It’s likely we will have another front or two to deal with. It’ll be the perfect time to make final preparations for the upcoming calendar of events. Spring is right around the corner and with it comes a couple of our most exciting fishing seasons of the year, kingfish and tarpon. On what I call “bad weather days”, those days during fronts that we can’t get out I’ll tinker with my tackle. I’ll pre-make dozens of kingfish rigs. Some will be single hooks, others will be stinger rigs and still others will be double stinger rigs for the extra large baits. I’ll make a few with skirts to enhance the size and flash of an offering. Some will be made with trolling weights to try and cover the water column a bit better. Whether tarpon or kingfish tackle, drag washers periodically need replaced. Check for cracked ceramic guides or tips on the rods. There’s a hundred ways to lose a trophy fish. We’ll do all we can to reduce the avoidable ones. Some can’t be helped. Shark eats your tarpon, nothing you can do. Tarpon strips you because it hit the outfit that had short line and you were too lazy or cheap to load the spool. Guess what? Whether braid or mono, lines need to be changed periodically even if they appear ok. Frays or nicks in your line can often go undetected until it’s too late. Oh, and that phrase that goes “if you can’t tie a knot, tie a lot”. Lose that from your vocabulary and learn to tie them right. That will surely help your odds when fighting your trophy.
Captain Jay Mastry
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