Big game hunting… ...in a kayak
Last week I wrote about our Newfoundland and Labrador salmon fishing regulations for the soon to begin 2018 season. I voiced my support for Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) decision to restrict retention to just one fish until more data on the 2018 salmon runs is obtained and analyzed. I once again expressed my agreement and confidence in hook and release being a solid and practical conservation mechanism. I expected lots of criticism but no, it didn’t materialize at all, instead I received many messages of support. Folks are concerned about the future of our salmon stocks and want to error on the side of conservation. It is best to proceed with caution is the consensus I think. That is fantastic.
I read a few days ago that salmon licences might not be ready for the June 1 opening of salmon season. They say it’s because of changes to the regulations and the late announcement by DFO of the specifics. I don’t know the exact details, but I do think that information technology and appropriate communication is inadequate and lacking in some department’s court. I think we are operating in the Stone Age when it comes to fishing and hunting licences. This is not Bedrock
Last week I mentioned how easy it is to buy a licence and access regulations here in Florida. Communication and online purchase is a good and convenient thing. Fred Flintstone never had it so good. And it isn’t just Florida. I have bought licences online prior to travel in many countries, including Norway, Argentina, Iceland, and others. We need to get some coding done and get this stuff accessible online for Newfoundlanders and our guests. There’s not much use of fancy tourism ads if folks travel here to fish and can’t buy a licence.
Speaking about Florida and fishing regulations, it’s a good thing they have that app with all
There’s not much use of fancy tourism ads if folks travel here to fish and can’t buy a licence. When a 100-lb plus fish runs there isn’t much chance of stopping him in a hurry. You’d better not get your fingers or toes tangled in that slack line lying in the boat.
the rules, seasons and slot sizes outlined. There are so many species down here, and they really do try and protect them. I have been checked quite a few times by conservation officers and it seems they take their jobs and duty very seriously. Slot size means that there are minimum and maximum measurements to adhere to for various species. Take snook for instance. The retention slot is from 28 to 33 inches in length. Snook shorter than 28 inches must be released, and snook over 33 are also required by law to be released.
Slot sizes are determined by science and research, specific to a given species. In addition to slot sizes for snook, they may be retained in only certain months of the year. The logic of the snook slot is to allow anglers to retain a decent sized fish without taking the best breeders out of the population. The limit is one fish per day in February, March and April, and also from September first to December 14. For the rest of the year it’s hook and release only. I’ve never tasted snook, but I hear it is very good. I’ve caught plenty of them, but only in the hookand-release time frame.
Hunting for tarpon
This morning my buddy Barry Grady and I went hunting for tarpon in a kayak. Tarpon are hook and release only in Florida, not that I’d want to retain a 100-lb. fish anyway. What in heaven’s name would I do with it? I’d need some whopper of a cooler to keep it from spoiling here in the Florida sunshine.
Anyway, the tarpon quest went unfulfilled this morning. There was quite a sea heaving from a strong southerly wind and not many tarpon were showing on the surface chop.
Snagging a tarpon on a fly rod while fishing from a kayak isn’t going to be simple. And that indeed might be the easy part, the hooking I mean, because bringing it to hand is going to be quite a wild ride, literally. Barry hooked an estimated 150-pounder a few years back in Pass a Grill, and it dragged him a couple of miles out into the Gulf of Mexico before he got close enough to pull the hook out. These are very powerful fish and it doesn’t take a whole lot of force to drag a kayak around. That particular fish was hooked using a spinning rod using a pass crab for bait. It doesn’t count in my fly fishing world.
I’ll give you an overview of how we are going about attempting
Snagging a tarpon on a fly rod while fishing from a kayak isn’t going to be simple. And that indeed might be the easy part, the hooking I mean, because bringing it to hand is going to be quite a wild ride, literally.
to set a fly hook into a tarpon’s hard bony mouth. I hooked a few from a motorized flats boat so I got a few clues about the drill. Barry and I know some areas where tarpon are quite concentrated right now. So, we are out there paddling around in our kayaks and trying to get close enough for a decent fly rod shot, say 60 feet or less. The low profile of a kayak angler makes for a stealthy approach. It is very surreal, being close to such a huge fish in a small craft. The fish is nearly as long as the boat, for sure heavier.
Tarpon show on the surface, so we locate them and then try to paddle close, something like open-water seal hunting back home. Then we can either cast where they are rolling or try to sight one swimming in the water. If they are rolling consistently in one area we will spend some time blind casting for them. That is trying to judge where the fish might be and hopefully pass a fly by one’s nose. It a sort of shot-gunning approach. I think one of us will hook up before long. Then the fun will begin.
When a tarpon bites a fly all hell breaks loose. That’s after you stick him good and hard with a solid strip strike. It’s no good to try and set the hook by lifting the rod like we do on trout. A tarpon’s mouth is way too tough for that. You need to jerk the line back hard with your hand, and then whack him again if you can. When a 100-lb plus fish runs there isn’t much chance of stopping him in a hurry. You’d better not get your fingers or toes tangled in that slack line lying in the boat. It’s a sweet sound when the reel begins turning.
So that’s the drill in brief. I’m expecting to get dragged around the gulf for a bit, but you never know, I think it is possible to do this. I always have a knife on the ready to cut the line. I like all my extremities and I have no inclination to visit Mexico by kayak.