excuse to send to Scott as to why we would not be coming to Galveston next year without looking like whimps.

As we drove away from Galveston and all the way home we were planning how we would do better next year, now that we will not have to spend half the first day locating the Gulf and "the box".

See you there,
TC


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## haparks (Apr 12, 2006)

QUOTE--(The whole situation makes golf look practical)---- nothing makes golf look practical---but i have chased TARPON in my dreams since i was a young teenager-- i hooked some thing that was big and silver and took off like a freight train--and dreamed it was a tarpon and had hopes of going after them ever since--im 40 now and got to take my boat 5 hours to the coast and 5 hours back-- and fished 2 days for my dream THIS SUMMER--the dream did not come true on this trip but the dream is as alive as ever--just like the persuit of that trophy black bass i cought jan of 97 or that nice buck i got 2 seasons ago--i will pursue my dream untile it comes true--i dreamed of a bill fish-- i hooked one off diego garcia--and lost it so that dream is still alive-- we all due this-- because we see our selves doing it and we wont stop untile we accomplish it--and even then we DO--WE still may never stop--i have been addicted to fishing ever since i fell asleep on the warm rock beach-- on the farm pond--in the early 70's an woke up and pulled in my line to find a large bass on the other end---and i have never been able to stop since-- i only work so i can fish--i got it bad ---i will be back the week end of the 9th to try again--so if u see a white kenner 19 ft centerr console out of the galveston yacht basin heading out the jetties say howdy:walkingsm


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

Your right there are no tarpon out there, I wish everybody would quit fishing for them.


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## mastercylinder60 (Dec 18, 2005)

because you are obsessed with obtaining a fish that is the most likely fish to be unobtainable.

psychology 101


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## Catch 22 (Jul 5, 2005)

There is some hope for you but it is fatal. At the end of this journey they will put you in a box or an urn and then you will be okay. Until that time you will have to suffer with this addiction.


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## Free_loader (Nov 4, 2004)

> If I do beat all odds and catch one, I can't eat it&#8230;.I can't mount it&#8230;.I can't even keep it


 

actually .. from looking at the new limits this year .. i'm pretty sure you can keep 1 a day possesion 2

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/annual/fish/limits_saltwater/index.phtml#limits


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## Scott (May 24, 2004)

So long as its big enough. My suggestion to anybody is to take a tape measurer and calculate the weight. If you are close on the numbers to a record and want to try and keep a fish for the record, then do so, if not, be sure and let the fish go. When I mean close, I mean no more than five pounds short of the record by calculation. It is a pretty good calculation and pretty accurate. Keep as few fish as possible!!!


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## finatical (Dec 3, 2004)

*"Somebody tell me again..."*

*"....why do I continue to tarpon fish on the upper Texas Coast?"*


*...could it be?*


*http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m228/finatical2001/2ndpoonjumpclose.jpg*

*http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m228/finatical2001/poonjumpcoonpop.jpg*

*http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m228/finatical2001/poonjumpcropcloseup.jpg*

*...looking "as good as it gets" out there about now...no way I'll be able to sleep tonight.*

*Tight Lines,*

*Finatical*

*P.S. don't even ask about the top secret prototype **** candy in the pics...i was gunna black it out but didn't want to ruin the pics ;-)*


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## Jacko (Aug 12, 2005)

*Testorine = adrenaline + endorphins*

The reason you do it is a primal instinct wherby your purpose in life is to capture formidable quory. You have been cursed with an abnormally high amount of testorine, which does not allow you to be easily satisfied in your macho conquests. The average man is blessed with not having the need to conquer the unconquerable.

I moved to Brazoria county 15 years ago, licking my chops at the awesome windsurfing challenges I would undertake, but soon discovered a fishing addiction. There was always a formidable goal.

First I needed a speck over 27 inches, it was not long before I had several including a 30 incher. Then I needed a bull red, then it had to be over 50 inches, that took 2 years. Later the focus was on the numbers of keeper reds wade fishing, the goal was 30. I had a hand full of trips exceeding 20, but finally broke the 30 mark in 2000. Then I went for king fish, 50 incher was the goal. Yes I'd learned how to fish, but never realized the simplicity in capturing that quory. That goal fell in the first year, multiple times. I guess the bar had not been set high enough. Then finally I became aware of the ultimate challenge, Texas tarpon, the needle in the hay stack. Comparibly those other species are childs play.

Every time you see one, adrenaline starts to flow, you are a junky of that sweet juice. In fact just thinking about going after the silver king begins the release of endorphins. The euphoria does not require any outside chemical adgents. This testorine based sickness your infected with makes you capture an elusive beast and can only be satisifed by thinking about the hunt, planing the hunt, executing the treck week after week. And when a trip comes with sucsess it only amplifies the need for more. So unlike a trout or a red or a kingfish, the tarpon conquest is never conquered.

Although the fire still burns within, I have been humbled with a mammoth tarpon goose egg in Texas. I've literally been from Port Isabel to Sabine Pass and seen them here and there, but have never even jumper one. Over a view years the bycatch number are the in hundreds, with a few even causing sweat to drip. For some mysteries reason it is not uncommon for a fishermans head to drop as soon as he discovers there is a shark on the line. But what kind of fish is this, the ****, that makes one frown at jacks, kings, and bulls? A special fish.

Now let me tell you what to do if you encounter a dry spell that is messing with your sanity. Hook up your boat and head east. In a relatively short period of time, 20-25 hours, (don't forget to turn south after Talahasee) drop your boat into the water and get ready. The poons are thick in those parts and even I can catch them, just wet a hook. It's note the same challenge as going after Texas tarpon, but it sure does feel good. Make sure you take that boy. HE WILL NOT BE BOARD. The first time I took mine he was 12. His first fish took 80 minutes and went 140#'s. Even though I had to help him circum the fish near the end of the fight, the boy got the tarpon desease. Maybe you should spare your son from tarpon fever and leave him home?


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## FISHFRY (Nov 1, 2004)

My goal is to be on the bow of a boat hooked up to a tarpon when I'm 70. That gives
me 10 more years. When I die give my ashes to the tarpon so I can still see them.
Wife of Fishfry.


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## haparks (Apr 12, 2006)

*my dad*

my father felt the same way thats why he wanted to be scattered in the bay near rockport so he could be with the reds:an4:



FISHFRY said:


> My goal is to be on the bow of a boat hooked up to a tarpon when I'm 70. That gives
> me 10 more years. When I die give my ashes to the tarpon so I can still see them.
> Wife of Fishfry.


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## haparks (Apr 12, 2006)

i hope when my boy grows up i can get him into some killer fishin like the pics above


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