First TARPON on fly!!

My wife, Stephanie, and I just got back from a western Caribbean cruise. We stopped off at Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize City and Roatan, Honduras. The whole trip was great, and I'd tell you all about it... but this is a fly fishing blog. So let's just stick with that content this time around.

The only real fishing we did was with a guide, Ed Taylor, on Grand Cayman. We saw some BIG bonefish, I made some really nice, delicate casts way in front of them... and as soon as they gracefully landed on the water, the fish scattered like a baby grand had been dropped on the flat. Unbelievable.

But, the baby tarpon were very cooperative! Stephanie and I both landed them up to about six pounds on the fly rod - TONS of fun! Stephanie - who's pretty green with the fly rod - even spotted a fish, cast to it, stripped the fly perfectly (stripping the fly for tarpon is done by performing many very short, very quick strips without pausing - pretty odd if you haven't done it before), felt the hit, set the hook and fought the fish all the way to the net! It was great!

I also fought a 40+ pounder for over five minutes, survived many many leaps and 100-200-yard runs and without warning my rod went straight. He simply threw the hook.

Anyway, here are a few photos. Enjoy, and thanks for checking in!