2014 Tarpon Rookie Competition

[Peterjay 0]

There aren't many who can leave me at a loss for words, but our friend Dave is certainly one of them. I kowtow before the master.

[Chefben4 0]

hahahahhahaha i love this thread

[Peterjay 0]

One good thing about posting in a thread I started is that you never have to worry about being accused of hijacking. After all the crimes I've committed, I wouldn't dare accuse anyone else.

 

Hey guys, how about posting some of the flies you're going to use in the tournament? Either here or in a separate thread. I'm always looking for ideas to steal, and I'm gonna need all the help I can get.

[mikechell 0]

I will, of course, be starting with the same fly I ended the season with last year.

 

 

[mikechell 0]

I did a contest a while back, and these were my two entries. I'll probably be using these two, as the weather and the target fish are both sufficient to warrant these mimics.

 

The scared scud

 

 

The Water is Cold hopper

 

[Peterjay 0]

Mike, this is strictly a C&R tournament. If fly #1 lands on a fishes' head, it's gonna be lights out for megalops. Also, should an unfortunate tarpon happen to catch a glimpse of the other two, it'd most likely die laughing. I'm appalled at your lack of respect for our worthy quarry. BTW - my spies in Florida report that an individual bearing a startling resemblance to the man in your avatar was recently spotted carrying an antique harpoon out of a Daytona flea market. Say it ain't so, Mike. Say it ain't so.

[ditz2 0]

Those flies are real 'lookers'

[ditz2 0]

I have been considering moving to mid or south FL and I am not especially weak kneed but noodling for the brown trout is out.

[Mudskimmer 0]

I hate to hijack this thread with some tarpon flies (sorry I dont have a better camera) but here is what I have used in those turbid ES waters. The first is just a scraggly black tarpon bunny with extra long tail, some blue flash, heavy lead eyes, on a 4/0 Aki Hook. This is the fly I got my one hookup on and a couple of other bites. Fished this on a full sinking line so I was really dragging the bottom. Even got a weakfish or two on it. The second is my attempt at an EP baitfish and the third is a worm fly I want to try. I know we dont have the famed Palolo worms in these parts but there is a very similar worm over there I have seen when my prop has stirred up the mud. I will try and work on my tieing skills before the competition ends.

[Peterjay 0]

Jeez Skimmer - if you hate to hijack threads, you're in the wrong place. Tony Soprano could take hijacking lessons from this crew. I really like that first fly. It just looks like fish food. I'm not sure what kinds of worms we have on the Shore, but if they're the same kind that New England has, the "hatch" will probably be history by the time the tarpon arrive. Still, a worm fly might work. I've caught plenty of striped bass on worm flies when there wasn't a worm in sight. Hey, we're in uncharted waters. The only fly rods I've seen in this neck of the woods belonged to guys I invited here. I do know that some fishermen live line spot and blue crabs under floats, so that might be food for thought.

[Panama Red 0]

I will, of course, be starting with the same fly I ended the season with last year.

 

big fly.jpg

I want to fish with Mike. I could man the catapult to launch the tarpon bomb.

 

I have been considering moving to mid or south FL and I am not especially weak kneed but noodling for the brown trout is out.

Come on D, where is your sense of adventure? Like anything else in the South it all starts with "Hold my beer…Hey y'all watch this", and besides Ben always brings the beer.

 

I hate to hijack this thread with some tarpon flies (sorry I dont have a better camera) but here is what I have used in those turbid ES waters. The first is just a scraggly black tarpon bunny with extra long tail, some blue flash, heavy lead eyes, on a 4/0 Aki Hook. This is the fly I got my one hookup on and a couple of other bites. Fished this on a full sinking line so I was really dragging the bottom. Even got a weakfish or two on it. The second is my attempt at an EP baitfish and the third is a worm fly I want to try. I know we dont have the famed Palolo worms in these parts but there is a very similar worm over there I have seen when my prop has stirred up the mud. I will try and work on my tieing skills before the competition ends.

I like the 'em Skimmer, where do you fish? And about the competition…Since you are way ahead of me (I've never hooked one), I have formulated a foolproof evil plan based on that rotten cheater mikechell…photoshop. After all this is the saltwater section, cheating is expected.

 

I'll send my address where you can send my ill-gotten winnings.

[Piker20 0]

Mudskimmer, can you talk me through the last fly with the extended zonker tail. Like the idea of that for salmon and sea trout flies with thr hook dressed a bit different. What's the tail held out on/with?

[Saltybum 0]

Don't know about the sewer bass but I do catch a couple in the retention pond at the VA clinic every time I have an appt. there.

Also I posted real tarpon pics the last contest I caught in the local ditches, yes ditches here in Merritt Island.

However they were NOT deemed substantial by contest rules.

 

All my ditch tarpon flies are secret but they do tend to catch gar as well since they share the same waters. ???

[Panama Red 0]

Dude the trout you catch are big enough to win the contest!

[Peterjay 0]

Don't know about the sewer bass but I do catch a couple in the retention pond at the VA clinic every time I have an appt. there.

Also I posted real tarpon pics the last contest I caught in the local ditches, yes ditches here in Merritt Island.

However they were NOT deemed substantial by contest rules.

 

All my ditch tarpon flies are secret but they do tend to catch gar as well since they share the same waters. ???

 

Hey, I remember your fish - the only thing missing was the yolk sac. If you'd nailed a mullet and a pompano, you'd have had yourself a Grand Foul Tip.