Chasing kings

The clear waters just off the coast attract hundreds of tarpon each season - and the fishermen who are lured by this majestic fighting fish.

By JENNIFER FARRELL

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 25, 2000

The battle lasted just 45 minutes.

When it was over, Cole Clarkson couldn't tell who had won, him or the fish.

Reeling in a 145-pound tarpon, it turned out, was no easy feat.

"It took us all over the place," Clarkson said later. "It definitely wore me down."

The 23-year-old Atlanta Braves marketing executive recounted the fish story from a bar stool at the Bayport Inn. Sipping a gin and tonic and basking in the glow of accomplishment, Clarkson counted himself lucky. Tarpon regularly take several hours to land.

"It was unbelievable," he said, laughing. "It's definitely something I'll never forget."

Clarkson is one of legions of anglers across the globe who flock to Hernando and Citrus counties annually during May and June in hopes of landing a record-breaker. During those two months, the roughly 20-mile stretch between Homosassa and Bayport in the Gulf of Mexico is known as the premier spot in the world to fly-fish for the enormous, elusive and mysterious tarpon.

The area boasts two current world records, set in 1982 and 1994, and a 179.9-pound tarpon landed here last month has been submitted to the International Gamefish Association for consideration in a third category.

Over the years, fully 10 percent of the 149 world-record tarpon catches have come from this area.

"Everybody's up there looking to catch the 200-pounder," said Bobby Erra, 55, a Miami fabric distributor who travels to Bayport for three weeks each tarpon season. "It's there. We've all hooked him. I've hooked him. It's just a matter of putting your time in."

A clear view of quarry

A couple of factors combine to make the waters off Bayport and Homosassa fertile with tarpon. First is the depth, which drops a little more than a foot per mile for the first few miles offshore, leaving prime fishing waters between 3 and 10 feet deep. Next, is the remarkable clarity of the water, which gives anglers a choice view of their quarry.

"This is one of the few places in the world where very large tarpon come into very shallow water," said Ronnie Richards, a fishing guide who specializes in tarpon charters.

Richards, 49, a fourth-generation Floridian who earns his living year-round from the water off his home in Weeki Wachee, is one of several guides who is booked solid through May and June most years, depending on weather conditions.

On any given day, between 10 and 35 boats, most manned by experienced guides, troll the shallow waters off the coast. As eastward breezes pick up each afternoon about 2 p.m., the stakes rise considerably, and skill with casting becomes a factor.

"This is the most difficult fly fishing in the world," Richards said. "If you can come to Homosassa or Bayport and catch a tarpon on a fly rod on a normal day, you can catch anything in the world."

Brad Bradley, 30, a guide from Hernando Beach, said his customers come from all over the world for a chance to hook one of the torpedo-like fish, which run in groups ranging in size from a handful to hundreds.

Unlike the waters off Africa's Sierra Leone and Florida's Boca Grande, two equally famous tarpon fishing destinations, the shallow conditions on the Nature Coast allow anglers to sight-fish, meaning that they can stand on the bow of their boats and cast to a particular fish.

"It's the most ideal place really in the world for fly fishing tarpon," said Bradley. "Here you'll see a hundred tarpon all laid up, and you can pick which one you want to throw to. . . . You set the hook and they come right out of the water and they just start jumping. Sometimes you'll get one jump; sometimes you'll get 10 in a row."

Because tarpon are not fit for eating, the fishing is almost entirely of the catch-and-release variety. Anglers only keep their catch when there is a possibility of a world record, and then they are required to purchase a $50 tag.

"We don't kill anything that's not a world record," said Richards.

The Silver King

No one knows for sure what brings the tarpon here every year or just what they do during their stay. Likewise, little is known about the route they follow when they leave.

Most guides and fishermen believe the giant fish are drawn to the mouths of the Chassahowitzka, Homosassa and Weeki Wachee rivers before making their 60- to 70-mile trek offshore to spawn.

"We catch 'em this time of year because they're full of roe, and that's part of the weight," said Richards. "That is the key."

