Tarpon Flies

[Chefben4 0]

Bahahhahahaha. These poor unsuspecting posters have no idea what they are in for when they come over to the darkside aka the salty doldrums of the fly tying forum.

[Panama Red 0]

Hey, that's the way Ben fills his tank every Sunday morning. Considering the amount of rotgut whiskey in his system, he's probably burning 95% ethanol.

 

Sweeeet! Them Michigan do their heritage proud. I now pronounce you an honorary Californian, welcome to the club.

[captkenroy 0]

There is yet another reason for the collar on "Cockroach" style Tarpon flies. When tied with a grizzly hackle wing/tail and a squirrel tail collar (as in the original Cockroach) it becomes a great shrimp imitator. The collar becomes the shrimp's carapace.

 

I still snell most of my Tarpon flies. Snelling keeps the fly running perfectly straight. Loop Knots encourage fouling. Also, a good Snell Knot is likely stronger than any knot you tie.

 

When live baiting for Tapon, all of my hooks are snelled whether I am using "Up eye" or regular ringed eye hooks.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Emory's Cockroach ought to be in every tarpon anglers arsenal... it's a simple fly but not easy to tie -Here's a pic of my version...

 

As far as that deal about flies tied to the rear of the hook for tarpon... These days many great bugs aren't tied that way at all (check out a few of mine below -they're royalty patterns and sell pretty well around the world... the Cockroach was developed long before I came on the scene....).

 

As far as why flies were snelled years ago a lot of it had to do with the leaders used back then... Every leader was mono with a heavy mono shock tippet. I remember filling an order for leaders in the early eighties, it was 15lb Hard Mason connected to 110lb Maxima with two Bimini Twists (one at each end of the 15lb, then a Hufnagle knot for the heavy shocker...). With those kind of leaders there was a serious need not only to have flies that wouldn't foul but also allowed you to snell that heavy shocker to keep everything straight. If you want to hear some salty language deliver a bunch of tarpon flies to a guide that fouled easily... that passion went double for leader to fly connections that messed up the one presentation you were going to get in hours on the water...

 

These days, with fluorocarbon shock tippets that are much lighter than what was used years ago the need for snelled tarpon flies is much less. Down in the Keys some guides go as light as only a 40lb shocker -and some of the leaders in use may be 12 to 14 feet long (the fish down in the Keys are so heavily pressured that many have gone to extremes to get the bite - thank heavens I fish in the dark waters of the 'Glades and don't have to do that sort of stuff...).

 

At any rate here's four pretty good tarpon bugs to look at, the Cockroach (not my pattern), the Swamp Rabbit, the Tarpon Snake, and for comparison a Sand Devil done to allow snelling....

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

left out the Sand Devil, here it is...

[Peterjay 0]

Bob, thanks for the info - just out of curiosity, what's a good length for a shock tippet? (I'm not interested in records or IGFA rules) We've got relatively murky water here and unpressured fish.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

I'm sticking pretty closely to the IGFA standards with the proviso that the shocker, including the connector starts at about 13.5 inches. That way when you tie on a fly the whole contraption, knots and all meets the max 12" allowed for record purposes.... I've never had a fish tear up more than the first few inches of a shocker, even with a deeply hooked fly. If I could I'd do without a shock tippet at all but that would cost you more than 90% of the fish you hooked... Many down my way simply use a three or four foot "leader" that's nothing but 60lb fluoro with no tippet at all... For the baby tarps up to about 20lbs all I ever use is a four to five foot piece of 20lb fluoro looped to a butt section of about four feet of 40lb mono (for an 8 or 9wt rod).

 

Most times when you break off a fish it's the tippet that parts and the likely place is right where there's a knot (unfortunately, no matter how skilled you are with knots -that's where the bad stuff will happpen if it's going to.,..).

[captkenroy 0]

I have a problem where I live. Unfortunately, 95% of the Tarpon I see are 80# plus. I've had quite a few suck a fly in beyond the 12" IGFA bite tippet. If I really wanted to land a Tarpon I'd go longer on the bite tippet. I use a short length of 12 # between 6' of 50 and my bite tippet. The 12# is my "safety valve." When a Tarpon stops jumping I point the rod at him and stop the reel to pop him off. I fish with a 9wt because I am too dang old to wrestle with a 12 wt.

 

I don't want to "Catch" a Tarpon but I sure like to see them fly.

 

BTW, Capt. Bob's photo of the Cockroach is perfect. I can't think of another fly that will out fish it when fish are targeting shrimp. It is an absolutely excellent choice for Largemouths in brackish water as well as at least a dozen SW species from tiny to huge.

[Panama Red 0]

I don't want to "Catch" a Tarpon but I sure like to see them fly.

I like the way you think! Damn sure the way I feel as of late.

[Peterjay 0]

I don't want to "Catch" a Tarpon but I sure like to see them fly.

I like the way you think! Damn sure the way I feel as of late.

 

Agreed. I'd be happy just to get some jumps; that's where the thrill is.

[Mudskimmer 0]

I will second that. I dont have much or any experience in the catching, but that first 30-60 seconds is the best bite in fly fishing IMHO, bar none. I have been lucky enough to catch a bunch of salty denizens but nothing has come close to my lone tarpon hookup to date--I nearly passed out. Good thing they arent around all year or I would be up to my neck in child support.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Yesterday we finally stuck our first big Whitewater tarpon of this winter season. The fish was way over 100lbs - but was on bait, not fly. We were able to get 10 to 12 jumps and three long runs before the hook pulled. The wind was blowing yesterday and we just wouldn't have had a single shot with fly since they're holding in open water bays in about three to six feet of water and not rolling or moving at all. That's going to change this weekend since the wind will lay down and we'll be armed with nothing but long sticks and feathers... To give you some idea of the size of our targets, the fish yesterday ate a 14 to 15" ladyfish....