Bluefin trevally are in the Carangidae Family and the most strikingly beautiful member of all the trevally and Jack species (Caranx). Immature examples haven’t developed spots yet and their coloration only a harbinger of what it eventually becomes. It’s a silvery shade with yellow hues. When mature, their pigmentation blossoms with electric blue spots and lines numerous and vivid. Mature bluefin are exquisitely adorned with liquid blue turquoise backs lightening on its flanks to bluish silver with greenish hues. Above their distinctive lateral line small striking black and blue spots and lines dominate. These colors pulsate when excited, much like a mahi-mahi, displaying one of nature’s most extraordinary creatures. For adults their coloration most easily distinguishes them from other jacks and trevally. In body shape, they’re similar with oblong, compressed bodies. Their snouts are more tapered than the steep, blunt heads other trevallies have. In juveniles, this pointy snout easily distinguishes them from its many relatives. They’ve canine-like teeth in their upper, outer jaw with a row of smaller teeth inside the canines. The teeth of the lower jaw are different, containing a single row of conical teeth with gaps between them. Their deeply forked, powerful caudal fin and other fins are cobalt or electric blue. They’ve a double dorsal fin, the first short, the second high and elongated. The pectoral fins are falcate, being longer than the head length. Its tail is edged in black, its prominent anterior lobes, pectoral, and anal fins tipped in white.

These good-sized fish are documented to reach 46 inches and weigh 95.9 lbs. but rare over 31 inches. The largest I’ve witnessed were at Corcovado National Seashore and were 36 to 38 inches and 30 lbs. My guide, a pro for 20 years, offered he had seen larger specimens to 37 lbs. The IGFA All Tackle record in 1997 is 26 lb. 7 oz. at Clipperton Island in the Pacific. The IGFA Fly Rod record in 1997 is 18 lb. 9 oz. also at Clipperton Island. They have large, somewhat recessed, eyes that are distinctive and serve them well in low light conditions. Their foreheads slope steeply giving them a distinctive look. Their close cousin, the giant trevally, has a more rounded head similar to other trevallies, like the big eye, and other jacks. Bluefin mature at 2 years and males get slightly larger than females. Scientists attribute a 12 year life span, but the native professional guides and commercial fishermen I interviewed seemed sure that 18 - 20 years was right. They reported the really big examples were in deeper water further offshore and were seldom caught nor did they try to catch them. Generally BFT are highly sought after by native fishermen in their range and by larger commercial vessels. Their decimation has occurred in areas of deeper water like Hawaii where they can be fished for with nets. They are a prime candidate for aquaculture and successful efforts to have them spawn in captivity have been achieved in the Pacific. They are prodigious spawners in the wild, capable of spawning eight or more times in a year (serial spawners). Their spawning peaks differ significantly by location, but are always at night to protect the eggs. Reproduction near Hawaiian and Polynesian waters peak between April and November while fish off eastern African favor September to March. As aggregation spawners, they attract related species that spawn contemporaneously with them. Tragically, with numbers severely depressed in Hawaiian waters, some hybridizing has been reported between BFT and GT and also Jacks. I believe BFT are slightly tougher fighters, pound-per-pound than their larger GT relative. In fighting spirit and heart they compare very favorably with other Caranx. Their flesh is usually preferred over other trevally and jacks throughout their range. In spite of their popularity as a favorite table fare, there’re numerous cases of ciguatera poisoning associated with large specimens.

BFT inhabit some of the most exotic beaches on earth. Along with GT, they’re found off pristine, uninhabited South Pacific islands. They’re widely distributed in the Indio - Pacific and associated with coral reefs and atolls. They occur in sub-tropical and tropical waters of the eastern Pacific from Cabo San Lucas to the Columbia-Panama border and occasionally to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. It is a fairly common species in the South Sea Islands, Queensland, Australia coast, Micronesia, Japan, the east African coast to India, Indonesia and New Guinea. BFT are prodigious spawners. It’s renowned for its abundant numbers of juveniles inhabiting Okinawa Bay, Japan, and nearby waters in September. These Asian waters are the northern extreme of their range, at least in large numbers.

