We arrived at our destination in Glades City just after sunrise on my recent trip to the majestic Everglades.  My close friends and fellow Charter Captains, Nik and Pat joined me and we were quick to check into our cabin there at the Glades Haven Cozy Cabins in Everglades City. We wasted no time getting on the water because we were psyched to get out onto some Tarpon.   We dropped my partner Pat Ewald’s beautiful Lake and Bay “Boca Grande” into the water and were off on our next mission, collecting bait for the day.  We ran out the channel at Indian Key Pass and were greeted by birds diving, mackerel feeding, and what appeared to be birds working on bait pods.  The wind was light, the tides were looking good, and the weather was picture-perfect.  With some luck and persistence we threw the net a couple of times and quickly stocked the well with “tarpon candy”: otherwise known as threadfin.  With bait-catching out of the way, we began on our one-hour journey south into the unknown.   If you’ve been to the Glades, you know all too well how breathtaking the journey can be getting to your “spot”.  The raw shorelines and seascapes are like a trip into Florida’s past, especially when coupled with the incredible fact that the boat traffic is few and far between. We are fortunate to have all this found right here in Florida’s backyard.  If you haven’t been to the Glades, I hope you feel that you just haven’t been YET-as it’s truly an incredible fishing experience.

We made it to our spot after a smooth one-hour journey south, just enough time for our adrenaline to start pumping in anticipation of hooking up with the coveted Silver Kings.  This was my buddy Pat’s special spot that he’s fished for years and was now graciously sharing with the rest of us.  The key to success is knowing where to fish, but isn’t that always the case?  This spot is within a large river with scenic mangrove shoreline on both sides and some oyster bars that pepper the entrance.  At first glance, you might think it was a little tight for tarpon fishing, but it was as wide as a football field, so he assured us that we could maneuver the boat if we had to.  After checking the bait well and happily discovering that the bait survived the journey to our spot, we were ready to go.  We were set up perfectly for presenting some baits and more than ready for action as the anticipation and excitement had built.

With the tide shaping up nicely and starting to rip, there was little waiting time before Nik hooked up with the first tarpon of the trip and before we knew it, within minutes, the water was thick with tarpon and they were starting to show nearly every 30 seconds, it was spectacular!  Within minutes we had numerous giant 150 to 200 pounders in our spot.   We knew many of the fish were females just by their size and the girth of their abdomens, easily visible as the tarpon rolled by the boat.   Nik’s reel screamed and he was prepared to fight for his 150-pound tarpon, the big girl jumped out of the water, splashing around the boat, it was awesome.  Even though she eventually got away, it was a great way to begin what turned out to be one of our best fishing days.  We were jazzed and ready for more.  Fortunately, we were blessed with many more tarpon that followed Nik’s first morning bite.

Pat was the next to get bait in the water and it wasn’t long before he had an even larger tarpon on the line. This one jumped six feet out of the water landing so close to the boat that we felt like we could have touched her.   To us, her jump lit up the sky like fireworks.  We hooted like schoolboys in excitement.  She threw the hook and within minutes we were ready to go again.  Persistence is the key to success and fortunately it comes easily with the appearance of the infamous Silver King especially when they come so close that you can almost touch victory.  Tarpon fishing in the Glades begins to take you over almost like an addiction, you’ll never want to stop until you can grab her in your hands and can set her free thanking her for the thrill of your life.

Pat got a big one on his line and this time I saw him stick the hook in her good, we were confident about the hook set and knew we were in for the catch.  Because of the size of his fish and the rate line was peeling off Pat’s Shimano Thunnus we had to kick it into overdrive, get the anchor up and begin our game of “pinball wizard” down the narrowing mangrove shoreline.  “She’s out!” we all shouted and yelled at each other for a good half hour before the fish began to tire. She never jumped again after her initial eruption, but she pulled down hard and took us to both sides of the mangrove shorelines back and forth, back and forth and made a couple of runs right at the trolling motor and outboard motor.  Nik was filming and I was on the trolling motor and as the fish tired. Nik was looking at it through the camera and remarked on how big she was.  Nik put the camera down and Pat’s battle was just about over as we had a big green tarpon right alongside the boat.  We all gave her a nice pat and thanked her for her cooperation and more importantly, gave her a nice clean healthy release that such a regal fish deserved.   This was so awesome, we just released a poon about a buck seventy-five or maybe more, and it was a spectacular green female fish- the fish were just taking a little breather and were feeding on their way up the coast.  That weekend it didn’t bother me that the tarpon I landed was smaller than Pat’s, as they were all equally amazing and enjoyed by all on the team.   I’m so glad we got some great pics to share thanks to Nik.

We made for a good fishing team that day in the Glades. That’s almost what you need more than anything else when you go tarpon fishing in the Glades.  Having a solid team on board is more valuable than knowing a great spot, having great conditions, and great bait, because it takes a team to get a heavy hitting tarpon in. Life was especially good to us on our weekend trip to the Glades.  I hope you can all have a great team experience like we did to make you grin weeks later as you reminisce about all the tarpon you did and even didn’t land.

Captain Chris Gillespie and Captain Patrick Ewald are partners under Bear Charters in the Pine Island Sound Area, Sanibel, and Captiva, Florida.  Captain Nikolas Ventura is with Yolo Watersports, Captiva Fl.   Photography by Nikolas Ventura.