So, I’m not sure who originally thought it was a good idea to go spend all day in the blinding tropical sun, hunting for fish that are only slightly smaller than the low-freeboard skiff you’re in and then trying to hook said monster with a wad of feathers and glue, but they tell me fly fishing for tarpon is a blast!

Our pal and Northern California fishing guide extraordinaire, John Klar is officially a tarpon fishing junkie these days and has been making annual treks down to Marathon Key…the epicenter of South Florida silver king fishing.

Though the cold water denizens of Nor Cal’s Redwood Coast are what put grub on Klar’s table, it’s tarpon on flea flickin’ gear that really tickles his Toad (the fly pattern, Tarpon Toad, that is!). Is it the art of the stalk? The act of making a perfect cast to a fish and seeing him turn? Does the rush come from the instant you stick one with some steel? Or when a fish the size of Rhode Island goes airborne?

Perhaps it’s all about getting up close and personal with a fish…touching it…and then letting it go…

Or maybe it’s something else… Click here to read more…