Crazyhook Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 (edited) well I got about as much sleep last night as I did in the last week. It was hot and so was the fishing. Shark prep The Keys were insane! I went 2 for 9 on the tarpon, fish went 80 and 120. I blew up two reels ( one spinner shark, one poon)... Had a bull shark follow and eat my bait while out in rough seas in a kayak ( washing underwear currently)... bull sharks, cudas, snapper, sting rays , one big ass spotted eagle ray, spinner sharks, nurse sharks, goliath grouper were all caught, fish lost are too numerous to mention. Hooked a nice snook on a fly I tied but lost it in the mangroves. 14 hours sleep all week and two nights I slept on the bridge using my tackle box for a pillow Here are some of the pics, we had 4 digi cameras and here are the ones that I took. 3 more rounds of shots to come... tarpon were really hard to photograph, when they were not in the air they were running. The 120 pounder took an hour to land while chasing it over a mile with the boat. First fish of the trip, a nice mangrove snapper , part of our 4 am fish fry ( the neighboors loved us!) key deer were all over the place and would run over the bridge while we were fishing at night a little bait for the toothy ones little spinner shark Paul fighting a big tarpon Steve hooked up to a Huge tarpon half an hour later, tarpon frays 100 pound fluro leader. Tarpon wins... battling my 80 pounder which was the first one I have ever caught, great half hour fight same fish jumping kayaking the canals in search for snook and baby poons out looking for cuda our bait cooler local watering hole covered in 1 dollar bills Paul's 250 pound 8 foot bull Shark caught from the bridge Edited May 9, 2008 by Crazyhook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GbayGiant Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Nice stuff, looking forward to those pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatherof3 Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 sounds awesome,can't wait to see the pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golfisher Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 had 12 hours sleep all week and two nights I slept on the bridge using my tackle box for a pillow Now that's hardcore! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Now that's hardcore! na... we talked about that in another thread. He sat down for shore lunch and passed out! ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oxcowboy Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 cant wait for the full report and pics, sounds awesome! jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Good to have you back Jamie, sounds like you had a blast !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Ya, I wanna hear all about your Bull sh....ark too Jamie. Glad you had a good time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solopaddler Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Sounds amazing, can't wait to see pic's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 had 12 hours sleep all week and two nights I slept on the bridge using my tackle box for a pillow Haha Crazy one, you never fail to crack me up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greencoachdog Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 WE WANT PICS! WE WANT PICS! WE WANT PICS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistyriver1 Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Good to see you back Jamie !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuro Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 This coming report is the reason I've been lurking around so much lately! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shane Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Tarpon? They're like big carp aren't they? This should be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misfish Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Stilllllllll waitinggggggggggggg for them pic,s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Jamie's still busy explaining to his wife where he's been for a week Brian ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mepps Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 NICE! Cant wait to see the photos bro! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyhook Posted May 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 it was rough out in the big water,,, had a bull shark eat half my 10" swimming Joe... that was the end of the paddling for me out there... poon at the pier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 Now tell me Jamie... what the hell do you do with the fish.. fishing from the bridge. Cut it off when you get it close? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyhook Posted May 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 you can walk then down for a pic... but our problem was they were all way too big and they had thier way with us... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mepps Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 you can walk then down for a pic... but our problem was they were all way too big and they had thier way with us... Had their way with you indeed! Those tarpon are tough to handle! Took me a while before I was able to get a solid picture with one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greencoachdog Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 you can walk then down for a pic... but our problem was they were all way too big and they had thier way with us... Sounds like some of the women down here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyk Posted May 4, 2008 Report Share Posted May 4, 2008 cool pics. Sounds like a great trip, thanks for sharing Jamie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuro Posted May 5, 2008 Report Share Posted May 5, 2008 (edited) I'm looking for a little more detail. I'm sure there were some good stories. 80 pound Poon...Most people have never even battled a fish 1/2 that size. The fight, was it simply sweat dripping down your forehead with your arms screaming in pain after 15 minutes, or was it give in take? Those massive reels...250 yards on the run? Tarpon jump a lot...were they acrobatic ...and when you got them to shore, they were all tuckered out?..it doesn't sound like they were if they had there way with you. A few stories of the best or most memorable battles of the week would be much appreciated. This is the type of fishing I might like to do in the future, I want to hear MORE! Edited May 5, 2008 by scuro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyhook Posted May 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2008 Thanks Dude... Well we hooked 15 tarpon as a group and 13 got off or broke off. Fishing on the bridge for them is not easy at all. First if you get a big one, you cannot pull up the anchor and chase them. Also the piling that hold up the bridge are filled with barnacles and will cut any line at all that rubs against them. Another problem is the hard mouth of the tarpon... they jump like crazy and have huge runs. They can also breath air so when you think all is ok they get a second wind. The first one I had on the boat hit while in 3 minutes, I dropped my pinfish down and it got smoked... line poured off the reel and then the fish leaped 3 times. A great fight and I was happy to get it boatside for a pic ( all of which are on my buddy's camera). We went through loads of 80 and 100 pound fluro...I cannot disclose the secret bait but we found it out early on and it was our key to success. The biggest tarpon we fought would of been over 170 maybe in the 180 pound range. It was so big only half of it jumped out of the water. During the end of the out going tide we had one fish that jumped, got in the current and was off 300 yards... What a fish. Booking next year for sure again.... As for stories, there are so many. Some have to stay down there ... my favorite one of the week ( besides the bull shark eating my swimming joe while in the kayak in 40 feet of water) I see a huge volkswagon sized spotted eagle ray ( the kind that killed a lady in the keys a few weeks back). Behind the ray was a huge cobia. Cobia are great fighters and amazing eating. I had a bucktail on and tried to get the cobia to bite... well I snag the eagle ray in the wing and the fight is on. There was 3 kayakers watcing the fight from a distance . The ray bolts towards them getting closer and closer. About a kayak length away it jumps 8 feet of of the water right beside the lady's kayak... I have never seen 3 people paddle so fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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