It was late afternoon, and we were running southwest along the ocean-side flats of the Lower Florida Keys. We'd spent the past few hours poling a productive spot where we'd hooked a couple nice tarpon, and now, crusty with salt, we were headed back to the Bahia Honda Sporting Club, where a good meal and hot shower awaited.
It had been an exciting several days at this special place, full of camaraderie, laughs and many fish, and as the heavy June air whipped cool with the breeze, we suddenly noticed a disturbance out front. Capt. Gordon Baggett yanked back on the throttle, and as the skiff came down off plane, dozens of long, black shapes began darting out from below the hull.
This day wasn't over just yet - we had run smack-dab into a big pod of fish!
Luckily, the tarpon were only temporarily bothered - they were moving quickly but soon began rolling happily again on the surface as we eased to the outside edge.
Baggett jumped onto the poling platform and began pushing hard to keep alongside the school while I snuck onto the bow and fired a few casts to the approaching fish. No takes. Another cast. Nothing. Finally, the line suddenly came tight, and a big fish rocketed out of the water like a lassoed bull.
My throat tightened as the fly line jumped off the deck. But just then, it fell slack, and I knew the fish was gone. I stood there for a moment, frozen, and then chuckled. Gordon's strange little stiff worm had fooled yet another one.
The Evolving Keys Tarpon
There's no question that tarpon fishing in the Keys - and throughout the state of Florida, for that matter - has become more difficult over the years. Certainly, the wily old silver king remains the top attraction for fly-fishers, and for good reason. Yet while duping them into eating a fly has grown tougher, it's had a silver lining, as well: It's forced the best guides in the business to become even better, developing new, innovative techniques to consistently fool these fish with the long rod. It's a concept I was reminded of repeatedly during my trip to Baggett's lodge.
No one knows better the changing nature of tarpon fishing than Dr. Gordon Hill. A retired orthopedic surgeon, Hill moved to the Lower Keys in 1962 and witnessed firsthand the "golden era" of tarpon fishing while becoming one of the legends of the sport.
"In the old days, the tarpon would come in great droves, to the point where you could practically walk on their backs," he remembers. "It didn't take a whole lot of expertise to hook one on a fly rod, and you didn't have to get too fancy with your flies or your retrieval."
My, how things have changed.
