08.16.26 Learning the layout of the Lowcountry...

 

     Man there's a lot of water to fish down there....

08.15.26 Starting to learn more about fiddlers ...

 

     One of the staples of a redfishes diet in the Lowcountry are fiddler crabs. When they talk about excellent fishing on flood or king tides that's when the flats and spartina grass get filled in with water which allows redfish and other predators a better shot at finding, and then eating, fiddler crabs. 

     Fiddler crabs are burrowers and dig cylindrical holes 1-2 feet deep where they hide from predation, mate, and where eggs incubate. They say there's a difference between a hanging out safety burrow and one that's used for love and babies. They come out on the low tides and then 

retreat back to their "holes" where they plug them up so they don't drown on the flood tide, although they can breathe in and out of water. 

     Along South Carolina you can find three different species, although there's like over 100 worldwide. In the Lowcoutry there's the mud fiddler, the sand fiddler, and the red-jointed fiddler. The species are differentiated by where they like to hang out and different types of structure on their shells and claws. All that info came from the SC Department of Natural Resources website.

     The other thing I learned is that fiddler crabs are left and right handed. Unlike humans, where 90% of the pollution is right-handed, fiddler crabs are closer to 50-50%. So when I get to tying some I can go right or left, as long as the big claw is furthest away from the hook eye.

     During my very limited time fishing for redfish I've seen a ton of flies that people throw for them. They're a combination of buggy and leggy looking things while other are more of a dam near match. In addition to the tide cycle fisheries, I'm learning what species are where and when during the year, what they eat, water quality and clarity, and how water temps play into where they are.

     If it's not fiddler crabs, or other crabs, they're after then it's shrimp, and both can be mimicked with some brushes and some rubber legs. As the water cools and becomes crystal clear during the "winter" months having something that's a better representative of the natural becomes more important. And then there's colors as well, fiddler crabs have different coloration, as well as the males extra large cheliped, or claw. That claw grows 65% of the Toal size of the crab and its main function is to attract females to mate. So in the fiddler crab world, size does matter.

     In a later post I'll get to explaining about fiddler crab flies as I learn more. Crab flies to me where always more of a bonefish and permit bait then what I as fishing for which was fluke, striped bass, and bluefish. Our crab flies aren't direct imitations as the surf churns them up, usually, so it's more about the profile, size, and action that gets a fishes attention. When sight fishing, say up in the Vineyard, better imitations are needed to get the job done, similar to the gin clear waters of the Lowcountry during the winter. 

     These days they're a million of everything. Once somebody comes out with something the next month there's 1,000,000 knock-offs. I remember when Pat Cohen of SuperFly came out with synthetic crab legs and then it was followed by everyone else. 

     Before I go on I wonder what the OG's would say about todays flies, especially crab flies. They seem to be more of a lure?, well maybe not, but all of the "components", things like the claws, the eyes, the shells, the weight, would they make the purists roll over in their graves? But anyway, I liked what I found from Space Coast Flies. I could see me managing to tie up something that would work, especially with deer hair, which I have a decent amount of experience since I started tying Snake Flys over a decade ago. 

     The above fly was shown with the fiddler components and I searched but couldn't find a fly name or tier, but it's a pattern that I think I would like, and would work, just maybe in more of a grayish/brown color. 

     Most of the crab flies you see today, especially ones with a bigger and then smaller claw, are a variation of Dave Skok's Strong Arm Merkin, which revolutionized sight fishing for permit and bonefish. His "arm" is tied with chenille which doesn't used pre-stamped materials for the components. 

     And then there's always those Flexo crabs made out of that Chinese finger-lock mesh material. I've used those type of flies with good success most recently while up in Martha's Vineyard this past June. 

And speaking of, the countdown has begun until MV 2027, just 10 months away. It's time to start looking for an affordable place for next year, key word, affordable. An early check on

AirB&B shows a house for June 12-19th running about $4,000, ouch. I just put those dates in because the Full Moon is June 18th and I like Moon tides. When I put in may 31 to June 5th the price is about $1,000 less, and the New Moon is June 4th, so that easier then usual trip may be worth is money wise. 

     We're making good progress settling into Cape May and setting it up as a true home away from home, rather than just a place to go like it was in our old place. After a trip up to the ADK's this week to visit with my sister it'll be time to load up both vehicles and head south. It'll be there where I'll attempt to find all my fly fishing and tying stuff and get going. They say August and September are great months for bull reds in the Lowcountry, and I'm ready to finally do some fishing in 2026.

