Joe got that tarpon, his first. We put it back and I shook his hand. "So what do you think? Fun?-¿ "Awesome!-¿ he said, using the word appropriately for once. "Now you get one.-¿

A good plan, but it wasn't my turn. Not yet, anyway. Joe's rod went down again, and time it was a nice snook. The fish raced back and forth in the river and we did our three-man dance on the flats boat, switching rods, cranking in line, trading spots, lunging for the net.

The snook, about a 20-incher, finally slowed, and Willcox got it in the net. There's a limited season on these fish--it's open from September through April, and only those between 26 and 34 inches are legal--so back in the river it went.

We had a few more hits and misses, and two fish that threw the hook. Willcox saw a school of small mullet go by and readied the cast net. "Good bait,-¿ he said. "They're worth going after.-¿

TIP: Many larger species--tarpon, barracuda, grouper--feed on baitfish, and pinfish are tops. You can cast-net for them from a boat, but that takes time and expertise that you may not have. I baited small hooks with pieces of shrimp to catch the small fish and used them as bait for the bigger species.