Had a great flight from MSP to San Juan. Enjoyed countless rumrunners during the 5 hr flight and was feeling no pain when we landed in the capital. The airport procedure was very painless as I had cleared customs the day before in Minneapolis and from the time we landed to getting on the van to Avis car rental was under 30 minutes. Only 1 other couple with me so had a car very fast. The security guy thankfully pointed out a couple war wounds on my Nissan Sentra that I never noticed that I imagine I may have been on the hook for on my return. He also gave me some quick directions and next thing you know I'm on a freeway searching for the area where I had booked in at the the Hotel Iberia, close to old San Juan. Eventually I stopped at a gas station and bought a map so I could figure out where the hell I was. Took me a bit to get my bearings straight but I finally got on the correct road and found my hotel, a small 2 storey place a couple blocks from the ocean. Got checked in and unloaded my car. Thankfully I got a parking place as they were very limited (4 spots, 15 rooms). Was not a 5 star by any means but very clean and AC worked. At 8PM it was still around 80F and I hate trying to sleep in the heat.
Went for a walk in the area to look for a place to eat and ended up in what i would call a casual local family restaurant. Decent food and reasonable price. Managed to slurp down a pitcher or Sangria, just because. After that I was quick to bed as I had a date with Magictarpon at 6AM.
Set the alarm for 5AM as even though I knew it wasn't a far drive to the marina where I was to meet my guide I wasn't quite sure of my directions. Sure enough I blew past the exit off the freeway and had to find an exit where I could get back going in the opposite direction. Finally did so but sure enough there goes my exit again . Another search for a turn around spot and this time made the spot OK. Pulled into the marina right on time, still dark outside. My guide was there waiting, just as promised. We said our hellos and jumped in the boat. First thing was to go and net some bait. Took a while to find them but eventually the livewell had a days worth of anchovies. Then a short ride up river, under bridges to get to the lagoon we would fish. I'll let the pictures do the talking.....

Nice catch!

We fished using live bait, circle hooks, and most importantly, light tackle. Don't know how many will understand but I fished with med action rods, 4000 series spinning reels, 30lb braid connected to 30lb flourocarbon leaders. Made for terrific fishing, tarpon are incredible fighters and using this lighter gear made for some of the best fishing battles I have ever had in my life. It was a great way to spend 4 hours, fishing the lagoon that had a 3km long bridge spanning its width that I would be running across and back the following afternoon running the "worlds best 10K race"...

More on the fishing later - next morning was also booked for fishing before my big afternoon race.
Had a great day with 5 or 6 strikes resulting in 2 tarpon in the boat (and released). I really enjoyed spending time with my guide and was pretty beat after me early morning, no coffee. I actually napped a bit in my room before forcing myself to get up and did a bit of touring around this huge city. The traffic was a bit much and decided to return to my hotel and just chill out. There was a sweet lounging area on the roof where I could just relax in a chair and soak up a few rays before walking up the block to a "locals" bar and enjoy a few beers and pizza trying to decipher all the spanish going on around me....

Thats a huge fish with such light tackle..This is great..Keep em coming with the pics and reports

a man and his fish eh? lol. The look on your face says it all Nice catch!

Looking forward to more.

puerto rico has been popping around in my brain as a place to check out for a long while, am taking a serious look at it for the summer.

"some of the best fishing battles I have ever had in my life".

Sorry but I had to laugh at this! ~ Men and their fish tales. I am a fishing widow so you may detect a hint of resentment

It is a huge fish, congratulations! My husband would have sold that to a local restaurant. A fish of that size is found in deep waters here and would be caught with a spear gun or netted. No battle required, boring huh?

A holiday with a twist mi thinks. City break with fishing...interesting and you are obviously in your element. Thanks for sharing

All fish were released. Tarpon aren't known for their table worthiness, more for the sport of catching them.

Will do another report soon but really busy for a bit. Might be selling our house as we may be making a move. Need to get our renovations completed so it is in sellable condition.