08.14.26 A good, but long, day in NYC...

     We're quickly approaching the 25th anniversary of 9/11/2001. For many who responded during the rescue and recovery operations the exposure to dust, smoke, and toxins, have left us dealing with 9/11 related health issues. Luckily, there has been what is now called the Mount Sinai World Trade Center Health Program. It's a program made up of two parts, the monitoring program and the treatment program. For 25 years I have been a part of both and I'm grateful that these programs exist.

     Yesterday I had a two-part visit. First was a stop for another low-dose CT scan of the chest to check on the status of the lung nodules and stuff that have been detected in both lungs. The second was an appointment with my thoracic surgeon, Dr. Raja Flores, to see if and or when he may have to get in there and do what surgeons do, which is to cut bad stuff out. 

     Theresa and I were sitting in a patient room when he opened the door with his always supportive smile. That brought both of us some relief. The plan was to go from having repeat CT scans every six months to annually. He preliminarily liked what he saw but need to wait until a radiologist reads the scan and files his report. He basically said, as he always does, "There's stuff going on there, you basically are symptom free, it could be cancer, but let's wait and see". And then he adds, "If you went to any other surgeon they'd want to cut you open (and do a wedge resection), which is what surgeons do, but if I were you, or you were my Mother, I'd just wait and continue to see". I guess that's good news, although the pending report will tell us more. And in the end I'm coming back in six months, so I'll be back in NYC in February. 

     And since I was in NYC it was a great opportunity to catch up with my daughter Juliet. It's been a bit since I checked up with this almost now 30 year-old woman. She works down in the Meatpacking District so Theresa and I had planned on driving down and picking her up to grab a bite and drive her back home to Brooklyn. We got there early, and scored a legal parking spot on the street, so we hit a Happy Hour at The Standard Grill which is part of The Standard Hotel.

     After the kind of nerve -wracking day between the 3-1/2 hour trek from Cape May to 102nd Street and Madison Avenue and the test and consultation is was time for a drink. Now you know I'm cheap, well let's say frugal, so I was expecting to empty out my wallet for a quick bite and a beer. 

     It was Happy Hour. It's bougie NYC. And we were surrounded with high end stores and office buildings many of which are headquarters for trendy businesses. So I was shocked to learn that this place, from 4-6 pm, offers $5 Budweiser's and $1 oysters. Imagine that. Two Buds and half a dozen oysters set me back $16, now that's a bargain anywhere, especially in Manhattan. 

     We had about an hour to kill before Jules got out of work and we resisted ordering more to eat so as to not ruin dinner in Brooklyn. It was the prefect stop and I would go back if I'm ever down that way again. Surprisingly the rooms at The Standard High Line Hotel run about $350 a night, which even to me sounds fair. 

     After we picked up Juliet we headed towards the Williamsburg Bridge. The end of the day traffic was starting to build as we made our way through The Bowery towards the Lower East Side. As we drove east on Delaney Street towards Essex I saw something that caught my eye. A frantic woman on her cell phone, a few people standing over something, and a man down who was less then responsive. We were in Theresa's car and I didn't have my Jr. First Aid kits that I always carry in my own truck. But I knew she carried something that might come into good use...Narcan. 

     As I pulled to the curb Theresa fished the cardboard box out of the glove compartment and gave me one of the two nasal injectors. Narcan, or naloxone, is the go-to opioid antagonist medication if someone has overdosed on an opioid. It's generally a miracle medication but these days with people using poly-substances, including fentanyl, it doesn't always work even after multiple treatments. In the ER when I was at Capital health this past spring it wasn't uncommon to have patients on Narcan drips. 

     Luckily for the guy all it took were some intermittent sternal rubs to get him breathing again. His dilated pupils told me this wasn't an opioid event, and the Narcan I had next to me would just be wasted if I gave it to him, so I just stayed and kept stimulating him to breathe. 

     It took about 5 minutes before the FDNY's Engine 9 and EMS arrived on the corner. It wasn't a big deal, and most people just kept walking, and not even looking down, without even missing a beat. And as far as getting a picture? You know me, always. The good, the bad, and the ugly. So if you're with me and you get run over by a train, make sure you have a smile on your face before you land. I find stories without images don't have the same umph, and if there was an ever a doubt as to the truth that it ever happened, well there you go. 

