# tarpon question.



## iridered2003 (Dec 12, 2005)

whats the reason for pointing the rod at the fish when it jumps? i know this sounds dumb, but i've never fished for tarpon or never though about it. i may try some tarpon fishing this year.


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## Charlie2 (Aug 21, 2004)

iridered2003 said:


> whats the reason for pointing the rod at the fish when it jumps? i know this sounds dumb, but i've never fished for tarpon or never though about it. i may try some tarpon fishing this year.


It's called 'Bowing to the King'. It puts some slack in your line so it doesn't break. C2


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## iridered2003 (Dec 12, 2005)

Charlie2 said:


> It's called 'Bowing to the King'. It puts some slack in your line so it doesn't break. C2


i would think fishing with 40 lbs mono would hold up to just about any junp they have to offer? i mean, as their in the air, their not pulling that hard on the line. IDK!!! thanks


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## Scott (May 24, 2004)

Actually, has nothing to do with line breaking unless you're fly fishing with light tippet or using really light tackle - which I don't recommend anyway. It has to do with throwing the hook more than anything when using heavier line. With big circle hooks, it is less important but still done. With a straight hook or or a treble hook, you give the fish slack so he can't get leverage on the line and pop the hook out. With the line slack, he's only got the hook or lure weight to try and throw the hook. With the line tight, he has something to pull and work against.


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## iridered2003 (Dec 12, 2005)

Scott said:


> Actually, has nothing to do with line breaking unless you're fly fishing with light tippet or using really light tackle - which I don't recommend anyway. It has to do with throwing the hook more than anything when using heavier line. With big circle hooks, it is less important but still done. With a straight hook or or a treble hook, you give the fish slack so he can't get leverage on the line and pop the hook out. With the line slack, he's only got the hook or lure weight to try and throw the hook. With the line tight, he has something to pull and work against.


i would think that pointing the rod at him when he jumps is gonna put more slack in the line then with the rod tip up. if i ever catch one, i'll tell you how i fought it and if it or i won the battle:doowapsta


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## Charlie2 (Aug 21, 2004)

*Tarpon Question*

I never really thought about it, but it had to do with the fish 'coming loose' during the jumps; either by the line breaking or the hook coming loose. The tarpon has one tough mouth anyhow; designed for crushing and eating crabs.

It was taught to me by a old friend; since gone, who probably 'jumped' more tarpon than you and I could ever think of.

Thanks for the info. C2


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## marc (May 21, 2004)

Rig heavy and don't bow


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## Scott (May 24, 2004)

We bow even with big stuff.... its more like just pointing the rod tip at them... not quite as dramatic as the fly guys do it.... we absolutely do on a casting line.... with the big stuff, it's just not as important if you forget...


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## Scott (May 24, 2004)

Link on the ProjectTarpon.com Facebook page to a How To on hooking, fighting, landing and reviving a tarpon.


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## JpBonefish (May 10, 2010)

*Bow, for God sakes, Bow!*

I learned the hard way. Fishing for schooling tarpon, 2-3 ft class with a bronze jointed rapala in Snapper Creek Canal, Miami area, when I subdue a 3 ftr close to the boat he makes one last leap, I didn't bow and because of the rod pressure and I was the recepient of both sets of treble hooks thru my shorts and into my johnson. Not good for a 10 year old, not to mention the horrid trip to Baptist hospital to have said lure extricated. Otherwise, it was a great day on the water:spineyes:! Lesson learned!


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## Charlie2 (Aug 21, 2004)

*tarpon Question*



jprejr said:


> I learned the hard way. Fishing for schooling tarpon, 2-3 ft class with a bronze jointed rapala in Snapper Creek Canal, Miami area, when I subdue a 3 ftr close to the boat he makes one last leap, I didn't bow and because of the rod pressure and I was the recepient of both sets of treble hooks thru my shorts and into my johnson. Not good for a 10 year old, not to mention the horrid trip to Baptist hospital to have said lure extricated. Otherwise, it was a great day on the water:spineyes:! Lesson learned!


Very good post. I forgot to mention that I was once the recipient of a rather large hook that came unbottoned from a tarpon during one of its leaps.

Thank goodness that it wasn't a treble hook. BTW; it was a 'J' hook rather than a circle.

I bow to the King! C2


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## marc (May 21, 2004)

We sometimes lower the rod to the side, almost to water level when they jump. There is no slack ever given to the fishy. In fact we are pulling back on the rod to tighten up the slack from the line lag in the water. When they come up from deep there is allot of line under water and until you retrieve that line, the fish has all the advantage to work the hook loose. We reel like crazy and pull down and back through most jumps. 
I wouldnt call it bowing.


