Tag: tarpon

Fishing show host boats giant tarpon, asks not to be judged

Paul Worsteling battled the “silver king” for two hours in the Pacific off Colombia. He had hoped to set the tarpon free.

A TV fishing show host has asked social-media followers to withhold judgement after sharing an image showing him posing with a massive tarpon that he landed recently off Colombia.

“BEFORE YOU JUDGE – PLEASE READ THE POST,” Paul Worsteling, of the Australia-based iFish TV, implored via Instagram.

Tarpon, known for their power and spectacular acrobatics, are listed globally as vulnerable. Most anglers release the “silver kings” whenever possible.

Worsteling, who was fishing out of Darien Lodge, said he casted a lure to the tarpon and fought the “beast” for two hours before it was alongside the boat.

“Unfortunately she fought to the death and could not be revived on the leader,” Worsteling bemoaned.

Worsteling added that tarpon, which range from Virginia to Brazil in the western Atlantic, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, are considered invasive in the Pacific off Colombia. (Their dispersal into the Pacific was via the Panama Canal.)

“The upside to this is Tarpon are an invasive species in Colombia and very much appreciated by the small local community we are staying with,” Worsteling stated Friday. “It’s been an afternoon of joy bringing the fish back and watching as the locals all come together to harvest and distribute the fish.”

Worsteling did not provide a length or weight of the tarpon.

The world record for tarpon, according to the International Game Fish Assn., stands at 286 pounds, 9 ounces. That gargantuan fish was caught in the Atlantic off Rubane, Guinea-Bissau, in 2003.

Man who stole live 50-pound tarpon from Bass Pro Shops yet to be found

A reward is being offered to anyone who can identify the man who removed a tarpon from a Bass Pro Shops fish pond and walked out with it. A customer videotaped the man leaving the store.

Authorities in Florida are still searching for a man who entered a Bass Pro Shops with a net, removed a 50-pound tarpon from a fish pond and walked out of the store with it.

A customer videotaped the man carrying the net with the wiggling tarpon as he left the store, and it was shared with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, which posted it on its Facebook page.

The incident occurred at the store on Gulf Center Drive in Fort Myers on the night of Dec. 20, but the suspect has yet to be identified.

“Right now, our Criminal Investigations Division is working to follow leads in the case,” Sergeant Sarah Rodriguez told USA Today/For The Win Outdoors.

Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward for anyone who can identify the thief.

“Yesterday evening, a male suspect entered the Bass Pro Shops in Gulf Coast Town Center with a fish net in hand, and proceeded to remove a live tarpon from the store’s indoor fish pond,” the Lee County Sheriff’s Office stated. “The suspect then fled the store with the tarpon. South District Detectives are working with our Animal Cruelty Task Force, MyFWC Florida Fish and Wildlife, and SWFL Crime Stoppers in an attempt to locate the individuals involved.

“If you have information on this incident or the suspect, please ’𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗽 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲’ to SWFL Crimestoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS or online at: www.southwestfloridacrimestoppers.com. You may also call the information directly into LCSO at 239-477-1000.”

Catch of massive tarpon off Florida sparks controversy

The recent catch of a giant tarpon off Pensacola Beach, Fla., has sparked criticism regarding the manner by which the fish was handled.

The recent catch of a giant tarpon off Pensacola Beach, Fla., has sparked criticism regarding the manner by which the fish was handled.

The accompanying image, provided to WEAR ABC 3 News (and shared by other outlets), shows six young men hoisting or posing with the tarpon chest high while they stood knee-deep in water.

Tarpon fishing in Florida is restricted to catch-and-release with the following exception, as stated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC):

“One tarpon tag per person per year may be purchased when in pursuit of a Florida state or world record. Vessel, transport and shipment limited to one fish.”

The FWC adds: “Tarpon over 40 inches MUST remain in the water unless in pursuit of a state or world record using a tarpon tag. Keep tarpon, especially the gills, in as much water as is safely possible.”