     It's also a bit of a public service announcement. If you can't bring yourself to stop and help directly, at least see if there's anything you can do, which at least, is to ensure someone has called 911. Many times people stand around thinking the person next to them called, while the firetruck and ambulance sits in the apparatus bay unaware. And if ever get a chance to get a dose of Narcan from a pharmacy or a health fair, grab one. It's a simple nasal spray you administer which can restore a person's breathing, which in the end could save their life, or prevent brain death from hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen. 

     After that pit stop we made our way into Williamsburg and went to a Thai return called Sage. It was a great meal with better company. If you know then you know, there's nothing better then 

sitting across from you adult children and listening to them tell you about their lives. It would be an understatement to not say how proud I am of her, and miss her as well.Brooklyn was a distance from Titusville, with Cape May even further, and Bluffton another world away, so I have to make sure I do a decent job in staying connected and in-person as much as I can. It looks like my next specialist appointment at Mt Sinai is on October 5th, with Dr. Morgenthau, a world reknown sarcoidosis expert, so maybe I'll make it a medical and personal trip with a sleep over in Brooklyn. 

We pulled into Cape May just before midnight and needless to say we were beat. 

08.13.26 Is this the anti-The Fly Fishing Show fly fishing show?....

     Let's be real. The Fly Fishing Show (s) as we know them are nothing what they once were. Hell, nothing is as it once was. Either it's the way trade shows are run, attended or not by industry manufactures and leaders, and the general change in the way consumers attend, shop, and spend money, the end to shows like these have came and went. Throw in the whole Covid thing which gave people and businesses a chance to reevaluate and pause and the writing was on the wall. 

     Fly fishings shows, especially the one in Somerset, were a must attend, and not just for a few hours. It didn't matter if it snowed or the NFL playoffs were going on, you just didn't miss the show, or the hangs that went with them. You attended to see new stuff, see the legends of the game, catch up with old friends, and more importantly, just be apart of something every year. Now, it's a chore, and at times, a bore. 

     I recently came across the above website for a new show called FLOW Fest Expo. It stands for Fly fishing, Outdoors, Lifestyle, and Wellness. It'll be run by Emily Mauri, who just left The Fly Fishing Show since being a part of that family since 2007, and her husband, Michael, who was a regular on that circuit and I saw him at the casting pond more then once over the years. 

    So now they come together and present FLOW Fest which will be held in Asheville, North Carolina March 13 and 14, 2027. It's not like other shows haven't popped up from time to time and have been well attended. For a few years the Long Island Fly Fishing Expo satiated fly anglers after The Fly Fishing Show had left the New England/New York area for the season. People now go to Lefty's Tie Fest, ICAST, and other fresh or saltwater mixed fishing and outdoor shows. But none have taken down the leader, which for years has been The Fly Fishing Show. But is it time and could a show like this be a suitable replacement?

     If you've been to The Fly Fishing Show, say for the last 5 years, well then you know. Chuck sold it to Ben and things pretty much have stayed the same. Now no matter who ran it or who runs it it's no easy task for sure. The logistics and business and work that goes with it has to be daunting. But no doubt there has to be some good financial gains when all cylinders are running as they should. But even these days the shows can be a big hit or miss depending on what you're looking to get from them.

     One thing I know, from industry leaders and manufacturers, from friends who are big guns, to average anglers and experts, no one wants to travel and have those associated costs for a show that may not be a good return on investment, and that goes for money and time alike. There's gas and tolls, lodging and food, salaries for some, the price of the booth or booths, and then the admission fees. It adds up, and if the returns aren't there well then they're out. And TFFS never paid for the talent who ran the seminars and presentations. I know because I did a few seminars back in the day. Maybe the big guns got paid, but for the rest the sales pitch from Chuck was it was a chance "to increase your exposure and meet new clients". Thanks, but that doesn't pay the bills. 

     So how will a show like the FLOW Fest do? Who's peeling off from TTFS to attend? Remember there's a billion people within a few hours drive from now Edison, and attendance is still weak, outside of the initial Friday push or when Cabin Fever is an all out pandemic. TFFS Lancaster is set for the same weekend, 530 miles away, or an 8 hour drive. I don't know if people will choose one over the other, especially in year one. Maybe the FLOW Fest will attract people from different interests, a larger local show if you will, or pick up fly anglers who don't make the trek to the other shows.

