Bonefish - Permit - Tarpon - Barracuda - Snook

Tarpon

IGFA Record 286 lbs.

Average Weight (Mangroves) 10 - 40 lbs. (Open Water) 70 - 100 lbs.

Small tarpon are available year round while the bigger fish are found May through September. The Silver King can put on quite a show for anglers, spending most of the fight in the air rather than the water. Tarpon are able to live in both salt and fresh water with small waters making the chance of landing fish almost zero. The fish are able to destroy most tackle and battles of over an hour are the norm not an exception. In Florida waters, especially along the south-western coast, live mullet are used to take large Tarpon. The baits are allowed to swim unhindered by sinkers. Anglers will drift in areas where tarpon school, easily tipped-off by the fish as they roll at the surface to fill their air bladders. Artificials are the preferred method so that the fish do not ingest the hook.

FLY EQUIPMENT & TACKLE

The reel is actually less important than the rod. Any good salt water fly reel will do, usually rated as a Tarpon model. Fin-Nor, Pate, Penn, STH and Ross all make a quality reel with a good drag. Other aspiring Tarpon fly-rodders will continually jump fish, but can't seem to set the hook. The decent Tarpon rod needs power to jam the hook-point into solid bone, something many heavy fly rods lack. Choose a 12 or 13-weight, but make sure the rod has enough oomph! Tarpon on the Florida flats can be stalked with a floating or intermediate sinking line. To take Baby Tarpon on fly tackle, just scale down to an 8 or 9-weight outfit and use correspondingly smaller flies, including shrimp and crab patterns.

CONVENTIONAL & SPINNING EQUIPMENT & TACKLE

For baby or schooling mangrove tarpon, a freshwater bass equivalent works well. For larger fish, medium to heavy salt water casting rods are called for. Such rods need to be rugged, with enough lifting power for the job. Look for rods that are no longer than 7 feet and have a minimum of 7 guides not counting the tip-top. The Penn 940 and Ambassadeur 7500 are reliable casting reels, both having enough capacity to hold over 200 yards of 20-lb test mono. I have used the smaller Ambassadeur 6500C on Tarpon with good success. Tarpon tax spinning tackle to its limits, yet for those who are familiar with that style of gear, it will do the job. The Penn SS Series, 750 or 850, are good rugged spinning reels. Spinning rods need to be built heavy, serving the nature of the animal, tough as it is. A 6 1/2 or 7-footer rated "Heavy Salt Water" will do the trick. Penn makes two models in the Power-Stick Series that are appropriate. The Tarpons jaws appear to be covered with bone and its gill plates will chafe line. Add up all the possibilities of how to loose a Tarpon and you start looking for a little insurance-- a length of 100-lb test leader material as a "shocker." Attach it to your 20-lb test line with an Albright knot. On the other end, tie the jig or swimmer with a "open-loop-knot."