Coming off 13 straight days of work, Vecsey eagerly slid his 121/2-foot Ocean Kayak Prowler Big Game boat off the beach near Little Lagoon Pass (West Pass) and paddled alone onto the Gulf's warm waters around 7 a.m. that Friday.

"I remember the Gulf was flat and beautiful that morning," he said.

Since tarpon was his objective, getting live bait was priority one, but Vecsey said large herring bait balls were plentiful where he'd seen tarpon rolling several times before nearly 500 yards off the beach. He used a Sabiki rig to quickly catch all of the baits his aerated and insulated floating livewell could hold.

"I actually had a 60-pounder (tarpon) eat a herring off the Sabiki rig," he said.