Tarpon Cay Lodge.....another memorable trip!

[Lee Haskin]

Again, Tarpon Cay, in the Yucatan, provided some incredible tarpon fishing for our group.
Winds dropped one day, enabling us to chase the larger, Jr. sized tarpon, and we were able to connect on a number of these bigger fish.



http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b382/LeeH/80lbtarpon1aaaweb.jpg



3-4" bait fish patterns were the ticket, and intermediate lines or "Clear Tip" intermediate lines (my favorite for this type of fishing), proved more effective than the floaters.

I was glad that I packed my 12 wt., making short work of tarpon 60 to 80 lbs.

My new baitfish pattern, called "Cut Bait", tied with Foxxfur, and a lot of flash was very effective. :shock:


http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b382/LeeH/CutBaitchartbluewebaaa.jpg


Oh, I should mention that the food matched the fishing! :wink:


http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b382/LeeH/dinner2web.jpg

Unfortunately, hurricane Dean wiped out the second half of our trip to Isla Blanca, and we all jumped on-line to change tickets, or buy new ones, so we could "get out of Dodge" before the winds blew!
My return trip was a nightmare, with 23 hours spent in airports and in the air.......but at least I was able to get away from the hurricane, and that was all that really mattered!

Cheers,
Lee

[jbird]

Awesome report Lee. Thank God you were able to get out in time. What is Fox fur? Is it natural dyed fox or synthetic?

I am in the grips of a 4 day crash diet (my wife convinced me to join her on this thing just for accountability) And you go and post a picture of food!!!! Really yummy looking food!!!! I'm not sure, but I think I can smell it! stayonthewagon stayonthewagon stayonthewagon... :D

Jay

PS Lee, can you give some info on the leader set up you like for tarpon, both baby and adult?

Thanks

[Loren E]

Lee, that's too bad you guys had to scrub the end of the trip but that's a good lookin tarpon from TCL. Jay, before i went down to TCL i tied up a bunch of fancy tarpon leaders with twisted sections and biminis and all, and i highly reccomend them for the big fish, but for the babies it is overkill. I connected 2 feet of 40 to a foot of 30 and then a foot of 20 with blood knots, and then albrighted 2 feet of 40 pound bite to the 20 and it was more than adequate. That short leader made fishing in the really tight creeks easier. my 2 cents -Loren

[Lee Haskin]

Hi Jay,

Foxxfur is a brand of synthetic craft fur. It is produced by Targus and comes in over 100 cool colors. Kiene's carries a good supply.
If you have not played around with craft fur you are missing one of the very best materials available form streamers. It is tough and has incredible action, unlike bucktail. I can't remember how many years it has been since I tied a fly with bucktail!!!
You can easily fold in flash for a blended, flashy look too. (see pic.)

Jay, I use Leo's twisted leaders for stripers, baby tarpon, big tarpon, sail fish, bull sharks.....well you get the idea. I simply attach the bite (50 lb. for babies, and 80 lb. for bigger fish) to the loop in the twisted leader, using a No-Name knot (pre-straightened mono). When the bite gets too short I change the whole setup. You can make them short for the close-in river fishing (maybe 5-6 ft.) or longer for the larger fish (7-10 ft.)
For stripers I simply go loop to loop, with an overall length of about 6 ft.

Twisted leaders are cheap, quick and easy to make, and I take about 20 with me, along with a bulk spool if I need to make more. (I end up giving a bunch away when folks have "leader issues". Grin!) :oops:

I use Berkely Big Game mono because it tends to straighten when you stretch it out. ( This makes twisting the leader easier. IMHO.)

The twisted leader has very little memory, therefore it doesn't have coil memory like single strand mono.

Using 20 lb. you end up with a breaking strength around 24 lb. which is a bit too strong for my liking. I prefer 17 lb. mono to make the leader, which gives me about 20 lb. test at the loop. :wink:

Although not IGFA, this is a simple and virtually fool proof leader system.

Hope this helps.

$.02
Lee

[Leo]

Hi Lee,
Great looking tarpon, glad to see someones taking care of business. This is the first time in over 10 years that I'm unable to make the annual pilgrimage. Been trying to get the leader making instructions with drawing in a format so that it can be posted on this web site for all to share. Keep up the good work, love to see your posts.
Leo