Great Tarpon Fly fishing Read

[rcnight]

Gents: thought I’d pass this along. Great story about the chase for the tarpon world record taken on a fly rod. Takes place mainly here in Citrus & Hernando counties and the Keys. Enjoy

[cdavisdb]

Thanks for the tip, good book. Tarpon fishermen are almost as fanatic as CSC members.

[kmoose]

Right in my back yard. There are a few left chasing the dream here but it's a fickle chase with how crowded the place gets with general boaters. Basically where everyone scallops now was the place to be in the hay day of tarpon chasing.

[rcnight]

It was interesting that this area and rivers (Citrus county) was jammed full of blue crabs which brought the tarpons to feast on. As with all coastal development, the rivers and surrounding waters suffered from run-off pollution which affected the blue crab population which altered the tarpon migration. They stopped coming. I can remember swimming in Kings Bay +45 years ago in crystal clear water. Not now.

[kmoose]

They are still around but not at near the numbers that there was. You can still see them up the rivers in the winter. As far as crabs.... don't get me started. Water quality due to run off is part of the issue but pesticides running off of pretty, waterfront yards is the big secret nobody wants to talk about.

It's so sad being from here and knowing what it was like just a few decades ago. Our State's most treasured coastal paradises have been exploited without prejudice nor concern for their existence. Politics play over protection and restoration as we sit and watch it all go away.