MIAMI BEACH, FL — A father and son landed seven tarpon from the roof of their two-story home Tuesday after what researchers are calling a once-in-2,267-year rainfall collided with this week’s king tides, leaving several feet of water in the streets and the local wildlife, by all accounts, completely unsupervised.
“King tides always bring abnormally high water,” said Dr. Marina Bilgewater, a coastal flooding researcher at the Biscayne Institute of Hydrology. “Why they’re called king tides, we genuinely don’t know. Nobody’s ever asked.”
Shortly after noon, Jose Sábalo Sr. and his son, Jose Jr., watched a pod of tarpon cruise past their mailbox. Within minutes, both men were on the roof with heavy spinning gear, a cooler, two lawn chairs and a box of 3-inch NLBN paddle tails.
“You don’t question it,” said Jose Jr. “You just get the ladder.”
The first bite came from a group of rolling singles. Sr. hooked up and, after a brief fight over a neighbor’s submerged Camry, landed a juvenile estimated at 25 pounds. Observing proper handling technique, he climbed down the ladder, waded into the front yard and revived the fish beside the recycling bin before releasing it toward the intersection.
Moments later, Jr. connected with a fish in the 120-pound class, which immediately ran for the corner and wrapped the line twice around a stop sign. Without hesitation, Sr. set down his café cubano, jumped off the gutter and swam out to free it.
“The sign said stop,” said Sr. “He did not.”
Jr. then wore the fish down over 40 minutes as neighbors cheered from second-floor balconies and one man livestreamed from an inflatable flamingo.
The pair went on to land five more, calling it the greatest fishing day of their lives.
“King tides, silver kings in the streets,” said Jr. “My grandfather always said you can’t catch fish from the couch.”
Asked about plans for the next king tide, Sr. nodded toward the shingles.
“We’re putting the couch on the roof.”
