© Diane Rome Peebles. Illustration
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Tackle that Tarpon-Record
Information
Florida currently holds 29 world records for tarpon. Of these
records, all of the major fly fishing records have been caught off
of Florida's central west coast in the Homosassa area
In 1982, Billy Pate set a fly fishing record on 16-pound tippet
with a 188-pound tarpon caught off of Homosassa. For the next 19
years, some of the world's best fly fishermen and guides attempted
to break Pate's record and become the first angler to land a tarpon
on fly fishing tackle that was over 200 pounds.
On May 11, 2001, that feat finally happened. Jim Holland Jr.,
guided by Captain Steve Kirkpatrick, caught the first tarpon with
fly fishing equipment over 200 pounds: a 202-pound, 8-ounce tarpon
on 20-pound tippet.
Pate's 16-pound tippet record was broken on May 13, 2003 with a
190-pound, 9-ounce tarpon caught by Tom Evans Jr. Evans was guided
by Captain Al Doparik.
The Florida state record for tarpon caught with conventional
tackle is 243 pounds, caught by Gus Bell in Key West in 1975 on
just 20-pound test line. The guide was Captain Bob West who also
guided two other anglers to Florida records that have since
been broken.
The all-tackle world record (additionally certified as the
80-pound class record) for a giant tarpon is 286-pounds, 9-ounces
caught by Max Domecq in Rubane, Guinea-Bissau, Africa on March 20,
2003.
Records are subject to change at a moment's notice so, for
up-to-date world record information for tarpon and a variety of
other species, visit
http://www.igfa.org/Records/World-Records-Fish-List.aspx?LC=ATR
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