John Chapman outdoors | Tarpon of a lifetime comes at an opportune time

When Sarah Walters Burnsed met her husband, Jimmy, at a tarpon tournament in 2012, they made it a yearly tradition to fish the event.

“It’s our anniversary and became a special event for us,” said Burnsed, who grew up in Northwest Bradenton and currently works as a marine biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.

“The first time we fished it against each other since I was on a different team but after that we always went together. But this year I didn’t know if I was going to be able to fish it.”

In early 2020, Burnsed went for her first mammogram. At that time doctors noticed something they wanted to keep an eye on. Calcifications on both sides were concerning but not able to be completely identified.

Six months later, Burnsed’s fears were confirmed.

“They said it was multiplying and had become more organized. The biopsies came back positive, but had not spread outside the ducts. Luckily the cancer was trapped at that point.”

Finding the cancer early allowed surgery in November 2020 to successfully remove cancerous cells from her body without the requirement of radiation or other treatments. Once the all-clear was given, her goal for a full recovery was one event on the calendar.

“As soon as the doctors said I could do physical therapy I told them I wanted to do the tarpon tournament in May. Rehab became very specific about what exercises I should focus on for fishing and scuba diving. There were things I couldn’t do like lift more than three pounds or even close a sliding glass door, it was not easy.”

After months of rehab she was ready.

“I was nervous, and knew my strength was low. My favorite part of tarpon fishing is the hook set and those first few jumps. I said at least I can hook it and pass the rod off,” she recalled.

“But the fishing was slow, and very few fish were caught by anyone with none for us. I thought that would be my bright shining moment but the fish thought differently.”

As the summer went on she started to resume more activities. A grouper fishing trip, hiking, trips to the beach with family all seemed to have renewed meaning. But there was still something she wanted to accomplish, and it came about in a surprising way.

“We had family and friends down on vacation and had been fishing all week around Captiva. The last day the kids wanted to go catch a big shark, so Jimmy took us out and put chunks of ladyfish around the sound in six feet of water. While the kids were watching a Manatee off the bow, I saw one of the rods go off and a fish jumped!”

It was the tarpon she had been searching for. Burnsed grabbed the rod from the rod holder and the fight was on.

“The fight was hard, but in a way a tarpon fight is normally hard. It ran around the boat, around the tee top, over the engine. I was able to even let the kids feel how heavy and powerful it was for a short time. It was a lot of fun!”

After 20 minutes, the estimated 130-pound tarpon was boat side. Near a sandbar she jumped in the water to get a picture of the accomplishment, the fish she had been longing for since her life changing events began.

“When your biggest supporter puts you on a victory fish, you fight it through tears of joy!” Burnsed posted to social media.

“Thank you to my man for this moment, one we’ve been eagerly awaiting for severn months as a sign of being completely ‘back’ after double mastectomy/physical therapy. Breast cancer is officially in the dust!”