FOLLY BEACH — Phillip Sullivan knows the fishing gets good when storms approach the Charleston coast.
So on the blustery afternoon of June 19, he had several rods out at the end of the Folly Beach Fishing Pier, including three king rigs with multiple hooks meant to hook something big.
Menhaden was the bait of choice on that gloomy day. Sullivan and his fishing partner James Strange were really hoping to snag a king mackerel.
But as the storm rolled in, the two realized they’d gotten more than they bargained for.
The pair of Charleston locals wasn’t just fighting against time, they ended up in a skirmish with a massive silver tarpon.
Tarpon, a species already known for its size, strength and fighting ability, usually appear in Charleston-area waters when the temperatures get warm. They average about 100 pounds off our coast, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.
The fish have hard mouths, almost like concrete, said Matt Perkinson, a saltwater fishing outreach coordinator for DNR. If a tarpon bites the bait, more than likely, it’ll spit the hook.
“Getting it to your boat without breaking the line or spitting the hook is an accomplishment,” Perkinson said.
Sullivan said all three of his king rigs bent off at the same time on June 19. He lost two of the fish, but gave the other rod a little pressure. That’s when he saw it.
“This tarpon skies out of the water and it starts jumping acrobatic-like, doing flips, goes towards the beach and starts running it,” Sullivan said.
He fought the fish from the pier for about one hour and 15 minutes as it continuously ran from the beach to the end of the 1,049-footlong structure. The rain never let up, hitting like pins and needles with lightening all around.
Sullivan ultimately dropped the rod down to Strange, who was in the ocean below, for a better chance of getting hands on the fish, which he did, physically pushing it to shore from behind in the surf.
“We kind of had the upper hand but still had water flowing through the gills,” Sullivan said. “It took him a couple of tries, but James gets a grab on the jaws.”
Fishermen Phillip Sullivan and James Strange wrestled a tarpon June 19 on Folly Beach. Phillip Sullivan/Provided
Strange said they were pressed for time. The two got the fish released and de-hooked as fast as they could. They took about 20 seconds to snag a few photos with their catch — estimated to be about 150 pounds — as it jerked about.
As testament to the experience, both men are wearing grins of euphoria in the photo evidence.
It was then released and swam off unharmed.
Catching a tarpon off the Folly Pier is a big deal. Mark Patrick worked as the pier’s manager for 12 years and said he saw maybe three tarpon caught during that time.
“A fish that size, it would be rare to (reel it up) from the pier because it’s so large,” said Patrick, who is now the the assistant director of parks for Charleston County Parks. “You’d have to beach that fish.”
Strange said he’s caught smaller tarpon down in the Florida Keys. But the fish he helped catch off Folly Beach is the first fully grown one he has been up close with.
“It’s quite an accomplishment to hook one and to land it especially,” Strange said. “A lot of people can hook them, but it’s a challenge to be able to actually land it.”
When caught, it is important to get tarpons back in the water quickly. The species is a seasonal visitor to the Palmetto State. Adult tarpons typically spend June through October in the mouths of inlets and the open ocean here.
Perkinson said the fish can live close to 80 years, so “we need to be very careful at handling the ones that we do catch.”
Sullivan said succinctly, that at 24 years old “this is probably the most memorable thing I’ve had happen to me and is something I will never forget.”