     The Fly Fishing Show Atlanta, which ran since 2017, was cancelled in 2026. In 2027 it will be held in Athens, Georgia, some 75 miles away. That show will be the opener for 2027 running January 9 & 10, which is weird, as it always opened in Marlborough. There's other shows in North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland, but none as big as TTFS. No matter how many shows there are, or where they're located, attendees only have so much time and money to spend, and I've always said local fly fishing shows are what people need and want.

     It'll be interesting to see how this show does. Will the salty fly rodders get their fill here? Will the big manufacturers throw their time and money there? Will the big names be on hand for meet and greets and for educational seminars and presentations? 

     And of course will the insurance folks, the gutter guard people, the picklers, and the chiropractors, be on hand to fill in those once coveted near-the-entrance booths? Only time will tell with how these fly fishing shows survive in the future. The truth is now a days people don't have to attend to see and learn as all they have to do is turn on the computer to be in the know. And spending time and money to see someone? Well these days you can get a hold of everyone, including the big guns, just by running a social media post by them or dropping them an email or a text. 

     Our legends of the game are aging out and passing along and the mid-aged talent is busy with careers and family and can't commit. What's left are the rest who may have some skills but are unknown and relatively new to the game, and no one is driving or spending money to see them. 

     It's a 4-1/2 drive from Bluffton, South Carolina to Asheville, North Carolina so maybe I'll make it an overnighter and bring Theresa along for the ride. We've never been out that way and then maybe I'll be able to say I was there for the first year the FLOW Fest Expo opened it's doors. 

08.12.26 Good to get out and do some real work...

     While it was nice to say good-bye to all the work that went along with the ex-house in Titusville there's a part of it that I miss. I miss the sweat and playing with tools and sounds of my lawn mower, trimmer, and leaf blower, well at least I think I do. I think what I miss is the physical activity and tiredness that went along with it all. Not having to do it is nice, but when I want to go out and play in the dirt and it's not there I'm kinda left with an empty feeling.

     So as we continue setting up the new place in Cape May, and going though stuff from the old place down here, and stuff we dragged down from Titusville, I took the opportunity to do some much needed preventive maintenance. That meant I could use my new telescoping ladder, some hand tools, and my pressure washer. Hey, I wasn't building an addition but it was fun to break a real sweat again.

     These Park Model homes, like tiny homes, line the streets at Cape Island Resort. In a way they remind me of the old bungalow lined streets of Shore towns like Keansburg back in it's heyday. Ours was built in 2007 and the previous owners, times two, did the bare minimum as far as upkeep. Connected to these tiny homes are what they call Florida rooms which are basically additions with a hard top with either screens or windows around the outside. While most people focus on decorating and enjoying the space there's lots of work to be done to keep them in good shape.

     Rain and water are killers for these type of structures and most people just caulk and re-caulk the seams over the years. A new friend of ours just hired a roofing guy to slap on roofing gunk which ran her $400. I wasn't having any part of that so I went and purchased roofing tape and covered all the seams. This type of tape is a one-shot product, once it hits something forget it, so applying it is challenging to say the least.

     Then there are the two roof sections. They're covered with asphalt shingles and lucky for me there's two layers. Usually that's a pain but in our case it's a good thing. On the back raised section the last layer has seen its day, well years ago. They say a way to tell if you need a new roof is when the shingles start to curl...well...

...how's that for curling? Luckily the original roof layer is fine but that top one is shot. Between the roof pitch, almost none, and the bake that is has endured they need to go, in fact both layers need to be ripped off and replaced. That same roofing guy who is the roof God at Cape Island get's $3,300 for a new roof on these Park Models, again, not for me. 

     This is an easy job and I think the hardest part would be getting rid of the old shingles. My plan is to lay down a new metal roof which will help with drainage and hold up from the weather. That might be a late fall project or one for next spring.

     The front section is in better condition. It's two layers spend most of the time in the shade and the lichen and moss have called it home for years. While most people would say never power wash a shingle roof I felt okay with it because of the double layers.

     I can't help but wonder if the black socks and shoes are a sign that I'm getting old. I remember seeing old men from back in the day sporting the same get-up, only they had on a white -t-shirt and not a past it's life Columbia fishing shirt. 

    Besides looking horrible all that green stuck between the shingles can't be good for drainage so anything I removed as far as asphalt still was better then it was. After a few hours I was tired but 

did have some sense of accomplishment going on. Then it was off to re-cleaning the windows and replacing the screens, like 30 of them, since they seem to ever have been removed and cleaned. 

