THE ACTION
THE REEL
One of the biggest thrills and greatest challenges fishing the Surf is the Tarpon. Strong,acrobatic and fast, the Tarpon is the ultimate test of a surf anglers ability and endurance. Unlike fishing from a boat where you can back up on them during the fight,the beach offers no option to do so and the distance between you and the fish only gets further. In Northeast Florida the Tarpon roam the first slough on a high tide in the Spring and Fall as the school of bait fish migrate. I have found Fall between September and late October to be the best since the water temperature is still usually warm enough and the slough is typically deeper. I have also found through experience that if I start catching Ladyfish in the surf, the Tarpon are nearby. The ladyfish is actually related to the Tarpon but much smaller in size and they are a favorite choice of food for the Tarpon. Fishing the surf for Tarpon requires more than one of my Pompano rods/reel. They would spool that rig in a flash. You will need A LOT of spool capacity of 40# test line, A good quality surf rod with some backbone, a long terminal leader of 80#+ test a VERY sharp and strong hook and of course some bait ,preferably live ladyfish,bluefish or black mullet. I have found that most large Tarpon (100+ lbs.) will tear 250+ yds of line from a reel before they even jump because they are heading to the deeper water outside the sandbars where the real fight begins. Bringing the Tarpon to the sand is a low probability event when he reaches that deeper water without the proper rig. Also, you do not want to fatigue the fish to point of death since they are a catch and release species. You need to tire him but not to the point where he is vulnerable to prey or without the ability to recover. They are a magnificent species of fish and should be treated as such.
Having balanced equipment is a must on the BIG ones. The rod and reel need to work together. After trial and error I ended up with two set ups that I found to be perfect. I use the same terminal rigging on two different rod set ups. The rig I use above is an 8/0 Owner Gorilla hook snelled to a 6' 80# mono leader and 250# swivel. The reel is a Penn 113H which I converted with Accurate plates ,frame and spool. The reel holds 550+ yds of 40# giving plenty of capacity and that nice Penn Drag system. The 6'leader is also long enough to prevent the fish from gill cutting my lighter line on airborne jumps. The rods I use are Breakaways SU1508 (MH 3-80z) which provides enough flex to toss a live bait but plenty of backbone too. There are other rods or reels obviously that will work as well but make sure that the rod is MH at (3-8oz) and the reel can hold some capacity of heavier line and that they feel balanced together otherwise the fish will always win. Also take extra care when releasing the fish to make sure he has a great chance to do battle again.
14 comments:
How do you rig a live fish to a hook and power rocket it 100 + yards without losing the fish at some point during the cast or arriving at its destination in such mangled condition that it will be a miracle if you can hook anything biting on it?
Wark
I rig the bait through the chin and between the eyes. I do not power launch the bait, nor do I deed to. On a high impact beach the first slough is plenty deep to be holding Tarpon or Shark. A nice SLOWWWW cast that hits 50-60 yds. will do it. I could not hit 100 yds with this set up if I tried.
i fish for tarpon from shore also, i use an 8 foot star rod, penn 320gt2 with 300 yards of 80# braid, and about 3 yards of 200 lb mono leader tied on with a yucatan knot, no swivel, no weight. on rough days i cannot get off a good cast, and sometimes the tide moves my bait over quite quickly..should i use any weight or is there anything else i can do to keep my bait in the spot i want? i usually use dead baits because i believe the tarpon are big and lazy and don't really want to hunt their food, they are oppertunistic and will seek out the easiest targets
I use a slider rig up my main line above the leader swivel where I attatch the sinker. With the leader being as long as it is it gives the bait ample room too move around.
Thats good advice..I've made a few changes in tackle in order to land more kings, its been trial and error. I upgraded my main rig to an avet lx which can hold 600 yards of 80 lb braid on my 8 ft star rod..in decent conditions i can chunk a 4 oz weight and a slab of meat over 200 ft because the freespool on this reel kicks ass...my other setup doesn't have that much line capacity or castability but has gotten the job done and with the 80 lb line you can apply more pressure and hammer the fish harder..I'm also using a rig similar to what you described, I got 6-8 ft of 250 lb mono (decent sized sharks haven't been able to bite through and i hate wire), which I will cut about 1-2 ft from the hook (for casting purposes), slide a 4 oz weight on the top part, and re-tie to keep the weight from sliding up against the hook and holding the bait right on the bottom..my hope is that as the bait is suspended, it will slide more leader through the weight and hang higher off the bottom away from the rays and crabs, its just a little different than your slider rig where the whole leader is below the weight.
Robert you have a great site here with alot of excelent info. I am curious if you still have the old parts for the 113H. If so I could sure use them. My name is Doug and I can be reached at 904-226-1718
Doug, I sold those on Ebay years ago.
Hi Robert, I am traveling to Singer Island on January 29th and I am an avid surfcaster in New York. Is there anything you can suggest to me to prepare for the trip? Any help would be great. Thanks alot, Mike.
Tarpon fishing in your case is much like fishing GT's in the Hawaiian Islands as far as tackle. For GT's it's common to use 40# test mono from shore and 80# test mono from the cliffs of deeper water. For shorline fishing here, I use a 14' rod and a Shimano Trinidad 30 loaded with 30-40# line - sometimes a Newell 546 with 60#. This is the norm for baitcasting Hawn reefs. Many fisherman here feel as though 30# mono is too small - they have a point with all the sharp coral reefs we need to endure. Good write up!
hi Robert, I'm trying to catch a tarpon from the beach down here in Boca Raton... when it's flat water early in the morning I'm trying plugs when I see them rolling. So far I've had a couple follow my plug, but not hit it yet.
When it's choppy I've been catching bait, usually blue runners, and live-lining them out about 150yds. I hook them just behind the dorsal fin.. this seems to keep them swimming out away from the beach. Would you recommend I hook them instead in the chin/nose? I don't cast them... I just drop them in and let them swim out. I had a big fish on this morning but it wore thru my 30# braid above my 4.5' 80# leader.. I was thinking it wasn't a tarpon since it didn't jump, but it didn't feel like a shark... from what u say above, apparently it's not uncommon for them to not jump until in deeper water?... maybe it was a tarpon?
thanks for any advice...
I usually hook my live bait up through between the eyes. This method seems to work best when casting the bait, it will cast further and stay on the hook. You may want to attach some lead above that leader to prevent the fish from wandering (carolina style rig). I try to keep my bait in the 75-80 yd area since line capacity becomes precious when hooking a big Tarpon. As far as the fish you caught ,it may have been a Tarpon. Could have been a Cuda or King. Most likey it was a shark, their skin is not kind to braid.Good luck and good fishing to you.
hi im going to tarpon springs, florida and was wondering what size bait to use and basically if there are fish near the shore at this time of the year.
I've never fished off the shore in florida so i was just wondering what i need to do and if there are any other big fish besides tarpon.
Gatorjwade,
I have been fishing from the beach in the Spanish River area in the mornings for the past couple weeks and haven't had much luck although I've seen a few Tarpon. was curious to see if you've had any luck lately? Thanks for any advice.
Ian
Post a Comment