Travel

LEGENDARY TARPON IN NICARAGUA

Bow to the Fish

Guest of Tapam Lodge Greg Bostater and guide Isaac Sebastian wrestling and unhooking a tarpon in the shallows. Photo: Max Bartholin
“Guest of Tapam Lodge Greg Bostater and guide Isaac Sebastian wrestling and unhooking a tarpon in the shallows. After landing rowdy ‘fun-size’ fish and a few good-sized snook over the course of the week, Greg was still waiting for a true silver king. On his last evening, the skies cleared after a heavy rain and conditions seemed perfect. As we slowly moved from the main river into a channel, we heard the first one chasing mullet on the surface—a telltale sign of what was coming. ‘This is too fishy to fail,’ Isaac said.” Photo: Max Bartholin
Words: Andrew Tarica

Things happen fast in tarpon territory. Maybe I should have expected it, seeing how my friend Worth Coleman had kind of predicted it.

Worth got it into his head that Nicaragua was the place to hook a trophy tarpon. “There’s a fishing lodge in Central America that’s been closed since COVID,” he said, “and they’re planning a soft reopening in the spring [of 2025].” He had already contacted one of the owners, someone in Scandinavia, and had first dibs on making a reservation.

“Think of all those fish that haven’t seen a fly since 2020,” Worth cooed over the phone. That thought proved too tempting to pass up and, in my first five minutes of casting, proved itself to be true.

Back to Issue 17.2