     Theresa was busy all day inside and by 330 we were both done and decided to do what locals do down in Cape May away from the tourists and crowds. We hit the Happy Hour at Lucky Bones, had ice cream at Fleck's, and then grabbed Luke and headed to Town Bank to sit in our old Tommy Bahama (yard sale scores) beach chairs and watch the sun set on the Delaware Bay. 

     The big push of crowds seems to lessen down here in August and last night almost felt like it was fall. They say the locals summer begins here after Labor Day but by then we'll be in South Carolina and won't return to Cape May until late September. Luckily we held onto some electric heaters as I'm sure we'll be needing them and some sweatshirts when we return. And when we do I'll be sure to have some kind of fly rod set up in the back of the Suburban.

08.11.16 Got a few new things to play with....

      About a year ago we got fed up with the monthly bleeding that Verizon had been inflicting of us for years. Between the cell phones and internet and cable, along with the bundled house phone we never used, it seemed we were paying about $500 a month, and we had enough. So we went to AT&T to show Verizon, but in the end we still needed Verizon for home internet service. 

     With that we went with Roku and with that and 1,000 options of shows to watch, mostly from the 80's, 90's and 2000's. Local news was there, but it was old news, or so we found. even with Roku we would still need streaming subscriptions to watch anything current, and forget the NFL during the season, which I enjoy watching. Each week, and game to game, each streaming 

service covered a different game, and the only thing that was free, or so it seemed, was the NFL reply, which wasn't in real time. Frustrating it was to say the least. Many suggested You Tube TV, which runs $89 a month, but I wasn't paying that, even if I missed my favorite stuff. 

     Down in Cape May Infinity has a hold, or a monopoly, on internet and cable service here, and that was running about $70 a month. Forget that, so we went without it for the last few years. But now that we're going to be here we need, and would like, to have some serviced watch some TV. So I looked into Starling, a satellite based service run by Space X, one of Elon Musks companies. If he can send people up in space I think he'll be able to get us more reruns of Law and Order. 

     So I ordered Starling and set it up yesterday. I'm horrible with technology but found it user friendly, after it took me an hour to figure out how to download the App. It cost me $55 with no hardware costs that has speed of 100 Mbps which mean nothing to me but from what I've read is fast enough. They also offer a Starling ROAM, which you can take on the road. So my thought is the fixed one will be stay and play at our new home in Sun City and the mobile unit for The Boat House and Cape May. 

      With the Roam option I'll need to buy the mini-kit starter set for $199 and then pay $55 a month. There's an option to put it on hold but I'm not all up on what that service offers or requires. But to sit in The Boat House and watch a game or be able to surf the internet, watch TV, and write this blog while in Cape May seems like a good option. We'll see. For some reason I just like the idea of not having to pay the big internet and cable providers another dollar of my money, but in the end we're just giving to Elon, who has plenty of his own.

     And then just for fun I went and ordered a starter drone set up from Amazon. These can get pricey so I saw one, did a little research, and pulled the trigger. This one seems to provide what I

need which is the ability to control it from my iPhone, take some pictures, have it follow me, and then return to my location. I'm sure it's not all that durable, and definitely doesn't swim, so I'll try and take it easy. No doubt it'll find it's way it to some drink somewhere but it's a good drone to wet (no pun intended) my feet with. 

     The imagery and videos from the drones over schooling redfish in the Lowcountry is impressive. By the time I get back south and into any kind of fishing mode the waters will start to cool and it will go from a flood to low tide fishery. They say in the cooler months the reds school up in the estuaries seeking warmer water temps and can be found at the creek mouths. Even if I'm not on the water any time soon it'll be a great tool to learn the water and scout locations. 

     Hunting for fish and especially sight fishing for them is my favorite way to fly fish. I'm not a fan of blind casting, as you know, and a days fishing, well hunting, for many hours with few casts is still a good day to me. 

08.10.26 The numbers are there but we slipped in the rankings...

     For a while there I was keeping track of how this blog did against other fly fishing blogs around the world. We hit a high coming in at #23 back in 2024 but a recent check shows we've slipped 

down to #53. What's funny is is took 15 years to get to 1,000,000 viewers and in the last two it's grown to over 2,100,000.

     In the end it all doesn't matter because this blog generates zero monetarily. This blog always was in the shadows of Jeff Currier's blog and he's now at #46, where he used to come in around #20. I wonder if the algorithms have changed which has altered the rankings or people just don't want to read about teaching nursing school or downsizing and moving to South Carolina. 

