#36 Tarpon in the Keys

The idea for this story initially came up about a year ago when I (and 400,000 other people), stumbled across the movie “120 Days.” The film follows David Mangum as he spends a third of his year chasing Tarpon. Just a few weeks after seeing the movie, I was on a boat outside of Vero Beach blowing shot after shot at rolling tarpon. This experience frustrated me so much that I had to forget about tarpon for awhile. That worked until I saw this year’s F3T feature, “Atlanticus,” which tracks a group of anglers around the world in search of the biggest, baddest tarpon.
In addition to reopening an old wound, this film brought up quite a few questions: Where do these fish come from? Are the tarpon they were catching in Africa the same fish that I see on instagram in the Keys or the Yucatan? But of course first and foremost, how do I catch one of these fish? In order to find some answers, I decided to get on a plane to the Florida Keys.
In the next 43 minutes, we’ll find out where these fish come from, but more importantly, we’ll find out what we don’t know about this majestic species.
This episode of the DrakeCast is sponsored by our friends at Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures, Scott Fly Rods, and The Appalachian Mountain Club. Click the links below for more information:
www.yellowdogflyfishing.com/
www.scottflyrod.com/
www.outdoors.org/drake