# Florida in may



## SiteCast (Jan 6, 2012)

Hey fellas-

Headed to the southwest coast of florida in may for several days of fly fishing for tarpon with guides from poling skiffs.

I have never thrown at tarpon but am fairly proficient with an 8 wt on reds. I plan to do some practicing with a buddy's 10 wt. before the trip. 

In a nutshell, can you guys offer a few tips or words of advice on things to take or do that will help me get one to the boat?

I will be posting pics - thanks in advance!


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## BrandonFox (Jan 8, 2013)

Be prepared for alot of cursing.
The guide should have all the info/tips you need. Good luck!


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## Bruce J (Jun 27, 2004)

If you're proficient already sight casting an 8wt from a boat to reds, that's a good start. You'll probably be throwing an 11 or 12wt rod there, so it will definitely be more physical but otherwise similar. Do you double haul well already? If not, get your 8wt out and take a lesson or watch a YouTube video to try and get this down before you go.

You can bet on having the wind blow 20, or at least it always does with me. You will miss a lot of shots, everyone does. And even when you make a great presentation, odds are not good that the fish will eat. Hopefully you'll see lots of fish and will make enough decent presentations that a fish or two will finally do the right thing and eat your fly. Just try to listen to the guide and not get frustrated. There's a lot to learn, but there's a tremendous reward when it all finally works out.


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## Coconut Groves (Nov 2, 2011)

If you haven't fished for big tarpon on the fly, the first thing you'll notice is how fast of a game it is. You'll get a hook up, then the next thing you know the fish is off and you left wondering what just happened. Your first hook ups will be mayhem and you'll be put together like a soup sandwich.

The good news is that the more you do it, the more the game slows down. That takes time though which isn't enough to learn on one single trip. You'll be hooked when you are done though.

While casting a 10 wt helps to practice, odds are you'll be throwing an 11 or 12 like Bruce J said. If you aren't used to throwing heavy rods, they will wear you out quick. Double hauling is essential with heavy rods - they are usually very stiff and love line speed. Mix the wind in there too and it can be tough. Take a lesson to learn the double haul if you haven't already. While tarpon will eat at the boat, more than likely you'll be laying out a lot of line to increase your number of shots at fish.

Listen to your guide, learn to present the fly at a good angle to the fish (very important), and strip at the right speed (very important). The guide will teach you this. What he can't teach you is to not trout set the fish or strip set the hook out of the fish's mouth. Hopefully they'll turn when they eat it (not always the case) and run straight away from you (don't count on it). You'll then strip set the hook hard a few times to make sure it is deep. From here, point the rod tip at them when they jump - you can feel when a fish is going to jump because the tension on the gets much lighter. Fight them "down and dirty" - don't high stick the rod - keep the tip parallel to the water and fight them horizontally and downward. Fighting them high brings their head up, allowing them to suck oxygen, giving them more energy to put the beat down on you. Down and dirty prevents them from doing that.

Sounds easy, huh? You'll become an addict to it if you aren't careful.


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## Bruce J (Jun 27, 2004)

I'd also recommend getting on YouTube or Vimeo and doing a search for tarpon videos. Just watching some of the casting and particularly the stripping, strip striking, line clearing, and fighting techniques will explain a lot more than we can put into a few words here. It may sound goofy, but getting good mental images from watching these videos will make you feel just a bit less lost once the real madness begins.

For just a couple specific recommendations, look at the videos posted on the website for Shallow Water Expeditions. Also do a search for Will Benson's "Silver Lining".


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## Coconut Groves (Nov 2, 2011)

Left's Kreh's Fly Fishing in Salt Water covers tarpon pretty well. But the graduate course is Andy Mill's Passion for Tarpon. The chapters where tactics are explained are top notch.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

If at all possible get some practice in with the same weight rod you will be using, probably a 12 wt. Its a lot different from the lighter rods....and practice in the wind cause you can count on that as a certainty in Florida in May. 

Don't worry about mistakes. Florida guides, especially Keys guides, are notorious for being highly critical and in my experience their reputation is well earned. Just shake it off and remember they criticize everyone. 

There's nothing in our sport like throwing a fly to a 200 pound class Tarpon....and watching him eat it, and setting the hook, and playing the fish. Enjoy it, every minute of it.


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## Bruce J (Jun 27, 2004)

Speaking of good books, I think Rob Fordyce's book on tarpon is the best bang for the buck out there. It's the best $25 bucks you can spend if you want to begin learning the sport. I have Andy Mill's book too, and love it, but it's about $100 as I recall.

http://www.amazon.com/Tarpon-Fly-Donald-Larmouth/dp/1571882707


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## SiteCast (Jan 6, 2012)

Thanks to all for the great responses! I will follow the advice!


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## Coconut Groves (Nov 2, 2011)

Bruce J said:


> Speaking of good books, I think Rob Fordyce's book on tarpon is the best bang for the buck out there. It's the best $25 bucks you can spend if you want to begin learning the sport. I have Andy Mill's book too, and love it, but it's about $100 as I recall.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Tarpon-Fly-Donald-Larmouth/dp/1571882707


Yeah, Passion for Tarpon is $100, but man is it worth it if you are a tarpon fiend. The history, the detail on tactics, the high resolution images of flies, etc are just outstanding. The funny thing is, every time I see a video of Andy tarpon fishing, he loses the fish 9 out of 10 times! Bow to them Andy - you try to horse them in way too much!


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## Bruce J (Jun 27, 2004)

Coconut Groves said:


> Yeah, Passion for Tarpon is $100, but man is it worth it if you are a tarpon fiend. The history, the detail on tactics, the high resolution images of flies, etc are just outstanding. The funny thing is, every time I see a video of Andy tarpon fishing, he loses the fish 9 out of 10 times! Bow to them Andy - you try to horse them in way too much!


I think it's worth it too, but both of us are already hooked on the sport - then it's a no-brainer. Speaking of horsing, I think the bit in Andy's book about practicing to lift a 10 pound (or whatever) weight with the rod is particularly useful advice. I had no idea till I tried it how hard you have to lift, and with very little rod bend, to put that much pressure on a fish. It helped me a lot when I hooked my first bigger fish to realize how hard I could pull, and it greatly shortens the fight. Even so, if I caught .1% of the fish that Andy has, I'd probably horse them even more because I wouldn't care so much if they got off. The cast, eat, strike, first few jumps is about 99% of the fun to me.


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## rvd (Mar 30, 2006)

Great info gentlemen, thanks for sharing.


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