Corpusfishing.com

[shin_deep]

Need advice on targeting Tarpon/Kings/Jacks. Just purchased a 12 wt. BVK. Too much? Haven't purchased the reel to go with it yet. Was told a 10 wt. would be sufficient.

[scout300]

For most tarpon on the Texas coast a 10wt is plenty, look for moving tides and eddies around the jetties. I like intermediate lines with heavy-ish flies that have a lot of movement. Let your fly drop a few seconds before you start stripping, vary that drop and strip pace. Keep in mind the longer your fly is in the water the better your chances are. Carry a stripping basket and 50lb flourocarbon.
_________________
Don Alcala - Roy's Bait and Tackle Fly guy
LMFFCC- Education director
http://lagunamadreflyfisherscc.com/

[TexasFlyGuy]

Catching Kings on fly is hard work and requires specialized tackle, particularly the terminal tackle: flies and leaders. You've got to master high speed retrieves, which means you need to be able to cast long distances. These fish ruuuuuuun fast and far. That means you need a very good reel with tons of backing on it. 200 yds is bare minimum. It's similar to fishing for large sharks like Makos, Hammerheads, and large Lemons in terms of tackle. Wire bite tippets are almost a necessity.

Tarpon on TX coast are generally small. While a 10wt is sufficient and an 8wt will work on most of them, there's no such thing as being "over-gunned" with fly tackle until you get to the ridiculous. For example, that 12 wt rod would be a poor choice for bream fishing. Using sinking lines and heavy flies, the heavier rod makes life easier. The hooks chosen for flies for Tarpon over about 50 lbs makes a big difference in your success with landing them. Having Bimini Twist Tarpon leaders helps with shock absorbtion on bigger fish. Tarpon aren't easy to play or land. Trial and error is your best teacher, but keep the rod tip DOWN and slack out of the line. Tarpon generally prefer a fairly delicate presentation...a long, slow retrieve or very short, delicate strips that essentially "twitch" the fly and keep it hovering in front of their faces. One or the other...never both...and no way to tell which but to try them. General rule: if they're laid up, twitch a suspended fly. If they're doing anything else, long smooth slow strips. You need Tarpon flies that are both weighted and unweighted because of this.

Jacks? Some 50-60 lb. shock tippet (about 9") will solve the problem with big Jacks biting you off. They like flies moved in quick jerks. Get a flashy fly into their general vicinity and strip it quick...that should do it. They're very aggressive.

As Don said, the biggest change for you will be counting the fly down to depth to find the right "strike zone." Use weighted flies and try different depths.

In any event, you need to go find them. Nothing works if you're not on the fish. They move around, but are very visible when they're "there." So you burn some gas.
_________________
"The only thing necessary for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke

"If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles." Doug Larson