PTT Pro Tarpon tour

bigeasy1 · #1 04-10-2011, 10:41 AM

I'm hooked on this Pro Tarpon tour tournament on the WFN. world fishing network.I've been in a few tournaments,and thought I had seen a pack of boats.
Not compared to these guys in Boca Grande. Man,I can't believe how many boats are fighting huge Tarpon in such close proximity to each other.
How they manage to pull this off without losing their tempers amazes me.
Have any of you southern guys been involved in this tourney?or fished in conditions like that?

76Red18 · #2 04-10-2011, 02:09 PM

Never fished a tournament in the pass but I do fish amongst the crowd. Some of the big boats think they own the place and bully their way around (Yeah,I know, navigational rules). Little boats just maneuver around them. My little 18' SeaCraft handles them and the sometimes very rough sea conditions very well

. Tempers do flare and there are fights!

Capt Chuck · #3 04-10-2011, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Have any of you southern guys been involved in this tourney?or fished in conditions like that?

After watching those tournys on TV I get chicken legs. I go to Boca Grande with my Flats Skiff in October every year. Somedays I'm the only boat in the pass. I would rather sip a brew, relax, catch a Trout, Snook or a Redfish inside

Fr. Frank · #4 04-10-2011, 04:41 PM

Quote:

[I would rather sip a brew, relax, catch a Trout, Snook or a Redfish inside

Suhweeeet!!!!

bigeasy1 · #5 04-10-2011, 06:44 PM

I do envy you Florida and southern states boys.I love cold water trolling and we catch a lot of big Salmon on the Great Lakes but we don't have the diversity of fish like you do.
It's a lot of fun fighting a big Chinook and they do scream line off a reel,but it "aint like a Tarpon in the 150lb range.

76Red18 · #6 04-10-2011, 08:35 PM

Quote:

It's a lot of fun fighting a big Chinook and they do scream line off a reel,but it "aint like a Tarpon in the 150lb range.

Tarpon are fun but my favorite would have to be a permit. A 30 pounder on 20 lb mono over a near shore reef is hard to beat until an "endangered" Goliath Grouper grabs it

Fr. Frank · #7 04-11-2011, 08:20 AM

Quote:

my favorite would have to be a permit. A 30 pounder on 20 lb mono over a near shore reef is hard to beat until an "endangered" Goliath Grouper grabs it

Jewfish. None of that PC stuff here.

Ain't no such thing as a "Mahi mahi", either. It's just one way to prepare and cook a dolphin fish.

76Red18 · #8 04-11-2011, 04:44 PM

Quote:

my favorite would have to be a permit. A 30 pounder on 20 lb mono over a near shore reef is hard to beat until an "endangered" Goliath Grouper grabs it

Jewfish. None of that PC stuff here.

Ain't no such thing as a "Mahi mahi", either. It's just one way to prepare and cook a dolphin fish.

Agree with you 100%. Jewfish they are. We need to do something about that endangered crap also. They are about as endangered as our northern brethrens' dogfish.

benjamin · #9 04-12-2011, 04:08 PM

i have been to boca grande the last 2 summers in a row in my little whaler. when the tarpon are there, there is always a crowd. there were no tourneys going on during the times i was there and the area was still crowded. How close you have to be to the crowd depends on what the fish are doing also. the first time i was there, the schools of tarpon were spread out all over the place and you could be patient and a school would come to you or you could slowly motor over to a school as long as it wasnt too packed with people. we had a MONSTER on for about 30 minutes until it wore through the leader. It was so big it never actually breached the water when it was jumping. probably in the 7' range. the next year(last year) the tarpon were holding the bottom in one spot which made the fishing pretty hectic. we were litterally in the crowd drifting over the school then motoring back over and drifting again. someone has to be on the wheel at all times and pay attention as youre packed-in like sardines with all the other boats. hooked tarpon were jumping in and bouncing off other peoples boats which is usually more funny than anything. its a whole different style of fishing than what im used to so i made sure that i gave everyone the right of way until i figured out the routine. also, i wasnt prepared last year and had no 10 fathom jigs which is the only thing they were eating at the time. they wouldnt touch my live bait. its fun but its not the only way to fish for huge tarpon. Cayo Costa state park is where i camped out and there is a pretty cool restaurant on a Caloosa Indian shell mound a couple miles south of there. Its on Cabbage Key. check it out if you can get down there... if i can ever figure out my photobucket password, ill post up some pics

Islandtrader · #10 04-13-2011, 09:18 AM

I live about 7 miles away from Boca Grande Pass by water. It is a Zoo out there May thru July.

When we go out there to fish we normally go for this....

Nice snapper good eating and fun to catch.

However six years ago I got this...

Fiberglass replica of my "Trophy" around 175 # and 6 feet or so.