Florida Fishing Report: Florida Fishing Charters

I have always been a firm believer in "cycles" of fish. Each year there seems to be one species that stands out in front of every other species. The cycle of redfish we have seen the past 12 months has brought back memories of the 80s when large bulls roamed the open flats in herds. Boat traffic and fishing pressure has put an end to those days for the most part, despite a great come back of the reds that were virtually wiped out by commercial harvest 20 years ago. I ran great distances to find fish that were not being fished. I spent many days spending extra hours in the wee hours of the morning trying to stuff my livewell to maximum capacity. I used pounds of staple scaled sardines to help me find these fish that change locations from a 100 feet to 2 miles each day. For virtually 12 weeks and on near a daily basis, it was game on. I cannot recall any year in the past 20 with so many days with bull redfish catches exceeding 50 fish per day. We'll never completely understand the "cycles" of fish. Then again, why ask why? These are the days of our lives.

Young angling extraordinaire, Steven Caines, did not let some inclement weather stop him from his first several encounters with the silver king.

That was then and this is now. It has been 122 years since Forest and Stream publicized the first giant tarpon catch on a rod and reel. The angling world would never be the same. From that day, the sportsman has become infatuated with the beast of silver proportions and his desire to test his mettle against the king.

They come from all walks of life and all corners of the globe. As they were back then, they are fished from canoes (now modern sea kayaks) to contemporary Kevlar skiffs that exceed 70K in cost.

Hebert Hoover once said, "All men are equal before fish". They are fished by cigarette smoking "blue collar working men" to cigar aficionados waving spaghetti thin fly rods with a wireless "Bluetooth" giving them live feeds from Wall Street in their ear. Tarpon have no prejudice, but they are peerless in creating one.

Tarpon still serve as catalyst in defining social groups. They bond families, men, women and children together for life and beyond. Just as well, they separate them in some of the most unique levels of jealousy, strife and conflict. The more things change, the more things stay the same. While native to the tropical waters of central and South America, when it comes to fishing them for sport, they are American built.