It was not clear if the angler who reeled in the tarpon was in possession of a tarpon tag.

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It’s obvious, however, that the tarpon was considerably longer than 40 inches.

Florida Sportsman Magazine commented beneath the WEAR post: “WEAR should probably delete this photo. It’s promoting taking tarpon this size out of the water, which is illegal. Please don’t encourage this type of behavior.”

Sport Fishing Magazine shared the WEAR post and several comments were congratulatory. However, most followers seemed to prefer that regulations are taken seriously.

Reads one comment: “Illegal. Young guys…. Need to keep fish lower. [Instagram] moment got the best of them. Hopefully they got [it] back in water quickly.”

The image was supplied to WEAR by a reader named Mary Enfinger, but catch details were sparse.

The Florida record for tarpon is 243 pounds, for a fish caught off Key West in 1975. The world record stands at 286 pounds, 9 ounces, for a catch off Guinea-Bissau in 2003.

–Image courtesy of Mary Enfinger, via WEAR ABC 3 News

Anglers catch tarpon of legendary proportions

Joshua Jorgensen went to Colombia to fish the legendary sardine migration but wound up catching a tarpon of legendary proportions.

Joshua Jorgensen, host of the popular online fishing show BlacktipH Fishing, went to Colombia to fish the legendary sardine migration but wound up catching a tarpon of legendary proportions.

Jorgensen, nursing a herniated disk sustained in a UTV accident in March, teamed with Dr. Robert Borrego from St. Mary’s Hospital in Palm Beach and fishing guide Alberto Meija of Fish Columbia to land a tarpon with an estimated weight of 312 pounds.

The weight was based on an online tarpon weight calculator using the fish’s fork length of 87 inches and its girth of 54 inches.

The massive tarpon was ultimately released, but had it been officially weighed, it very well could have surpassed the current world-record weight of 286 pounds, 9 ounces caught by Max Domecq on March 20, 2003 off the west African island of Rubane in Guinea-Bissau.

Though it might have been world-record size, the tarpon wouldn’t have been recognized by the IGFA as a world record since multiple anglers had fought the fish. But that doesn’t diminish the achievement of this catch in the least.

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“We had no idea how big this fish was until we brought it in the boat,” Jorgensen told USA Today/For The Win Outdoors. “During the fight, I was like, ‘When is this fish ever going to give up?’ We fought the fish for nearly two hours. It took four grown men to pick this fish up. It was incredibly heavy.

“We had no idea how big this fish truly was until we got back to the lodge and got on some Wi-Fi. After looking at photos of other record tarpon, we started to realize how special this fish truly was.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k1ne3QYoPc&t=442s

In the video that was posted last week, the fishermen were at first calling it over 200 pounds and possibly 250 pounds. But online images of other huge tarpon got them thinking it was much heavier.

“I called Billy Delph from Delph Fishing and Raymond Douglas from King Sailfish Mounts to validate our catch,” Jorgensen said. “Billy and his family have caught over 300 IGFA world-record fish. Ray is the founder of King Sailfish Mounts [King Sailfish Mounts is a fish mount company founded by Ray in 1991] and has personally mounted over 1,000 tarpon in his life. Both men agreed that this fish must have weighed over 300 pounds. After speaking with both Billy and Ray, I used the Bonefish Tarpon Trust ‘Tarpon Weight Calculator,’ and the estimate of our fish was around 312 pounds.”

The biggest tarpon Jorgensen had caught previously weighed 150 pounds and it was from a kayak. Unfortunately, his back limited his participation in this catch.

“This is my first fishing trip since that [UTV accident] happened, so we’re testing the limits of my injury and big tarpon are not on the list yet,” Jorgensen said in the video.

He told For The Win Outdoors, “In the middle of the fight, I tried taking back the rod, but after 15-20 minutes, my back wouldn’t allow it.”

It did allow him to catch his first roosterfish, however. But the highlight of that day back in May remains the tarpon.

