Sight Fishing for Tarpon on the Fly - How It's Done

Step One – Set up for An Ambush

My sons John, Bill and I fished in the Keys last week with tarpon specialist, guide Jeremy Fisher www.fisherguide.com . In the mornings we positioned ourselves in 6 to 8 feet of water on an outgoing tide on the ocean side of Islamorada within sight of clear sandy “lanes” between large shoals. As the Tarpon passed over the white sandy background we were able to spot them coming, going, and traversing the lanes. Jeremy was much better sighting the fish than us. He could spot them moving over the darker backgrounds and the sand and from much farther away. His job was to point them out, instruct us where to place the fly and then to coach each of us on tarpon “fly fishing technique”.

Step Two – Cast Like a Pro

Placing the fly in the right place is easier said than done as it requires positioning it at an optimum angle in front of the fish then stripping it slowly with long slow pulls with the rod tip low and pointed at the fish. The idea is for the fish see it in front of him as it swims by. The reason for keeping the rod low and pointed towards the tarpon is so the fly will position itself correctly is the tarpons oddly shaped mouth when it strikes. Once the fish hits you need to strip set straight back with a couple of firm tugs or else the hook will not set properly. This requires a lot of finesse both in casting and timing it just right. It also seems the fish are either finicky or lazy as they won’t “eat “unless it’s done just right. Jeremy said 90% of the time they won’t turn to take the fly, although John had one that did. We had quite a few shots at fish but only a few strikes and hook ups. We successfully managed to get two to the boat on the fly and one on spinning gear.  John’s, caught on the fly, was a real slab: estimated weight  115-120 lbs.

Step Three – Fighting the Fish

We were using 12 weight rods with 40lb leaders with the drag cranked way up on the reels. This allows you to put a lot of pressure on the fish during the fight but also creates a problem when the fish explodes out of the water for a tail walk while shaking its powerful head for all it’s worth. A hundred pound tarpon can snap a 40lb leader in a heartbeat so one has to “bow” while extending your arms toward the fish quickly to release a bit of tension on the line. It also helps to keep the reel tucked in tight during the fight so you can reach out even further (longer distance of travel) when the fish jumps, to take the pressure off of the line. During the fight you keep the rod at a low angle while pulling the fish left or right depending on its direction of travel. If it goes left you go right and vice versa. This keep the maximum pressure on  by continually pulling the tarpon’s head in the opposite direction of its line of travel.

Lifting the rod or setting the hook in an upward motion will pull the fly out to the fish’s mouth, which John did once after having made a perfect cast and managing to get the strike. The fish turned and exploded on the fly and then jumped straight out of the water. John tried to set the hook by pulling up; a natural direction for most fish, but in this case was a no no. Big mama spit the fly. It was pretty quiet on the boat after that for a while. I’ve lost big fish too by pulling a rookie move so I knew just how John felt.  . We’ve all been there, adrenaline spiked, fish on and then we make a mistake and its fish gone. Bummmmeeeer! Jeremy chastised him which he took very well. He was here to learn and had no problem taking direction from a pro.

John, Bill and I all did successfully catch our first tarpon. John and I on the fly and Bill on a crab on spinning gear. Once you’re hooked up it’s a battle to tire out the fish and get it to the boat for release. Especially the big one John caught. It’s a little like landing a big tuna. Getting it to the boat doesn’t mean it’s over. The big ones head for the bottom and pull the boat around. However you still want to keep the heat on, even increase it. You don’t want to release a fish that is totally exhausted. If you do they are susceptible to shark attack in their weakened condition. So once you hook up, fight the fish for all you’ve got to get I to the boat for a quick release. No matter how fast you land it you’re in for a real display of acrobatic leaps, tail walks, and huge splashes. These are power beautiful fish that put on quite a show and never seem to give up. Even at the boat they resist like hell while removing the hook. Then it’s a matter of a quick bit of revival and a successful release as in the photos below.

The Flies

For such a large fish the flies are surprisingly small. All of the flies we used were less than about two inches long. Below in the photo on the left are the two we used most often. The black and purple being the most successful. The brown one resembles a sand worm but I’m clueless what the black and purple looks like other than providing good contrast with an overcast sky.

All in all we had a super time and now Bill, John and I all have a notch on our belts for a tarpon. After four days of tarpon fishing we did an offshore trip (see below), but that’s a story for another day.

