Fly-Anglers were able to pull in a total of 66 fish during the five-day stretch, consisting of 37 Release and 29 Weight Fish, a significant decrease from last year’s 103 fish.

Fly-Anglers were able to pull in a total of 66 fish during the five-day stretch, consisting of 37 Release and 29 Weight Fish, a significant decrease from last year’s 103 fish.

Baker Bishop from Sullivan’s Island and his guide, Captain Alonzo Sotillo took third place in the 47th Annual Don Hawley Invitational Fly Fishing Tarpon Tournament with nine releases.

The fish jumped, turned, charged, and jumped some more. The lagoon tarpon might be “babies” compared to the giants in the open ocean, but you should see the bend they can put into an 8-weight.

How to Talk to a Tarpon Angler I had just returned from Homosassa, Florida. I had driven 10 hours each way to fly fish for tarpon.

Shawn has traveled to the Keys each June to fly-fish for tarpon for the past 15 years, so I’ve heard plenty of stories of battles won and lost with those great silver fish of the flats.

All are invitationals and Bishop, 47, has been fishing all three for about 20 years. The Hawley was the first tarpon tournament to stop killing fish in 1987.

Capt. Dave Riback said they picked away on fish up to 5 pounds and were releasing them by 10 a.m. Most of the fish were caught on AVA-17 jigs.

The tarpon is the biggest species that fly fishermen target in shallow water, reaching well over 200 pounds. The majority of that fishing is done on the stalk, which makes the sport akin to hunting.

Fly fishing is synonymous with trout. When most people think about fly fishing, they conjure images of mountain streams and fish sipping mayflies and caddisflies off the surface. It’s true that the ...