Photos: A Travelin’ Man’s Belize Grand Slam


Getting the permit to the boat first was a great kickoff to a memorable day.
All photos courtesy Tom Gordon

Australian reader Tom Gordon sent in the three pictures that capture his recent Belize saltwater Grand Slam, along with a note: “Wind has been blowing a gale all week, but we decided to roll the dice and go out today in 20 knots and plenty of. . .

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Photos of the Day: Bonus-Day Tarpon in Belize

Written by: Dan Davala, Orvis Arlington


Just when he thought he’d failed in his quest for a tarpon, a stroke of good fortune came Jim Lampros’s way.
Photo by Dan Davala

Last week, my good friend Jim Lampros (Fishing Manager at Orvis Cleveland) and I had the opportunity to escape the present Ice Age we’re in and fly south to El Pescador in Belize. We decided to spend the majority of our time hunting tarpon, which are. . .

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Video: Killer Fly-Fishing Mixtape from Cuba

Apparently, these are the outtake scenes from a video of a trip to Cuba by the folks at The Fly Fishing Nation. These are some pretty damned good scenes to end up on the cutting room floor. I’m glad that they decided to scoop them up and edit them together.

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Video: The Lost Tarpon

In November 1980, in a small town in Portugal, two fisherman caught something that they had never seen before. The photo of the giant beast makes it clear that the mystery fish was a big tarpon. According to the makers of the video above, this is probably the only existing proof of. . .

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Video: Stu Apte, Big Tarpon, and the Citrus Queen

Here’s a wonderful piece of archival footage featuring famous Florida Keys angler Stu Apte casting for big tarpon with a fiberglass rod. But he’s not in it just for the sport; no, he’s also trying to win the admiration of the Florida Citrus Queen, who is sporting a swell swimsuit. Check out the “rod stiffener” Apte threads into the butt section of his rod for more power. He lands two beauties here, but the editor has spliced in some shots of a real monster fish, as well.

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Classic Video: Casting for Tarpon with a Glass Fly Rod

I recently ran across this marvelous piece of archival film from the International Game Fish Association, which shows casting champion Bill True and guide Jim Brewer chasing tarpon in the Florida Keys sometime in the 1960s(?). It’s a great piece of history, and it will give you a sense of how much easier we have it now, when compared to the sport’s. . .

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