Captain’s Corner: Ed Walker

The Tampa Bay Times

Tarpon season is upon us and the fish have arrived in big numbers. Finding them has not been all that difficult but getting them to bite has been a different story. We have been making a lot of casts along the beaches, at slow moving pods, and coming up with just a handful of bites per day. In some cases this is due to the usual problems; very clear water, boat traffic, or sharks. At other times everything seems perfect and they simply will not bite. When faced with this dilemma there are a few things that can be tried to increase the odds of getting a strike.

The first thing we do is try it to hide the tackle. This means changing to lighter leader material, longer leaders, different baits, and smaller hooks. Recently we have dropped our leader test as low as 40 lb. If the fish is hooked inside the mouth this will wear through quickly but if you have a lip hookup it can hold. Circle hooks help insure the the hook goes into the corner of the mouth. We have landed several fish lately on 40 lb fluorocarbon leader. We are also using 14 foot wind-on leaders to keep our high vis braided line away from the bait.

One important thing to keep in mind when chasing tarpon is to ignore the old axiom: “never leave fish to find fish”. When it comes to tarpon schools it is very common to have a school of non-biters that look perfect but will never bite and another school nearby by that will bite every cast. If your chosen pod wont bite for 30 minutes and there is another one available, leave it and try a different one.  

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Ed