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Fishing
for tarpon out of a kayak is dangerous enough,
but finding yourself in the middle of Boca Grande Pass, in
a 7 knot current, surrounded by a flotilla of large fishing
boats, hungry sharks, and leaping fish that can weigh as much
as 150 pounds. . . .well that's another story.
And it's
a story that I have been asked to repeat many times since
it happened. Often enough, in fact, that I have decided to
dedicate a webpage to it. It's not that I don't like telling
fishing stories about kayaks, sharks, and dangerous current
in person - my intention here is to link up you, the reader,
to some amazing people who flew in from far away places and
took me on a crazy journey into "my own backyard"
so to speak.
The story
began sometime in 2007 when I got a call from Ken Whiting,
World Whitewater Kayaking Champion and the paddling/publishing
guru behind Heliconia
Press. Ken was planning a kayak fishing video featuring
kayak fishing legend Jim Sammons of La
Jolla Kayak Fishing visiting extreme places around the
planet and fishing for some extremely big fish out of kayaks.
They wanted a segment on tarpon and wanted to know if I was
interested in guiding them. Are you kidding?
In May
of 2008, when I picked Jim Sammons up from the airport, I
was surprised to learn that he had never been to Florida.
"Man, is it flat," was his first assessment. A few
moments later he made another observation. "Man, is it
hot."
"Unfortunately,
it is not hot enough," I responded. Anyone who fishes
for tarpon will tell you that excrutiatingly hot, still mornings
are the ideal. A cool, strong wind had been blowing out of
the northeast all week and bait was getting pushed way offshore
taking the tarpon with it. It looked to be a tough week pursuing
the silver king out of kayaks. I knew we would hook some fish,
but with these conditions, getting enough fish so that Ken
and his crew could get decent footage was going to be a challange.
All we could do is hope the wind laid down and things heated
up.
We arrived
at The Sun & Moon
Inn in Matlacha, FL where we met up with Ken
Whiting, Will
Richardson, Lisa
Utronki, and Jock
Bradley. Curt Peer, the owner/operator of the famous kayak
fishing resort was on hand as well to help out with the logistics
of the week and also serve as our mothership captain.
A week
to shoot a segment on catching giant tarpon out of a kayak
may seem like plenty of time, but considering that the window
for consistant tarpon fishing is usually just the few still
hours after dawn and this window had narrowed considerably
with the unseasonable winds, every second on the water was
going to count. Another challenge when fishing for tarpon
out of the kayak is that these fish have jaws of concrete
and getting a good hookset takes a lot of skill and luck even
when on a boat. It can be much more difficult in a tiny kayak.
Typically a day of tarpon fishing's success is evaluated by
"fish jumped" rather than "fish caught",
and a good season of tarpon fishing by kayak off the beaches
can sometimes be only a handful of fish landed, to many scores
jumped.
Checking
with my fishing connections in the area had produced the same
ill realization that I had come to on my own - the fish were
scattered and far offshore in search of bait. The only good
tarpon fishing reports I was hearing off were coming from
Boca Grande Pass, a deep 70 foot trench in between Gasparilla
and Cayo Costa Islands where tarpon gather in the thousands
to mate and feed in the strong current - all while being pursued
by some of the largest and most aggressive sharks in the world
and a huge armada of large fishing boats that frequently bump
each other as they drift fish the heavy tidal flow. It is
a place of choas, carnage, and intensity - no place for kayak
fishing. Not even extreme kayak fishing.
But the
gameplan we had in place offered us a variety of different
habitats to fish and even included targeting some baby tarpon
in a secluded, backwater nursery. We would get fish, but would
we be able to get one of the giant tarpon that were migrating
off of the beaches? Our crew had gathered, our equipment assembled,
our challenges understood. We were ready to begin our quest.
Our first
destination was off the beaches of Sanibel Island, FL. With
the car loaded up with kayaks and gear, Ken, Jim, and I left
the Sun & Moon hours before dawn and drove to Sanibel
to launch, while the rest of the crew came by boat to meet
us.
A car
full of Shimano gear perfectly suited for kayak
tarpon fishing, incuding a specially designed
kayak livewell. (click to enlarge)
Within
an hour of our first day on the water, Ken hooked up with
the first tarpon. It threw the hook in a tumultous, high-speed,
set of jumps before anyone could get a camera trained on the
melee. It seemed like we were off to a good start, but this
was to be our last solid hook up in a several days of fishing
the beaches. The total lack of bait in the water made the
reason clear - no bait, no tarpon.
"Hey,
who put the banana in my kayak!!!" There is an old superstition
that bananas and fishing don't mix.
(click to enlarge)
We
decided to head into the backcountry in search of calmer waters
and smaller tarpon, with the hope that the winds would die
in the coming days and we could return to the beaches. I took
the crew to one of several tarpon nurseries that I occasionally
visit. These are very special places deep in the mangroves
where tarpon larva can grow to a size that make them less
vulnerable to predation. These secluded fisheries are usually
only accessible by kayak and offer unique fishing challenges
due to the close proximity to overhanging limbs and underwater
snags. Unfortunately, as remote as these places are, many
are being destroyed due to development. The effect this is
having on the adult tarpon popluation probably won't be evident
for a decade or so since these fish can commonly live to be
50 years old.
