Mankind has been gaining sustenance from the sea for as long a they have walked the earth. With some form of creature in nearly every body of water, hunter gatherers also included the waters in their incessant search for sustenance. Now rarely a key to sustenance, angling is still popular and Key West tarpon fishing is a very popular vacation event.
Not nearly as well known as giant tuna or marlin, the humble Megalops atlanticus, or Silver King is an impressive fish. It grows longer than a man is tall, and can weigh well over 300 pounds. As if their sheer size was not advantage enough, they are known as ferocious fighters who also leap from the water as they fight to escape capture.
The number of their population across their range as been dramatically reduced since 1960, with a reduction thought to be as much as 30 percent. Considering the intensive fishery hauls in South America this is a surprising low number. Part of the reason for their survival is they can spawn year round and lay as many as twelve million eggs per female.
Another lucky trait that is very fortunate for them is that Americans find their flesh less than delicious and their bodies too bony. This in combination with a serious effort by the government fish and wildlife department has made regulation of sport fishing quite successful. As a result, the population numbers have remained relatively stable for over ten years.
When Hollywood makes seagoing adventures, the big fish in the sea they focus on are bill-fish, tuna and sharks, which are arguably tremendous fighting fish worthy of attention. The mighty Silver King is rarely highlighted, which may be good for the survival of the species. When considering game fish for sport however, overlooking this beast of a fish is a mistake.
The fact that it feeds at any time during the day and takes its food whole seems to make it an easy catch, but that is not the case. After finding a school of feeding predators, one must present the bait lure or fly in front of its cruising vector. Casting directly at them as the swim toward the fisherman is ineffective as they expect food to run away from them.
Casting in front of a school of creatures six to eight feet in length moving rapidly toward you is not as easy as it sounds. Once lucky enough to get a strike, the typical reaction is one long hard yank to set the hook, but a number of smaller yanks is more effective. When the fish leaps out of the water, stop pulling and pint the pole at the spectacular jumping fish.
To find the fish as they cruise over a wide area, one looks for the telltale leaping of bait fish jumping and thrashing to avoid the chasing school. If one manages to bring in one of these behemoths, a well deserved photograph is in order. But to preserve the Key West tarpon fishing experience for future anglers, a quick release is imperative.
Not nearly as well known as giant tuna or marlin, the humble Megalops atlanticus, or Silver King is an impressive fish. It grows longer than a man is tall, and can weigh well over 300 pounds. As if their sheer size was not advantage enough, they are known as ferocious fighters who also leap from the water as they fight to escape capture.
The number of their population across their range as been dramatically reduced since 1960, with a reduction thought to be as much as 30 percent. Considering the intensive fishery hauls in South America this is a surprising low number. Part of the reason for their survival is they can spawn year round and lay as many as twelve million eggs per female.
Another lucky trait that is very fortunate for them is that Americans find their flesh less than delicious and their bodies too bony. This in combination with a serious effort by the government fish and wildlife department has made regulation of sport fishing quite successful. As a result, the population numbers have remained relatively stable for over ten years.
When Hollywood makes seagoing adventures, the big fish in the sea they focus on are bill-fish, tuna and sharks, which are arguably tremendous fighting fish worthy of attention. The mighty Silver King is rarely highlighted, which may be good for the survival of the species. When considering game fish for sport however, overlooking this beast of a fish is a mistake.
The fact that it feeds at any time during the day and takes its food whole seems to make it an easy catch, but that is not the case. After finding a school of feeding predators, one must present the bait lure or fly in front of its cruising vector. Casting directly at them as the swim toward the fisherman is ineffective as they expect food to run away from them.
Casting in front of a school of creatures six to eight feet in length moving rapidly toward you is not as easy as it sounds. Once lucky enough to get a strike, the typical reaction is one long hard yank to set the hook, but a number of smaller yanks is more effective. When the fish leaps out of the water, stop pulling and pint the pole at the spectacular jumping fish.
To find the fish as they cruise over a wide area, one looks for the telltale leaping of bait fish jumping and thrashing to avoid the chasing school. If one manages to bring in one of these behemoths, a well deserved photograph is in order. But to preserve the Key West tarpon fishing experience for future anglers, a quick release is imperative.
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