Beat And Bushed The Silver King Surrenders

Blogs are strange places, things get posted in reverse order it seems, so read the next few posts also and things will make more sense.

My step-son Craig Thomas is fishing on Knot Nancy back in 1996 off of Miami Beach with Capt. Dave Kostyo for tarpon, a large silvery fish that loves to jump. It can reach weights of over 200 pounds, but a 100 pounder is a big one. During the winter they hang around near the cuts between the bay and the ocean feasting on the shrimp run at night. We were using live shrimp for bait and Craig is shown fishing with spin tackle rigged with 12 lb. test line. This fish is probably in the 30 to 40 pound range. After a few fast runs and a bunch of jumps he's really pooped out. With really big fish sometimes you have to crank up the engines and chase them or you'll run out of line, but not with fish this size.

When Capt. Dave unhooks the fish he'll have to hold it upright in the water for a few minutes, moving it back and forth so water will flow over its gills and the fish can get some oxygen back in his system. Then with a gentle push from Dave the fish will swim away and dive deeper into the water.