|
Fly Fishing For
Tarpon
Strip Striking technique to set the hook in a tarpon
when fly fishing.
A
tutorial:
By, Capt Steven Lamp
You
can take the trout fisherman out of trout fishing, but you cannot take
the trout fishing out of the trout fisherman. How to strip strike a
saltwater fish on the fly. Fishing the flats of the Florida Keys and Key
West as a guide now for quite a few years I have not been able to
conquer one thing with my clients.... It never fails. No matter how many
times I tell these guys who are die-hard Stream trout fishermen not to
"lift" a strike on a saltwater fish, they do.
Lets look at the
physics here. Brook trout- I am looking at a picture of one in a book
here as I have never seen one in person let alone experienced catching
one. They have soft mouths, very soft mouths, and the fly is really
small. Ok, here is why the trout fisher person uses a lifting technique.
He / she does not want to rip the lip or break that super thin line that
he / she is using. Taking advantage of the soft tip in those trout rods
sets the hook very nicely almost as if it were placed in the fishes
mouth strategically. What a talent! I have read enough about trout
fishing to feel like a recreational pro at the sport. Looks fascinating
and I cannot wait to try it. Saltwater fish- We will use the Tarpon, as
our example. The tarpons mouth is a lot like a concrete vise, and the
fish weighs a whole lot more than most fish we attempt on fly. Generally
using a 12 wt rod with a floating or intermediate tarpon taper joined
with a menagerie' of knots to create a shock absorbing medium for the
leader system that is generally 6 - 12 ft long. My most liked tippet
strength is the 16 lb. I find that this allows my anglers to stick the
fish without breaking the tippet yet allows the fish to break off
without damaging the rod or the line should a mistake occur. (Will do a
tip and trick for home made tarpon leaders that work if the readers
request it.)
Lets get to the
strip strike. Presenting the fly is extremely important in saltwater as
most fish are very weary. For the strike you want to make sure the fly
is presented and the line used is reasonably straight. Keeping the rod
tip pointed at the fly or the direction of line run is VERY IMPORTANT.
This keeps any slack or bend from taking away the strike to the fly.
When the guide yells "strike" take the stripping hand and grab
hold of the line firmly. Yank it back in a hauling fashion WITHOUT
lifting the rod tip. Your rod tip should not leave the straight line,
there should be NO bend in your rod otherwise your strip strike is not
being as effective as it needs to be to drive the hook home. In a
tarpons instance the fish, once he has been stuck, will shake his head
slightly under water just before he completely cuts loose. You can
choose to do two things here both are equally important. 1. Yank the fly
into his mouth again with force almost great enough to break the tippet.
2. Look around you to make sure all the line at your feet and on the
deck is clear because it is going to fly.
I use a technique of
making a circle between my thumb and first finger of my stripping hand
to clear the line smoothly while looking down to see what may get
tangled. while doing this lifting the rod may help in absorbing the
sudden impact of the fish coming tight to the reel. That is what it
takes to sink the hook to a tarpon. Down here in the Florida Keys we get
lots of practice. In a days time during the migrations season it is not
uncommon for my clients to jump 10 tarpon and land 1. The reason the
ratios are so bad is because of the hook set. Practice, practice,
practice.
If
there is anything the readers of this site would like to know about
saltwater fly fishing I will be happy to write about it. Drop me an
email and lets get some information out to you folks about EXTREME Fly
Fishing in the Florida Keys. |
