Tarpon Facts

Tarpon are one of the ultimate fishing targets for many anglers and one I have been lucky enough to tangle with on one occasion. After landing that fish I understood why this great species is so highly prized! The fight is spectacular and aerobatics are the norm as the tarpon tries to throw the hook (quite often successfully!)

Here are some interesting facts about this species of fish:

• There are actually two species of tarpon. However, the Indo pacific tarpon are much smaller than the more famous Atlantic tarpon.
• The Atlantic tarpon can grow to up to 250 cm (98 in) and to a weight of 161kg (350 lbs).
• When water becomes drained of oxygen the tarpon can breathe air from the surface.
• Although they are rarely eaten tarpon are quite edible, but very bony. A permit is required in some places to keep them - stick to catch and release.
• Despite the popularity of fly fishing for tarpon they can be caught with most conventional fishing methods.
• The tarpon is the official state saltwater fish of Alabama
  

Shark attack videos

If writing this blog has taught me one thing it is that sharks capture peoples imagination - especially big sharks like the great white shark. I thought I would use a lazy Friday afternoon to post a couple of my favorite shark attack videos. Just to be clear though, these videos are of sharks attacking fish, not people (it is a fishing blog after all and I don't really think anyone wants to watch people being attacked).

This first video is mad and I watched in amazement as a big hammerhead shark eats a whopping tarpon in what has to be one of the best amateur captured shark attack videos ever. (Mild language warning)



The second video is fairly poor quality unfortunately, but shows some amazing footage of sharks actually fighting over a meal of fish attached to an anglers fishing line.



Both of these youtube videos have had well over a million views and they are both worth watching if you are into sharks.

Be aware that these may be a little scary for young people.

My holiday fishing report

My regular readers would have noticed that I haven't made a post for a couple of days and I have been on a fishing holiday with my old man and my wife. We rented a cabin on a local lake and fished right from our front door. I haven't had much luck in the freshwater before and really only expected a relaxing trip with a couple of fish. Relaxing wasn't quite the word I would use as the fishing went off with a bang. Over 5 days we caught about 20 great fish and over 7 species in total. I managed my very first tarpon (albeit the smaller pacific version) and I now understand why people pay tens of thousands of dollars to visit South America to catch these fish! We caught 12 big Saratoga, which are a prehistoric looking fish found in the northern parts of Australia and give a spectacular leaping fight. I didn't manage to capture any video this trip, but here are some pictures of the trip (I am having trouble uploading - check back soon):