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## TrueblueTexican (Aug 29, 2005)

*Now I've been*

bowed out of the boat a time or two after hook-ups in rolling surf, stay tight for me


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## El Tractor (Sep 20, 2006)

It all depends on how much line you have out. While fishing in shallow water with light tackle close to the boat, or when in deep water an the fish is jumping 20' from the boat, you need to bow. But when hooked with a fish 75+ yards away from the boat, in deep water with heavier tackle (40+), the drag from the line cutting through the water alone will keep the line tight regardless if you bow or not.


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## Swells (Nov 27, 2007)

Good answer Tractor although I don't know as I "bow" to anybody or any fish!

When a fish jumps you have to let it "have its head" which means easing up on pulling the rod so hard - but it also means keeping a constant pressure with the reel so the tarpon won't spit the hook out of its bony mouth - same for any fish really, especially blue marlin. Never give 'em too much slack.

If you pull and crank really hard during a jump, you might end up with a hook in an embarrassing place, as was said.

Even the best of us lose a few, bowing or not. Since there's no meat points and I was going to release the tarpon anyway, no problem for me. I don't fly fish and have more like a surf spinning rig or a king mack rig on a boat (love those lever drags). 

Ya learn what works for ya ... tight lines and go knock 'em down. :cheers:


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

That must have been 68 years ago, in Snapper Creek? I was raised in that neighborhood before moving to Texas in 1960. All I ever saw was bass, in Snapper Creek. My grandad ran the Shaw Nursery on Red Road at Snapper Creek. My uncle worked at Baptist Hospital during that same time...



jprejr said:


> I learned the hard way. Fishing for schooling tarpon, 2-3 ft class with a bronze jointed rapala in Snapper Creek Canal, Miami area, when I subdue a 3 ftr close to the boat he makes one last leap, I didn't bow and because of the rod pressure and I was the recepient of both sets of treble hooks thru my shorts and into my johnson. Not good for a 10 year old, not to mention the horrid trip to Baptist hospital to have said lure extricated. Otherwise, it was a great day on the water:spineyes:! Lesson learned!


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

One of the most vivid memories I have of Tarpon fishing is of a nice Tarpon jumping right in front of me and in my excitement failing to bow....the fly, a black death, came right out of the big open mouth....another lesson learned.


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## Coconut Groves (Nov 2, 2011)

A fish out of the water weighs more than in the water, so when a tarpon jumps, 100% of its weight is now on the line. If the line is tight, there is a large chance the hook will pull out of the mouth for two reasons: their mouths are very boney, and they usually flip and turn in the air, changing the direction of the hook. Compound that with a fully tight line and the angler pulling on the fish and you get a thrown hook.

I don't bow, but when a tarpon jumps, I point the rod tip directly at the line and the fish to give it slack. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not - that depends on where the hook landed in the mouth and how good the hook set was. After the first hook set the main focus is clearing the line and letting the fish run. Once clear, I usually put three hard straight tugs on the line and rod to dig that hook in.

Also, I don't fight tarpon with my fly rod in the air. The rod usually never goes above my head - I fight them side to side and "down and dirty" to keep them from rolling and getting air - that only prolongs the fight. This also helps when they jump since I am not "high sticking" them trout style.


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## TrueblueTexican (Aug 29, 2005)

*Yup*



marc said:


> Rig heavy and don't bow


X2


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## cpthook (Jan 16, 2008)

We never bow, however my first couple years of tarpon fishing we hooked a dozen or more on trebles but never landed a single one. "All" of the fish we have landed have been on number 16 circle hooks, and knock on wood, we have never lost a fish that was still on after the first jump(circle hooks). With that being said the experts say bow and rest assured when throwing bait busters with changed out stronger hooks I will bow on jumps. But I think once a circle hook is set your good to go bow or no bow. My rookie two sense for what its worth.


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## Coconut Groves (Nov 2, 2011)

marc said:


> Rig heavy and don't bow
> 
> 
> TrueblueTexican said:
> ...


For conventional that might be true, but not for fly gear. Fly line has considerably much more drag than conventional line in the water. The line system on fly is also substantially different than conventional.

Now I don't run the IGFA leaders, but I do make my own. For larger fish, I run 4' of 40lb mono on the butt, 3' of 25 - 30lb class, then 2' of 60 - 80lb shock tippet. Backing is 30lb gelspun. That is on a 12 wt fly rod. I'll step down the shock in clearer water or spooky fish, and step down fly size as well (3/0 or 4/0 down to a 1/0). The mono butt and class give the line the stretch needed to work as a shock absorber. Fly line does stretch as well, but the backing does not, so that mono helps.

I am definitely not saying one is better than the other - I'm just giving a bug slinger's opinion on rigging and fighting/handling a jumping fish. Of course, if this one could talk, she'd tell you all about it:


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## Capt. Steve (Aug 29, 2005)

Mustad 39948 and bow to no fish.


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