Because the fish have yet to spawn, they are significantly heavier when they first arrive at the grass flats right offshore. Richards estimates most of the fish caught here are between 15 and 40 years old.

Under the water, they look like giant black logs. Their large, shimmering scales, visible when they jump out of the water, have earned the majestic fish their nickname of Silver King.

'Rich man's sport'

Legendary hockey player Bobby Orr, four-time U.S. Open golf champion Jack Nicklaus, singer Harry Connick Jr. and Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf are among the celebrities local guides count among their customers.

More common, though, are wealthy business people who jet in and book charters, sometimes for weeks at a time.

The going rate for one day with a guide is $400, on average, plus tip. Add meals, lodging and air fare, and the price tag climbs closer to $1,000 a day.

"Fly fishing is a rich man's sport," said Bradley, the guide. "Everything to do with it's expensive."

Richards fields calls all year from clients eager for his predictions on exactly when the fish will be running.

"They're stockbrokers, corporate presidents, doctors, lawyers," he said. "They come from all walks of life."

Big, short impact

Edward Johnston, a guide who owns the Fly Shop in Crystal River, estimates there are 30 guides working in Hernando and Citrus counties throughout May and June, the height of tarpon season.

And while there are no hard numbers to gauge the industry's effect on the local economy, anecdotal evidence suggests it is powerful.

"Each guide takes one fisherman a day," Johnston said, figuring average daily costs at about $700, between lodging, meals and guide fees. "That comes out to $21,000 a day for 60 days, or $1.2-million for the season. That's a lot of money."

Moreover, many guides, such as Tom Mohler and Mel Simpson, both of St. Petersburg, rent rooms in the area, rather than make the trip up and down U.S. 19 every day.

Between meals, fuel and boat maintenance expenses, they also pump life into local businesses during the slow months after Easter, when many visitors and winter residents have returned to their homes up North.

The Bayport Inn, which serves as a home base for many fishermen, caters to the tarpon crowd.

"They only drink and eat top shelf," said general manager Lauren Murphy. "They're there to have a good time and they do."

On most nights, the bar starts filling up after 5:30, when anglers who have been on the water since about 8:30 a.m. call it a day.

"They all come in here and tell their little fish tales," Murphy said. "They have a drink and they go wherever."

Slow this year

This year, the season started well, then tapered off. Tarpon sightings have dropped drastically in recent weeks, prompting some fishermen to cancel their trips.

"They're not going to come up here and spend $400 a day to float around and see two schools of fish," said Richards.

He, like many other guides, blames the recent record drought for throwing off the environmental conditions that typically draw tarpon to the area. Because there has been so little rain, Richards theorizes, there has been less runoff from area rivers, causing increased salinity in gulf waters. That, in turn, has prompted the tarpons' early exit.

On the other hand, Richards says, there could be other factors at work.

"It's nature," he said. "Who the hell knows? Take what the river gives."

Awaiting 'the big one'

What keeps so many anglers coming back to the relatively remote area is undoubtedly the promise of landing "the big one."

"There is no place in the world that a person could go in shallow water and catch this type of fish on a fly rod," said Erra, the fabric distributor. "The ability to catch a fish in excess of 150 pounds is there every time you cast. . . . You stay out there until you can't see anymore."

For many, the challenge is to master the sport, which requires highly specialized equipment and skill at casting quickly in rough conditions.

"It takes years and years to learn the subtleties of the area," Erra said. "You've got a lot of people who go up there and fish for years and never catch a fish."

Dave Kadechka, 48, a Northwest Airlines pilot from Tampa who has been fishing here for the past five years, has yet to bag a tarpon.

"It's the hardest fishing I've ever done," he said last week after another fruitless trip out of Bayport.

Kadechka, who also angles in Alaska and the Florida Keys, calls the waters off Bayport and Homosassa the "graduate school of tarpon fishing."

"If you can catch one up here, it's the toughest," he said.

And the challenge will likely lure him back for years to come.

"It's like climbing a mountain," Kadechka said. "You can never climb the highest mountain. You can never catch the biggest fish. It's elusive."

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