A Big Tarpon & Speck in Chesapeake Bay (Aug 5, 2017)

[Grilled]

I've only heard of Tarpon being caught on the VA eastern shore where most ppl keep hush hush about it. Great catch Joe.

[baitball]

Cobia and Tarpon in the same year!!!??? You sure you aren't in Florida? :-)

j/k Joe - phenomenal catch, congratulations!

[Big Mike]

Tarpon wrestling should be in the next Olympics. Great story. How many and how large were the specks you ended up with?

[JohnE]

I checked the journal back to 2006. Nothing reported on western side VA. Closest I saw was Smith island. There was actually one reported all the way up at Cobb island in 2006. All the rest were stated to have been caught around oyster or other side of ES around the barrier islands. Yours could very well be first ever reported on western side...and caught by kayak!
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[mytmouse]

That's amazing... I've heard murmurs of people catching them in the bay but NEVER seen evidence! That's crazy! Congrats Joe! I wanna be like you when I grow up!

[ictalurus]

Congratulations! That is fantastic. Just catching a mess of specks like that was pretty awesome, but the tarpon is over the top. Seeing you holding it at the end of the video made my day.

[ComeOnFish]

I have never landed a big tarpon...had dozens on...and off...and on and off...little ones don't count...kinda like bull reds and puppy drum..super catch...especially on how rare these big fish are in the Bay- and on the western shore that far north- used to be the eastern shore around Oyster was thought to be their only Virgina habitat...congratulations, Joe..you and those Mirro-lures...trolling no less...love watching you catch speck in Owl's Creek with them...

I hooked 3 tarpons at 100-150 LB from guide boats using live baits. Never landed one. Once loosing a tarpon, we had to move to a new location because after all those splashes, we couldn't even cast-net the bait fish.

I always had bad luck. But not this time. The tarpon was handed over to me on a silver platter.

Joe

[ComeOnFish]

I've only heard of Tarpon being caught on the VA eastern shore where most ppl keep hush hush about it. Great catch Joe.

I think I will fish the same marsh again for sight-casting for tarpon on a calm day. I think I will get a couple of tarpon lures. I think I can use my spinning rod and reel combo for cobia for tarpon sight-casting.

Joe

[ronaultmtd]

Get you some live blue crabs, break off the pincher claws, hook it on a 8/0 circle hook through the last swimming leg socket and rig it under a popping cork about 3' deep on 80-100 mono or florocarbon leader and cast it in front of the fish...that is what we did on the flats in the Keys...something about a frisky crab trying to get away that triggers the bite...

[ComeOnFish]

You could look through the citation logs back over time to see if any have ever been caught up there. There are already two tarpon for 2017 that have been "reported" from the Eastern Shore side of the Chesapeake. But much further south then yours.

You should apply for a citation too.

Congrats again man!

I have a short video footage of kayak paddle and the tarpon. The video footage wasn't intended when I measured the tarpon using the paddle. The video was already on that time . I have a 240 CM Bending Branch paddle with ruler in the middle (up to 40"). The tarpon was between the paddle tip and 4" mark on the paddle . The tarpon was about 63" long. The estimated weight was 110- 120 LB.

I am wondering if the video footage can be a proof for the length. The video doesn't show the entire tarpon and the paddle. The video starts from the tail (paddle tip), body, and ends with the head (4" mark on the paddle)
I will be fishing the same water this Saturday. I am going to talk with the marina owner to see if he can be the witness because We talked about the 4" mark for the Tarpon length that day. I can show him the video.

Joe

[Hemingway]

I don't believe there's any size requirement for Tarpon in the state of Virginia any Tarpon caught probably qualifies for a citation

[JohnE]

It was 36" min for release citation and they allow estimated length for tarpon if you want to submit papers.
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[mchottie]

Congrats Joe! You are becoming a FISHING LEGEND!

[MetroMan]

Impressive! Congrats!!