BFT prefer slightly deeper water than their bigger cousin the GT that you can commonly see while walking the beaches or silhouetted in a Bombora wave. However, bluefin can and do hunt right on the beach in almost no water where giants do not often venture, to my knowledge. The exception is when a Bombora (a large wave that washes over a coral outcropping, rock shelf or spit of sand) deposits the GT in really skinny water. That is not to say that both fish are commonly seen while walking along an undisturbed beach. BFT and GT are temperature sensitive and prefer water temperatures of 80°F. Much of their prey exists in this temperature range. This may explain both species leaving their home range to hunt in the coastal shallows at dusk and dawn as shallows cool from the mid-day penetrating rays from a high sun.

Offshore, adults stake out a patch of coral reef, or drop-off. They define its boundaries and patrol their territory but as dusk approaches leave to hunt the shallows. They hunt alone or temporarily in small groups up to 20. They interact with other BFT and species such as roosterfish, Jack crevalle in herding and attacking baitfish. They’ve menu is diverse including: fish; crustaceans like lobsters, shrimp and crabs; cephalopods like octopus and squid. Inshore they inhabit varied habitats from grass meadow, lagoons, tidal flats, and estuarine waters.

BFT enter shallow habitats on the rising tide and leave on the outgoing. They require a high degree of salinity and don’t ascend tidal rivers very far. BFT tolerate the least brackish water of the carangids. Their salinity range is 6 - 35% and their stay in low saline waters is a short one, if at all. I’ve taken them at lagoons mouths over hours when baitfish abundant, only to have them suddenly disappear on the outgoing as the concentration of freshwater increased. The only rational to justify this behavior was displeasure over increasingly brackish water. At Crocodile Bay I’ve taken one after another at Matapolo Rock along with other species and move two hundred yards further into Golfo Dulce and continue catching everything except BFT. A favorite on shore fishing locations is a remote saltwater lagoon near Carate, Costa Rica. It holds saltwater crocodiles and an array of gamefish entering on the flood tide to seek out the forage species nurtured in the mangroves. Many species thrive there, even occasionally a roosterfish, but never trevally. Often fish get trapped there for hours, days, and sometimes months. They survive nicely, but a BFT wouldn’t as the water becomes brackish when the lagoon’s entrance is blocked. When spawning bluefin migrate and are drawn to a naturally occurring chemical DMSP (dimethyl lsulfoniopropionate) produced by marine algae and coral reefs. Somehow bluefin anticipate this release gathering in aggregations in the thousands south of Palau, Micronesia. Similarly they’re drawn to the Coral Sea, other archipelagos in Micronesia, the Andaman and Nicobar Island Archipelagos in the Bay of Bengal. Anglers report the aggregation at Palau during the new moon in April and a sight to behold. This is one trip on my bucket list.

As BFT mature they abandon schooling characteristics, becoming more solitary. They still favor shallow water and move in schools of varying sizes proportionate with age. They prefer habitat like rocky shorelines, shallow reefs, and mounts. Large solitary adults frequently inhabit offshore reefs and hunt territories with definitive boundaries. When hunting, they cruise just above the bottom, but are easily attracted to the surface. As thick-bodied predators, they shouldn’t swim in very shallow water, but I have seen them on sand beaches with their backs out of water attacking baitfish trapped on the sand, much like a striped bass would do. The BFT were swimming on their side eating the baitfish trying to find sanctuary on the sand.

They feed 24/7 on reefs and their home range usually in deeper water in daylight hours. At dawn and dusk they migrate to the shallows on a regular daily pattern. They are available to the sight fishermen at these times. They don’t venture onto extreme shallow flats that attract bonefish. Its unlikely adults would venture far onto flats less than three feet deep very often. They travel with other species, such as bigeye trevally, jack crevalle, and roosterfish. They’ll shadow large rays and sharks and, in opportune moments, steal from them. They’re fearless hunters aggressively feeding amongst large predators including sharks. In fact, they’ll travel with large sharks, using them as cover from which to ambush prey. In Hawaii they’ll do the same with monk seals. This behavior doesn’t qualify as a symbiotic relationship, however, as it brings no known benefit to the shark or seal. They are serial spawners capable of spawning up to eight times in a year and laying up to 6 million eggs. Spawning times vary within its range but are always triggered by specific lunar cycles. BFT are known to intermingle with other Caranx including GT. In fact, hybrids between BFT and GT and with jacks as well, are known. The primary difference in behavior and habitat between BFT and GT is bluefin are the least tolerant of fresh and turbid water, while GT the most tolerant of fresh water and seek out turbid water until they attain sufficient age and their maximum size. At that time they venture offshore to deeper reefs and other structures.

