Tarpon of Harbor Club Downs
by M Spadecaller
Title
Tarpon of Harbor Club Downs
Artist
M Spadecaller
Medium
Digital Art - Digital & Photographic Art
Description
My unique introduction to one of the greatest saltwater gamefishes came unexpectantly. After moving to the west coast of Florida from New York in the late eighties, I moved into an apartment community called Harbor Club Downs. My place overlooked a saltwater pond that was about half the size of a football field. Local anglers used the pond to catch mullet and other baitfish. Some of my neighbors kept crab traps that would regularly yield blue claw crabs. At night, even though my bedroom window was closed, I could hear the clamorous frogs and insects serenading around the lagoon below.
It was a real surprise when I heard a large splash. I knew the sound was made by something of much greater size than a large mullet or seatrout. After hearing these splashes for several nights, my curiosity inspired me to set up a chair on the edge of the marine pond. The moonlight was bright enough to get a good view of the water. Suddenly, I saw this silvery scaled serpentine mass break the surface of the water and then roll back under. It was a large tarpon! Why would such a great fish like this find a home in such a small body of water? I later learned that the one outlet to the Gulf was a large pipe with metal bars to prevent meandering sharks from entering the saltwater pond. However, some juvenile tarpons slipped through the grating to spend a few months eating the bait fish and crabs: their rapid growth prevented their return to the Gulf waters. “The Tarpon of Harbor Club Downs,” is a digital painting and composite created by Spadecaller.
Uploaded
May 21st, 2019
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