definitely not looking for anybody’s spot as i know where plenty will be in a few weeks, but i am yet to cross this one off my bucket list. in a couple weeks my local beach (north florida) will be loaded with pogy pods with the silver torpedo to follow. they crash all over the place and ive even rammed one with my kayak that surfaced in front of me, but am yet to hook one. normally i troll around with a 70lb wire leader targeting kingfish, sharks, jacks, … and have no problem with sharks, bull reds, and saltwater catfish, but despite dozens around no tarpon. ive also tried freelining a whole live pogy on 50lb flourocarbon even casting right where theyre jumping, but cant get it past the sharks. aside from pogys that are usually at least 150 yards out, the breakers/surf will be loaded with big mullet. im guessing i just need to keep being persistent with the flouro to eventually get by the sharks, but would it be better to freeline, float, or bottom fish? also should i keep trying pogys or switch over to mullet? i also have a few frozen ladyfish about 20" long (ive heard theyre good bait) and can likely get some spanish mackerel. i also have some 10" topwater lures ive used for giant trevally along with 6" paddletail plastics if lures work well. i am well aware of the sleigh ride to follow if i hook up from the kayak and am no stranger to the one shark open sleigh, but would appreciate any pointers for hooking into a tarpon.
Try to set up where the current is gathering bait. I prefer anything live, but have seen them caught on lures. Mullet might be a better size than menhaden(?), but they’ll hit either. And free-lining, floats or bottom rigs will all work, depending on the water. Here, it is said that “tarpon fishing” is just a glorified term for shark-catching, so maybe no avoiding them.
Sounds like you know generally how to go about it. But it just seems to take a lot of work to get even one hit, and maybe several hits to get one in. Of course, the hook set is a difficult thing and it may be more so in a yak(?). But that would make it even more of an accomplishment. And I’d venture a guess that a tarpon is on many bucket lists. So good luck.
Roger
Everything said above is spot on
Personally i use a mullet about the size of a snickers bar, fat as possible one on the bottom one on a cork
Last two ive caught have taken the mullet on the bottom
Look at where Jesus went to pick people. He didn’t go to the colleges; he got guys off the fishing docks.
Sounds like you’re doing everything right. I would try to match the bait size you’re fishing around. Like said above, big fatty mullet on the bottom.
You may want to float a crab on the top. Our guide in Tampa would scoop up the small crabs floating in on incoming tide and called them tarpon candy.
Also, if the school is rolling (surfacing), then they probably are not feeding.
If the tarpon & sharks are busting a large bait-ball in the surf, then no way to specifically target the tarpon, just put a similar sized bait in the mayhem and hold on.
Regards
looks like i need to drop some fat mullet on the bottom and a cork then. the area im fishing is right near a river channel dumping into the ocean with a small rock jetty running parallel to the beach varying from right at the breakers at very low tides to about 100 yards out on high tides. once in a while the fish will be a bit behind the jetty at high tides, but usually at least 200 yards out. i dont really see them rolling much but mostly smashing the acres of bait that will be around. there are definitely boats that go out, but nowhere NEAR as crowded as much further south florida. being in a kayak i can also sneak up to the mayhem much closer than a boat without spooking anything and could follow the bait pod no problem. i get started by glassing the ocean with a spotting scope unless i see bombs going off in the water and just go from bait ball to bait ball. usually i see a school of bait about 10 feet wide trying to get away from the tarpon, so they are not difficult at all to spot if theyre feeding. the ones ive seen are all look to be about 5-7 feet long. most from 5-6, but some are absolutely huge. hopefully i post pictures and gopro video in a few weeks when they show up in numbers!