I have witnessed BFT hunt schools and balls of baitfish at Corcovado, Garza in Costa next to the “Pink Beach” and off Coiba Island. In each instance there were only a handful of bluefin, and at Corcovado two large roosterfish were in charge. Their strategy was the same in each instance where sardines were herded together next to the shoreline. The BFT leisurely swam and the sardine mass separated for them. When near the offshore periphery of the school, they suddenly charged the bait ball, panicking them to flee in every direction the bluefin quickly after them. After 10 minutes of watching at the Pink Beach I cast a Bigeye Deceiver to the edge of the bait ball and took a nice bluefin. The Pink Beach is sand and easy to approach the fish and maneuver the skiff with no danger of rocks or coral in the surf. At Coiba and Corcovado there were many large boulders near and we couldn’t safely maneuver into position to cast. A spin or bait-casting fisherman would have had no such obstacle. The two big roosterfish at Corcovado disappeared shortly after we saw them and much more wary than the unflappable bluefin. Studies have shown BFT are extremely efficient predators, at the top of predators in their range.

This is the bull dog of the ocean; giant trevally is at the top of the food chain, an apex predator throughout its range. Seeing a GT attack in shallow water is breathtaking, and intimidating to the faint of heart. Catching one on light tackle is thrilling. GT are the largest of the eight Caranx species inhabiting the Indio-Pacific Oceans. It’s the 5th largest member of the family Carangidae and most numerous. It’s closely related to bluefin trevally, but drab in comparison. They reach six feet and 176 lbs. and possibly over 200, and live 25 years. The IGFA All Tackle record is 145 lb. 8 oz. for a GT, 3/28/199, Makena, Maui, Hawaii. The IGFA Fly Rod record, 77 lb. 9 oz., Kure Atoll, Pacific Ocean, 7/5/ 2001. Huge GT are rarely seen outside Hawaiian waters where the largest specimens are found regularly exceeding 100 lbs. The Hawaii GT population is sharply depressed and conservation measures anticipated. New areas for fish exceeding 100 lbs. include: Midway, Bugatti Reefs and New Caledonia.

GT’s body shape is similar to BFT being elongated, oval shaped and compressed with huge caudal and pectoral fins. Their generous tails are sharply forked, cycle shaped with distinctive, sloped and blunt-shaped heads. Their eyes are incredible. They’re large, deep set with an adipose eyelid and a horizontal streak in which “ganglion and photoreceptor cell densities” are significantly greater than in the remainder of the eye. Scientists attribute panoramic vision to GT resulting from this superior evolutionary attribute. Their visual acuity advantage negates the necessity to constantly move and adjust their eye and enhances visual detection of forage species or potential enemies in a wide field of view.

If BFT are the most visually striking of the Caranx family, GT are the ugly duckling. An adult male is a tough, fearless customer. What he lacks in physical appearance is made up for in physical prowess. Juveniles below 50 cm are greyish silver with a clearly visible lateral line. Fins are dusky yellow and occasionally carry dark spots. Their backs, upper body, and fins are darker and their pectoral fins falcate, longer than its head length. It has powerful canine type teeth in the upper jaw and with smaller teeth behind them. The lower jaw consists of a single row of conical shaped teeth, the two in the middle prominent, with varying spaces between them. GT reach maturity at 3 years and 14” for males and 12” for hens. Above 20” they display sexual dimorphism where males turn dark, even dusky black, and females comparatively pale, being silver/grey. In both cases, they’re drab compared to many of their kin.

All trevally are quick predators with GT and BFT probably the fastest. Powerful caudal fin scutes accent their huge tails. Their tailfin denotes speed and is outsized even for the Caranx family. Each trevally attains speeds in excess of 35 mph and for their size and shape, are surprisingly nimble, capable of eluding swift sharks, even in close quarters, and fast enough to run down and eat even young dolphin (mammals).

GT inhabit some of the earth’s most beautiful and exotic vistas, the South Seas a good example. Much of the GT range overlaps with the BFT. GT more numerous within their range, but bluefin having a broader range. Being tolerant of brackish water provides GT more diverse habitat than the saline-dependent BFT. GT don’t exist east of Hawaii nor along the Mesoamerican coastline from Baja to Ecuador and the Galapagos, where BFT thrive. GT inhabit the tropical Indo-Pacific, from Japan south to Australia, South Africa in the west and Hawaii in the east.

