tarpon rigs

[seapower]

What advice can you guy's give on these Pamlico Sound area tarpon? From what I can tell most in my area use #9 & #10 circle and J hooks, on 100 to 125lb leaders. These are weighted with egg sinkers about 2ft up from the hook, or casted without weight to free fall. Fresh Spot and Croaker fished on the bottom is how most guy's I know go about it. They find fish "blowing" and set up ahead of them. They may have fish all around for sometime before one picks up the bait ,if at all. I've not tried for these fish myself yet, soon to change though. I've seen these fish here in the area for close to 25 years and never tried them. I fished for them in Key West and Tortuga's while in the Coast Guard. I site casted for them with a big Rapala, seemed to work good. Why are these fish what seems to be bottom feeders here? Seems like a totally different fish. The fish to me isn't even built to be a scavenger, eye's up top, mouth upwards, etc... When I bought my boat I said (to myself) , I ought to be able to kill these fish with live bait, free swimming, on balloons, even casting to them with artificials. Seems that most people I know of have just about worn themselves out trying the methods I listed with little or no sucess. The fish seem to like to hang out in "dead water" areas. This just doesn't seem to add up in my feable mind!!! Any thoughts, advice, rigging, bait, tip's etc... would be well recieved. By the way the fish that are being caught quite litterally in my back yard are 100 to 125lb plus fish. Any news on the drum in the Neuse area? Still not much happening with the drum up here as of yet. Thanks in advance, Frank

[Captain Michael Buffington]

3 things that work for me are dead bait on the bottom, hitting them in the head with a live bait as they daisy chain gulping air, or surprisingly the most consistent is fish a sinking line on a 12 weight anchored in front of where they are rolling fishing a bead chain clouser. Cast in front of them and let it sink to the bottom, slowly strip up and I get bit within 5 feet of the bottom. I am guessing by dead you mean little or no o2, that is my situation. I am going to try a coon pop next I think it will work, we will see...

Mike

[seapower]

Capt Mike, you're right little O2 equals bad water. I guess what I don't get is why are they there in the first place. Around here when we have dead water as we always do when it gets hot and still. You can go inshore abit most of the time just up on the hard bottom edge and everybody is doing fine, crabs, fish, shrimp etc.. I've seen when we don't get any wind for awhile that the bad water will drive up closer to the bank and shallow. When this happens the crabs and such are one on top of another where the better O2 level is and the tarpon will still be out in the dead water. I've been told that they can "gulp" air for oxygen. I would think that they still would have to feed, but everything is way inshore. I know you fish for these guy's alot, what's your take on this. Just curious. Frank

[Captain Michael Buffington]

their gills by gulping air. They roll every 7 to 8 minutes when active and 20 to 30 minutes when not and all ranges between. Mine are about an eighth of a mile away in a 47 foot manmade hole from the 60's. They are there year round and every day. I am more sure they will be there than I am about waking in the morning. At night on an incoming tide they move behind my house, a small neighborhood lagoon in front of and in the marina and the pass to the atlantic...Then they eat their ass off and are very catchable. Brailing bait at them long range style and doing the same drift over and over has worked in the past during the day, but requires tons of bait and is nowhere near 100%. It has produced some really good bites every once in a while. For some reason the clouser thing works most of the time but is slow fishing till you get bit. These fish average 100lbs and you see hundreds there everyday. It is a frustrating place most of the time. Funny thing is 800 yards away they will bite almost every day...I'm working on figuring these dinosaurs out...

Mike

[Captain Michael Buffington]

if youy are not fishing fluerocarbon, you are not getting bit as often as you could by far...don't be afraid to scale down, got a 126 on 30lb leader.

Mike

[Crazy Eyes]

Funny thing is 800 yards away they will bite almost every day...I'm working on figuring these dinosaurs out...

Mike

Same thing seems to apply here. Certain areas they either don't bite or don't bite as well as other areas and it seems to hold from year to year as well. Very frustrating to be within site of 100+ big fish and not get bit.

[Bodie]

seapower,

i agree they are right in your back yard, that is where we found them last year. there were hundreds out rolling and we were surrounded for hours and could not get any of them to bite. we had pogies live and as cut bait. when we come up in two weeks i will be bringing spots and croakers with me to add to the mix. We have tried the ballon rig,corks with live bait, but usually when using dead bait we use the lupton rig like you were talking about just using longer leader than the six inches on the drum rig.

[seapower]

thanks for the replies guy's, don't feel quite as much in "left field" now. I know there's alot of experience on these pages. I still don't know why I thought I could figure these "dumb" fish out? Could it be they are smarter than the average bear?? Frank

[BTH284]

Never fished for them myself on the sound/rivers. Use to see them frequently and was a bystander when we would get bit on the pier some years ago.

Will be starting my education and patience on the inshore tarpon this Saturday.

My rigs are 8/0 octopus J hooks, 100 lb leader 36"-40". Half will be with weight 3 oz egg and the other half not weighted.
7' spinning rods 60lb shock leader 65 lb braid main line. Menhaden, spots, croakers, crabs for bait.