Shutterstock / Tomas Kotouc
It’s the beginning of tarpon season here in Florida. The fish are starting to show up in South Florida and will slowly be moving up the West Coast of the state through the Boca Grande Pass and greater Tampa Bay area.
For several months, this region of Florida that I live in (Boca Grande to Tampa Bay) will provide the hottest tarpon fishing in the world and with that comes A LOT of hammerhead sharks. Tarpon are like thick-cut pork belly to hammerhead sharks. They LOVE these fish and they chase them all across the state of Florida in search of a meal.
If you’re not familiar with tarpon they also get pretty damn big. The all-tackle world record for tarpon was a 286-pound fish caught in Rubane, Guinea-Bissau back in 2003. These fish are regularly over 100-pounds which makes for a wonderful meal for sharks…Are you kind of getting my point here? These sharks will do just about anything for a free meal. Here’s a massive hammerhead shark showing up to try and get a free meal right next to the boat:
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For what it’s worth, in this situation you’re supposed to flip open the bail on the reel so the fish can run freely and get away from the shark. It’s already exhausted from the fight and the shark can sense that something’s wrong with the fish and an easy meal is on the horizon. Tarpon are prized game fish. You NEVER keep them. And it’s poor form to let them get eaten by a shark when you can let them go by cutting the line or flipping open the bail…If you’re ever in this situation, that’s what you’re supposed to do.