A Houston-area angler caught a 210-pound, 7-ounce tarpon Wednesday evening, October 4, that, pending approval by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department�s fish records program, will likely be documented as a new Texas state record.
Amazingly, the huge fish was taken off of a Galveston beachfront pier and reportedly hit a small whole menhanden dead bait.
�The previous record weighed 210 pounds even,� says TPWD Outreach Specialist Bobby Miller of the department�s Dickinson Marine Lab, �and the certified weight shows this fish to be exactly seven ounces heavier.�
Details are still forthcoming as to the angler�s name and other specifics of the catch, and will be posted as soon as the information is verified.

-- Larry Bozka

That is truly awesome!

I've yet to catch one myself but its good to know they're in the area again.

More details on the new pending Texas state record tqrpon:
Angler Jeremy Ebert of Deer Park, Texas hooked the huge silver king off the Galveston Fishing Pier last night (Wednesday, Oct. 4) at approximately 8:30 p.m. when it picked up a fresh dead menhaden that Ebert had caught in a cast net for use as redfish bait.
Says the 25-year-old angler, a former employee of Fishing Tackle Unlimited in Houston who now works for Lyondell-Citgo at Pasadena, �I went to the pier intending to catch and release bull redfish. Instead, I ended up with a 45-minute fight with a huge tarpon.�
According to Ebert, the fish measures 91 inches long, and was brought atop the planks of the Galveston Fishing Pier with the assist of one of the pier�s big landing nets.
He was, Ebert adds, using �either 40- or 50-pound-test mono; I don�t recall. I don�t want to promote any specific fishing tackle,� he continues, �so all I can say about that is that I was using a custom-built rod.�
TPWD Dickinson Marine Lab personnel have already shot photos of Ebert with his catch. We will post one of the images as soon as it is received.

Answering a few questions about the new (pending) Texas state record tarpon:
Jeremy Ebert�s 210-pound, 7-ounce tarpon, if certified by TPWD, will eclipse an almost 33-year-old record fish. Angler Thomas Gibson, Jr., caught his 210-pound state record tarpon on November 13, 1973.
Gibson�s fish measured 86.25 inches. When I spoke with Ebert this morning, he told me that his monster tarpon, hooked at around 8:30 p.m. last night (Oct. 4) off of the Galveston Fishing Pier on a fresh dead menhaden, measures an even 91 inches.
The other major question has to do with �tarpon tags.� As of Sept. 1, Texas anglers no longer need possess a tarpon tag in order to retain one fish per day, so long as the fish measures at least 80 inches long.
According to TPWD Dickinson Marine Lab-based Outreach Specialist
Bobby Miller, Ebert is donating his trophy catch to the department so that it may be mounted and placed on exhibit for future public viewing.

-- Larry Bozka

An amazing catch. I have caught tarpon half that
size , chasing them with a boat for 45 minutes.
To catch one that size off a pier requires a
great deal of skill ( and maybe a litte luck)

MO

Attached Images

I have a picture of the fish but I am unable to post.......

Larry Bozka I just emailed you the picture of the tarpon. Can you post it here...

Hey reggie- send it to me and I'll post as Larry may be away from the board right now!

tom.titus@gmail.com

Here it is reggie.

wow........ absolutely amazing

weres the pic?

Now it's your turn, guys.

The Florida guides out of Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda are whacking the tarpon on Black Salty XL-size live baits (I'll be posting a story and some pretty cool photos soon), so I reckon I'd best get my boat out along the beachfront and do a big of drifting next week.

Better get it done before the first real cold front of the year shows up.

Good fishing to all ...

Boz

Now that's one heck of a fish!
I showed my step-daughter, 14yo, the pic of that Tarpon. Her comment was "that thing could swallow me whole". We took our family vacation in Galveston this summer and we were out swimming with that fish. It's a good thing Tarpon don't eat kids!

WOW what a catch and an Awesome fishtale too.!! That is one lucky dude.

Bazz