Normally thick bodied fish are precluded from shallow water. In a strange anatomic evolutionary development, you would think they might have more of a bonefish shape. However, GT are undaunted and a common sight cruising the shallows. They like rough water near shore and bombora waves, preferring shallower water even than BFT. In many aspects, GT habitat resembles that of the snook family with a wide range of marine environments, especially tidal rivers and estuarine habitat as juveniles. As adults they’re solitary and offshore minded, seeking shallow reefs, atolls, and slopes. They declare a central home “range” and do much of their hunting there. Even with a core range GT travel miles in every direction every day investigating and exploiting favorable adjacent habitat. Generally, adults hunt alone but occasionally in small groups of 2 - 5 to herd baitfish. They form spawning aggregates over reefs and estuarine habitat at specific times in the lunar cycle. Their spawning peak varies with temperature throughout their range. GT are the king, or more aptly, the queen of their domain and fearless. They eat about anything with forage fish their primary staple, but also eat crustaceans, cephalopods, and molluscs, particularly where the latter flourish. They’ve been documented eating adult lobsters in a defensive posture, head first. It’s disconcerting that their main habitat, coral reefs, are threatened and becoming increasingly rare. In some areas where coral reefs are disappearing, trevally species are in steep decline. The crucial coral reef habitat loss will not only affect GT and BFT but a host of other species.

GT exploit every aspect of their habitat except deep water. They don’t venture more than 300 ft. deep. In fact, much of their time is spent in water less than 5 ft. GT prefer sweet water above any other trevally. Juveniles thrive in tidal rivers and other brackish estuarine environments. Adults move offshore to reefs and atolls but aren’t adverse to visiting tidal rivers and brackish embayment’s. Mature specimens patrol and defend their core hunting territory daily. They’ll regularly venture within 5 - 10 km in any direction. Daily at dawn and dusk they visit shallow headlands, bombora, and the like. Adults are solitary only schooling during spawning aggregations and infrequently join other GT in herding baitfish. Their only enemies are mankind and at some shark species as juveniles. Adult GT exhibit no fear of sharks. There’re known to steal from shark kills, swim with them and attack forage fish with them. This is one aggressive kick-ass predator documented to savagely attack even large sharks. Witnesses ascribe a medium/large GT repeatedly head butting two black tip reef sharks over 100 times until both sharks succumbed. Its dirty work complete a native speared the GT and recovered both black tips. The GT suffered serious head injuries, its bony head structure exposed. The sharks’ major internal organs were crushed. The larger shark was 7 ft. Another report spoke of a fairly large GT repeatedly attacking a 10 ft. tiger shark by head butting it slightly above its pectoral fin. The GT avoided repeated counterattacks and recuperated by hovering above the shark, then resuming its attack. The tiger was killed and sank to the bottom.

GT form spawning aggregations throughout their range. Spawning is always associated with specific lunar stages and peaks vary throughout their range between May and August. They form aggregations with other Caranx, including BFT and hybridization is known.

A fertile silver female breaks from the melee while several black males attend her spreading of eggs over sandy bottoms and eject their sperm. Eggs are transparent and pelagic. They’re multiple spawners each year. Females produce thousands of eggs per episode and repeat this several times during each explicit spawn. Eggs float with the currents away from the reefs in a pelagic existence until large enough to determine their individual direction then seek estuarine habitat.

GT vary significantly within their range when they spawn and what and when they eat. This is particularly true at their range extremities. In subtropical waters near Hong Kong, temperatures are cooler and GT nocturnal feeders. In South Africa’s Pacific waters, they’re primarily daytime feeders and eat more lobsters, squid, octopus, mantis shrimp, and eels. This opportunistic exploitive tendency serves to expand forage opportunities. In cooler climes, their mainstay baitfish leave for warmer water and more tolerant burrowing types remain to be exploited. When they feed is influenced by when their prey are available using darkness to cover their feeding. This area cries out for research. The fact remains that what they eat in one area they won’t touch in another, so you have to determine what their preferred forage is where you’re fishing. GT are one of our strongest, most versatile gamefish, remarkably adaptive. The only limiting factor to their dramatically increasing their range is temperature.

