BUZZBAIT
Tag. No touch backs. PHOTO: MILLER HIGH LIFE PTTS
Fish out of water
FLORIDA GETS TOUGH ON OLD TARPON REGULATIONS BY CONOR MIHELL
longest-running tarpon fishing tournament— announced it would be catch-and-release only in 2008, rumors of a Florida-wide ban on liſting tarpon out of the water before release started to fly on angler chat boards. But the angry “catch and can’t touch” postings came 55 years late. According to Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute biologist Kathy Guindon, strict tarpon fishing regulations have been in place since 1953. “Te rule has always been if you want to liſt
A
a tarpon out of the water and onto the deck of your boat, you need to have a tag,” says Guin- don. “Tere was recently a public awareness bulletin that brought these regulations to an- glers’ attention.” A $50 tarpon tag allows anglers to remove
fish from the water. One tag allows for the harvest of one fish or unlimited caught, photo- graphed and released fish, says Guindon. Te permit system was put in place to protect Flor- ida’s tarpon population and to help biologists determine the effect of angling on stocks. Har-
BY THE NUMBERS BY TIM SHUFF
Tarpon
> Approximate weight in pounds of the IGFA all-tackle tarpon record caught in Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela, in 1956 on 30 lb line: 283
> Number of minutes it took kayak angler Dave Robinson to bring in a 130 lb tarpon on 30 lb line, a “light
14 … KAYAK ANGLER summer/fall 2008
BOUT THE SAME TIME Tampa Bay’s Suncoast Tarpon Roundup—the world’s
vested fish must be reported to the state Fish and Wildlife Commission within five days, and any unused tags must be reported on an annual basis. In 2007, Guindon says only 294 tarpon ended up on the dinner table. Additional research has determined that
about 14 percent of all tarpon that are caught will die upon release due to injuries from hu- man handling or shark predation, says Guin- don. She maintains that the best way to en- sure survival is to avoid touching a tarpon’s gills and to give it plenty of time to recover before release. “We’ve found that fight time is secondary
to proper handling and resuscitation,” says Guindon. “Tis means moving the fish slow-
outfit” he vowed never to use for tarpon again: 100
> Minimum pound-test line weight stipulated by the Boca Grande Fishing Guides Association for fishing the tarpon hotspot of Boca Grande Pass: 50
> The approximate weight of an average tarpon catch, in pounds: 50
> Fly-rod weight recommended for mid-size tarpon: 10
> Starting bid in dollars of a “recently refurbished” 73-inch “stuffed tarpon reproduction” on Ebay: 450
ly in the water or holding it face-first into the current. Ocean Kayak pro Chrystal Murray, who
has been catching tarpon off the Florida coast for 17 years, supports the FWC regulations. Murray says there’s no reason to remove tar- pon from the water at all, especially younger, smaller ones, which are more dramatic fight- ers and therefore more impacted by angling. Murray says maintaining a healthy stock for future generations has much to do with pro- tecting juvenile tarpon. “While releasing a yearling tarpon last year
I had an epiphany,” says Murray. “At 45 years old I was holding a little silver treasure of a fish that if luck were on its side, might outlive me.”
> Minimum boat length in feet for entries into Florida’s Professional Tarpon Tournament Series: 16
> Number of color options for a new Wilderness Systems Tarpon kayak: 8
> Number of pounds that the Tarpon 120 Ultralite weighs less than its polyethylene counterpart: 15
> Largest tarpon ever caught on a fly, in pounds: 202
> Number of years it takes for a tarpon to reach 200 pounds: 70
> Oldest age a tarpon has reached in captivity: 63
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