Watch the film or read on to learn the lengths a local guide goes to in his pursuit to catch and protect these living dinosaurs.
Preparation. Precision. Controlled chaos. That’s tarpon fishing. SITKA Gear ambassador Captain Brett Martina works the waters around Apalachicola, Florida's Forgotten Coast, where tarpon have migrated for longer than humans have lived here. He's the kind of guide who will do everything within his power to put his clients’ hands on a prehistoric goliath.
Key takeaways:
Brett Martina is an Apalachicola tarpon guide whose lifelong experience on Florida's Forgotten Coast has made him one of the world's most respected tarpon fly fishing experts.
Successful Florida tarpon fishing depends on extensive pre-dawn preparation, including custom fly patterns, meticulous gear checks, and years of local knowledge before clients ever step aboard.
Habitat loss and increased fishing pressure have changed Florida tarpon behavior, making conservation-minded guiding and careful fishery management more important than ever.
Brett Martina protects his most productive tarpon fishing locations, even turning down television opportunities to preserve the Apalachicola fishery for future generations.
Through his guiding philosophy and conservation work, Brett Martina helps protect Florida's tarpon fishery while creating unforgettable catch-and-release tarpon fishing experiences.
In Tarpon Fishing, The Work Starts In The Dark
Brett Martina, “one of the best tarpon fly guys in the world,” was “born and raised” on the waters he now guides on. The waters that once teemed with the dinosaurs we now call the iconic tarpon.
“I touched my first tarpon in 2001. I was 14 years old. Just seeing that big, prehistoric, beautiful fish-the big scales, the jaw line, the colors. Everything about it captivated me.”
Since getting his hands on his first tarpon, he’s watched as 44% of Florida’s wetlands — once home to mind-boggling numbers of giant tarpon — have disappeared, according to estimates from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
The decline in habitat and the number of tarpon requires a unique level of dedication. Hundreds of early launches, long runs, carefully crafted flies, and a rare discipline to remain ready for the moment. For those on the outside looking in, the hard work Brett exudes is all too often unseen (much of it is in the dark before anyone else is awake) and misunderstood.
Brett’s drive is rarely matched.
He understands that tarpon demand confidence. Confidence in the gear, the cast, the fly, the strip set, bowing to the jump, and most importantly, confidence in the guide’s directions. For those who want to experience a tarpon jumping on the other end of their line, there are no shortcuts.
Brett Martina enjoying a day out on the water.
Brett’s wife, Lacy, has a front-row seat to his dedication every single day: “He can’t live without fishing. He could live without me, he can’t live without fishing.” Other local guides admit Brett was created to be a fishing guide. He obsesses over each fly and cast, ensuring all his gear and clients are ready before the fish appears. Some might see him as overly obsessive and even rude at times.
Every Tarpon Jump Is Earned
Brett’s personal mission is to give his clients as many opportunities at a tarpon as possible.
“I think our ecosystems are very fragile now, you know, we have increased pressure everywhere. I'm not a sit-still kind of guy. I like to move. I feel like challenging myself out there. I'll leave fish sometimes to find fish, [as a guide] that's the dumbest thing you can do…”
Brett craves the dedication and complexity of putting a fish — a fish that they’ll never forget — into his clients' hands. “There’s no guarantee to Florida tarpon fishing. I’ve had people fish with me for five to ten years and never grabbed one. They’ve hooked them, but never grabbed one. Tarpon have a hard mouth. There are so many little variables that can go wrong. If you don’t have your lines stacked properly, if you don’t bail right, if you grip it crooked-tons of things that can go wrong, make you lose that fish.”
Angler fighting a big tarpon.
With tarpon, especially trophy tarpon, you only get a few opportunities, and Brett shoulders the pressure so his clients don’t have to. Which leads to intense focus for Brett. “You get one opportunity. You gotta make it count.” When clients spook or lose a fish that they’d worked so hard to get to bite, things can get a little heated, a little intense on Brett’s boat. “People don’t realize the guide wants you to catch fish just as much as you do. Maybe more, in some cases.”
A Tarpon Guide’s Life, Defined By The Pursuit
Ego isn’t the force driving Brett to feel tremendous pressure. If that were the case, he would save all the giant flying tarpon for himself, and that’s just not in Brett’s nature. “That’s what I’m here for…it’s for someone else to escape. Whatever in the world they may be doing outside, that’s their one day to escape.”
Each tarpon encounter offers a new lesson for Brett and his clients. While the anglers are left remembering the tarpon launching itself into the air, Brett’s world is defined by an obsession with every detail that made that moment possible.
Brett refuses to mess with the fish his clients have an opportunity to catch. “If I go catch that fish, my guy the next week might not have the opportunity.” Instead, Brett understands that the fish are a fragile, finite resource, and after seeing the numbers in Florida decline, he’s become extremely protective of them. In Lacy’s words, “He calls the fish his business partners. Somebody’s messing with his business partners, he’s not going to have it.”
Unsurprisingly, Brett’s had some big opportunities to strike it rich and famous, the kind of opportunity that most people wouldn’t think twice about taking. However, he declined because he’s not interested in fame or riches at the expense of his favorite fishing holes and beloved tarpon.
“Discovery Channel wanted to do a movie-a show like Swamp People. I turned it down. Follow me around, talking, fishing? Not going to happen. Some places are best left alone. They have way too much of a special place in my heart to expose it all.”
Hence, his work with Captains For Clean Water.
Anglers releasing a large tarpon.
Brett admits that most of the places where he fishes for tarpon in Florida weren’t the same 20 years ago as they were 30 and 40 years ago, but the fishermen who came before him treated the delicate fishery properly, and the fish rewarded them by staying there. But as pressure, boats, and the number of flies have increased, fish behavior has changed, and in many places they’ve disappeared altogether. Making some of Brett’s spots even more precious.
“Some places, I’ll never spoil. I will never do that.”
Tarpon have been migrating these waters longer than anyone has been here to chase them. What's left of the fishery is held together by people like Brett who refuse to spoil it...and ensure that the memories of the pursuit never stop being created.
A jumping, hooked tarpon.
