On the Line

Don't Feed your Fish to Fish

by Mike Conner, Editor-in-Chief

Predation in oceans, rivers, lakes and streams is a fact of life, or death, as the case may be. It is the rare angler who has not witnessed large apex predators, such as sharks and porpoises, or alligators in fresh waters, home in on the scene where he or she is catching fish. Like it or not, an appreciable number of released fish, and even fish locked in battle with an angler, fall prey to something bigger and badder higher on the food chain.

So, what to do when this happens? Keep hooking fish and hope for the best? Or, elect to stop fishing when and where the chances of your catch being "lunched" (particularly those that you plan to release, or must release due to regulations) are high?

Yesterday, I was fishing the surf near my hometown in Stuart, Florida. The surf is chock-a-block with juvie bay anchovies right now. There is a brown ribbon against the sand for miles, hugging the beach to escape the jacks, Spanish macks, blue runners, snook, and small and large tarpon feasting on the numbers. And, there are lots of big sharks, blacktips and menacing bull sharks in particular.

At one point, I cast a streamer fly to a rolling 30- pound tarpon, only to have it grabbed by a chunky ladyfish--naturally, right?  As the ladyfish struggled, the tarpon turned and attempted to eat the lady. The ladyfish jumped off, the tarpon slowed, but then panicked and shot out of there.

 "What spooked that 'poon?" I wondered aloud, until an 8-foot bull shark surged ahead right on that tarpon's tail. I doubt the shark caught the tarpon, but had I hooked the tarpon, the shark had an easy meal.

In the next ten minutes, I spotted at least a half-dozen more, cruising the same lane outside the minnows where the tarpon were. It was obvious what they were after. I stashed my fly rod at that point. Though I came to primarily jump tarpon on fly, I have no desire to feed tarpon to the sharks, as way too many anglers do, though not purposely in places such as Florida's Boca Grande Pass.

I wish every angler would make this decision whenever faced with a similar situation.