# trolling for tarpon



## capt mullet (Nov 15, 2008)

My buddies boat does not have a trolling motor and that is what we will be fishing in since I just trashed my lower unit. I know that trolling with an inboard motor is best and if you have an outboard a trolling motor is next. I have never tried to troll with a 4 stroke yamaha outboard and was wondering if anyone has and if they have had any success

Thanks
Craig


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## lil mambo (Jul 22, 2009)

You can always just drift through them which is better than a trolling motor or an inboard. 4 strokes make just as much noise under the water as a 2 stroke does. Just be patient and get the fish either downwind or down current of you , whichever is the controlling factor that day. it might take a lil while to drift 2 or 3 hundred yards to get to the fish but at least you will have a shot at catching one. If you try to get too close with the outboard or anything with underwater exhaust you are wasting your time.


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## Scott (May 24, 2004)

capt mullet said:


> My buddies boat does not have a trolling motor and that is what we will be fishing in since I just trashed my lower unit. I know that trolling with an inboard motor is best and if you have an outboard a trolling motor is next. I have never tried to troll with a 4 stroke yamaha outboard and was wondering if anyone has and if they have had any success
> 
> Thanks
> Craig


Yes and no. Drift!


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## gater (May 25, 2004)

*Trolling*



capt mullet said:


> My buddies boat does not have a trolling motor and that is what we will be fishing in since I just trashed my lower unit. I know that trolling with an inboard motor is best and if you have an outboard a trolling motor is next. I have never tried to troll with a 4 stroke yamaha outboard and was wondering if anyone has and if they have had any success
> 
> Thanks
> Craig


Louisiana yes, trolling here with the outboard is not a good way to make friends!


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## marc (May 21, 2004)

Get a cheep trolling motor that clips on to the transom and grab two batteries out of your other boat. Remove them before you return the boat. Now you have a backup trolling motor and a good shot at catching tarpon.


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## mozingo1952 (Sep 29, 2004)

I have caught Tarpon in Florida , trolling live mullet behind a skiff with a 90hp four stroke. Baits were only 30 ft- 50 ft behind the boat. ( i was 4 for 5 on a 4 hour trip )
I was amazed. That four stroke would idle very, very slow, and We trolled as
slow as it would go. We only pulled two baits , and most of the time , both would
be hit at the same time. Spit or thrown baits were eaten as soon as they hit the
water.

This fishing was in a busy harbor , so perhaps the tarpon were conditioned to the
sound of outboards and did not spook. 

It can be done.

MO


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## marc (May 21, 2004)

My experince from TODAY... I got on a big school of bait this afternoon. I start to mark some large schools of tarpon and put a big girl dang near 160 in the air. Five min later an outboard pulls up excited about all the sharks and does not turn off his motor. They spend the next hour idleing around the bait trying to catch sharks. I spent the next 2 hours trying to find out where those big shools of tarpon went... and never did. 

This is not an east coast florida marina

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2


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## Swells (Nov 27, 2007)

I like to drift the and of the jetties on a good tide at night with no lights. The motor is just to set up another drift. Shhh. Honda engines are real quiet.


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## barleydog (Mar 15, 2008)

I had Tarpon rolling not more than 30 feet from my boat as I bumped my outboard in and out of gear along the rocks at the jetties. I never got a hook up, and really didn't know what to do to even try and catch them, but we probably could have jumped off the boat and jumped on their backs they were that close. Guess it was a fluke....I'm gonna have to try and land one of those things some day.


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