rigging stickbaits for tarpon

[aquadementia]

Been testing the range of Darkstar stickbaits & poppers up at Kwanza Lodge in Angola and have had several tarpon hits... they do it so lazily too, the way only a 60kg 'poon can!

Anyway had 3 solid takes over 2 days and they didnt stick... not surprising considering tarpon are notoriously difficult to hook on artificials...

I've rigged all my stickbait with 2x11/0's on the belly, Baker rigged and a single 12/0 at the back.

When fishing baits we use ONLY circle hooks in sizes 11/0 to 16/0 (manufacturer dependant)

Does anyone have suggestions for rigging a circle hook onto a stickbait?? I'm thinking some sort of assist setup..

your thoughts?

 

[benniejordaan]

aquadementia wrote:

Been testing the range of Darkstar stickbaits & poppers up at Kwanza Lodge in Angola and have had several tarpon hits... they do it so lazily too, the way only a 60kg 'poon can!

Anyway had 3 solid takes over 2 days and they didnt stick... not surprising considering tarpon are notoriously difficult to hook on artificials...

I've rigged all my stickbait with 2x11/0's on the belly, Baker rigged and a single 12/0 at the back.

When fishing baits we use ONLY circle hooks in sizes 11/0 to 16/0 (manufacturer dependant)

Does anyone have suggestions for rigging a circle hook onto a stickbait?? I'm thinking some sort of assist setup..

your thoughts?

Bud,
You need to re-shape those hooks. Get rid of the barb and file the point of the hook, even if it's brand new hook. You want the hook sharp. I learnt this for bill fishing. The barb prevents the hook from penetrating properly!

 

[benniejordaan]

I now reshape all my big game hooks like this. sharp as hell with virtually no barb. It has definitely increased my hook up rate! I'm sure it would help you too!

This hook is looking a little rusty, but it has caught many fish!

 

[fedu]

Bennie has a point with the sharpening of hooks.

Also try to use your lighter stickbaits diminuing the fish ability to sling the hook using the leverage of the lure heavier weight.

I allready showed you what I intend to use next season

"Designed to break away when a tarpon is hooked, breakaway jigs provide the best chance of landing a giant tarpon by denying the fish the ability to sling the hook using the leverage of the heavy head. "

Some nice fish have been caught this way like this one

Guys in Florida say:

"Some of the more popular lures used by tarpon anglers are the Zara Spook, Creek Chub Darter, Chartreuse Bomber Long A, 52m MirrOlure, Bagley Finger Mullet, Ratlin' Flash, and Ratl' Trap. Experienced anglers usually replace the hooks that come on the lures with 3X strength hooks because of the tremendous biting force of the fish.

Always use a sharp hook. Tarpon have very hard, bony mouths, Sharpen hooks before you use them, even ones fresh out of the package."

P.S. - I've seen quite a few caught here in Luanda with Rapalas and Storms but I do not like those trebles...

 

[Nepptune]

Chris - Glad to hear you putting those sticks to work!!

Bennie and Fernando have touched on some great points, just a few more to add.

As Bennie mentioned, hook sharpness is paramount... another important "point" is to use long pointed hooks... take a look at the Flies most guys use for Tarpon, they are generally no bigger than a 5/0 and sometimes as small as a size 2 even.... these hooks have long skinny penetrating points... and SHARP ones... you need that skinny penetrating point to "cut" into a Tarpons bony mouth if you are going for an instant hook set..

Another alternative would be to look at fishing an assist off the head and one off the tail... this would mean that if you hook up on the head assist, you'll not have the lure working as leverage when the fish throws its head on a jump.
The Assist will also give you that little bit of extra time when the Tarp closes his mouth round the lure for the hook to find a good set in the corner, when you strike...

A set up like alot of the guys who target Sails on Sticks would probably be a good way to go.... basically a single longish assist off the tail, and a single assist off the belly... or off the head...

Look forward to seeing the results.

PS - I tried the method of thread a small stickbait onto a big single on the eye loop, much like Fedu's suggestion... It works on small sticks ( 30gram and 40 gram ) but never tried it with bigger.. it takes some practise to get the hookset right, but does work... but only if the Tarps are engulfing the lure, ( as with small lures ) rather than smacking them... when I fished large Zara Spooks for Tarps off the beaches in Caymna, the fish tended to blast the lure really hard off the top, often smacking it a few feet in the air, and hitting it a few times... in this situation the circles never worked, and we had better luck with singles and trebles ( before my asssist hook knowledge ) but in quieter water, when fishing slowly, and the Tarps engulfed the lure, probably siilarly to what you are experiencing, the Circle worked..

