# Pic of 180# Tarpon Galveston 24 Aug 08



## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

Angler is on far left - Matt Madson - one of my drilling engineers. Trip hosted by Reed Drill Bits. Tarpon estimated at ~180# by guide - what do y'all think? Caught on casted bait thrown at rolling tarpon. Jighead with circle hook with zip tied soft plastic - kind of a homemade **** pop in green. Tarpon was released successfully after a near 3 hour fight.


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## Blue Water Breaux (Feb 6, 2008)

What a monster! Thats impressive! Glad the fish was released.


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## Snake (Aug 5, 2005)

AWESOME!!


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## spitfire (Jan 2, 2007)

Cool! That's a first for me to see one of those bad boys caught in Galveston bay!


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

spitfire said:


> Cool! That's a first for me to see one of those bad boys caught in Galveston bay!


Tarpon was caught about 4 or 5 miles off the beach in the Gulf not in bay.


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## kidflex (Aug 16, 2005)

great job, was out there myself this weekend. the fish were finicky. i had thought we were lucky with our catch. congrats on that beast! brian


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## johnny astro (Aug 23, 2005)

Geez that's a whopper! Thanks for the post and congrats on a Texas trophy! You guys will be talking about that one for the rest of your lives....one of those great life experiences!


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

Update from guide - Jamie measured his string used to get girth and length. Girth was 50" and length was 78". By calculation this tarpon was very close to the Texas state record in weight (210#)! Congrats to angler Matt Madson and guide Capt'n Jamie Pinter:


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## Bill C (May 23, 2004)

That's a stout fish! Congratulations on the catch and release.


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## jakers (Oct 29, 2004)

Nice. Very, very nice!


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## jamesgreeson (Jan 31, 2006)

Every bit 180!!great catch,lifetime memory!


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## trashcanslam (Mar 7, 2006)

I caught one in Florida a few months ago that went 160# and that fish is significantly larger, I agree with close to 200#. Congrats!


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

The guide Jamie Pinter really belives it could have been the new Texas State Record tarpon but length was too short. In Texas the rules state that any trophy fish killed must be over 80". Jeremy Ebert's current record tarpon was an incrediably long 91 inches by 46 inches in girth and weighed 210.7#. Jamie Pinter measured his strings used to get the length and the girth off this lively tarpon partially in the water. Length was 79" (12" less than current record) but the girth was an amazing 58" on this tarpon. Interestingly, as the length was less than 80" there was no legal way to boat this tarpon. Jamie now strongly believes that this tarpon weighed over 230#. 

There are some big one's out there guys! This one is a little sore but it's still around for someone else to catch and I am gald for that.


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## Wading Mark (Apr 21, 2005)

That is a great tarpon and we haven't even gotten to September yet. The next month could be off the scales for size and numbers as long as the wind is light.


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## Scott G (May 24, 2004)

Huge fish, no doubt.

It has grown significantly since page 1.

78" length to 79" by page two.

50" girth to 58" by page two.

Question. Why doesn't the good captain keep a tape on his boat?

Then he'd know for sure how big the fish are....instead of guessing w/ string.

Was it nylon string? cotton string? how much stretch was in the string? was it stretched the same when put to the tape that is was on the fish?

I think I would just take it for what it is...an awesome fish!
Jus' Sayin'.


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