Tarpon fishing season is winding down here in Southwest Florida. You can still catch plenty of tarpon off the beaches from Tampa Bay on down to Boca Grande Pass, but the schools of fish are becoming less predictable and harder to find. The sharks, however, are still around in THICK numbers.
I’m not entirely sure where this video was filmed but based on the color of the water and the fact that they’re tarpon fishing I’ll assume it’s somewhere between Anna Maria Island and Boca Grande Pass.
These bros had technically ‘landed’ the fish by getting their hands on the leader, and then they break tarpon fishing protocol. Typically, when you see a shark in the area you’re supposed to open the bail of the reel and ‘free spool’ the fish, letting it swim freely without fighting the drag of the reel. This gives the fish the opportunity to swim away from the shark. And, instead of cutting the line and leaving the fish with a hook and line hanging out of its mouth this gives the angler the opportunity to finish the fight after the shark has left the area.
Tarpon is the most sought after game fish in the state of Florida. Men spend their entire lives in pursuit of the ‘Silver King’. It’s not 100% clear whether or not these men kept the tarpon on the line to watch it get eaten by those sharks, but when that dude yells out ‘film it! film it!’ I’m inclined to think that they kept that fish on the line for a reason. If that was the case it’s not cool at all, but I’m also inclined to give these guys the benefit of the doubt and say that they were already filming when the shark showed up out of nowhere, and they were filming to document the catch. It’s also possible they got caught up in the moment…I won’t judge without knowing the whole story.