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Poontown

A Novel of Chasing Tarpon and Glory

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Pub Date Sep 15 2026 | Archive Date Aug 13 2026


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Description

The fish will test you. The pressure will break you.

Award-winning author and three-time tarpon-tournament Grand Champion Mark Weeks welcomes you to Poontown, where obsession, memory, and fish collide as the world’s top tarpon anglers and guides gather to compete for the Sabalo Cup, the sport’s most prestigious tournament.

For five grueling days on the flats, five teams stalk the Silver King, knowing that one perfect cast can win the championship—and one thrown hook can destroy a dream. Success demands sharp instincts, flawless teamwork, and the nerve to stay focused when a hundred-pound tarpon explodes from the water.

Each with something to prove, the contenders come from very different worlds. But they’re united by one obsession: winning the Cup. As rivalries intensify and pressure mounts, the anglers gradually discover that the true battle is not with the fish, but with themselves. 

Immersive, suspenseful, and packed with the thrill of elite competition, Poontown puts you on the skiff to experience every cast, bow, and triumph.

The fish will test you. The pressure will break you.

Award-winning author and three-time tarpon-tournament Grand Champion Mark Weeks welcomes you to Poontown, where obsession, memory, and fish collide...


Advance Praise

“Whether you fish or not, you will be ‘hooked’ on this imaginative novel about a five-day championship tarpon tournament in an imaginary place based on the Florida Keys with five interesting international anglers and their home-grown guides….In the words of the author ‘tournaments expose every physical and emotional vulnerability, testing every weak link in one’s armor.’ Through Mark Weeks’ skillful imagination and reportage, this novel will also test every reader’s emotions. Poontown is a well-crafted delight that will fascinate, enlighten, and entertain.”

—Bob Rich, bestselling author of Looking Through Water, now a feature film


“On the surface, L. M. Weeks’ delightful Poontown is a thrilling look at the zaniness that goes into the preparation for, and participation in, a high-stakes fishing tournament, and all that is lost and all that is gained along the way. What lies beneath, however, is something more powerful: a portrait of human nature in a world in which the tipping point for our fisheries and ecology is nigh.” 

—Monte Burke, New York Times bestselling author of Saban, Lords of the Fly and Men of Troy


“A comic, lively and highly entertaining novel that captures the irrational obsession of one of the world’s greatest sports.”

—David Coggins, author of The Optimist: The Case for the Fly Fishing Life and The Believer: A Year in the Fly Fishing Life


“L. M. Weeks’ thrilling book, Poontown, dives into the fury of people who chase prehistoric fish, compete in tournaments, and battle the unrelenting ocean itself. A gripping exploration of obsession and passion, on and off the water.”

—Andy Mill, five-time Gold Cup Tarpon Tournament Grand Champion and author of A Passion for Tarpon


“The Real Housewives have nothing on tarpon anglers—and L. M. Weeks proves it in Poontown, a sharp, funny, and deeply authentic novel that captures the obsession, rivalries, and exhilaration of elite tarpon fishing.”

—Kat Vallilee, first woman to win the March Merkin permit fly tournament and holder of five world records


“Witty, fast-paced, and wildly entertaining, Poontown captures the obsession, rivalries, and larger-than-life personalities of the tarpon tournament world.”

—Meredith McCord, three-time Ladies Tarpon Fly Tournament Grand Champion

“Whether you fish or not, you will be ‘hooked’ on this imaginative novel about a five-day championship tarpon tournament in an imaginary place based on the Florida Keys with five interesting...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9798985588040
PRICE $27.99 (USD)
PAGES 356

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