Keith Arthur’s
In the end the fish won – and we were splitting our sides
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THIS year marks the 25th anniversary of my first visit to the fabulous Florida Keys.
In that time I have caught literally hundreds of ‘fish of a lifetime’ and, possibly even more satisfying, along with my great mate Roy Marlow I have helped many other anglers make their fishing dreams come true.
One of the most recent ‘shipmates’ to join us is Tom Potts, from Wales. He loves his fishing and has really got into the sport out here. He is also the source of possibly the funniest thing that has ever happened during a trip.
We were tarpon fishing in Key West Harbour when Tom hooked what local guides describe as a ‘moose’. It was truly massive, I’d guess in excess of 150lb.
It made a humongous leap and it was game on.
The spot we were in is by Sunset Key, a playground for the rich and famous, and Tim’s tarpon wanted to join them because it ran straight towards the rock walls of the island and stayed within 10ft of them the whole time.
Next it wanted to go under the island’s pier and eventually made it through the pilings. So what did Tom do? He jumped straight in and swam after it, holding the rod like Excalibur above his head.
The inevitable happened and the line, which had been badly chafed on the pier and rocks, parted. Tom swam back, against the current, handed back his rod
and carried on fishing!
Still, we had some fantastic fish. My favourite of the trip was caught by Harry Warren, an unusual and gorgeous file fish.