It was a hot calm day on the Florida Bay. We were out to snag some Tarpon or even some Mangrove Snappers. Mama hooked a nurse shark right away but we weren't having much luck getting the little tarpon to bite. Of course Mama's angling skills leave a bit to be desired. Just don't tell her that. Finally Uncle Dave took control of the rod and with just a bitty little piece of shrimp left on the hook, he skipped the line right up under the mangrove limb and we watched that tarpon suck it up. Uncle Dave set the hook, masterfully I might add. Mama could learn a thing or two. As soon as Uncle Dave started winding, that tarpon jumped up in the air. Man what a cool thing to see. Uncle Dave worked it like the pro that he is and soon enough had that tarpon up beside the boat. Then before any of us realized what was going on that tarpon jumped right into the bait well. Just like he'd had a bite of shrimp and wanted the rest of the order. Ha! That was so cool. Of course Uncle Dave tried to play it like he knew it was going to happen and that's just how good he is, but we weren't buying it. So we boated the fish took a couple of pics and let him go. Right when we released him he jerked a bit and slammed his head into the side of the boat. Poor thing didn;t know which way was up after that. But he finally got control of himself and swam back to his buddies in the mangrove roots. After all that excitement we decided to call it a day. The tarpon are safe from us until next time. And I'll bet we get two.
