8 Tips To Fight Tarpon (And Land Them Quickly & Safely)
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
- Found In: Fishing Tips, Tarpon Tips, WEEKLY NEWSLETTER: 8-16-20
It’s tarpon time!
Have you heard stories of people bragging about how long it took them to wrangle in a massive tarpon they recently caught?
Sure, it’s cool that they caught a big fish, but it’s actually really bad for the fish when the fight takes that long.
After an hour or two of fighting, that fish is totally exhausted and has no energy left to hunt for food or escape a big shark that might try to eat it.
But here’s the good news: there are some things you can do to land them surprisingly fast.
By landing a fish in 15 minutes instead of an hour, it’s much better for the fish, plus you can go out and try to catch another one.
In this video, we’ve got Capt. Mark “Hollywood” Johnson from Florida Keys Fun Fishing walking me through how to bring this 100 lb. tarpon I had on the line to the boat.
It’s a really fun video, plus he shares a ton of tips on how to quickly and safely land a tarpon.
Check it out below.
How To Land A Tarpon Fast [VIDEO]
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The goal when you’re fighting tarpon is to break their spirit.
If you do that, the tarpon will give up and come to the boat much easier.
If you don’t break their spirit and give them too much freedom, they’ll fight until they’re totally exhausted, which could be fatal when you release them.
So since it’s so important to bring tarpon to the boat quickly, here are eight tips to do that:
Tip #1: Bow to the king
If a tarpon jumps, point the rod tip toward him.
When they’re in the air and they shake their heads, they can easily spit the hook, so to try to not put too much tension on the line, point your rod tip toward them.
Tip #2: Use the motor to chase them down
By chasing them down, you’ll able to reel more line in and have more leverage on the fish.
Tip #3: Put the butt of the rod into your hip to get leverage
A 100 lb. tarpon is no joke so to give yourself some extra leverage when fighting them, plant the butt of the rod into your hip.
Tip #4: Wind down and lift up
When you bring your rod tip down, that puts a little slack in the line, so be sure to reel up that slack and gain some ground on the tarpon.
Then, lift the rod tip up to pull them closer, and again reel in as you lower your rod.
Tip #5: Palm the spool when they aren’t accelerating, but let off quickly to let them run
If the tarpon isn’t accelerating in speed, you can palm the spool a little bit to turn them and break their spirit. But when they start to accelerate, be quick to take your hand off the spool to let them run without any added pressure on the line compared to the normal drag.
Tip #6: Use heavy gear
Tarpon are big fish so you need to step up your gear to get them in quickly and safely.
I was using 30 lb braid and a Daiwa BG 4500 reel to bring this tarpon to the boat.
Note: After landing the 7 ft hammerhead and now this 100 lb tarpon on the Daiwa BG 4500 reel, it’s now my favorite for targeting tarpon because it is proven to handle big fish and costs only $130 (just over $100 for Insiders), which is MUCH less than the reels I used to buy for tarpon fishing.
Tip #7: If the tarpon goes one way, you pull the other
By not giving the tarpon any freedom, you’ll break their spirit and get them to stop fighting.
Then, you can bring in quickly and let them go safely.
Tip #8: If the fish tries to go under or around the boat, you go around the front of the boat
Between the motor and the Power-Pole (if you have one), there are just too many things that could cut the line in the back of the boat.
So if the fish goes under or around the boat, make sure that you go around the front of the boat to follow them.
Conclusion
What a fun fight!
I hope you can put some of these tips into action next time you hook into a big tarpon and bring them to the boat quickly and safely.
Have any questions about fighting and landing big tarpon?
Let us know in the comments below.
If you’re in the Florida Keys and want to book a trip with Capt. Hollywood and his crew, you can find them at FloridaKeysFunFishing.com.
And if you know someone who wants to learn how to land tarpon fast, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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Any tips on unhooking such a big strong fish if it hadn’t come off by itself.
Step 1 is to control the fish. For tarpon, the easiest way is to grab them by the mouth and hold on tight because they give a good head shake when you first grab them (note: it’s smart to wear gloves because their mouths are very rough and can rub off some skin during the head shakes). Once the fish is under control, the unhooking is the same as any other fish.
I can’t keep them hooked up
They are incredibly good at getting off… especially if hooked with a lure because the weight of the lure will often help the tarpon shake it out when the jump.
The highest percentage of hooking to landing them comes with bare hooks or flies since they can’t be slung around.
Fantastic job on getting that beast to the boat! What a beauty!
Thanks Rick! It sure was a fun time.
Captain Mark is the twin brother of YouTube star Steve, of Steve’s Small Engine Saloon. Steve lives and works in Nanaimo B.C., and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s landed a Chinook or two. It would be a hoot to see him and Hollywood Mark together on a boat.
I’ll be sure to check out the channel of Mark’s twin brother:)
Yeah I’d like to hear about the bait choice. It’s a bucket list fish for me as they are uncommon on the upper coast of Texas.
Live crabs under a float are tough to beat… here’s the video showing how to rig the crabs (it was filmed right before hooked up to that tarpon)L: https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/rig-blue-crab-for-tarpon/
Nice catch Luke! What rod were you using matched with the reel?
It was a custom rod that Hollywood has. A 7’6″ to 8 ft rod with a soft tip and a good backbone are my favorites for tarpon. One in particular that I really like is the St. Croix Tidemaster in Medium Heavy power.
Hey Luke, what were you using as far as leader size, hook size? What knots?
Did not land that fish, no picture takin, I’d be pissed, he should have grabbed that fish for the guy and got a lifetime picture. Very nice Tarpon
Having its big jump and the sound of the drag screaming off the reel locked in my mind is much better than a pic at the end so I was not at all upset that the hook pulled.
Jealous, Jealous, Jealous, congrats on a great catch and release. That is definitely a bucket list fish.
Thanks for making time to leave the nice comment!
What are you guys using for bait? We have a residential cove in Naples, about 16 ft deep, and it is pretty much a guarantee every time we will see at least 5-10 large poons rolling around us. Problem is we cannot get them to bite anything. Have tried live pins, live crab, cut mullet, and every artificial I can think of. They are beautiful to watch but sure would be nice to catch one!
A live crab floated below a cork is tough to beat for tarpon. Here’s what we were using (this was filmed while we were setting up for the drift): https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/rig-blue-crab-for-tarpon/
Sometimes those canal tarpon can be extremely picky… seems like the trick for them is to soak cutbait on the bottom and wait until one finally decides to take the easy meal.
My daughter was in Key West tonight doing some snapper fishing with some friends….and watched a school of Tarpon swim by. She texted me to rub it in! Ha ha. She was out fishing all of her friends. They asked her “How are you catching so many more than us?” some of them were guys) and she said “My Dad taught me well!” That’s my baby girl!!!!
As for Dad…he gives a ton of credit to Saltstrong for everything they’ve taught me over the last 3 years that I’ve been able to pass on to my adult daughters! Thanks Guys! Now….time for me to get down there and get on em!!!! Nice work Luke and Joe and thanks for the great tips Capt Johnson!
Thanks so much for sharing the awesome story! So glad to see that you’re passing your fishing knowledge down to your daughter.