A video about how I clean and scale my fish. Are tarpons dangerous to humans? If you reel and you don’t feel a significant amount of pressure – stop reeling – as your bait likely just pulled the bobber down and the tarpon may go after it again. To get a good picture of a tarpon often it requires fighting them till they are exhausted completely. Remember – braided line had no stretch to it and we use very sharp hooks, this is why in all cases you never have to give any kind of crazy rip-lipping hookset – this usually causes more problems than it is worth. Again I explain this all but being ready to do the right thing just makes things a bit easier. If one is actively trying to eat him he will often jump and flip out of the water. Though in all cases it is usually best NOT to do any crazy hook set – even with J hooks. I usually have anglers hold the rods while doing this so they can feel and hook their own fish and also if done correctly increases your chance of hooking a fish. Tarpon are also called Silver King, Silver Sides or Sabalo (Spanish). If you want to enjoy the tarpon's stamina, fight and jumps then set the hook. They also are not designed to be lifted out of the water by their gills, or handled as that knocks a lot of the slime off of them which is not good. Tarpon’s preferred water temperature is in the 74-88 degrees Fahrenheit range. Nov 25, 2018. And for the first few minutes, I would really recommend just keeping it pointed straight at them. Rick Stanczyk I try to maneuver the boat and keep the fish off the bow, though at times I may not be at the wheel or the fish may make a sneaky move. Using your short lip gaff, push it through the Tarpon’s lower lip and the fish will need to be held while another person takes the hook from its mouth or clips the hook’s leader as close as possible. Slit up the center of the trout's belly in a straight line. Now there are some things that can tell you when a fish will jump. Although found throughout Florida’s Atlantic coast, ports and inlets south of Biscayne Bay offer the best Tarpon fishing. And set it … Tarpon Tackle: As a fulltime Tampa Bay tarpon fishing guide for the last 20 years, I feel like I have tried just about every rod and real combination under the sun. You will feel the pressure in the rod and line increase when you are pulling the right direction against the fish. At first you are just picking up slack line as we chase the fish, once he settles down we will put more pressure on him as needed. Tarpon are very opportunistic feeders and are usually not far away. This will give you the best chance at keeping these smaller fish hooked. If the fish is very green and pulling hard, it may also be a good idea to back off on the drag some. Is tarpon a good fish to eat? There is a large population of Tarpon around the Channel Bridges, Tom’s Harbor, Seven Mile Bridge and Long Key. We give chase to tarpon for this reason. Tarpon are rarely eaten because their flesh is filled with small, hard to clean bones. Nobody is eating tarpon because they have a strong taste and smell, and they’re difficult to clean because they have so many bones. Basically we don’t fish the drags locked down very tight at first because you are not going to stop a tarpon with drag alone. It just happens a lot more with small size fish due to smaller mouths and they are much more acrobatic and violent when they jump. Just wait for him to come back. This way you’re pulling AGAINST the fish and making it harder for him to swim and breathe. 10 facts about the tarpon fish. Tarpon have very hard, bony mouths. If you think a tarpon has eaten your bait, wait until you feel pressure (a pull) on the line. The additional flow also brings pretty clean water in too. Snook fishing is explosive right now, this is do to the warm weather patterns we have had. If you just jerk right away, often the hook will bounce right off the bony jaw. Be VERY CAREFUL doing this, if the fish kicks hard and runs or bucks at all, just let off and let him go. Bowing means drop the rod tip and point it straight at him (give him some slack). Tom & Rich fish the Lower Florida Keys for tarpon and find the jackpot. Now once you’ve reeled, the line is tight and the fish is pulling drag (lots of pressure), you may give it a thump to set the hook. Tarpon are a very slow growing fish, with adult females living over 50 years. Again braided line has NO stretch so it is imperative you give them slack when they jump. When a fish is near the boat or under the boat, you DO NOT want to stick your rod tip up high. For this reason, we tell you to stop reeling and bow (point the rod at the fish) as this takes the pressure off the hook and line. Again I don’t do much fishing in this fashion as it is usually more of a sight fishing thing for skinny water skiffs, though sometimes the opportunity presents itself. Generally if he goes through or around something, you want to LESSEN the drag on them. When you do this be ready for the fish to surge and possibly jump, as they feel this extra pressure and often panic. Although tarpon is fun to catch, they are not considered to be worth eating. They grow to massive size, with the current IGFA world record at 286 lbs 9 oz. You can try to pull them away from it, though generally your not going to be able to stop them. We also fish the drags extremely light, just tight enough so you can regain line as you reel. If the fish surges under the boat the rod can be easily broken, so be ready to drop your rod tip down into the water and swing it out around the other side of the bow if necessary. During springtime, Tarpon are mostly on the Florida Bay side, but as the year progresses, they start moving to the Atlantic side. When this happens the tarpon has eaten him – reel as fast as you can and lift your