So how
big is a "baby" tarpon? Well, anything from 10 inches
to 40lbs is considered a juvenile, but in the nursery we were
fishing, the average size fish was about10 to 30 inches. These
were the same fish that would one day make their way to Boca
Grande Pass to join the largest of the species for courtship
and to take part in the yearly migration around the Gulf of
Mexico.
While
these fish ar small, they are still challenging due to their
hard mouths and acrobatic prowess. We managed to land a few
for the cameras, so as small as they were, we had accomplished
the core of our quest - we got tarpon out of the kayaks on
video.
Our
next destination was Matlacha Pass, my favorite fly fishing
waters and usually a good place to hide from the wind. Here,
Lisa and I split off from the main group in hopes of getting
some footage of a tarpon caught on fly. Very little tarpon
activity produced only one strike, but we did manage to catch
a few redfish, which slightly offset the dour tarpon angling.
Next
stop - Charlotte Harbor. Here we would be somewhat sheltered
from the east winds and hopefully find active, feeding tarpon
in the 40 to 100 lb range. We also had the advantage of having
a scout on the water - Chrystal Murray of the Ocean Kayak
Pro Staff and her husband John Hadden, a fisheries biologist,
were out tarpon fishing in their small skiff. Checking in
with them throughout the morning reinforced our own findings.
There wasn't much activity. They had seen only a few fish
and had no hookups.
Chrystal
Murray of the Ocean Kayak Pro Staff
offers a tarpon fishing report. (click to enlarge)
Adult
tarpon are migratory fish and travel from south to north up
the Gulf Coast of Florida in the spring. When tarpon fishing
is slow in one area, it is a good strategy to head north up
the coast a bit in case the majority of the fish have already
moved on. So the next morning, we loaded up and headed to
Sarasota. Here we spotted a few tarpon, on a shallow bar,
but saw few rolling fish. There was a bit more bait in the
water and trolling plugs behind are Ocean Kayak Trident 15
kayaks did produce some fish including bonita, but not the
giant tarpon we were looking for. We were running out of time.
Jock
Bradley hulicinates up a pink dog by the Sun & Moon pool
after a long day on the water. (click to enlarge)
We
were still hearing about the bite in Boca Grande Pass and
we were now into the full moon. This meant the crab hatch
would go be going off and the tarpon bite would intensify.
We decided to fish the beaches around the pass in hopes that
we would find some feeding fish in these safer, less shark
infested waters. Another slow morning and a chilling realization
became evident - desperate times called for desperate measures.
I
am still not sure if Ken and Jim fully realize just how aggressive
the bull and hammerhead sharks in Boca Grande Pass can be,
but they wanted to give fishing the pass a try. I definitely
wouldn't say that I am "chicken" about too many
things, but I had been on the deck of a boat in Boca Grande
Pass enough times to know that having only a hollow, plastic
kayak between my butt and a veritable feeding frenzy of tarpon-eating
sharks was not a good idea. But as Ken and Jim paddled forward
into the pass, I reluctantly followed, picturing in my head
the write up in Kayak
Angler Magazine: "World White Water Kayaking Champ
Ken Whiting and Legendary Kayak Fishing Guru Jim Sammons get
mauled by dual shark attacks while fishing with Greg Bowdish".
I would lose two friends and be reviled by the entire kayak
industry - that is, if I myself happen to survive.
Although
I have never fallen out off of a sit-on-top while fishing
and enjoy paddling in rough water (not that we have much of
it here in Southwest Florida), each approaching small wave
put a lump in my throat. What if today was the day? What if
one of these little wavelets was the one to knock me off my
kayak, right into the gaping toothy maw of a blood thirsty
hammerhead? For the first time in my life, I was experiencing
the emotion of fear while fishing.
But
then it struck me. There we were, in the middle of Boca Grande
Pass, in kayaks, surrounded by a fleet of boats and umpteen
thousand tarpon during one of the strongest tides of the season.
This was uncharted territory! This was pure exhilaration!
This was truly, EXTREME KAYAK FISHING!
So
what is it like fishing Boca Grande Pass in a kayak? Well,
the first thing you realize is just how little fishing you
actually get to do. The best fishing is usually in amongst
the drifting fleet of tarpon fishing boats, which all keep
their motors running to stay in control and cut down on collisions
in the heavy current and so that if the angler on the bow
gets hooked up, the captain can somehow maneuver the fish
out of the fleet and away from all the fishing lines and spinning
props. From a kayak angler's viewpoint, this means you have
to watch out for spinning props, boats changing directions
suddenly, fishing lines going everywhich way, and leaping
tarpon, which, considering they can easily weigh 150 lbs,
could easily break a femur if one of the fish landed on you.
And a broken femur might slow down your swimming if you ended
up in the water. Remember the sharks?
But
there were great moments when I could lay my paddle down in
my lap, let out my line, and drift along with the boats, chatting
with the people on board who were all very friendly, respectful,
and helpful despite the fact that what we were doing was just
this side of stupid. They
would even warn us of approaching sharks.
