Tampa Bay Tarpon Fly Fishing Primer Part 2
- Captain Barkley Daniel
- 4 days ago
- 8 min read
Welcome back, in the last installment we spoke about how to prepare for Tarpon fly fishing in Tampa Bay before you even make it to the water. This part is going to take you through various scenarios and techniques that will help tip the odds of a successful day on the water in your favor.
Effective on-water preparation is essential for successful Tarpon fly fishing...
Ensure your fly line is thoroughly stretched and correctly stored in your line management device.
Set your drag lightly and maintain a well-organized, unobstructed cockpit.
Be ready to cast in the "speed cast" position, holding the fly in your non-dominant hand, with the rod in the proper casting position and the fly line secured under your trigger finger.
I always suggest having around 10 feet of fly line out of the tip along with the leader so a quick cast can be made!
More line can be better, but not if it causes you to tangle every time you go to make a cast. This differs for everyone with expert casters able to hold and cast more than 20 feet without difficulty. Find your comfort level then stick with that amount so it is repeatable and quick, which many times is the determining factor on success. A last word on being well prepared is “staying in the game” and this means focusing on the water where the fish is likely to appear and paying attention ready to deliver a quick cast. Many times, people are (not) focused, especially if it’s a slower part of the day and they miss a fish that was an excellent candidate for a well-placed fly.
The boat position is probably the most important part of getting quality shots at migrating Tarpon. Positioning a boat properly can take several forms from anchoring, trolling motoring or poling depending on factors such as wind, tide, sea state and fish dispersion. Throughout the day it may be more advantageous to use the trolling motor and the push pole in a calm sea state verses the necessary anchoring in a 15-mph late afternoon sea breeze. Having all these tools in the toolbox will allow you to be nimbler and more successful. Of course, some of these options require a guide or confederate to be put into practice. As an example, running a trolling motor while the Tarpon is close enough for a cast can put them on alert. Using a push-pole to steady or turn the boat at the last minute can result in a clear nicely angled shot!
Our next point leads us to the cast as without a proper presentation all this hard work is for nothing. In Tarpon fishing we are not casting to the fish rather we are casting to where the fish is going to be! What I mean by that is if we allow the Tarpon to see our fly in the air or land directly in its path too closely it will most likely spook the fish. I always illustrate this to my clients by saying that if you are walking down the street and a ham sandwich drops in front of you it will likely cause you some measure of alarm and you certainly would not eat it; and so, it is with the Tarpon. We want the fish to come upon the fly as if it were a gumdrop on the trail and something easy to eat as it swims on its path never having to deviate an inch.
Ideally, we will be leading the fish from 5 feet to 30 feet depending on clarity of the water and how calm it is. In my area the lead distances vary throughout the day and tide cycle. The minimum lead in any scenario is best as it negates the effectiveness of a course change by a Tarpon.
Once the fly is properly placed it must be slowly stripped into position and then slowly moved to guarantee to the Tarpon that this tiny morsel will be easily consumed. Tarpon will generally not move out of their planned course to eat so, we must make it either open its mouth and slurp our offering or take the effort to go around the fly out of pure disdain. Getting the fly in the proper place is best done by over-shooting the cruising fish and sliding the fly into place before a slow deliberate retrieve. I tend to prefer a long single-handed strip that goes as slow as possible without allowing the fly to either raise or lower in the water column. A herky-jerky style of retrieve is much less successful in my experience. A slow two-handed retrieve can work but, requires practice and is outside of what many less experienced anglers are comfortable with. I always say, “think Ned Flanders walking in NYC with $100 bills hanging out of his pockets, not Rocky Balboa!”
Once a Tarpon sees your offering, he can ignore it, steer around it, or start to rise in the water column to slurp your offering. When you see the Tarpon rising to track the fly do not change anything you are doing as any change of cadence can put them off. I prefer not to even accelerate the fly as I want the Tarpon to believe that he has taken this small creature by surprise and that there is imminent success achievable. Once he opens his mouth we move on to the part where we set the hook which if you do less rather than more, you will almost guarantee a successful hook-up.
My preferred technique is to not “set” the hook. That’s right; resist the urge to wack the fish using the rod or strip strike. In fact, if you just stand there with your tongue hanging out of your mouth you would be better served than either of those two options.
While stripping I prefer to extend the fly rod away from my body as far as I can while pointing it directly at the fly and eventually the fish and then do long strips using my whole arm span. When the fish inhales the fly simply continue to strip until you are tight to the fish then hold the line tight then pull the rod STRAIGHT back against your stomach to preclude the line from wrapping the butt of the rod. You will be holding the stripping hand tightly around the fly line locking it down completely and not letting it slip in any way. As you feel the line tighten pivot your hips slightly taking the rod a few degrees off center and holding it till the rod bends to the cork letting go just before you think the line will part.
Moving the rod slightly off center gives you a safety factor in case the fish bolts the other way so that you can divest yourself of the fly line before it snaps under load. The straight part of this is when you use the fishes own weight to hook him.
Once he is heading away simply form an OK sign with your thumb and pointer finger and let the line flow unimpeded, while making certain that you steer it away from any obstacle that would snag or tangle it. Keep the rod down and against your body not moving it until the line is on the reel. Get the fish on the reel smoothly and then place the rod at a 45 degree angle and bring it close to your chest so that you can stab it out when the fish jumps, called bowing. This bowing to the Silver King allows a bit of slack to prevent shock loading the line leading to a break off. At this point you will likely need to follow the fish and get a bunch of line back on the reel and close the distance so that you can effectively pull on the fish while minimizing the line stretch. Generally, I like to start pulling on the fish when I get about ½ the fly line back on the reel.
While fighting keep your rod at a low angle and only slightly off center of the fish so that you at once have a shock absorber and you keep the butt section of the rod bent not just the tip putting maximum pressure on the fish. Use what I call “short jabs” where you pull about 1 foot before quickly reeling the slack always keeping the pressure on.
Once you get the leader in the tip of the rod Tarpon doctrine says that is a “caught fish”. At this point my preference is to snap the fish off rather than going for a face grab which elongates the fight and endangers the fish by completely exhausting it. No Tarpon is just going to sit there while you grab him, he must be completely broken down preferably floating upside down so that you can safely grab his face then there will still be a struggle.
A hook will rust out shortly and you avoid injuring the fish and likely yourself as a mature Tarpon can come alive and quickly launch at you or into the boat.
A 100+ pound fish should be boat-side by the average angler in under 45 minutes. An experienced professional can get this done around the 20-minute mark with some exceptions for a particularly stubborn fish. I do not like to have clients fighting a fish over an hour as I believe that once we cross this threshold the likelihood of a healthy release is diminished and a Tarpon that is 30+ years old deserves respect of a quick healthy release so they can provide us one of the best spectacles in nature more than one time!
A good guide coaches you during all aspects of your angling for Tarpon and especially through the fight especially if this is your first time so that you can be a better, more successful angler. I certainly recommend fishing with a guide early on your Tarpon journey as the money you spend will cut years off the learning curve.
And, make sure you reach out to us and get your Tarpon Trip set up soon, and you can reach me direct here:
Captain Barkley Daniel HSIC
727-743-3763
PO Box 599 Indian Rocks Beach FL 33785
Also, enjoy some more Tarpon Fly fishing videos on my Secret Squirrel Fly Fishing Channel
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