Ultimate Tarpon Book; tales of big game glory

This book contains sporting tales of big game
battles with the Silver King

As a Lowcountry native I fished for tarpon as a youth, but without much luck. In 2009 I traveled to Southwest Florida to stay at the Tarpon Lodge on Pine Island and fish for the silver king. The Old Florida feel of that area resonates with me still, and though I did fight a tarpon on that trip, I was not able to land it. My quest ended in 2010 when I caught and released my first tarpon during a September evening in Bull’s Bay north of Charleston. My SW Florida visit included fishing in Tarpon Bay on Sanibel Island, where I was exposed to local author Randy Wayne White and his Doc Ford restaurant. White was a fishing guide for fifteen long, hot and sunny Florida summers, and also nurtured a desire to become an author. With success as an author, brought him an opportunity to share some of his fascination with tarpon with saltwater enthusiasts. The Ultimate Tarpon book, published in 2010 by the University Press of Florida, has 480 pages and is available for $21.95. White teamed with Carlene Brennen to gather over one hundred historical accounts of the glory days of tarpon fishing, beginning with the first trophy tarpon catch in 1885. An interesting collection of VIP’s who fished for tarpon like Theodore Roosevelt, Ernest Hemingway, Ted Williams, and Zane Grey have memorable chapters in this book. Despite possessing zero value as table fare, large tarpon were often brought back to the docks for a hang ‘em high type photo. This book shows those photos as a look back at a carefree time in the tarpon fishery, but the final chapter offers tarpon conservation tips for today’s fishermen. Don’t fight the fish to death by using undersized tackle, use circle hooks, leave the fish in the water for photos and practice a quick release process. The book quotes Theodore Roosevelt as saying, “The wildlife of today is not ours to do with as we please. The original stock was given to us in trust for the benefit both of the present and the future. We must render an accounting of this trust to those who come after us.” Whether fishing for tarpon in SW Florida, along S.C. or wherever tarpon occur, they should be handled with care and then released to survive so that future generations of big game anglers will be able to experience a part of the tarpon trust that others have.

To view my feature article on the Ultimate Tarpon Book click on Colletonian.

To view past blog entries about tarpon conservation click here.