3 minute read
Q&A with Conservation Captain Ed Glorioso
Capt. Edward Glorioso
Boca Grande, Florida
The Charlotte Harbor / Boca Grande area is a highly productive tarpon fishery and, as you know, it’s also a hotbed for sharks. Do you think that conservation ethic has had an effect on your bottom line compared to others who might be more concerned with higher tips?
Yes and no—I explain it to people off the bat. I usually go through Boca Grande Pass when we’re running and they’ll see all the fish come up and they’ll see all the boats, and they say, “Wow, the fish must be right there. Why aren’t we fishing there?” So I explain to them I like to have fun fishing and not have to worry about being run over by another boat. So there’s that, and, as you mentioned, the sharks. Most of the time they understand, and they agree that they’d rather go out on the beach and have fun, not have to worry about the sharks and not have to worry about all the boats.
What would you say has been your biggest accomplishment in terms of conservation?
My most outstanding day in terms of conservation happened this season. I was out with JoEllen Wilson (BTT Juvenile Tarpon Habitat Program Manager) and we heard that one of my guide buddy’s clients had a tarpon on. We went over to him and I had the opportunity watch JoEllen work. At the end of the day, my guide buddy told me that of the five fish his clients had caught that day, the most memorable was the one JoEllen tagged, since they had helped contribute to BTT’s research.
Wise Words: Another thing I stress to my clients a lot is the fight time of fish. As you know, tarpon will fight until their last breath. After that information came out, I started beefing up my tackle a little bit. Nothing too heavy, but I like to keep my fight time with the fish between 15 and 35 minutes, no matter how big it is. If it gets to that 40, 45-minute mark, I’m really cranking down the drag because I want to make sure that fish is healthy when it’s released. We may not have a shark on this particular bar fighting with it now, but once it gets back to the school or gets to where it was going, I want to make sure I’m not releasing a sitting duck for those sharks. In fact, during a recent trip, JoEllen and I were out tagging fish when she caught one that weighed at least 120 pounds. We had that thing to the boat, hands-on, pictures taken, released—all within twenty, twenty-five minutes.
