The Pikers Pit

"Madness, Obsession, And The Hunt For The World-Record Tarpon"

A really good read covering an obsessive bunch of angling cranks chasing Tarpon with a fly rod. Going from the 1970's until around early 2000. These characters that you get to know were driven, at times fishing 60 days solid in a skiff with the guide, 12 hour days, then back to dock and partying late into the night.

You get to know the sports and their guides, what makes each one tick, what pushes them on. The loathing, dislike and out right animosity to what happened down in Homosassa. Drugs, women, hand guns being taken out on the water. Mafia involvement and cars being blown up. Guiding on the Broads it is not.

The Author speaks with a cast of characters who speak freely about a magical time and the destruction it caused. Well worth a punt IMO. The author also wrote Sowbelly, that I read a few years back regarding Bass Anglers, of which there are reported to be 9.6 million in the states. Lords of the Fly for me is better.

Mont,s told me about this book and thanks for that mate. Possibly the best fishing book i,ve ever read. I,ve read hundreds of angling books but this book just makes you wish you'd lived in or visited the places in this book. A place where you could bump into famous people, beautiful women, all the drink and drugs you could wish for and then hook a fish that could strip two hundred yards off your reel and smash you up. I am going to go to this place and cast a line before i die. Cheers Monts.

GAVIN H wrote: ↑Fri Apr 29 2022 21:29 -

Mont,s told me about this book and thanks for that mate. Possibly the best fishing book i,ve ever read. I,ve read hundreds of angling books but this book just makes you wish you'd lived in or visited the places in this book. A place where you could bump into famous people, beautiful women, all the drink and drugs you could wish for and then hook a fish that could strip two hundred yards off your reel and smash you up. I am going to go to this place and cast a line before i die. Cheers Monts.

Best angling book, that's some discussion for a rainy day thread. Glad you enjoyed it, Tarpon on the fly, not for me. If I had that kind of spare cash, it would be Permit or Bones.

I literally finished this book last night and was going to put a review up.

I echo what Monts has said...

An interesting read with some even more interesting characters.
I've fished Florida and the Keys but not on the fly hence my interest in the story.
I enjoyed the book and would recommend it

My next book ....cheers jase

As the tarpon neared, he made one long, slow strip of the line. The fish veered toward the fly, engulfed it, and leapt, its body lurching completely out of the water, before crashing back in. It was, as Huff would later recall, as if someone had dropped a Steinway piano into the ocean from a helicopter.”


The best I could do would be a Rolf Harris stylophone!

Just ordered a copy after reading the above.

I listened to this on Monday night, it may interest some, this is the guy who made the reels for Billy Pate mentioned in the book. Who went on to found the Tibor reel company.

What a life story from fleeing Hungary to making it in the states. I thought it was superb.