What size shock tippet would I need for the different size tarpon under 100 lbs?
Thanks jkilroy
jkilroy …
This depends on just how large the Tarpon are and exactly how spooky they are.
In murky water you might get away with 80 Lb tippet.
In very clear water you might have to go with 50 Lb tippet to get a bite.
Hope this helps,
DickM.
Can you use wire for them?
jkilroy …
I have never heard of anyone using wire on them. It?s not that they have teeth that will cut your tippet but that their mouths are so boney and abrasive. They don?t cut the leader but wear through it in time.
Tarpon around the harbor range from small, needing a #30 to #40 lb bite tippet to extra large which need an #80 lb bite tippet of usually fluorocarbon. Most of the Boca Grande Pass tarpon fishers use conventional gear spooled with 50 to 80 lb dacron & #seven single strand wire 6 to 15 ’ in length is used as a leader. Class tippets range from 8 lb to 30 lb & never larger in break lbs. than the backing. 8)
Jkilroy
If you haven?t done a lot of tarpon fishing before you may want to check out the book Tarpon on Fly by Donald Larmouth and Rob Fordyce. Rob is an excellent guide in the keys, and I?ve fished with him a bit. Lots of very helpful stuff in there in terms of presenting flies to fish, leader construction, relevant knots, fighting fish, choosing and sharpening hooks for tarpon (which is key) gear, flies etc etc.
If you?re going with a FF guide, especially in a place like the Keys, I?d let him or her rig up your butt/tippet/shock/fly set up. Knots are critical, and each guide has his/her preferences for knots, line brands, leader construction and flies. I haven?t done a ton of tarpon fishing, but if you are going to be exploring on your own, want to see if you can pass your guide’s sniff test, or are going to a destination where the guides may not be familiar with fly fishing, here are some suggestions that may work for you. Maybe others will chime in with better knots and configurations.
I?ve mostly used 80 or 60lb clear Ande and, rarely, 50 lb fluoro shocks. 80 trying for big fish in stained water, 60 on baby tarpon where there?s a chance of a bigger one, or in clear water. I?ve only switched to fluoro in clear water when fish seemed skittish.
As far as leaders go, your best bet is to think of them in two sections with a butt section and loop to loop connection to your tippet and shock. The tippet and shock section can be pre-tied and rigged to your flies. The flies can be stored with the tippet/shock section and just looped on and off to the butt.
As an example, a 9 1/2? leader, to use with a floating line for stained water and/or happy fish that haven?t had a lot of fishing pressure, and flies up to 3/0 or so:
Butt :6 feet of clear Ande or Maxima mono with an Albright knot to the fly line on one end, and a Double Surgeon Loop knot on the other end. I usually use 60 or 50lb on 12 wts and 40lb on 10wts for the butt.
Tippet/shock section: 2 ? feet of a single strand of 20 lb (with 30lb backing) or 16 lb (with 30 or 20lb backing) hard Mason mono tippet with a Bimini Twist at each end. Tie a Double Surgeon Loop Knot on one end of the doubled line of the Bimini to make a loop-to-loop connection to your Butt Section. With the doubled section of the Bimini at the other end of the tippet, attach it to the shock of 60 lb clear Ande mono with an Albright or Huffnagel. The shock tippet to fly connection is a Homer Rhodes loop or a 3-turn Clinch.
For big fish in clear water, leaders are often 12? (8? butt, 3? tippet 1? shock) for flies generally up to 2/0.
For use with a fast sinking line, I just use a short one of 4? (1? butt with loop, 2 1/2? tippet and 1? shock)
Hope this helps. Good luck!
peregrines
Next week I’m going to the Bahamas for bonefish, Long Island, and I would like to be ready with my 10wt if an opportunity presents itself, for a baby to medium tarpon. I’m not going specifically for them. I guess I should pre-rig a couple of flies with a perfection loop? I have a few tarpon flies allready tied.
Thanks peregrines, that was helpful
jkilroy
jkilroy,
Yup, I would. Just guessing, but there may be some permit around too, so I?d pre rig some crab flies up on a tippet (no shock) too, just in case, so you can swap out easily if they?re around and you want to target them with your 10wt?. not that you couldn?t throw a bonefish fly at permit if you see one, but odds go up (a little) with crab imitations.
Don?t hesitate to throw at a tarpon with a crab fly if one cruises by, they?ll eat those too, though he/she will be tough to land without a shock, especially the longer the fight lasts.
I?ve never fished down there, so I don?t know about water conditions for tarpon, whether it?s ocean clear water type fishing or back bay dark water in holes or cuts, so to hedge my bets I?d tie up some keys style tarpon flies like cockroaches etc. on 60 lb clear Ande or 50 lb fluoro, and some water pushers like rabbit strips or whistlers on 60 or 80lb clear Ande for stained/deeper water.
You should have a blast. Good luck, and looking forward to the report.
peregrines
Not much call for a perfection loop in saltwater leaders because of thicker diameter leader material. Blood knots, double or triple surgeons knots & loops, Uni-Knot/Duncan Loop, double cinch, non-slip mono loop, Homer Rhodes knot; slim beauty, Albright or Huffnagle…just depends on what you are comfortable tying that won’t slip or break under the initial strilke or during the fight. 8)
I’ll be posting a full report. I’ll be happy with some nice bonefish. I’ve never caught a bonefish. Anything beyone that will be bonus. Later
Jkilroy