5 Things To Consider For Your First Tarpon Trip

Anyone who is serious about fly fishing at some point will want to pursue the silver king. If it wasn’t for a Brad Pitt, tarpon would be a likely candidate for the most fabled fish in fly fishing. Tarpon fishing is a very unique experience though, they do not fight like any other fish. They make short blistering runs before doing what they are famous for. By this point you have heard the basics a million times;  big fish eat little flies, bow to the king,  expect your fly to be thrown, be able to cast farther than humanly possible into the wind to a fish you probably can’t see. And yea, these are all important to catching your first tarpon, but there is so much more that goes into tarpon fishing and every trip is different.

1) Don’t expect to see Tarpon

The best guides in the world don’t know where tarpon will be all of the time, no one does. There is a lot of down time on the boats and a lot of moving and guessing. Watching fishing videos of tarpon makes anglers believe that every guide can put the client on fish.  Some guides are better than others, but sometimes you’ll be catching jacks and cudas which does not suck. Both of those fish are highly under rated. Barracuda can jump higher than tarpon just in case you haven’t seen a silver missle first hand.  Jacks can show you some backing too.

2) Your guide is going to give you a hard time

photo credit: Silver Kings

A guide’s job is to put people on fish and be more knowledgeable and better at fishing than you. It is hard for a guide to watch a client make a mistake when they know they probably could have done a better job. They don’t yell out of anger, they just want you to catch fish.  How many times have you yelled at the tv screen when a quarterback blows it. Its the same thing.  Ask the guide how to improve and remind them that fishing is not your job, they usually will forget easily. Use every mistake as a learning experience. Don’t get too beat down and don’t get mad at your guide, they want you to succeed and at the end of the day, they have the same goal as you.

3) Don’t expect a photo of your big tarpon

Holding tarpon out of the water is not healthy for them, larger fish sometimes die after being released from mishandling or overhandling. If you catch a fish in shallow water, you can get in the water with it but that is not always possible. Often times tarpon are often caught oceanside patrolling channels and oceanside flats in deeper, rougher water.  These conditions make hard to land a tarpon let alone get it to pose for a picture. This is in part of what makes fly fishing for tarpon so great.  In a world of Instagram fishers, there is not always a great tarpon photo to go with a great story. Sometimes you just revive the fish, let it go with a smile on your face and a be grateful for the memory that you just made to share with your friends. It is a great reminder of why we fish, not for Instagram fame, but for ourselves.

4) Things will break

The tarpon is close to the boat and your guide is trying to grab the leader. Your heart is pounding out of your chest as the fish darts under the boat. You try to get your rod in the water but before you can get it under the skiff your rod breaks on the side of the boat. Many scenarios like this are common. Even a manufacturing defect in a reel, a fly line or leader can lead to a lost fish and a broken heart. But when you’re dealing with a fish like tarpon, expect things to break. So don’t get too down, you just jumped a tarpon.

5) You are going to have the time of your life

Period.  Fish or no fish, the hunt for tarpon is an incredible experience.  This is often forgotten on lists of this nature but it is the most important. You are somewhere in the world fishing for tarpon for a reason, you have seen photos and videos. Have fun and don’t forget that despite how very special they are, a tarpon is still just a fish.  If you didn’t get them this time, you’ll get them next time.