Tarpon are thick bodied muscle-bound gamefish that can ruin fishing gear, human muscle, bone and spirit. They’re an ancient species existing virtually unchanged for 125 million years. They’re one of the oldest surviving species of all the fish. A primitive fish, their incredible design allows existence in fresh, brackish and salt water. They’re related to bonefish and wonderful miniature tarpon-like ladyfish. They can gulp air. I’ve seen them trapped in stagnant sloughs and overflow pools with no outlet and little oxygen where probably no other fish could survive. I think they could survive in a mud puddle. Their outer appearance is a bright silver fish adorned in armor as they’re covered in large, bright, distinctive scales whose size and rings indicate size and age. Females grow larger and live longer than males. Tagging studies indicate lengths to 8 feet and weights of 300 lbs. and lifespan averaging of 55 years in the wild. In captivity one was documented reaching 63 years. The IGFA All Tackle record, 286 lb. 9 oz., Guinee Bassau, Africa, 3/20/03. The fly rod record, 202 lb. 8 oz., 5/11/01, Chassahowitza, Florida.

Their body is aerodynamic, exuding a muscular frame and deeply forked tail capable of producing speed and contortionist jump to 12 feet. They’ve huge gill plates, cavernous undercut mouths and jaws with bony plates and hinges that point outward and upward. Their large, yellow-black eyes allow clear night vision for nocturnal feeding. Their teeth are insignificant; a bony plate atop their throat a crusher/grinder. Smaller tarpon can be lipped much as a black bass. Juveniles reflect yellow/ brown hues from brackish, tannic acid stained swamps and lagoons. Their backs are blue or greenish to brown/black, with flanks and underbelly brilliant silver. The dorsal fins have 12 to 16 soft rays, the last extremely long.

Tarpon are prolific spawners. Large females produce over 12 million eggs. After hatching the eggs drift inshore entering a primitive leptocephalus stage like their close relatives, bonefish, ladyfish and eels. Larvae look primitive eel-like creatures and transparent with copious fangs. They undergo metamorphosis, losing half their size, but soon develop into more recognizable miniature tarpon. They reach sexual maturity in six or seven years and four feet. Mature tarpon have few enemies but fall prey to sharks, barracuda, dolphins and an occasional alligator, crocodile or caiman.

Until recently tarpon only inhabited the Western Atlantic from occasionally as far north as Nova Scotia south to Brazil. They’re common in the Gulf and Caribbean. They’re highly migratory in a circular pattern from the eastern Bahamas, south of Cuba to Central America, Mexico and Gulf. Primarily a near shore fish, although they will venture offshore to spawn. Juveniles live in or near mangrove forests for protection and exploiting forage species inhabiting this rich nursery.

Tarpon are most common in Florida, Gulf and Caribbean waters, and frequently are found in brackish backwaters and tidal rivers. They gulp air from the surface into their air bladder, and exist in stagnant waters where other predators can’t survive. In their circular migration pattern they receive a respite from incessant angler pressure south of Cuba as Avalon Fishing and Diving feature catch and release fly fishing from a dozen skiffs over 800 miles of water. They arrive in Central America and Florida in late spring, and then spread throughout the Caribbean. Tarpon now occur in the Pacific and are spawning there. I photographed a school with good friend Dr. Jeff Simpson near the tiny hamlet of Carate at Corcovado National Park’s southern boundary in 2002. It was a memorable day as we also witnessed a rare bird sighting. From a few hundred yards offshore, one tree above Carate seemed like a fire maple at the peak New England foliage season. Closer examination revealed it to be hundreds of endangered Scarlet Macaws in an almond tree. In 2003 I caught a tarpon while rooster fishing at the mouth of the El Tigre River in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica. This was the second taken there. In 1999 or 2000 I saw tarpon in Pacific Panama’s Golfo de Chiriqui shallows. Locals said they’ve grown in numbers for several years. CBL Fishing Director Todd Staley reported the capture of the lodges first doubleheader, trolling Rapala Lures.

Tarpon are drawn to brackish water. Large specimens love to cruise shallow swamp-like areas, edges of mangroves, river fed bays and lagoons, and ascend far up rivers and reside there. In the 1980s I fished for them in Costa Rica’s and Nicaragua’s San Juan River, including the outlet of Lake Nicaragua far inland. This was the route Conquistadors brought New World gold, emeralds and treasure from the conquered from the Pacific to the Caribbean and eventually to Spain. One unforgettable moment fishing the San Juan several hours by boat above Archie Field’s Rio Colorado and Bill Barnes’ Casa Mar fishing lodges, my guide said, “Tom, guerillas!” I quickly replied, “There’re no gorillas in Nicaragua, only monkeys.” Turning, two dozen guerillas stood on the far bank brandishing AK 47s, thankfully pointed down. It was a startling experience. My guide quietly said, “Raise your rod above your head and tell them you’re American.” I whispered back, “Like hell – they’ll kill me!” “No, no – please, do it fast.” I turned, raised my rod and loudly pronounced, “American.” Philippe pointing at me echoed, “American, American.” Philippe eased the skiff upstream, explaining they wouldn’t kill an American as we helped them and the rebels were Contras, not Sandinistas who were communist-backed. He added if an American were killed it was problematic for both sides as military always came to investigate and tried to pinpoint the perpetrators’ camps and forced everyone to change locations and go to ground.

