Tarpon Report & Tutorial

Saltwater Inshore Reports
1

-full disclosure- this is more of what NOT to do tutorial. I’ve spent the better part of the last 4 trips soakin bait for these things. i’ve jumped and landed exactly zero

I have a problem. I’m wastin my time. I should change. I should do something productive. I can’t help myself. I’m mesmerized. kinda like macdaddy typing a 1000 word essay on trump that nobody reads

i digress.

so with a fresh attitude, I find 8-10" mullet, load up, and head to the honey hole. the big hadens are not to be found where I am.

set up. chum. two on a float. one on the bottom. one mid column. sit. sit some more. chum some more. sabiki some croakers and whiting. put those out. wait.

sharks and cow nose turn on. it’s a fire drill. two rods go off. all 4 get tangled. repeat this 2 times. retie. rebait.

still no poon.

Move locations in same inlet. same result. sharks.

move again. quit chummin. got a spinner. at least I launched something. he divests me of 80 yards of braid.

finally, after 3 hours and 4 spots, I’ve had enough. on the way back, i see two tarpon. one gulping. one free jumping. the jumper was 50’ from an anchored boat. [if you’re the guy I yelled at, I was trying to tell you what happened behind you]

I’ve internet stalked the local pro’s - Fishcall, Kingfisher, WinjayJah, even he who has the best hair in the business. I’ve micro analysed their posts and tried it all. all to no avail.

i got no poon pix, but if I’ve learned anything on this site, it’s this -

if you can’t catch fish, post sunrise pix. thanks penny.

redneck friday night

"I am no

2

Nice post! Look forward to your next post, and seeing some “Poon” :slight_smile:

“I believe in the cosmos. All of us are linked to the cosmos. So nature is my god. To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals. Being at one with nature”

3

Tarpon don’t like Molly Hatchett

2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
www.ralphphillipsinshore.com

4

You caught as many as I did today, granted I had a family of four out on a boat ride.

Charleston City Papers Best Guide of 2014

5

May be the best post I’ve seen in 12 years of following this sight. And you may be getting closer to catching a tarpon. But maybe not. I hope you keep trying cause I got a good laugh out of this post.

6

Don’t feel bad buddy, I didn’t catch any poon today…or last night for that matter.

“Apathy is the Glove into Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”, but really, who cares?

7

We finally caught one Saturday after several years of trying. I’ve jumped two accidentally that broke off immediately and jumped zero on purpose. Set up on the outer end of Price’s Inlet sandbar (Capers side) at low tide with mullet and ladyfish as bait. Two up, two down. Shark,shark,shark shark… tons of bait running by and exploding.
About middle of incoming the life disappeared so we pulled anchor and checked out a shallow spot further out where we found the menhaden. easily 50 in one cast.

Moved to the north side of the inlet where the water was green, not brown. Top half of the incoming, just outside the last breakers. Shark, Shark, Shark. While rerigging the three rods the fourth goes off and we all yell “Tarpon!!!” as the fish jumps clear out of the water aimed at Miami. 100lber hooked up!
We let the anchor free (with a white fender on the tail), got the boat aimed at the fish and the rod man on the bow. He’s holding my Shimano 8000 spinning setup with 80lb braid and 80lb flourocarbon leader. Fish took about 150 yards of line while we chased and got ready for the long haul.
We got back to the fish and bumped the boat in and out of gear as he took control of the situation, swimming south at about 1kt. It’s amazing how strong these fish are, he just kept swimming as if we were not even there. No turning the head, no stopping, we were a 23’ center console being towed by a tarpon!

An hour into the fight we were almost halfway down Capers and the rod man decided to share the pain with HotWhiskey. The Tarpon would be on the bottom, then tire a bit, then come up and take a gulp of air. Each time that happened he got some strength back.

An hour and a half and the Tarpon realizes he’s hooked. HotWhiskey deals with the jumps and runs nicely and we keep the boat on the left side of the fish (he’s hooked in the left jaw) cutting circle after circle. One other big tarpon launches airborne about 100 yards way.

Two hours in and HotWhiskey hands the rod to me. We’re over 3 miles from th

8

Stoked for you. Really. Thanks for posting that

Your location adds insult to my injury

“I am not involved in this thread, only helping Fred understand who he is dealing with.”

9

I"m no pro but I do know a little. Sounds like you have the tackle right. I don’t know if you have some double line braid, mono shock leaders, etc. Get you boga grip out and put the rod in a rod holder in your yard and start pulling, jerking, running etc from all distances and figure out the breaking point of you knots and line. Yeah it sucks busting the rigs and having to re-tie but you will figure out real quick how important putting max pressure with confidence is when you do land one. And you will get real good tying the set up. You figure out how much less than max drag you are willing to dare.

Take a lesson from the fly guys and put max sideways pressure on the fish. And always intentionally pull against the fish. I know that sounds obvious. If it wants to go left pull right etc. Boat driving is very important here. Straight above the fish if it runs in deeper water is a tough way to go but sometimes unavoidable.

My best is 9 min and change on a 150lb’er with a 8000 Penn and I have a full length video of it. The fly guys can land them really quick too. An hour is an eternity.

Good luck.

BKW

10

For the record, my attempts at tarpon were far more pathetic

2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
www.ralphphillipsinshore.com

11

PeaPod,

I’m in the same boat and believe me, I feel your frustration. Like you, on Friday night I was preparing once again.

In an act of desperation, to possibly improve my luck, I took a ritual from the show Deadliest Catch. I bit the head off a menhaden.

It didn’t work. Saturday ended with a zero.

12

I’m not that desperate. Yet. Maybe DNR will publish a manual on tarpon

  • to captfritz

“I am not involved in this thread, only helping Fred understand who he is dealing with.”

13

Hey Pea, finally got out to try some for some reds with buddy yesterday in Beaufort. Put in at the sands and headed out to a couple old reliable spots, but the weather turned us around.

Anyway, hit the mouth of a little feeder creek @ Cat island and a big ole Poon comes up about 50’ in front of us…like a dolphin does. We both saw it clearly and had to be close to 5’. That was very cool. Couldn’t believe it was only in a few feet of water in the mouth of that little creek.

Good thing it didn’t like Mud Minners:smiley:!

I need to try to catch one of those someday…

Good luck on your pursuit!

NN

www.joinrfa.org/

14

not to hijack but curious question. i was up in a river with crab traps all around but a few miles from the coast. something I can only guess to be a tarpon got about 10’ of air right beside the boat. How far up river will they get?

15
quote:
Originally posted by sniper7

not to hijack but curious question. i was up in a river with crab traps all around but a few miles from the coast. something I can only guess to be a tarpon got about 10’ of air right beside the boat. How far up river will they get?

How can you only "guess" that it was a tarpon? They are pretty distinct looking... It's not the grey one with the blow hole on top of it's head... Sturgeons will jump too, but 10' is pretty high...
16

It should take no more than 20-30 min to land tarpon around 100 lb with that line weight and leader. Drag could be set 12 to 15 lbs and significant pressure put on the fish. The longer you gift the higher the mortality rate.