Helping Disabled Veterans Heal – Fly Fishing as Therapy

Project Healing Waters has been recognized again for our continuous contributions to the veterans at the Bedford MA VA hospital. In total we have run over 50 events since 2009.

I agreed to start the Project Healing Waters fly fishing program at the Bedford Massachusetts VA hospital and serve as the team leader four years ago. I’d already been volunteering at the hospital and when this opportunity came along I jumped on it as it provided me the opportunity to “give back” while doing something I love.

My father in law was a highly decorated veteran (two Purple Hearts, Silver and Bronze Stars) for his service in World War II. He relied on the VA for much of his medical care and always spoke highly of the treatment he received.  I started volunteering at the VA in 2008 in memory of him.

Fly fishing is recognized as a very effective form of rehabilitation therapy as it combines structured physical activity, camaraderie and a healing peaceful environment. Here is a quote from a  typical story  “It’s incredible what we are able to do when we introduce people to fly fishing,” said John Bass. “These young men come to us beat up physically and mentally. Not all will stay with fly fishing but while they are with us it helps them.” Bass is himself a quadriplegic after breaking his neck in a pool diving accident.

I’d like to thank all of the other volunteer fly fisherman who help make this happen and Recreational Therapist Leah Sullivan from the Bedford VA for their continuous support and encouragement. This is a team effort and there is no way we could have pulled off all of the programs without everyone pulling together.

 

 

 

Mine's Longer Than Yours......My Cast That Is!

In preparation for my upcoming tarpon fly fishing trip to the Florida Keys with my sons John and Bill I took a long distance fly-casting class yesterday with Sheila and Bill Hassan www.cast90.com . Bill and Sheila are both FFF Master Certified Casting Instructors and offer a number of fly casting classes geared to all levels of expertise.

It’s All About Physics

Making long distance casts is not about how strong or tall you are, it’s about using the properly matched fly rod and line, understanding how they're meant to operate, and mastering your technique for maximum efficiency and distance. I used my Orvis Helios 10 weight rod with a forward weighted floating line. With respect to understanding how the rod and line are meant to operate keep in mind that only the first 40 feet of the line is weighted, so once you get out 40 ft. of line, all you are doing is flogging yourself and expending unnecessary energy by false casting to get out more line. You should “shoot” the rest of the line by properly “loading” the rod with your cast and then using the weight of the first 40 feet of the line and a nice tight loop to pull out the rest of the line. The Hassan’s recommend marking your fly lines at 40 and 60 feet. If you are a reasonable caster you should be able to comfortably cast 60 feet by false casting the first 40 feet of line and shooting the next twenty. Most of the time I’m fly fishing 60 feet is plenty. Getting further than 60 feet is all about technique.

To be honest about it, understanding and mastering great technique is pretty complicated, at least for me. I found myself having to unlearn a lot of stuff. I’ve fly fished since I was 10 years old but never had a formal lesson until yesterday. Even though I’m self-taught I’ve always been able to cast better than most of my friends so I’ve never paid too much attention to how they cast. That said I learned a lot from Sheila and Bill in the course of four hours that will make me much better and less tired after a long day of continuous casting. Speaking of which, pick up an Orvis Helios fly rod and you’ll see why they are popular. They are light as a feather and definitely easy on the arms on a long day of fly fishing.

Technique Makes All The Difference

Take it from me. If you want to learn how to cast properly, and learn fast, take a class or two with a certified instructor. My wife Sue previously took a class with Sheila and was damn good right from the get go. Much better than most beginners I’ve seen. That’s one of the reason I took the long distance class. I figure they had some secret sauce, which they do. I can’t write well enough and am not an instructor so I won’t even attempt to go into great detail about technique and how to maximize the distance of your cast, but here are a few easy to remember things I learned yesterday that will improve my casting.

·         Mark your line at 40 and 60 feet with a permanent magic marker

·         Make sure your rod tip is pointed at, and close to, the water and the line is straight in front of you when beginning your back cast. The surface tension of the water will cause your rod to flex as you lift the line on the back cast and further “load the rod” to increase the velocity of the line on the back cast.

·         Place your thumb parallel to the rod handle and forward right up to where the cork angle bends upward.

·         The rod butt angle should be 45 degrees on the back cast and zero degrees on the forward cast.

·         Accelerate the upward motion of your arm on the lift (back cast) and gain maximum speed towards the end.

