Beginner Tarpon Flies

[JappyFish 0]

Heading to Islamorada in two weeks and I believe the tarpon will be moving by then.

 

Can anyone provide some insight on beginner tarpon patterns? Coming from Charleston, SC it's mostly redfish that we target, but I would love to bring a tarpon in on a fly that I have tied.

[FlaFly 0]

Not an answer to your question, but I'm surprised to hear of tarpons and redfish at Islamorado. I used to dive a lot in the keys, (always on the Gulf Stream side) and never saw either of them. Lots of tropicals (parrotfish, angelfish, etc.), yellowtail and mutton snappers, lots of barracuda, but I wonder about reds and tarpons. I'd think maybe Boca Grande vicinity would make more sense to me. Are you fishing on the Florida Bay side or the Gulf Stream side? Any of you guys who fish the keys set me straight?

[agn54 0]

Islamorada, and all of the keys are loaded with tarpon. I remember seeing some monsters on the reefs when diving in the keys. The often hang around the bridges and adjacent flats.

 

For flies, I would start with the cockroach. Basically a Deceiver tied at the bend with a squirrel collar. Capt Bob just posted a pic of one in another thread

[ditz2 0]

Toads, bunny streamers, cockroach, and even seaducers. Size and sink rate and presentation are probably the most important aspects. In deeper water a version of the deep clouser can also be good. A simple google search should fix you up and most are fairly simple ties. Get some good hooks though....They are hard on hooks and make sure they are sharp, sharp, sharp. I am sure there are others that are more knowledgeable than I that may tap in on this thread.

[tidewaterfly 0]

I used to tie Tarpon patterns for several Keys guides. Guides like different flies & how they want them tied. Each detail, which I'll include below serves a purpose.

 

These were primarily classic feather wing Keys style Tarpon flies. The patterns I tied most were the Apte, Apte II, Black Death, Marquesas Sunrise, and the Cockroach. Sizes varied, but since these were for the lower Keys primarily, most were 2/0 or 3/0. I used wide webby neck hackle for the tails, and even raised some of my own birds for awhile to get the hackle I wanted. I would also use saddle hackle sometimes if it was wide & webby enough. Thin saddle hackle doesn't usually make a good Tarpon fly. Some flies were tied with the hackle splayed out, (concave sides away from each other) while others were tied with the hackle flat (concave sides together). I was told that with the hackle splayed out, even a smaller size fly can appear to be bigger than it really is & will have more movement to it. Flies tied with the hackle flat had less movement & would present a more defined profile. These are details that guides wanted for specific situations.

 

For the Cockroach pattern, I tied two versions. Both were tied with natural grizzly hackle tails, but one version used Gray Squirrel tail hair for the collar, while the other version used the natural tan to black hair from the back side of a bucktail. These were tied in both the Deceiver style & the Key's style.

 

Occasionally I tied a black & purple Cockroach version too, which was purple dyed grizzly for the tail hackle & black hair for the collar. I used both black dyed Squirrel tail & black bucktail.

 

IMO, the best hook available for Tarpon flies is the Owner AKI (not the twist version). A lot of the flies I tied were tied on Eagle Claw 254 tin plated hooks, and I also used the Eagle Claw 067, which they now call the "Billy Pate Fly Hook". All are very strong hooks.

 

Hope this helps.

[JappyFish 0]

Wow, that was an overload of information. But I am definitely thankful for it. I've been tying a few toads the last week and will hit the bench hard this week until we head out. I seriously appreciate the help guys.