One
of the greatest sights in Boca Grande Pass has to be when
the large school of giant tarpon come bombing up from the
depths of the pass to gulp air, sometimes flipping entirely
out of the water as they turn for their sprint for the bottom.
There are times in the pass that the tarpon roll slowly along
the surface, which is usually when there are not too many
sharks present. This was not the case this particular Boca
Grande fishing adventure.
Tarpon
well over a hundred pounds
breach between Ken and I. (click to enlarge)
At
one point during the shoot, Lisa called me back to the boat
to change the tape in a video camera that was mounted to the
back of my kayak. Once I was alongside, She set her handheld
camera down and began to carefully open the waterproof housing
on my camera. It was then that, no more than twenty feet behind
my kayak, a very large hammerhead shark got a hold of one
of the breeching tarpon. The shark flipped completely out
of the now bloody water as he repetitively ripped into the
maimed tarpon. It was all over in a matter of a few seconds
and Lisa, with no functioning camera in hand, could do nothing
but share a few thoughtful expletives.
Another
amazing experience was when the tide changed to out going
and the tiny crabs began to get flushed from the grass flats
of Pine Island Sound and Charlotte Harbor. Incorrectly called
a "crab hatch" this is simply natures way of redistributing
young crabs from the shallows into the open waters of the
Gulf. Fishing a crab hatch is easy (especially from a kayak)
as the ideal bait is floating on the surface all around you.
You need only to reach into the water and scoop up a crab
and you are ready to fish.
So
what of the fishing? Did we get video of a tarpon landed from
a kayak? Read on. . .
First
of all, fishing the pass out of a yak was very difficult and
nothing like fishing the beaches. Between paddling to stay
out of the way of the boats, paddling to stay in the fish,
and paddling (or getting towed) to set up for another drift,
there was very little actual fishing done compared to the
time we spent on the water. Another problem was hooksets while
"deep jigging" the pass. In a kayak, you really
didn't have the solid pull of a twenty-odd foot long boat
that is drifting in the current. This is critical as you jig
bounces off the faces off the tarpon bunched at the bottom
of the pass.
It
was during the crab hatch that we got the most hookups. We
jumped a few fish before I finally had one that was landable.
Generally, I will simply pull the fish up against the side
of kayak to remove the hook and release it, but in the shark
infested waters of Boca Grande, my yellow streak resurfaced
and I went to one of the support boats for the release. As
much as I love my plastic kayaks, I wanted the option of jumping
into a tooth-proof, twenty foot fiberglass hull. So Curt helped
land the fish while I surveyed the gunnel of the boat for
the clearest path to safety. Fortunately for you, my complete
lack of bravado in the face of possible shark attack was artfully
captured in High Definition by two of the most talented videographers
in kayaking. So yes, we did get our fish.
After
fishing with me in Southwest Florida, the crew went on to
kayak fish some other amazing kayak fishing destinations including
Alaska, Canada, California, and, believe it or not, Baja for
Marlin!!! For me, my time spent with Jim, Ken, Will, Lisa
and Jock was as unforgettable as it was fun. I would have
liked a more typical May tarpon fishing experience, but sometimes
the greatest part of fishing is the adventure you have in
overcoming obstacles. Had we caught tarpon off the beaches,
we would never have ended up fishing Boca Grande Pass out
of kayaks during one of the strongest tides of the year. Thanks
for allowing me to be part of the GAME ON journey!
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All
loaded up for a pre-dawn departure to the island beaches.
Ken
Whiting using a kayak cart to portage his kayak and gear to
the beach. Kayak carts are an invaluable asset for fishing
Florida gulf coast beaches (click to enlarge)
Our
kayak of choice, the Ocean Kayak Trident 15. The Trident 15
has the speed, stability, and rod storage that is perfectly
suited for open-water tarpon fishing
Curt
Peer drives us back to The Sun & Moon Inn with our kayaks
in tow (click to enlarge)
Jim
Sammons goes for dunk in The Sun & Moon's waterside pool.
Apparently they must wear hats underwater in California.
Deep
trolling off Sarasota turned up a few fish including bonita
and these sand dollars - but no tarpon hookups.
Paddling
photographer extrordinaire,
Jock
Bradley, in the drink for some underwater shots.
Jim
tries to befriend a local
Jock,
piloting one of our support boats, sets course for Boca Grande.
Curt
Peer steers and Will Richardson holds tight as we get towed
into the current for another drift.
Myself
and Jim, in tow behind the
support boat.
Curt
helps us untie and then pushes us out into shark infested
waters.
Boca
Grande City! The "city" refers to the hundreds of
boats that practically take up residence in the pass in May
and June.
(click
to enlarge)
There
in my Trident's cup holder are the pass crabs and the focus
of the tarpon's yearly feast on the outgoing tide. (click
to enlarge)
Lisa
Utronki holds the bow line of my kayak as we motor up for
another shot at tarpon in Boca Grande Pass.
Kayak
Fishing GAME ON - the movie is available at kayak shops everywhere
or can be ordered directly from Heliconia Press.
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