Landing Spot
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Published: September 26, 2008
The Suncoast Tarpon Roundup is the oldest tournament of its kind in Florida, and this year it went to an all-release format that promises to revitalize the event in this age of conservation.
The event lasts 10 weeks each summer, which also makes it one of the state's longest-running tournaments.
It has historically been a tournament mostly for boaters. Capturing fish that might exceed 150 pounds and stretch more than 7 feet long seems beyond the wildest dreams of most anglers limited to fishing from piers and bridges.
However, captain Bill Miller of Tampa proved this year that there are plenty of big silver kings within reach of area piers, and that with the right gear it is possible to score at least as well as anglers with boats.
Miller, host of "Hooked on Fishing" on Bright House Networks Catch 47, had no fish going into the last week of this year's event, but he won the 10th-week trophy and almost won the grand prize on the final fish-off day, all without setting foot in a boat.
"I had done a show a while back on fishing for tarpon from the piers, and some of the real experts showed me the tricks," Miller said. "Captain Eddie Herrington, Greg LaChance, Paul Nelson and some of the other 'pier rats' took me under their wing and helped me get rigged right, and that's the secret."
Rigging right, according to Herrington, a Plant City native who has been fishing beach piers since childhood, includes what some call an "outrodder."
"It's basically an outrigger for pier fishermen," Herrington said. "You use one rod with a light line and a treble, and cast that way out with a big sinker, and let it snag bottom. Then, you slide your actual fishing rig, from a separate rod, down that line on a swivel and clothespin rig. This lets you adjust the depth of the bait and how far you fish it from the pier, plus it stays in one spot and doesn't get tangled with other fishermen."
Herrington said when a tarpon grabs the bait - typically a 4-inch pinfish - the clothespin lets go of the running line and the fish can move away from the outrodder setup while the fight goes on.
That's when the fun begins, Miller said.
"These fish may take off 300 yards of line, and you can't follow them because you're stuck on the pier," he said. "You have to work your rod over and under all the other anglers out there, sometimes pull the fish around a piling. It's a really exciting and challenging way to fish."
On the day Miller won the 10th-week prize, he hooked five tarpon and landed four of them from Redington Long Pier, an awesome catch even from a boat.
"The trick is to let the fish jump itself out while it's still well away from the pier," Miller said.
"You only bring it in close when it has slowed down and you can keep it under control."
He said tarpon regularly cruise along a few hundred feet off the beach, and when they come to a pier they often swim around the outer end of it, so that's the prime fishing area.
He said Big Pier 60 in Clearwater, the Sunshine Skyway piers and the Fort DeSoto piers, in addition to the Redington Long Pier, are likely tarpon spots for pier anglers.
Miller used a 20-foot gaff to collect DNA samples from the fish he caught.
"We wrapped some Scotch-Brite scrubbing pads on the end of the gaff," he said, "and then rubbed the fish with that to get the sample."
The samples were sent to the Florida Wildlife Research Institute, as proof of the catch and to provide research data on tarpon travels for the scientists.
More than 350 fish were sampled during this year's tournament, Miller said.
Miller's catch put him into the Finale Day the first weekend in August. Though he could have fished the event from a boat, he decided to head back to the pier that had brought him so much luck. And sure enough, he landed a fish at about 8:20 a.m. Meanwhile, two other fish had been landed by boat anglers - one of them Miller's son, Billy, who is a fishing captain like his dad.
Later in the morning, the senior Miller hooked what would have been the winning fish, because no other angler had landed two tarpon. But eventually the hook pulled, and he had to settle for third.
"I don't feel bad at all," Miller said. "It's just nice to know that you can go out there and be really competitive in an event like this and you don't need a boat, you don't have to pay for gasoline and you don't even have to worry about the weather. It's a great way to fish."
For more on the Suncoast Tarpon Roundup, visit www.suncoasttarponroundup.org.
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