So I’ve been away from the salt for a little while. Since the last time I wrote I’ve been on the kayak, scared some small tarpon, hooked four of them, landed three. The cost was one smart phone (on a side note, the life proof works… I watched the screen sink into the darkness a…. far out of reach), and one 10 wt. rod; covered by the warrantee, since repaired and back in action (thanks TFO). All things considered, a pretty good summer.

As of late, I’ve been tracking down peacock bass in the canals up in Broward County.   While they are not the silver kings of the flats, the bass are an exciting fish. Where I fish, I sightfish and the peacocks make for some exciting angling. They attack my green, yellow and orange Clouser minnows, and dive and jump with the vigor of much larger fish. Provides for a good time, especially because I can use my beat up bike as my skiff, and make the short ride from my house to the fishing.

Now that said, I’ve met some folks out on the peacock trail who talk of a school of tarpon trapped back in the canals out this way. These fish are said to be 80 pounds or more. They are rumored to be uncatchable, crafty fish isolated in the back areas of one of the more remote canals. THIS, my friends, is the stuff of fishing legend. A school of big tarpon lost to the world, rolling in some hidden location, shrouded in mystery. It’s this type of story that energizes me. A chance to explore new waters, seeking a legendary school of big tarpon, a chance to be like Indiana Jones, breaking through the jungle to find the idol. Is the story true? Will the fish be there? Where is there? Questions yet to be answered, but chasing after a fishing El Dorado, exploring new locations with the anticipation of big, exciting fish, that, for me anyway, is one of the many things I love about fishing.