Joined: May 15, 2003 Posts: 888 Location: Portland, Maine
Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 10:02 am Post subject: hey
hey -- i am by no means a tarpon expert or anything like that .. but i can share with you what i learned on my last trip...
1. early morning light and last light were best
2. ideal when there is NO wind and glass calm
3. don't really bother blind casting unless you are pretty sure that there is fish where you are casting ... spend your time LOOKING for signs of fish .. and then when you see some... cast ... although if you just need a tug ... blind casting on the gulf side with any deciever type pattern will produce barracuda ... be sure to use minimum 40 pound fluro bite tippet ... or some wire bit guard to the fly ..
4. LOOK at any coves by along the mangroves or deeper channels for SIGNS of fish .. with the lower light and no wind conditions ... we were able to see signs of activity on the surface (whether tarpon fins rolling or eating tarpon or bait scattering or barracuda corraling or jacks smashing bait etc..)
5. when we did find the tarpon .. they were on baitfish and very willing to eat ... white and light brown ep bunker flies .. and white or black tarpon bunnies ... seriously though .. these fish were eating ... so, if you found the fish .... and got a cast into or around them .. they would eat most anything that resembled bat (decievers etc..) ... also, keep in mind they were travelin in pods ... so, if you saw just one fish roll ... get out there and cast .. because that was probably just 1 fish in a group of many more ...
6. be careful of sharks -- seriously --- there are lots of and some monster sharks prowling the flats and the channels for a meal .. so, if you catch a tarpon or barracuda or whatever ... keep in mind that you are now part of the bait .... standing chest deep in water admiring your catch in low light could result in a not so pleasent experience ... and the sharks have a way of appearing from out of nowhere .. especially when there is a fish in distress on the flats .. and when you have a fish on your line .. that IS CERTAINLY A FISH IN DISTRESS .... but just use common sense and give a 360 view around you at all times and you'll be fine ...
ok -- thats my advice .. hope you can find some fish ... bring a camera and take some pics .. would love to see a fishtale of your adventure ... its alot of fun down there and so many kinds of fish .... have fun....
Look for any lights in the water around docks. I was in the keys in January and hooked up with three tarpon from various docks. The first night there I went down to the dock and found a light hanging above the water, where there were two tarpon circling looking for food. Buy some enrico puglisi baitfish imitations. They are what all of my tarpon were hooked on. Don't be afraid to improvise. I went to a tackle shop and got the largest float they had, some rope, and a light up diving stick. Tied the light stick under the float, attached the rope to the dock and threw it out. This attracted jacks and I caught a ton of them with a clouser. Hope I could help out some.
Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 9:38 pm Post subject: tarpon flies
Depending on the tarpon's mood, they might eat white bait, mullet, shrimp,and/or crabs. In the keys they will even eat worms...palolo worms. I think your decision for a night fly will be easy, and will vary according to what is going on around you. I have a feeling that the only night time tarpon fly fishing will be around lights. Usually in those lights, it is easy to see what kind of baits are being eaten. Match the hatch. I think the EP flies are a good choice, butmake sure that you have some scissors handy to trim them to perfect size, as well you should have patterns that work different depths in the water column.
Massively jealous of you guys with the atlantic tarpon...We've got little Indo-pacifics here in Australia, and though they can commonly grow to 6-7lb or so, they definitely never attain 100lb status.
I'm interested in those EP flies of yours. I've been aware of them for quite some time, but am curious as to why nobody seems to tie any? They look excellent, and aren't exactly readily available in Australia, but they don't look too technically difficult to tie.
So is there a reason why everyone prefers to buy them instead?
Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:34 am Post subject: tying EP tarpon flies
They are not too difficult to tie, but aren't exactly easy. The secret is to use many applications of the ep fibers, but make sure that each application is very sparse. The less the better. Then just trim the fly to shape for the last step. They also started tying a similar pattern with some foam on the hook to keep it higher in the water column than the standard ep.
Joined: May 23, 2004 Posts: 362 Location: Enschede - The Netherlands
Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 12:41 pm Post subject:
You almost need to get yourself a barber training with all that trimwork on those EP fibers.
Below a sample from the Brazilian website pescacommosca.com.br where a detailed instruction is listed/
Thanks guys, very interesting indeed...If I can get some hands on some EP fibres, I reckon they'd be worth a go around the mangroves here in Oz...Very interesting indeed...
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