# 258 today?



## gigem87

Anyone hearing rumors about a 258 lb. tarpon caught in Galveston today?


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## gater

*Yep*



gigem87 said:


> Anyone hearing rumors about a 258 lb. tarpon caught in Galveston today?


Actually I think it taped out around the mid 240's. Gater


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## TooShallow

Wow, that's a big tarpon. Like to see some pics.


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## CAPSIZED

congrats Mike L that would have been a new state record


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## Profish00

like to see a pic of that monster


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## gater

gigem87 said:


> Anyone hearing rumors about a 258 lb. tarpon caught in Galveston today?


83 inches long and 48" girth I think were the numbers which tapes out to 244lbs. Gater


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## Trouthappy

Caught offshore I presume...someone must have taken pictures. Though that wouldn't be quite seven feet.


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## fishtruck

WOW! That would make your day!!

Rob C


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## V-Bottom

GDN's reports today, that La Rue caught and released a 220 lb. one. The State record I weighed was certified at 210 lbs. 7 ozs 91" long. OCT.6 2006 No indication of what the length or girth was on La Rues recently caught fish. hummmmmm


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## Scott

gater said:


> 83 inches long and 48" girth I think were the numbers which tapes out to 244lbs. Gater


How was the length measured - total length or fork length? Anybody know?


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## CAPSIZED

I was told fork but I only heard this from another guide not the man that caught it. My question is, why not bring the fish in if its thats close? If your a guide and you catch a fish that could be a potential state record.... bring it in. Right? Seems like every year around this time someone catches what would have been the state record. lol



Scott said:


> How was the length measured - total length or fork length? Anybody know?


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## AlanKulcak

CAPSIZED said:


> I was told fork but I only heard this from another guide not the man that caught it. My question is, why not bring the fish in if its thats close? If your a guide and you catch a fish that could be a potential state record.... bring it in. Right? Seems like every year around this time someone catches what would have been the state record. lol


you know there is a catch & release record book now..


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## gater

*Tarpon*



CAPSIZED said:


> I was told fork but I only heard this from another guide not the man that caught it. My question is, why not bring the fish in if its thats close? If your a guide and you catch a fish that could be a potential state record.... bring it in. Right? Seems like every year around this time someone catches what would have been the state record. lol


It was to the fork! G


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## marc

That's a great catch! What's the US record?


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## Animal Chris

I don't know if there is an official "US" record but, the state record for LA is 230# caught by my neighbor Tom Gibson off the Delta in 1993. and the Florida state record is 243# caught by Gus Bell in Key West in 1975. Alabama's record is 203# and I'm not sure of the weight in Mississippi's but I seem to remember it's well less than 200 lbs. 

Here's a shot of Tom's Louisiana record fish


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## Scott

*Weight Chart*

Going on those numbers... it would put the fish between 240 and 250 lbs.










I will fix the link that follows to update PDF of this chart for you to print, give me a day or so. (Click Here)

This is an accurate chart that is designed for tarpon only based on historic catches etc. It is far more accurate than the old length times girth method.

There is also an a Bonefish and Tarpon Trust (BTT) app for Ipads and Iphones that uses the formula to calculate weight based on the numbers you put in. (just search in app store for it) I suggest downloading it. This formula is very complicated and it's not something you can do by hand. So, these apps are great. Low tech guys can use the chart.


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## Captain Dave

Pics will surface in time.. Great catch in near perfect conditions..


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## Scott

There is often confusion between state regulations and how most of the rest of the world measures fish. Texas measures fish for legal measurements as "overall" length, not fork length. Most other folks, like the feds, measure fork length (i.e. tip of nose to fork in tail). Texas measures to either pinched tail or end of bent tail, depending on type of tail of fish. (See Here)

This causes often some confusion. I was involved in the discussions when the current 85 inch length for keeping a tarpon in Texas. As I recall, this was an issue discussed and Texas wanted an overall length, because it had to maintain a standard among all species.


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## ben gardener

Here is the picture of the fish that Mike caught on Friday 09/21/12 .
The fish taped out from the fork of the tail at 83" and the girth was 47".


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## RedFly

2" short of the length limit... too bad. And seeing as how the Texas record is 210 lbs... this fish would have smashed the record!!!


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## CAPSIZED

RedFly said:


> 2" short of the length limit... too bad. And seeing as how the Texas record is 210 lbs... this fish would have smashed the record!!!


Not short. Texas is 85 to the tail not fork. That fish was legal to bring in.


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## Jeremy E

*nice fish*

Congrats thats a nice one. When i first landed my fish it was tip to tip 91" by 48"girth, but 12 hours on ice and a massive dump im sure it lost some weight. i cant rember the fork length but i think it was close to 83.
I hope we see the big numbers of fish show up soon, its almost october. Again, nice fish!- Jeremy Ebert


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## garyatcb

Great fish Mike!!! Congratulations


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## red&jackfishchaser

Jeremy E said:


> Congrats thats a nice one. When i first landed my fish it was tip to tip 91" by 48"girth, but 12 hours on ice and a massive dump im sure it lost some weight. i cant rember the fork length but i think it was close to 83.
> I hope we see the big numbers of fish show up soon, its almost october. Again, nice fish!- Jeremy Ebert


nice pic Jeremy been along time i use to see you on the pier and use to go to FTU alot back when you were there sure you dont remember me short hispanic guy would always go to the back and talk about the progear reels i remember you would have your rods back there with them 541s ready to go...thats what you brought that tarpon in with right...


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## CAPSIZED

That was an awesome fish Jeremy. I was happy you caught it. I know you spent countless hours on that old pier... I saw you almost every time I was out there. IMHO it takes a lot more skill landing a fish like that from a pier than a boat.



Jeremy E said:


> Congrats thats a nice one. When i first landed my fish it was tip to tip 91" by 48"girth, but 12 hours on ice and a massive dump im sure it lost some weight. i cant rember the fork length but i think it was close to 83.
> I hope we see the big numbers of fish show up soon, its almost october. Again, nice fish!- Jeremy Ebert


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## Johnboat

*Where out of Galveston and what bait/lure???*

I, tarpon virgin,was slow trolling a CoonPop around the N. Jetty end area on Saturday...nada. I never see boats that appear to be targeting tarpon, much less catching one.


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## spuds

ben gardener said:


> Here is the picture of the fish that Mike caught on Friday 09/21/12 .
> The fish taped out from the fork of the tail at 83" and the girth was 47".


*Nice Whaler!*


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## FISHINFOOL87

Nice fish Jeremy!


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## cpthook

*state record*

So do we have a new confirmed registered state record in Texas??


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