ol Al...
No pictures.....and no witness.....so you'll have to take my word for it.
One of my greatest thrills in fishing is to, "do it all myself". I have no guide, so I find the fish alone. I figure my own tides, etc., tie my own fly, rig my own leaders, build up my own rod blank, spot the fish myself, make the presentation and the hookup, and fight the critter while also maneuvering my skiff, lip gaff him, and do the tape-out followed by the release. Since I'm only competing with myself it's strictly a matter of a sense of personal accomplishment.
I purposely avoid actually landing these beautiful grand creatures except for a rare exceptional catch. Otherwise I don't take the fish out of the water. If I can't get the hook out quickly, I just snip the bite tippet. I no longer fish with super light tippets, because the fish get too fatigued that way and become easy prey for sharks which makes the release a sham. In this case I was using a 15# tippet for small/medium tarpon when this monster came in as a surprise. Otherwise, when fishing for large tarpon, I now use 20# class tippets and max pressure.
The idea is to break the tarpon's spirit......not to fatigue him to the point of utter exhaustion. When I do that, the poon is brought to the boat and even turns on his side for hook removal........but then tears off in a hurry once released. No more 15 - 20 minute attempts at revival.
Stu Apte's video on fighting tarpon embodies that principle. He's a master at it.
I'm very much against the idea held by some who search for light tippet records by hooking a fish and "fighting" the creature, "till he dies of old age" out there. I'm guilty of having done that in the past.
On occasion I've lip gaffed a tarpon and brought him on deck because a shark has spotted the fish. I, then, start up the motor and roar off at top speed for a full minute or two......and THEN release the fish a long way from the shark which (hopefully) has left the scene.
Jerry's concept of rhythm and, "dancing" is mirrored in Joan Wulff's choice of words to describe, "casting moves that flow one into another...." on p. 49 of her, FLY CASTING TECHNIQUES", captioned: "IS THAT DANCIN ?"
My pseudo-scientific term to describe yesterday's weather as, "statusthunderstormicus" will never make Webster's dictionary.
Gordy
From: "Allen Crise" <flysoup@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Gordon Hill" <hillshead@xxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: Haul
Date: Wed, 17 May 2006 07:28:31 -0500
Howdy GordyThere you go making words for us, this time to describe the weather....That is an very nice feat of fishing. Congratulations....I think that is non-boasting If you took pictures...Post them..On Jerry dancing. I tell them to play the sweet music much like a violin. 1-2-3 haul, 1-2-3 haul,I guess that is a dance rhythm. making it a 1-2-3 makes the haul late in the stroke.ol Al