7.25- Tarpon Tournament

Rods and reels at the ready

This weekend is the annual Oriental Rotary Club's "Tarpon Tournament."

A "Tarpon" is a particular kind of fish that sports fishers / anglers enjoy trying to catch, at least in part due to the serious fight these rather large fish will put up.

The tournament is "catch and release," with observers on each participating boat recording the number of Tarpon reeled in to boat-side before being let loose.

Apparently Tarpon fishers often end up reeling in "skates" ... at least that is what they call them.

From what I have seen in pictures from the tourney, and the animal mounted on the "Flat Tarpon" prize that goes to whoever catches the most "skates," it looks to me like what these guys are actually reeling in are "cow-nosed rays," which swim and hunt on near the waters' surface, rather than the bottom-feeding, smaller and non-poisonous skate.

I've given up trying to correct anyone on this.

Frankly, I would rather brag about fighting for two hours to pull in a cow-nosed ray (with a poisonous barb) than a measly little bottom-feeding and totally harmless skate...

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