TRAILER
Striking Out
FISHING IS ABOUT MORE THAN JUST CATCHING FISH BY LISA DENSMORE
I
’ve had tarpon on the brain since the mid- 1990s when I hosted a national morning show
on Outside TV. At each commercial break, my co-host, fishing legend Andy Mill, thrust pho- tos in my face of the latest titanic tarpon he had landed. He prodded me to forget the brookies in my mountain haunts and get after a “real fish.” Lest you think me a failure at saltwater fish-
ing for my tarpon-less past, over the years, I’ve reeled in bass, bluefin tuna, bonefish, snapper, kingfish and bluefish, but never a tarpon. To remedy the situation, I made a reservation
at the secluded Tarpon Lodge on the northern tip of Pine Island, Florida. The lodge’s name- sake fish purportedly lurked in the weedy, man- grove-speckled flats that extended Gulf-ward from this white-washed angler’s inn. The place felt tarpon-y from the moment I
arrived. Under the glass-topped check-in coun- ter, inkjet prints of smiling anglers with their trophy piscine competed for space with dog- eared Polaroids of similar prizes. A beast of a taxidermied tarpon posed proudly above the same counter, proof of the potential in the wa-
78…KAYAK ANGLER SUMMER/FALL 2013
ters lapping the low stone wall at the edge of the inn’s manicured lawn. The next morning, conditions seemed perfect. No
wind. Calm water. Eighty-degree air. “It’s a good day for fishing,” announced Josh Harvel, my guide, as we launched our Hobie kayaks. We caught lots of fish all right, starting with a pint-
sized redfish that barely budged before tiring. It got worse. The biggest fish of the day was a 14-inch lady- fish! And then there was the puffer. “Got one!” I yelled. As I reached down to remove the
hook, the yellow, mottled thing ballooned to the size of a football. Unable to get a decent grip, it took me a half hour to get the hook out of the darn thing’s mouth. “You’ve sure got some weird fish around here,” I
exclaimed, as the puffer disappeared into the briny shallows. I was more hopeful when the next fish hit with a
thud, only to pull up an undersized hard-headed cat- fish. As I released it, taking care to steer clear of its stinging whiskers, I turned to Josh, exasperated. “Where are the tarpon?” I asked. “This is insanity.”
Realistically, any chance at hooking a tarpon was fad- ing quickly under the midday sun.
“Not today,” Josh shrugged. We began ped-
aling back toward the lodge, now three miles across an azure bay. My mood picked up with each push of the pedals as I reflected on how fortunate I was for the chance to be kayak fish- ing in such a beautiful place. An impudent puffer and an undersized catfish didn’t grant me brag- ging rights, but they’ve provided countless cock- tail party chuckles. In truth, everyone who has caught a tarpon could care less if I do, unless it’s a monster, yet I’ve told my tarpon-less tale of un- dersized oddballs an infinite number of times, which usually leads into a conversation about why I like kayak fishing. I fish for the time on the water, the time with
my friends, the anticipation of a fish striking and the surprise of each fish as it comes to my net. Sometimes the surprise is, well, more surprising than others. An award-winning writer, photographer and
television producer, Lisa Densmore has covered fishing for PBS, VERSUS and Outside TV. She still hasn’t caught a tarpon.
ILLUSTRATION: LORENZO DEL BIANCO
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