Tarpon Fly Fishing Tips - Part 1
Richard French
1. Have a varied fly box with different colors, sizes and weighted flies
I always have a wide assortment of tarpon flies that will cover most situations where tarpon are found. I like dark colors for clear water environments and I’m very partial to dark purple/black and red/back. The Puglusi Peanut Butter is probably my favorite overall pattern, in sizes 2/0 to 3/0. When I’m fishing mangrove estuaries for smaller fish where the waters are often stained and darker, I tend to use more white patterns with silver flash and my go to fly in these conditions is the old school, Blanton’s Whistler. I love this fly in dirty water! I will also always have different sizes of flies in my fly box, from small deceivers in size #2, up to large size 4/0 flies. I always make sure I have some weighted flies in my box, in case I need to get down deep in a hurry. In most cases I’m fishing at or near the surface when tarpon fishing, but I’ve found situations in Southern Belize where we found the fish deep and they would not come up. I also like to use weighted tarpon flies when fishing Cuba’s Rio Hatiguanico for juvenile tarpon. What it really comes down to is this. The more fly pattern options and colors you have in your fly box, the more situations and conditions you are ready for.
2. Good Hooks
Make sure that your tarpon flies are tied on good quality hooks. Many anglers just look at the color and size of the fly and don’t really pay much attention to the hook. This is a mistake because the hook is the most important part of the tarpon fly, given the stress that it undergoes when it’s embedded in the mouth of a pissed off, thrashing lunatic. I like Tiemko and Gamakatsu hooks and prefer all my tarpon flies to be tied on these brands of hooks. They are definitely more expensive but its money well spent. An important note when choosing flies: Look for flies with a wide gap between the barb and the hook shank. Too narrow a gap and your hook up rate will be greatly diminished. A good sized gap between the barb and the hook shank is often overlooked but it’s extremely important.
3. Check your drag
Once you are on the front of the skiff, but before you start fishing, make sure to check your drag. If you don’t have a lot of tarpon experience, it’s always a good idea to defer to your guide. I always get my guide to check my drag before my first cast and he will then modify it to his preference. All guides are different in terms of what they want and my strategy is to get my guide involved and participating well beyond just poling the boat and looking for fish. It also shows him that I’m ready to listen to him and will do what he asks. This goes a long way towards the high level of communication that is required between client and guide, particularly when fighting a big fish.
4. Before you cast
Like with bonefishing, just about all tarpon guides use the clock system, where the tip of the bow of the boat is 12 o’clock. Once you are at the front of the skiff and are comfortable, I recommend stripping off about 50 feet of line and then making a few false casts. As you are stripping your line off the reel, give each section of line coming off the reel a good stretch with your hand. Most tarpon lines are made with a stiff core that helps shoot the line, while also helping to withstanding the heat of the tropics. Stretching line out as it comes off the reel will help eliminate line memory. Once you’ve made a few false casts, strip the line back inside to cockpit of the skiff and make sure that there is nothing in the immediate area that the line can get hooked on. Before I go on a tarpon trip, if I have a new line, I use a waterproof marker and I measure off 50 feet with a mark on the fly line and 75 feet with two marks on the fly line. Doing this completely takes the guess work out of how much line I have out and this in turn helps with my accuracy.
5. Have a good pair of saltwater pliers and a hook sharpener on you at the front of the boat
With the guide usually at the back of the boat and up on the poling platform, I don’t want to wait for him to get down and come to the front of the skiff to help me, if I need to make a change. I always have a good set of saltwater pliers with built in nippers on my belt so that I can change flies quickly, or fix a section of my leader or tippet that has a nick or abrasion, without the guide having to get down off the poling platform. This allows me to be ready and able to take advantage of more opportunities, which usually leads to more hook ups. I also have a good/small hook sharpener with me in my pocket at all times. When things are slow, I am sharpening my hook. If you are new to tarpon fishing, don’t worry about point # 5 too much. However, being fairly self-sufficient when on the bow of the boat is what you should be aspiring to. It simply leads to more hook ups.
As always, if you have any questions about a specific destination or need some trip location inspiration, I will gladly help in any way that I can. I can be reached at:
rich@slipstreamangling.com