The Hunt For Big Fish with Larry Dahlberg

Hey Larry or anyone else who replies,

There is a spot in VA where a lot of guys catch tarpon in the 50 to 120 pound range. The typical setup is a fish finder rig with 4-5 ounces of weight. Guys were hooking up but getting a lot of jump offs so they switch the 1 ounce egg sinkers and big sharp circles or even using floats.
The problem is my buddies friend went last week and jumped 9! The most common bait is croaker but menhaden and pinfish work well too.

Is there something else we can do to improve the hook up ratio to maybe 80-90% or is this unheard of in the tarpon world?

Are there and artificials we can use? Plenty of times numerous tarpon have been seen rolling on top, but most of the fish on the flats wont bite anything. We mainly catch the fish in the channels in between the flats.

Also we have a problem with sharks but I think if we use crabs more often this should eliminate that.

Thanks for the advice

Anders

hi A
With lures, I figure 3 out of ten is about average. Using Owner and Gamakatsu hooks increases your average by as much as double. It's a function of stiffness, shape and sharpness, in that order.
With circle hooks you should be running a 90%+ average.
First, don't sharpen the circle hook, it's not necessary and you want the hook to catch mr tarpon in the corner of the jaw, so the hook may have to slide in order to do that.
Second, let the fish hook themselves. don't jerk, just set the drag at over 3 lbs and hang on.
With crabs, I line to poke a little hole in one of their "horns", thread some copper wire through and attach to circle hook with wire. That way the circle hook and barb doesn't wreck the crab.
The least amount of weight the better. I prefer none when ever possible.
When they're moving very quickly in transit from one place to the next,or are aware you are after them they can be almost uncatchable.
If they're rolling along slow and happy the biggest thing is size of lure and angle of presentation.
Usually smaller is better than bigger, and you want a presentation that almost parallels the direction the fish is moving.
Topwater can be great, but the hardest for hook ups. Soft plastic swim baits, and various minnow lures work fine. Time of day can make a huge dif in # of bites. In most places they really like nite time and the dusk/dawn deal. Obviously tides are a key factior as well.
Perhaps the coolest thing about tarpon, other than their great leaping ability is that capable of using so many different kinds of environments and the way that's best to catch them varies with each environment.
I could give you more specifics, but it would end up being a book because there are so many options.
good luck,
L

Anders I do 75% of my Tarpon fishing with artificals. Mostly jigs and some
topwater. On jigs I have had 50% or better this year. Topwater on plugs
is a bit lower. They throw the hard plugs a lot easier.

Larry good tip on using wire to bridel the crabs. Same tactic used for
offshore trolling. I have lost tarpon on too small of a circle because I
downsized to match the bait. The gap was too small for the jaw bone.
I have used the rubber band bridals, but think the wire on crabs would
be good. Plus they are catching some big permits right now while
targeting the tarpon.

Scott

What kind of jigs would you recommend?

Any one as long as it's got a good hook, like the super heavy duty Owner.
Use as light a head as you can get away with.
best,
L