     What's cool with Blogspot is I can check out several stats in real time each day. I can see how many views per day, what hours are the busiest, and even what parts of the world the people who

view it come from. who would have thought that people from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and South Africa come here to check out how the striped bass bite has been in the Delaware River or what Piece of Cake moving did with our stuff. 

     For some viewers this blog is almost like a daily, or bi-weekly, newspaper. They click on it to see what's up or to read about whatever I might be ranting about on any given day. Hopefully soon it'll be more about fly fishing the Lowcountry with some spring Jersey striped bass fishing mixed in. As we find our new-life normal, which will include annual stop and plops in South Carolina and New Jersey, we're looking now at where we might be next year. I can definitely see 

us coming back up in May which will mean I'll be able to fish the Delaware Bay and River during the spring run. And of course there's no way I'm missing that annual trip up to the Vineyard. How cool would it be to have the skiff up there, but I don't think it would be worth trailering it up that far for a week, but you never know. 

     I wish someone would buy this blog, or hire me to write theirs. people say I could load this blog up with ads and be able to get paid for all the work it takes to pen this several times, if not everyday, a week. People have also suggested a subscription, say $10 a year, which would be great if you times that by the number of actual readers versus page views. 5,000 people x $10 would come out to $50,000, which would be great. Throw in some guiding money when I get dialed in down there and I could see this actually kinda being like a job I'd like to do. I just have to figure out if my readers in Saudi Arabia and Russia (look at the breakdown above) have Venmo or PayPal to pay for the ability to click on this subscription only blog.  

08.09.26 I'll be ready for next year...

     Well that's a wrap for the 2026 Lowcountry Tarpon Open. Next year I'll have to plan to be down in South Carolina the first week of August to throw my hat in the tournament and give it a shot. Above are the winners following the two-day tournament but I haven't seen how those in the fly division made out. Southern Drawl Outfitters, who hosted the event, posted that they had tough weather on day two. 

     We're about two weeks away from heading south and beginning the move in process after the contractors have been busy doing some work while the house is empty. Things are going, but slow, here in Cape May, as we set up home here split between decorating, donating, and continuing the purging process. There's always a yard sale, a Happy Hour, or a nap to hit in between the work. 

     Finding our new normal will take some time to get used to but so far so good. 

08.08.26 Just checking out the leader board....

     So it looks like after day one of the Lowcountry Tarpon Open six tarpon were caught. One thing I've come to learn about fly fishing in some tournaments for some kinds of fish is that leader releases count as a caught fish. As long as the guide or the angler has their hand on the leader and can control the fish that counts. I believe that's done for billfish as well.

     Years ago it was all kill tournaments, for species like tarpon, bonefish, permit and striped bass. I was never a fan of tournaments especially for species that were not doing well, like where that overfishing and overfished designation from the ASMFC comes in. I got skewered online when I questioned if a tournament on the Delaware River made sense when the numbers of bass were in the tank and regulations were changed to protect the spawning bass, which is what those tournaments would be targeting. 

     I checked out the rules for the Lowcountry Tarpon Open online. There is a separate category for fly only with specific rules. So the way I get it there's an overall division, which both bait and fly anglers can win, and then a fly only division. 

     There are some big name tarpon tournaments that are held down Florida through the Keys and then up to Sarasota and into Louisiana. While the push, through organizations like the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, is to have all tournaments go catch and release there are still kill tournaments out there, like Louisiana's International Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo.   

     Above is angler Guy Cenac with a 208 pound tarpon taken during the 2018 Rodeo. A 200 pound tarpon is about 30 years old and is basically inedible. I mean you could eat it if you were stranded on a desert island with the other choice sawing off your own foot and grilling it, but for most they don't eat them. It's sad these kill tournaments remove fish from the biomass for prizes and chest thumping. It's not illegal, but it's just not good. 

   

     One of the most prestigious fly fishing only tournaments is the Gold Cup held each year down in Islamorada, Florida. I'm not much in the know of tarpon and tournaments but have listened about both on the Mill House Podcast I spoke about yesterday. The field in this tournament is limited to 25 anglers. This years winner was Captain Rob Fordyce and angler Julian Robertson who crushed the competition with an all-time weight fish of 176.5 pounds. If you've never listened you can check out Fordyce with Andy HERE.