Mature tarpon become solitary, bolder and take to open water more frequently. Look for bird action to lead you to foraging tarpon. Especially pay attention to brown pelicans that, as large birds, prey on larger forage fish. They often indicate mature tarpon who feed on larger fish. Tarpon shadow favored prey species’ migration routes and spawning gatherings. Palolo worms top the list on tarpons’ favorite gastronomic sweets and drive tarpon into a crazed feeding frenzy. Palolo worms hatch every spring and early summer (Oct. – Nov. in the Southern Hemisphere) in tropical coral reefs like the Keys or Jardines, etc., on a low falling tide and waning or new moon. A coral reef pumps out large numbers of worms for days. Palolo worm looks like spaghetti. The hatch commences in the evening in shallow water and floats with a receding tide. In locations like the lower Keys where tarpon are conditioned to be wary from constant pressure, they abandon caution, turning into mindless eating machines.

A tarpon’s swim bladder allows them to gulp air and exist in almost in severely oxygen-depleted water. When captured or frightened they make a rhythmic noise, a series of grunting or thumping sounds. Tarpon teeth are small, generally baitfish are taken down whole. When they find a reliable food source they can adapt their behavior and even their diet to existing conditions like no other. Tarpon are survivors and adaptable to new situations. An example of this is related in a short story written by me for Fly Fish America Magazine years ago.

"Try A French Fry!"

Upon returning at dusk one evening by boat from the Laguna Xlapac in Cozumel where my son Jeff and I had been fishing the flats, our guide pointed to a shoreline restaurant, Las Gaviotas, where lights danced on aquamarine waters. He mentioned that tarpon and permit congregate there at night when the restaurant turns on its lights. Taking his cue, we returned that evening and anchored our boat just beyond the light to behold dozens of shining fish milling in the light. Excited, we saw normally reclusive permit and tarpon readily rising. Repeated casts for an hour produced zero, nothing. You couldn’t catch a fish if you bounced a fly off its head.

“You bathe today, Jeff?” I asked.

“That’s just the skunk in the boat you smell, Dad.”

Constant changes of flies still produced nothing. I was about ready to put a knife in my teeth and dive in. Finally a chase - a strike - a jump - and a thrown hook. Of course! Then we heard a muffled voice cry out from shore, but couldn’t make out the words. Then a loud, “Hey, you! You, the fisherman!”

Looking closely into the lights on the restaurant dock, I saw an old man. He cried out, “Try a French fry!”

“A what?” I asked. “A French fry, or some bread,” he said.

I looked at Jeff; Jeff looked at me. He rolled his eyes. What was this, McDonald’s? But, just then a little girl tossed out a French fry, and sure enough, to our amazement, several fish flashed and a nice tarpon engulfed the fly - er, fry. Several more fries and a couple of pieces of bread were offered to the fish and immediately taken. Shaking my head and looking at Jeff who was laughing, I said, “Guess we don’t have any flies tied in a ‘French fry’ pattern.”

“Yep,” he said, “We need an Idaho deceiver.”

The next night, Jeff and I returned with our Apt Tarpon flies, deceivers, and - you bet, a bag of fries. After the same success as the night before – meaning zippo! We slapped a French fry on a deceiver and WHAM! Of course, you know the rest of the story. We hammered ’em. The skunk abandoned ship and swam for shore. These fish had been fed fries and bread by restaurant patrons for years. In fact, when we started catching fish on the fries, the restaurant owners shut the lights off to protect the fish. The next night, my wife and other family members dined at the restaurant, and when we showed up, the lights again were turned off. The owner stated he didn’t want the fish hurt. My wife looked down at her plate -- at her fish dinner, “It looks like this is the only fish around here that’s been hurt.” She informed him that we gently released all the fish we catch. Reluctantly, he turned the lights back on. So that’s my “tail!” Believe it or not!