·         Squeeze your rod handle and stop the backward motion of your arm when your hand is approximately parallel to your ear. This provides maximum load and velocity and helps maintain a high back cast with a nice tight loop. Tight loops retain more energy so the line goes further.

·         Use a single or double haul to further load the rod to increase distance.

·         Use a foot apart stance and slight side arm angle when saltwater casting for more power and stroke length.

·         To maximize the length of the “stroke” use “drift” on the forward and backward cast (extend your arm further a split second after you’ve stopped the travel of your arm in either direction). Longer stroke = more power.

·         Pinching the line on the last false back cast for a split second at the “proper moment” will further bend (and load) the rod tip increasing the distance when you “shoot” the line on the forward cast.

You can learn plenty by reading a book or watching videos but I highly recommending taking a class if you want to be a better fly caster. It’s inexpensive and a fast way to learn and you won’t develop bad habits that you will have to unlearn later. The class was only $75 for a half day of concentrated training and there were two instructors and only eight students which was a good ratio for individual attention. By the way, Sheila wrote a book about all of this which has great photos and detailed explanations on what I’ve covered here and much, much more.  Having a reference guide like hers makes it easy to remember each step and I intend to use it as a guide when I practice what I learned yesterday on the water. I bet the tarpon are getting nervous already! See www.cast90.com  for more information.

Tight lines.

3 Marine Science Facts & Tips To Catch More Fish!

Dr. Dave Ross of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Talk Last Week  

 "How a Little Science Can Help You to Find and Catch More Fish"

A few things I learned at Dr. Ross's talk on April 10th at the Woods Hole Library.

Captain Kirk's Universe

Captain James T. Kirk‘s mission was to seek out and explore new universes. He actually did not need The Enterprise to do that or to go very far. A row boat would have been sufficient and warp drive certainly isn’t necessary. 

Seventy one percent of our planet is covered by water and the ocean makes up 97% of that, most of which has never been explored. The ocean provides a unique universe right here on earth.  The sea is very different from the terrestrial world we are used to and has creatures stranger looking than Klingons.  Seawater is much denser than air and its molecular configuration gives it specific properties that fisherman can use to their advantage. Welcome to the universe of the fish. 

Sound, Odor, and Light Transmission in Water

Sound travels 5 times faster in water (4,800 ft/sec) than in air because water is denser than air.  Many fish can hear sound up to a mile or more away and use sound to locate their prey. They generally can only see about 60 ft. 

Tip one. Use lures that makes noise.

Odors/scent moves with and in the direction of the current. Some fish have a sense of smell 1000 times better than a dog, which is 1000 times better than ours and fish generally face forward in the direction of the current.  However, odors dissipate slower in water than in air and typically fish can only detect scent up to some number of hundreds of yards away. 

Tip two. Use scent and current to your advantage.

Avoid getting chemicals like suntan lotion or gasoline on your hands that can wind up on your lures and experiment applying “scent” to lures and fishing up current from where you think the fish are holding.

Light penetration of water is dependent on wavelength, water depth, and ambient light. Light effectively changes colors as you go deeper in the water column eventually making everything black.  Understanding what colors a fish can recognize depending on its location in the water column can make you a better fisherman.

Tip three. Use colors the fish will see easily depending on water depth and light conditions.

Red and orange disappear first, yellow and green are right in the middle and blue and violet travel the furthest. The reason Lefty Kreh says "If it ain't chartreuse it ain't no use," is because yellow/green is right in the middle of the spectrum and will show up under most daylight conditions.  Black and purple work best at night because dark lures provide contrast to the ambient light on the surface.

Remember sound trumps smell, eyesight, and color when it comes to locating prey from a distance. I’ll go into that in more detail in my next posting along with specific recommendations on lure colors, scents, and lures that make noise to attract fish.

Concord Rod & Gun Club Fishing Seminar Presentations - Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass Fishing on the Quabbin Reservoir and Fishing in Concord and Carlisle

Here are the slides from Jack Huntress’ talk at the Concord Rod and Gun Club about Largemouth Bass Fishing on the Quabbin Reservoir:

Quabbin bass from sckirk2

These are slides of Capt. Kirk's talk on fishing in the Concord and Carlisle area (starting on slide #12).  Lots of good information for both new and seasoned anglers including a list of the ponds and rivers. 

April 2013 Fishing in Concord and Carlisle from sckirk2