# man-eating tarpon



## schuyler

thought ya'll should see this before you think about chasin' em again


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## FalseCast

wonder who won that battle....looks pretty evenly matched


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## mtaswt

that would get your attention....thinking you have a lady fish at first!


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## FalseCast

i think i see a turd floating behind him


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## bzrk180

SWEEEEET!!!


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## cabolew

Captain Michael LaRue caught that fish!


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## Barbarian

WOL (my new symbol for WOW!! out loud)


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## pg542

FalseCast said:


> i think i see a turd floating behind him


....lol.....


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## capt mullet

That is an AWESOME PIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Ricky T

Great pic.


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## gater

*Yep he caught it!*

Wade fishing with 12# test on a trout rod with a 1/4 oz jig head, pretty cool, pretty awesome feat! Gater


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## Capt. Robert Liebert

Doesn't get better than that.

capt. Robert


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## schuyler

How long was he hooked up to it?


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## johnmyjohn

Now he's got bait.


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## Fishin' Soldier

Looks a little fake...any truth to this? 

If so that is a extremely well timed pic and awesome feat.


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## cabolew

It's truth. There's another pic of them with the fish in hand.


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## whistlingdixie

I bet he was thinking ...."darn I just spooled this reel with new line"


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## boat_money

saw the pic with fish in hand and still hooked up. you can see the rootbeer/chart shrimp tail and lead head in its mouth. outstanding fish. said it took about 35 minutes...


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## daparson

*where?*



boat_money said:


> saw the pic with fish in hand and still hooked up. you can see the rootbeer/chart shrimp tail and lead head in its mouth. outstanding fish. said it took about 35 minutes...


Boat Money ... where is the link to that. I would love to read it and see the pic. The posted pic here is awesome!

mark


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## Guest

Any more pictures of this? I want to believe that this is real, but 12 pound test can wear pretty fast on a fish that size jumping around. Standing in the water with a trout rod doesn't give you much leverage to wear that fish down before he shreds through the line. 

Someone please prove me wrong.

If it is true, that is quite an accomplishment.


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## texaslunker

I would like to believe it as well, but it's kinda hard considering I had an aprox. 3ft. tarpon instantly strip 75yds. off my bay rod just before he went aerial and snaped my 17lb. Link to the story?


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## tbaker

The only tarpon I have had on light tackle, that close, were about half that size....and they earned their freedom quickly.

If true, that would be quite a feat. I'm skeptical though...


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## gater

*Tarpon*

I know Capt Larue and have know reason to doubt it. Plus I have video of the first Tarpon Capt. Ward Michael's landed wading on a Trout rod back in 1999 so I know it can be done. He and his parties have done it many times since. Gater


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## Guest

Gater,
So was that fish in the picture caught here in Texas?


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## Tail Chaser

*Capt. Ernest*

FWIW - There was a picture on the cover of GCC of Capt. Ernest with one he caught on a trout rod near the mouth of the Arroyo a few months back. That fish had to be near 3' if I remember correctly.


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## cabolew

Caught in FL I believe. While fishing for snook.


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## captMATT

i dont know if thats a real photo or not, but that would be a wade of a lifetime for me. wow!!!


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## stewman773

I be running for the shore line.....LOL


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## ben gardener

*Proof of man eating Tarpon*

Here is the picture of the fish in hand with the guide Ward Michaels (with the gaff) and a very happy Captain Michael LaRue. I hope that this picture is proof enough for all of you naysayers out there.


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## Fishdog

Tell me Ward didn't take that shot. He's never taken a well framed pic in his life, lol. Congrats to the angler ..... I can tell exactly where he caught it ... one of my favorite spots - caught my biggest Snook there. I would've been nervous as hell that a bull or tiger would have eaten that tarpon right out of my hands, lol. Great job and pics.

One of my guests, fishing with Ward last year, got a hard lure-stopping hit right in front of him in waist deep water near the shoreline. It was very calm and a large area of water started rippling in front of him and a couple of others. Ward advised my guest that it might be a shark and to start backing to the beach, but almost immediately a huge tarpon they guessed between 6 - 8 ft with a very thick body launched like a missile and began tail walking away from them. The heart stopping moment ended with a broken line and the tarpon greyhounding away.
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The more I think about it the more in awe I am with the circumstance. Those guys jump quite a few tarpon every year over there but very few are landed while wading - almost none that size. LaRue must've worked that fish perfectly 'cause the odds were sure stacked against him. If that tarpon would've stayed hooked on any other day a shark would have eaten him. Wow.


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## Guest

Finally the picture, that is all I wanted to see. What a catch!!


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## reelthreat

I hooked into a tarpon about 3' long on a topwater in CC bay on 7/24. It stripped about 30' of line in about a second took one jump and threw the hooks. It was fun for a second... 

I can tell you it is quit a feat to catch one on a trout rod (any size), congrats to the angler.


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## reelthreat

I hooked into a tarpon about 3' long on a topwater in CC bay on 7/24. It stripped about 30' of line in about a second took one jump and threw the hooks. It was fun for a second... 

I can tell you it is quit a feat to catch one on a trout rod (any size), congrats to the angler.


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