I may never wade-fish again. OK, maybe not never but certainly not this summer in thigh or waist deep, off-color water. It's just too scary. I'm not easily put off by most things associated with the water - I've been known to do some really dumb things in the past with fish, like bring a way too green big fish into the cockpit of my skiff so it could thrash around and tear everything up. But, the last few weeks of fishing have given pause to my cavalier attitude.

Like most other anglers this time of year, I've been targeting tarpon - with good results I might add. These fish are big, strong, acrobatic and can even cause injury if mishandled. I've witnessed a large tarpon leap into a skiff on its very first jump, where it not only tore things up but injured a passenger enough to require a trip to the emergency room. Many guides have had their noses broken by not-quite-ready fish as they lunged into a bent-ever-the-gunwale guide in the process of grabbing the fish. I've been smacked hard enough in the face by such a fish to see stars. Get too careless around big fish often enough and bad things will happen.

But, it's not tarpon that have me re-evaluating getting out of the boat to fish - it's sharks, lots and lots of sharks of all sizes. I don't recall seeing as many sharks as I have so far this year. The really scary part is they just seem to appear out of nowhere without warning.

I personally dislike tarpon fishing off the gulf beaches and I try to avoid them whenever possible. I'm not a big fan of having to compete for a pod of fish with other boats, especially as of late. It seems that as soon as a pod is sighted, boats from every direction vector in on them with little concern for other fishermen. As fly fishermen, our quality shots at these fish are limited and brief. When fish are chased, harassed and run over our opportunities to dupe one with a fly are severely diminished. But, I often find myself out there competing with everyone else and occasionally do get hooked up, at least enough times to make it worthwhile jockeying for position with the armada.

I was lucky enough to have a pod of tarpon come by the boat without a fleet chasing it. My client and friend cast and hooked a decent fish in the 100 lb. class and after a few spectacular leaps the fish settled into a dogged fight that had us chasing it around the open gulf. After about an hour of battle the fish was subdued enough to bring to the boat for photos and release when it screamed away from us as if freshly hooked. From under the boat shot a very large bull shark in pursuit. The shark caught the tarpon and simply exploded it into a pink hole in the water.

A few years ago, my son hooked a very large fish, one of those over 150 lb. monsters, and had all he could handle early in the fight. Again, about an hour into a battle that was going to take considerably longer, a big hammerhead attacked it, shredding its tail in the process. The fish was stunned, as were we, and my son was able to quickly bring it to the boat. We broke it off so it had a chance to escape and it slowly swam away from us. It made it about thirty feet when the hammerhead erupted on it and turned the water into a pink frothy soup. That gave us quite a startle.

Whenever I can I prefer to tarpon fish some of our area's quieter backwaters, away from the maddening crowds. Early mornings in the backwaters as the sun comes up with tarpon rolling is a great time, especially if your boat is the only one in sight. It's been fun and productive; these fish are undisturbed and eat flies readily. The downside is that it only lasts for a few brief hours. My last half dozen or so trips into these backwaters have resulted in quite a few fish and the reason I my not wade-fish the rest of the summer.

These backwaters are absolutely loaded with sharks, mostly small black-tips, but there are enough 4-6 foot and larger creatures around to make one think twice before stepping out of the boat. At one point I could count fifteen different sharks on the surface around my skiff.

When blind casting towards rolling tarpon one occasionally hooks a ladyfish or trout, a mild irritation. Most of these minor annoyances have been munched in half by sharks as they were retrieved to the boat during my last few outings. The last couple times out we ran across sharks tearing into ladyfish, trout and jacks as they fed on the abundant bait pods. The water's surface was churned up with fish eating each other.

Of course we had to cast into the melee, resulting in hook-ups, cut-offs and excitement for clients. The little black-tips are terrific sport and will readily take a fly, especially a yellow over white Enrico Puglisi style pattern. Cruising fish, like the ones seen fining around the boat, will also chase down and strike a fly - if they can see it. Cast close enough to the fish so it sees the fly and begin stripping. Watching one of the small black-tips "light up" before it strikes the fly is very cool. This has become such good sport that I now carry a nine-weight rigged with a short wire trace specifically for these fish. Their runs are strong and fast and they are so abundant, at present, that it pays to target them.

In short, they are fun to catch - just don't get out of the boat.

Capt. Rod Walinchus is an author, illustrator, fly-tyer and charter guide specializing in fly-fishing.

By: Capt. Rod Walinchus