Photos of the tarpon held by (left to right) Jorgensen, Borrego and Meija, and one of the tarpon’s scales courtesy of BlacktipH Fishing.  

Watch: Tarpon leaps over boat, narrowly missing captain’s head

A Florida fishing guide experienced a close call recently when a free-swimming tarpon leaped over his boat, narrowly missing his head as he sat in the captain’s chair.

A Florida fishing guide experienced a close call recently when a free-swimming tarpon leaped over his boat, narrowly missing his head as he sat in the captain’s chair.

“Oh my god!” Ben Olsen exclaims in the accompanying footage, captured near Marco Island.

The footage shows the incident at regular speed and in slow motion. The tarpon is seen launching from the starboard side and passing within inches of Olsen’s face, and clipping a rod in a holder, before landing beyond the port rail.

Olsen, co-owner of Thorne Bros. Custom Rod & Tackle, told For The Win Outdoors that the little publicized incident occurred as he was guiding two clients in mid-February.

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“We were using electronics to find small groups of tarpon so we were right on top of them,” Olsen said. “My initial reaction was simple reflexes!  If you watch it in real time it happens in a split second.  It is not at all unusual to have tarpon free jumping, even very close to the boat.”

The footage was captured by Eric Bakke, one of the clients, via hat-cam. The front angler is Chris Coreless.

Had the tarpon scored a direct hit, Olsen could have been seriously injured.

Angler risks swimming with sharks to avoid losing fish

A fisherman determined not to lose his first tarpon braved jumping into waters known for dangerous bull sharks to untangle his line.

A fisherman determined not to lose his first tarpon braved jumping into waters known for dangerous bull sharks and swimming to the fish to untangle his line that got caught up in the rope of a crab trap.

Steven Starmer was fishing in Tampa Bay off a pier in Oldsmar, Fla., last week when the incident occurred. The bay is known for its bull sharks and in fact he had caught two from the same spot two weeks before.

“There’s been some 9- to 10-foot bull sharks up in the bay,” Starmer told the Bradenton Herald. “We’ve been broken off by some monsters.”

The first catch on this day was not a “monster” but a small bull shark, caught by Starmer’s friend Petey Santos. It was released and the fishermen waited for another bite.

“I watched something huge explode over the top of my bait,” Starmer explained to the Herald. “As soon as I set the hook a tarpon started jumping like crazy, shaking his head.

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“Probably around 15 minutes into the fight it started to go toward a buoy about 75 yards out. I then noticed when I was fighting it I was dragging him and the buoy was moving too. They were tangled together. That’s when I knew what I had to do.”

So he handed his fishing rod to a friend, took off his shirt and jumped into the water. He swam out to the fish, not giving any mind about the danger of bull sharks possibly lurking below.

“I wasn’t even thinking about sharks,” Starmer told the Herald. “All I thought about was this is my first tarpon and I’m going in after it. My friends said, ‘Dude, you’re nuts, we’ve seen the sharks out here,’ but it never crossed my mind.”

Aided by a low tide allowing him to stand in water 5-feet deep, he grabbed the tarpon and began the untangling process.

“It took me a minute to get it untangled,” Starmer told the Herald. “The leader was wrapped around the rope a couple times. I was trying to hold him so he didn’t run into me. Luckily he was tired when I got out there so he was pretty calm at that point.

“A boat pulled up to me and was able to get some photos. I got him free and Rob Messina reeled him in the rest of the way.”

Starmer told USA Today/For The Win Outdoors the tarpon was 6-feet long and weighed 100 pounds or more.

With the battle won, Starmer unhooked the tarpon near the pier and began reviving it.

“The best part of the story was that the fish was released successfully,” Starmer said.

Asked about the threat of sharks, Starmer reiterated to For The Win Outdoors, “I was not thinking about it. I wanted the tarpon.”

And he got it. Without incident, we might add.

Photos of the angler untangling the tarpon and holding the fish courtesy of Steven Starmer.

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