Question for Capt Bob Lemay

[vicrider 0]

It always seems strange to me you guys fish 150# Tarpon with relatively small flies, some are not much more than trout sized worm flies. When we fish musky up north we throw the biggest stuff are tackle can handle. Myself I've fished up to 6" but I know some guys like Muskyflyguy throw flies long as your forearm at them. 

So, is the relatively small stuff you throw at those monster fish to "match the hatch"? Also, why do so many of the tarpon flies, and you show some in the hackle question thread, seem to start halfway down the hook shank. Why do they not start right behind the eye? Is it to match a certain type of baitfish. I do know that if I had a dream trip to fill the bucket list it would be fish for baby tarpon. Those in the 5-25# range. No interest in 'rasslin a 150# fish anymore at my age but would love to have a day or two of action with those baby tarpon.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Tarpon flies... where to start?   Tarpon eat a wide range of forage - just as happy to eat a live crab that's around the size of a silver dollar - or a live mullet that's around 12" long (and everything in between...).  They also have really big eyes since they do a lot of night-time feeding and their eyesight is superb if they're in clear waters... In the dark interior waters of the Everglades (the backcountry) we routinely fish flies that are pretty much musky size ( but not bigger than six or seven inches) but out on the flats down in the Keys - the  waters are crystal clear, the fish are heavily pressured and guides go to extremes -just to get a bite, using leaders as long as 14 feet in some cases, and relatively small flies on 1/0 hooks...  with bite tippets as light as 40lb fluoro (by comparison, where I am, we're using a nine foot leader and bite tippets that are usually 80lb fluoro, but occasionally down to 60lb..).  This whole business about bite tippets is because the jaws on a tarpon are very abrasive - I compare the surface to 40grit sandpaper on a big tarpon and the small ones aren't very leader friendly either so a bite tippet will be needed for all but the babies (fish less than 10 pounds...). 

Those patterns I've shown here are a mix of current stuff - and flies that were in common use 35 or 40 years ago when I was tying for shops in the Keys and anywhere else where folks knew what they wanted... In those days, long before fluorocarbon leader material, all that anyone had for bite tippet material - was heavy monofilament that always came with built in memory problems  -the stuff coiled and wouldn't lay straight without being heated, then stretched, and was a pain to work with (understatement) so some guides and tournament anglers began snelling their tarpon flies to guarantee that the fly could be presented properly to that big fish.. That's when I began filling orders for a great shop down in Islamorada that wanted flies designed to be snelled as you rigged them - and those patterns were what I eventually got contracts on with Umpqua Feather Merchants... That's why you see those bare shanked tarpon flies to this day.  Over the years with the advent of fluorocarbon leader material - snelling tarpon flies is no longer necessary (nor are those great looking tarpon fly stretchers that you still see occasionally) since all that's needed with fluoro is to stretch it hard after tying up a leader - and like magic the stuff straightens right out and behaves that way when you're fishing with it...  Snelled tarpon flies are not needed anymore - but... smaller flies for heavily fished tarpon in clear waters - are...  and as a result those patterns are still being used (and I'm lucky enough to get a tiny royalty on the ones that Umpqua does... 

Since tarpon come in small ones to sizes so big you can't believe what you're seeing (that seven foot long log laying motionless in three or four feet of water - is actually a tarpon - and a really big one....).  We fish them with everything from heavy trout gear, a 7 or 8wt rod, occasionally a 5 wt if they're small enough, all the way up to a 12wt (that you could lift a concrete block with in comparison...).  Down in the Keys anglers stalk or wait patiently for hours for a shot at a string of migrating fish in three to six feet of crystal clear water where you can see them coming at you more than 100 yards away some days.  In the backcountry we're fishing small tarpon, less than 30lbs with  an 8 or 9wt rod - not much different than you'd fish largemouth bass, when you can find them (and with everything from a popping bug to a slow sinking streamer on a 1/0 or 2/0 hook....).  For the big girls we're either in rivers as deep as 8 - 14 feet,  within fifty or even thirty feet, using a full Intermediate fly line sinking our big flies down in front of fish that are lying, like salmon right near the bottom of the river on heavy rods.  If we hook up it's a real fight with a big fish averaging around 80lbs  (a few will be in the 150lb range) in a small river - where the fish has all the advantages - or out along the coast where the fish are coming by, heading south towards the Keys in four to eight feet of water - with nothing between you and the fish - if you can get the bite... 

All of what I've described is about day time tarpon, but since they feed heavily at night - we also have a great night-time fishery - but these are small tarpon (20- 40lbs on average, with an occasional bigger...) and it's an urban fishery - right between Miami and Miami Beach each night.  They hang out around docklights and in the shadows under every bridge.  When the tide is right we're actually sight fishing them with an 8 to 10wt rod using flies that are never bigger than size 2/0.  Docklight fish, you only get a few casts before they know you're there - and then we look for another light... The ones in bridge shadows are much better targets and we're rarely more than forty feet from them as they patrol the shadow line under one bridge or another (with five bridges to choose from it's a great situation for that first tarpon on fly...).

As usual, I get carried away about our opportunities - we're spoiled and I'll be the first to admit it.   

[vicrider 0]

Dang Captain, thanks for a great read. Makes me feel like I'm almost there stalking those beasts. I do have a 10 wt blank sitting out in the shed I never got around to tying up and if health allows and the economy quits surging into the expendable part of my Social Security check I'd love to fulfill that dream of those "baby" tarpon before it's too late. Your prose and style of writing means you should consider a book on your FL experiences during your spare time (LOL). I know I'd love the first autographed copy.

Thanks again for letting me know what I was looking for and much more, Nick.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Thanks for the kind words - as far as small tarpon go - a 9wt will get the job done most days... or nights.

[niveker 0]

Agree - good read, as always.  

[Sandan 0]

Ditto. 

[Idaho RC 0]

Capt Bob Lemay I tried to send you a message but I can't get it to go through.  

How can I contact you?  

Randy

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

An email request to [email protected] will get you in touch - or just call (954) 435-5666, any time... Thanks for your interest..