04-02-2007, 04:05 PM
None of my tarpon fishing is done on flats. We fish the Inlets and beaches around the inlets in water ranging from 10 - 45 feet deep. Along the beaches we drift live shrimp. The fish are usualy no more than about a 1/4 mile offshore. When we fish the main channel (45') @ Government, we use a breakaway lead attached at the top of the leader to get down to the depth where the tarpon are hanging out. You can also use a troll rite type jig head. The idea in deep water is to get the bait down to the fish. If the fish are achooled up, you'll have no problem marking them on your recorder. The idea is to get uptide and up wind of the school, deploy your bait and have it drift back through the school. Once the baits are put out, we put the rod in the rod holders and wait for the rods to bend over severely. We use circle hooks and the fish hook themselves. When the mullet make their return run in the spring, we use either mullet or small blue claw crabs. The crabs we drift and the mullet are nose hooked and slow trolled. The tarpon are here from about mid-December through the end of June and sometimes into the first two weeks of July. Generally once the water temperature goes below 70 degrees the tarpon get lockjaw. The rig is very simple. Make an 18 - 24 inch double line with your main line. To that connect 12' of 50# mono with a knot to knot connection and finally tie on an 8/0 size circle hook from Eagle Claw style L2004EL or P170 using a clinch knot and you're in business.
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