Not to brag or anything...(Tarpon video)

[Stumblefish]

Damn!  1hr fight , chalk up 1 more reason for a hobie.

[Fishesfromtupperware]

RORY! You da man! Great Vid!   



(and I am screamingly jealous)    I'm surrounded by them (Tarpon) right now and my knee decided to make its annual trip without me.    

I may have to just suck it up though.

According to my local friend Steve, probably only around 20% of Tarpon that strike are brought boatside...due to their powerful, theatrical, numerous headshakes.  So, I was incredibly lucky to land the first tarpon I hooked.  And man, was I whipped.  Still a little sore two days later. 

Demon Circle hooks!

 They have been treatin me like Steelhead over here on the east coast, except I still have not caught the 1st easy one. )

Wanna share some rig details? What size demon circle? How heavy was your tippet? Are your throwing snagged pogies or some other bait?
 

[Rory]

Sure thing! I was just using 7/0 demon circle hooks with a crab on them. Put a small float 5 feet up the leader. Reel spooled with 55lb samuai braid, with a 6ft strand of 60lb flouro. When i got the 2 strikes the other day, it was on a ladyfish rather than a crab. Headin out now to try again!

What's your rig for blacktips?

[micahgee]

Great video.

The best part was around the 50 second mark when the tarpon nearly rips the rod out of Rory's hands, talk about "fish on"!

[Fishesfromtupperware]

What's your rig for blacktips?

Same thing, but with a wire tippet if you want to do something other than tie on new rigs. (thanks again Ravdakot)

 I'm on the northeast coast and Sarasota is the southwest Florida. Different planets. As I understand it, Fernandina  (where I'm fishing) is a Blacktip nursery. They are thick here (large numbers) and follow the Pogie migration from south to north. (any fish nerd with better info should feel free to jump in here).

For us, the drill is: Look for pogies blowing up from just outside of the impact zone in the surf to 3 miles offshore. They look like silver clouds and sound like rain as they fall back into the water when a Tarpon or some other toothy critter comes up through the school. We rarely need to paddle more than a mile to find plenty of action.

Have two spinning rigs ready. One is your snatch rig. It's a 7' medium/heavy rod with a 3/0 treble with mashed barbs and 1 oz weight tied 1' below it. Cast that out over a Pogie pod, let it sink for a second or two, then rip it back through the Pogies hopefully snagging one. Bring that back to the boat and hook it through the rostrum with a 9/0 to 12/0 circle hook with a 1' single wire tippet on your Tarpon rod. If it doesn't get eaten immediately,  Put a 1/2 oz to 2 oz sinker on it. For sharks, I think I'm going to try a few big ling jigheads next time. Won't do a thing for the Tarpon, but with a little wire, it should be good for the sharks.

From your vid, the west coast is not as different as I thought. Are you fishing pogie pods? Ravdakot told me to use the crab to catch fewer Sharks.  I think I'll follow your lead and go to a smaller 7/0 hook and lighter line (60lbs) tippet. Maybe I'll find my "gimme".  Although it's sure not much of a "gimme" when you have to fight for an hour! (and 60lb line is not "light") 

Good job man!  Now go get #2 and #3,,,,,,   

 

[Wayne]

I think it's ok to brag about that one 

Thanks for posting the video, helps those of us that aren't fishing

[islandson671]

Sure thing! I was just using 7/0 demon circle hooks with a crab on them. Put a small float 5 feet up the leader. Reel spooled with 55lb samuai braid, with a 6ft strand of 60lb flouro. When i got the 2 strikes the other day, it was on a ladyfish rather than a crab. Headin out now to try again!

What's your rig for blacktips?

Rory -- How'd you do today?

[Rory]

haha...did very well!  I got a smattering of species and was lucky enough to hook up with another Tarpon.  Even larger and more acrobatic than the first!  I think I am proving the 20% rule to be true.  I lucked out landing my first one, and have had 3 hookups since then and have gotten thrown.  It's cool though, it's a thrill to feel the pulls and watch the show. 

Got a video of a couple of the leaps, and zoomed in and slowed them down (enhance...click-click-click....enhance...).  Yeah, I definitely have the fever.

Kayak Fishing - Tarpon Leaps Twice and Throws Hook (with slo-mo)

[LittleFred]

Yo Rory,

Thank you for sharing that!  It is inspiring to see, can only imagine how it feels.

Thanks again, and good luck to ya out on the blue.

[Jammer]

Incredible!!!!! No wonder you're sore. That things a beast. Rock on rory!

[polepole]

For fish porn like this, it is ok to brag away.  Well done!

-Allen

[Pisco Sicko]

Hellacious herring!!! 

Those are some agile critters. I think I like the second vid even better than the first.

[Rory]

Hellacious herring!!! 

Finally, someone who shares my love for alliteration!  I may have to borrow that from you.

Yeah, amazing that they are a relative of the herring.  It's part of my upcoming DVD series "Herrings Gone Wild"

[Fishesfromtupperware]

That is some CHOICE fish porn.
I know this is waaaaaay too much information, but having the droid naturally lends itself to throne room reading. I'm just hoping nobody heard me giggling out loud watching your Tarpon fly.

[coosbayyaker]

Sky rockets in flight..afternoon deliiiight..Afternooon deliiight!

Yes, that song popped into my head while watching the second one..That is sick, the second jump was towering!