rod tip up to a 45 degree angle. We often are still using the same gear that we fish for larger tarpon with, but obviously it is a bit heavier than you’d like to use for small tarpon. Hooking tarpon on artificials is often much harder to do. The person taking the picture goes to the back of the boat and gets down alongside the boat and snaps the picture of you holding the leadered fish next to the boat. Jack Bank (near Marathon) and Buchanan Bank (near Islamorada Key) are good places, as well. The waters surrounding it are full of Tarpon. Each day they fished they caught numerous tarpon in the 50-to 100-plus pound range, with at least one 150-pounder hooked, jumped and lost. Certain times of year (especially in the summer) we have a lot of smaller-on-average size tarpon around. As stated the tarpon will generally set the hook on themselves if the rods are in the rod holders – if you get one on, you just pick the rod up and keep your tip at a 45 degree angle and reel. Basically if you’ve made umpteen casts and not had a bite, try something new – when fishing artificial stuff presentation is a much bigger deal and something as simple as changing the speed your reeling, or adding a slight twitch every few seconds, can make the difference between catching a fish or not. The flats surrounding Homosassa Bay and the Crystal River are also full of big Tarpon May through June. When the fish is back in the water, lift your tip back to a 45 degree angle and reel tight again. Don’t just stand there and pull straight up the whole time. Let the fish run off a bit of line for a while, usually 30 seconds or so, and keep the rod pointed straight at him, if he his pulling drag just let him go – if he is not pulling drag then reel. These fish are fully equipped with great night vision, with big eyes that can see really well in the dark. These fish are typically between 75-120 pounds and are on their yearly migration north to… Summer time in Clearwater is the right time to target the silver king. Boca Grande is the most famous Tarpon fishing location in the world. Tarpon are rarely eaten because their flesh is filled with small, hard to clean bones. It’s well known for its acrobatics on the end of a line and capable of jumping up to ten feet out of the water while rattling its gills like an angry diamondback snake. Feb 1, 2019. On a day that they were purely targeting tarpon, the Saltwater Experience hosts would tend to go somewhere a little more remote. Doing our best to prevent hooked Tarpon from being eaten by sharks allows us … In this case just reel until you get tight on the fish and proceed to set the hook as described. down in the water, and try to avoid having the line rub on the boat as much as possible. If it is a smaller fish that we do not have to chance, we usually leave one other bait out to try and possibly hook another. This takes the pressure out of the backbone of the rod and puts it up near the tip. Wrong! First, I’ll show you where to look for them, and at what time of year. When the fish is swimming to the right, you pull back down and to the left. A lot of times you do not really need to put a lot of pressure on these size fish, and if you do all that is going to happen is they are going to throw the hook or the hook will pull out! After COVID-19, Many Businesses Still Struggle to Pay Rent – Is Bankruptcy A Solution? An Atlantic tarpon can grow from 4-8 feet in length anywhere and they are very active and strong. 305-747-6903 Tarpon are fish with a very keen awareness of their surroundings. It may be counter-intuitive as many fish you always want to keep the line tight, though with tarpon when they jump this is not the case. S14:E2 - “Captains For Clean Water” (2019) Daniel Andrews of Captains for Clean Water discusses the state of the Everglades. Tarpon fish (Megalops atlanticus) are plentiful, and yet they are heavily regulated in Florida because they don’t really have any culinary value. Using a short lip gaff, pass it through the fish’s lower lip and the fish will be held while someone removes the hook or clips the leader as close to it as possible. I was staying in a place off a saltwater lake that was teaming with tarpon in the twenty to fifty pound range. I have a much better catch ratio doing this than trying to ‘over drag’ the fish. ... Monday Fish Pics (53 Colorful Images for the Start of the Week) Hot . A smaller fish or very tired fish you may be able to manipulate, however a large or fresh fish will be trouble. rick@islamoradatarpon.com, , Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), 9/26/2020 End of September tarpon fishing in the Florida Keys, 9/3/2020 Early September Tarpon fishing in the Florida Keys, 8/27/2020 Late August Tarpon Fishing in the Florida Keys. Want more stuff like this? Besides, they are a game fish and should be released after a quick photo by the boat. Do not cut deeply — just through the skin is … You don’t really need to give them a hard hookset in my experience, though if you want to the same rules apply – reel first and lift up your tip and once you are tight and the fish is screaming drag and you feel the heavy pressure give it a nice thump. I don’t fish this way personally very often though occasionally it is fun while we have other baits out to toss an artificial, or if you were sighting moving fish you could toss in front of them. I like to start with the drags fairly loose and then slowly tighten as needed once the fish settles down. Once he settles down usually after this first 5-10 minutes, we tighten the drag down a little bit. One important tactic is to use the rod to fight the fish. If they are swimming for something like this, we crank the drag down and just try to pull them to swim away.

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