Early morning drive in search of Poons.

A last minute invite from Tom, some rapid calculations, and a really poor decision, had me committed to fishing with Tom. As we all know, 2:00 am comes way too early. Regardless if we are on the front side or the backside of waking up or leaving the bar. Having packed my bags, and put them in the car, I went to bed at a "way too early" 8 pm. I think my son was wondering if I was in trouble for having to go to bed that early.

Car loaded at 2:30 am. 

The started off a little groggy, a cold shower, and a mondo size RedBull. With the car loaded, myself jolted awake by unknown chemicals, and visions of reds in my little head, I pulled out of the driveway at around 2:30 am. Running my usual checklists through my head while driving, I reassured myself I forgot nothing important. Those that have done the drive to POC know that the only traffic at 2 am are the ones leaving the bars. So, avoid getting close to other cars.
All said and done, I did not account for being ready as I was this morning. I did not have to stop at Whataburger in Port Lavaca, nor did I stop at HEB in the same town. (not that you can buy beer at 4:00 am) I took care of that along with breakfast/lunch. My usual 3 1/2 hour drive was cut seriously by this. Tom brought this to my attention when he called at 4:20am to ask if I was up. "Yup" I replied, "I'm passing the Speedy Stop." A few choice words later, I fenagled a breakfast of bacon, hash browns, and eggs before we were to take off. A few minutes later, we were running in the dark, on our way to the choice fishing spot.

The Dawn Patrol!

We ran a bit, then stopped the boat and waited for the sun to come out. When it came out, we began fishing. Tom had the new rod by Sage on the boat, and offered for me to fish it. This new Sage ONE rod (yes it is called ONE) is the most accurate rod I have ever fished. In the words of Tom, " . . . it's the best #@+! rod ever!"  After much frustration, because I was hitting the fish between the eyes, I finally got a red to hand. What a relief! There is nothing quite like being on the spot, and not being able to seal the deal. The bad juju was broken!

Hooray! Red!

This was beginning to shape up to be a pretty cool day. The next thing I know, Tom asks if I want to go check out the jetties for some tarpon. A very enthusiastic "YES" followed. So, we ran to the jetties and I rigged up my 10 weight. As soon as we arrived, we saw rolling tarpon. I cast a couple of times, and to no avail, I was just casting at the water. the next cast, though, was aimed right a rolling tarpon. the line laid out, I counted to five, and started to strip my line back in. Suddenly, the line went tight, I pulled to set the hook, - and the rod jumped out of my hand. It hit the deck with a resounding thud! Airborne, the little poon shook its head and tried to get the steel it felt out of its concrete mouth. Luckily for me, the rod jumping out of my hand served the purpose of "bowing to the silver king". With a chuckle, and Horbey's "coaching", I picked up my rod and continued to fight the first Texas tarpon I have hooked. Another jump, and he was still on! As the tarpon grew more tired, the runs became shorter. After about 15 minutes, I had him to the boat. Tom leadered the fish, and I officially landed my first Texas tarpon!

Tom Horbey leadering a 25 lb'er.

Tom refused to take the tarpon out of the water, explaining to me that it was better for the fish. So, I tried to hug the the fish before we motored out and it swam off on its own. It waved to us by splashing, with its tail, a tailful of POC water. We celebrated by promptly cracking open a Dos XX. 

Christopher with a 25 lb. Texas Tarpon

It was getting late, and I had to get back to Houston. So, we called it a day. I think it was not too bad of a day. A few redfish, a tarpon, what else could I ask for? Oh I almost forgot, the best shirt I have ever fished in, is the Sol Cool long sleeve shirt by Ex Officio. 

Equipment used:

Rods

1. 7 weight ONE by Sage

2. 10 weight XI-3 by Sage

Reels:

1. BackCountry Wide by Tibor (RIO 7 weight Redfish line)

2.9 Plus by Hatch (Scientific Anglers Tropic Express 350 gr. line) 

Flies

1. Swamp Rabbit (black/red)

2. Tom Horbey Spoonfly

Other Stuff:

1.Dos XX lager 

2.Umpqua 16 lb. Redfish leader

3. 60 lb. tarpon leader by Umpqua