Fishing Forum

.. a huge tarpon on the fly??

[url "http://www.break.com/usercontent/2008/8/FISHING-MONSTER-TARPON-IN-CUBA-555003.html"]Tarpon on the Fly in Cuba[/url]

MacFly [cool]
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[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Wow at first I thought that he hooked into a shark.[/size][/#008000][/font]
[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]BTW I was pleased to note that they practiced C&R.[/size][/#008000][/font]
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I've caught a few large tarpon (100 pound-ish) on a fly, and while I will say its fun, I wouldn't want to make a daily habit out of it. The 15-30 pounders with an 8-weight are a blast, especially on surface flies. I can't ever get enough of those. The greatest sport fish on the planet for my time and money.

The big ones with a 10-12 weight are an awful long tug-of-war with lots of line drag. And casting a rod that heavy is just a pain. One or two a week is plenty![]

And yes, thousands of other saltwater anglers will disagree with me, and could never get enough of the giant tarpon, but to each their own. In my mind, 100+ pound tarpon are best handled with Penn and Shimano reels and thin braided line.[shocked]
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I noted the c and r as well..

At first I was not sure what he was using to catch the fish until they got a decent shot of the fisherman.. but..

I think it would be awesome to bring something like that into shore on a fly rig.. []

MacFly [cool]
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[center][font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4][/size][/#008000][/font]
[center][font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]I really don't want to fight any fish that takes more than a few minutes to land. I bore to easily. [/size][/#008000][/font]
[center][font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]If I had the chance to fish the salt then bone fish would be my target species. Heck I'm happy with an 18" bow any day. [/size][/#008000][/font]
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That is some of the best action anywhere in the world.

I like going to Florida with my 11wt. I can get 300yd of 65lb spectra backing on my rod and use up most of it on a good run.

Costa Rica also has some good spots on the East side when the weather is not screwed up.[cool]
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18" .. Im happy catching a fish.. LOL..

MacFly [cool]
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Dryrod, I never get bored playing fish on a flyrod.

I haven't fished the flats near enough to even get moderately good at it. But that's why we have guides and outfitters.

Last time, out of Marathon, the guide put me on a 25 pound permit at 7:30 in the morning. We then covered, must have been 200, tarpon. They weren't interested.

They didn't spook. They'd just continue on their line until almost reaching the fly, then swim around it.

Meanwhile, the guide kept apologizing. And I kept saying, "you kidding. We could have returned to the dock at 7:45 and it would have been a great day.

Meanwhile (he said, looking around cautiously), while bones are fun, in my experience they're not the fish they've been made out to be. Of course, I've never caught one bigger than 3 pounds, either. And the could make the difference.

Brook
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There are decent Bonefish in the southern Mexican waters as well as Central America that can reach in excess of 25lbs. They are a blast on the flyswatter.[cool]
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No doubt that's true, tubeN2. If it were otherwise bones wouldn't have fascinated so many anglers for so long.

But one can only talk about their own experiences. Only bones I've caught were small ones, in the Florida flats. Like I say, certainly fun to catch. But not the bonefish of story and legend.

Brook
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