Tarpon on Fly
Donald Larmouth began fly-fishing in saltwater after half a lifetime of freshwater fishing. A typical “tourist angler” in many respects, his saltwater fishing experience began with Flip Pallot in 1985, and he has fished with Rob Fordyce yearly since 1991. Though chronically infested with tarpon fever, he also fishes for snook, redfish, bonefish, jacks, and other saltwater game fish—as well as for trout, steelhead, salmon, small mouth bass, and many other freshwater species in the continental United States, Alaska, British Columbia, Ontario, Labrador, England, Costa Rica, and the Bahamas. He has also published articles inSalmon Trout Steelheadermagazine and wrote a biweekly fishing column inWisconsin’s Great Outdoors,drawing stories and anecdotes from outdoor journals he has kept since childhood. A former Dean of Arts, Sciences, and Graduate Programs, he retired in August 2000 as Professor Emeritus in linguistics and scientific & technical communication at the University of Wisconsin—Green Bay.Captain Rob Fordyce is a professional saltwater guide with nearly 20 years’ experience guiding anglers for big tarpon as well as permit, bonefish, snook, and many other saltwater gamefish. He grew up fishing in South Florida and the Everglades and won a Master Angler Award while still in high school. Widely regarded as one of the best tarpon guides in the Florida Keys, he has won or placed among the top three finishers in more than 20 premier tarpon fly tournaments, including the prestigious Gold Cup Tarpon Fly Fishing Tournament, the Don Hawley Invitational Tarpon Release Fly Tournament, and the Yamaha Outboards Women’s World Tarpon Fly Championship, most recently winning the Hawley tournament in June 2001 with angler John Tebbetts. He guides 300 days a year in a typical season and often presents seminars on saltwater fishing to sportsmen’s clubs. He is also a consultant for several boat and tackle manufacturers and recently produced a knot-tying videotape,No Wimp Knots,especially for saltwater fly-anglers. He has appeared frequently as a guide in saltwater fishing television shows, including Captain Rick Murphy’sSportsmen’s Adventureson the Sunshine Cable Network, Shaw Grigsby’sOne More Caston TNN, and Flip Pallot’sWalker’s Cay Chronicleson ESPN.