Tarpon On A Chug Bug

Catching a tarpon on a Chug Bug this afternoon topped today's fishing trip, especially when I landed the fish using only one hand. I was taking a video with my left hand.

With all the rain this afternoon I just had to get in some topwater fishing, but my wife wanted me to go with her to help unload a hay shipment for her horse Mandy and the other horses at "the barn".

It was raining sporadically when we left the house and by the time we got to the barn, it had picked up to a steady drizzle.

I helped Karen move some bedding around and since there was a pond on the property, I decided to wet a line.

I always carry a spinning rod in the truck loaded with 30 pound Power Pro, a 20 pound fluorocarbon leader, and a Chug Bug, so I pulled out the rod and started casting around the shoreline and the lily pads.

I missed a couple of small bass around the shoreline but when I made a long cast into the middle of the pond, a nice fish blew up on the topwater bait. It didn't take long to get the bass to shore but as I was pulling it over the submerged grass, the fish flopped a couple of times and the hook pulled loose saving me the trouble of unhooking it. The bass was a chunky fish of around 5 pounds or more.

Karen opened the gate for the driver to leave and as the rain started picking up, we decided to head for the house.

At the house, the rain had slowed down but since I couldn't do any yard work, I packed up my other two spinning rods into the truck and headed for East Gator Creek Road to catch some trout.

The air temperature was in the high 70s and there was a very slight breeze blowing over the water making it a perfect day for tossing a Chug Bug.

I started fishing at the culvert and picked up a couple of small ladyfish before moving to the shallow grass flats along the road.

I started blind casting around the flats and picked up a couple of small sea trout, and lost two very nice keepers in the 22 to 24 inch category.

One day I'll remember to ease up on my drag settings when I fish for trout. I usually keep it tight for reds, but when I don't lighten it up for sea trout, I usually lose the first good size fish I hook. The hooks usually pull out after the first or second jump.

Anyway, a gator who evidently thought he owned the entire flats started chasing my Chug Bug where ever I started to cast. It got to the point that he followed me even when I got into the truck and moved several yards up the road.

I took several pics and a video of the water lizard before moving several hundred yards up the road.

The area I stopped to fish usually holds big ladyfish and juvenile tarpon, so I smeared up the Chug Bug with some Pro-Cure Inshore Formula and started pitching the bait as close to the opposite bank as I could get.

It took three blind casts before a juvenile tarpon blasted my bait and started jumping all over the area.

I didn't have my GoPro so I pulled out my cell phone and started taking a video of the action with my left hand, while I was fighting the tarpon with the rod in my right hand.

The results below aren't great, but I did manage to land the fish, get the video and a few pics of the fish, and release it to fight another day.

After landing and releasing the fish, another big gator started annoying me so I decided to fish the flats around Catfish Creek Loop.

I stopped several times to cast at wakes in the shallow flats, but only hooked and released a couple of small ladyfish.

The rain had stopped but the bugs were out with a vengeance, so I decided to pack it in for the day and head for the house.

On the way out, I saw the only other fishermen who was reeling in a redfish as I stopped to take a pic of the scenery. I took a video of the guy and his son as he was reeling in his catch, but he lost the fish as he was trying to unhook it.

On the backside of the road, the water was dead flat. I made a few casts to wakes, but nothing was biting so I headed home.

Hopefully, I'll get out again before I have to head back to work.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.