Few fish swimming in Texas waters command the kind of respect given to the tarpon.
Known as the silver king, this magnificent fish has inspired generations of anglers to pursue it along the Gulf Coast. From the historic tarpon grounds around Port Aransas to the beachfront waters of Galveston, tarpon have provided some of the most spectacular battles in Texas fishing history.
And some of those battles have produced fish of incredible proportions.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) records document a 229-pound giant, a catch-and-release record stretching more than seven and a half feet and a fascinating history of fly fishermen whose catches helped change the way Texas recognizes trophy fish.
A 229-Pound Texas Giant
The official Texas state saltwater rod-and-reel record belongs to Michael Shane LaRue II, who landed a massive 229-pound tarpon on August 20, 2017.
The fish measured 90 inches long and was caught in Gulf waters using a lure listed by TPWD as a coon pop.
At 7½ feet long, this was an extraordinary specimen of a fish already famous for its size, power and aerial displays.
LaRue’s catch surpassed a record established more than a decade earlier by an angler fishing from a Galveston pier.
The Galveston Pier Monster
On October 4, 2006, Jeremy Ebert of Deer Park was fishing from the Galveston Fishing Pier when he hooked a fish that would make Texas angling history.
Ebert, then 25, was targeting bull redfish when a massive tarpon took his bait.
The fish made an impressive initial run, stripping approximately 300 yards of line before Ebert could begin bringing it under control.
After a fight lasting about 45 minutes, Ebert and several other anglers managed to land the enormous fish with a large net.
It weighed 210 pounds, 11 ounces.
According to TPWD, the catch broke a Texas tarpon record that had stood for 33 years. The previous record was a 210-pound fish measuring 86¼ inches, caught by Tom Gibson in November 1973.
Ebert’s connection to tarpon fishing went back to his childhood, when he watched his father land one from the same pier. His 2006 fish was reportedly his fifth tarpon of that year.
TPWD documented the catch in an October 6, 2006, news release.
The 91-Inch Catch-and-Release Record
The Texas state catch-and-release length record for tarpon belongs to Michael R. Kubecka.
On September 19, 2018, Kubecka caught a tarpon measuring 91 inches in Gulf waters. TPWD lists the lure as a cobia killer.
That fish was one inch longer than LaRue’s 229-pound weight-record tarpon, although the two fish cannot be compared by weight using length alone.
The record illustrates the importance of recognizing exceptional fish that are released rather than weighed.
Fly-Fishing Giants
Some of the most remarkable Texas tarpon catches never became official weight records.
In the early 2000s, several anglers landed extraordinary fish but released them without obtaining the weights required for traditional record recognition.
Among them was Capt. Scott Graham, who caught an 87-inch tarpon on fly tackle in San Antonio Bay in 2002.
Another angler, Fabian Morales, landed an 89-inch tarpon on a fly rod in July 2002.
Then, in June 2005, Allan Reiter hooked a 90-inch tarpon while fishing for king mackerel between the Port Aransas jetties. Reiter fought the fish for more than four hours.
These catches helped demonstrate the need for a record system that could recognize exceptional fish without requiring anglers to weigh them.
TPWD subsequently established a catch-and-release record category based on fish length, beginning January 1, 2006.
For tarpon anglers, it represented an important development in recognizing trophy fish.
The Silver King’s Legacy
Tarpon fishing occupies a special place in Texas angling history.
These fish can leap repeatedly, make powerful runs and test tackle and anglers in ways few other coastal species can match.
The story of Texas tarpon records includes a young Galveston fisherman who broke a 33-year-old record, fly fishermen whose remarkable catches helped inspire a new recognition system and anglers who continue to pursue one of the Gulf’s greatest game fish. Somewhere along the Texas coast, another giant tarpon is swimming.
Whether the next record comes from a boat offshore, a historic Gulf pass or a stretch of coastal shoreline, the possibility of making fishing history remains very real. And that is one of the things that makes pursuing the silver king so special.