Another option, use a single large circle off the belly on an Assist... let the fish engulf the lure,turns and swim with it and in turn getting the circle into the corner...

You've got a great testing ground their my friend, look forward to seeing you crack the code..

 

[tackle whore]

7/0 jobu off the back and a 7/o assist off the front. the guys in usa use a big rattletrap attached to a circlehook to catch their tarpon . fernando got a few toys for you to try on tarpon will get them to you at franz house .

 

[fedu]

By the way Mark is busy doing this hybrid 3oz jigs for Tarpon with the Circle hook.

This and the previous that caught the 200lb Tarpon are fished the same way you would with bait.

 

[benniejordaan]

fedu wrote:

By the way Mark is busy doing this hybrid 3oz jigs for Tarpon with the Circle hook.

This and the previous that caught the 200lb Tarpon are fished the same way you would with bait.

We tried that. Took a standard jig head and just cut the hook off with bolt cutters. Fixed the circle hook on with small cable tie.

Wasn't as effective as the standard jig head, hook up rate went down. But if talking tarpon... might be different.

 

[fedu]

benniejordaan wrote:

fedu wrote:

By the way Mark is busy doing this hybrid 3oz jigs for Tarpon with the Circle hook.

This and the previous that caught the 200lb Tarpon are fished the same way you would with bait.

We tried that. Took a standard jig head and just cut the hook off with bolt cutters. Fixed the circle hook on with small cable tie.

Wasn't as effective as the standard jig head, hook up rate went down. But if talking tarpon... might be different.

Well the previous one I've posted Cotee breakaway jig was so sucessefull that it got banned for several years in some parts of USA.

 

[benniejordaan]

fedu wrote:

benniejordaan wrote:

fedu wrote:

By the way Mark is busy doing this hybrid 3oz jigs for Tarpon with the Circle hook.

This and the previous that caught the 200lb Tarpon are fished the same way you would with bait.

We tried that. Took a standard jig head and just cut the hook off with bolt cutters. Fixed the circle hook on with small cable tie.

Wasn't as effective as the standard jig head, hook up rate went down. But if talking tarpon... might be different.

Well the previous one I've posted Cotee breakaway jig was so sucessefull that it got banned for several years in some parts of USA.

Is there a specific way to work it? Could just have been me... Didn't fish it long, mabe 20 min for kingies and dropped a bunch. Maybe the hook size was wrong I don't know.
Does it matter where you tie the jighead onto the hook?

 

[fedu]

There is a lot of history behind the development of "The Reel Tarpon Jig" a good source if you like reading about this stuff is:

http://www.gianttarpon.com/tarpon3.htm

"Once properly set up, lower the jig to the bottom. Once the lure hits the bottom take a turn or two of line onto the reel. No jigging action is necessary while fishing during a moving tide . Do not use a heavy jerking action in an attempt to snag tarpon-it will not work.

Once a bite is detected, don't jerk. Let the tarpon pull your rod tip down. As the fish begins to take drag, slowly raise the rod and the hook will set on its own. "

Also some tips I got :

" If the tarpon in less then 30ft then casting live bait is better
When the tarpon are holding in 40-80ft of water jig fishing is a very effective technique"

 

[aquadementia]

cool info thanks guys!

the tarpon at kwanza are all from shore to like 7m depth I reckon.. very shallow

 

[fedu]

Let's see how it goes the idea is have a rod with the jig hanging around an the other with regular bait.

You and Tremosso allready had strikes on dropshot and Tremosso just did not get away with it due to poor tackle strenght (line, hooks, etc).

 

[aquadementia]

the current is so strong there you could even put it out under a balloon and it would swim...

haha yes it gets very interesting very quickly when a 70lb tarpon takes a 4inch paddletail on the drop on a 4000 reel

 

[fedu]

aquadementia wrote:

......

haha yes it gets very interesting very quickly when a 70lb tarpon takes a 4inch paddletail on the drop on a 4000 reel

Now imagine the same with a +50lb braid and a 8000 reel, fair enough for both the fish and the angler

 

[aquadementia]

only problem now is the tarpon season is pretty much over!! till next year then

 

[tackle whore]

rigg a 4 oz nylon plug [with out treble hooks] with a swivel at the top circle hook goes through the swivel so the popper hangs off the hook . very effective in gabon were jacks are a pest , if a jack grabs it , give slack and he spits it out if a tarpon slurps it in the circle does the job !!