Fishing For Tarpon

EDITOR'S NOTE: Mark Nichols, the president of DOA (Deadly On Anything) lures, knows the Palm City area of Florida about 40 minutes north of West Palm Beach on the Atlantic Ocean like the back of his hand. He's learned how to take speckled trout, redfish, tarpon and snook. His tactics also will produce these species anywhere you fish with his lures. This week we'll look at how, where and why Nichols, one of the first anglers to bring Mossy Oak into the saltwater arena, uses the techniques he does to catch these inshore species. Nichols enjoys wearing Mossy Oak Apparel's TrekLite shirts, pants and shorts for saltwater fishing. As Nichols says, "I'm not wearing TrekLite clothes to hide from the fish. These clothes are just lightweight, comfortable and cool, they dry fast, and they define me as an outdoorsman. What most hunters don't know is that TrekLite clothing is also appropriate for hunting and saltwater fishing."

Question: Mark, on the day we fished together, you jumped a 125-pound tarpon within 20 feet of the boat. You hooked that tarpon on a small, soft-plastic lure that looked like a baitfish. What was that lure?
Answer: The bait is called a Terror-Eyz, which is a nondescript soft-plastic lure with red eyes. The bait is so deadly because it is nondescript. When a tarpon sees it falling, he can't really tell if it's a crab, a shrimp or some type of little fish. When you cast small nondescript lures in clear water in the middle of the day, you don't want the fish to see exactly with what you're fishing. If they get a good look at the bait, they may not attack. But if some type of bait passes by them quickly, their natural instincts will cause them to attack.

Question: How are you casting to the tarpon with this small bait?
Answer: When I see the fish roll, I try and cast right in front of the rolling tarpon. I want the lure to fall right in front of the fish's face. When tarpon are holding in an area and not moving in and out of a pass, they will usually come up for a gulp of air and go straight back toward the bottom. When they spot a small bait dropping in front of their faces, they'll often inhale that little bait, and that's when I hook them. When you're fishing for rolling tarpon, you don't really want to swim the bait. You want to fish it on the drop.

Question: Mark, you're fishing for these tarpon using medium-action spinning tackle. These tarpon will weigh 40 to 175 pounds. What type of line are you using, and why are you using this light tackle?
Answer: If I'm targeting big tarpon, I'll be fishing a relatively stiff rod with a Shimano 4000 spinning reel with 30-pound-test Power Pro-braided line. I use this line and this rod and reel combo because I can make long casts anytime I see a school of tarpon roll. South Florida fishermen will usually be fishing spinning tackle 90% of the time -- regardless of the species of fish they're targeting. When I'm fishing for tarpon, I may see them roll upwind, downwind or crosswind. Spinning tackle allows me to cast to them no matter the wind condition. The spinning tackle also prevents backlash, which often occurs if you're not casting with the wind.

Question: How big is the biggest tarpon you've ever caught on the Terror-Eyz?
Answer: I've caught a 110-pound tarpon using the Terror-Eyz, which has a wire hook in it.

Question: When you've got a tarpon that weighs 80 pounds or more on that light spinning tackle, how do you get a fish to the boat?
Answer: First of all, don't try and reel against the drag. When the fish is taking drag off the reel, just keep steady pressure on the rod, and don't try to reel in the fish. Don't attempt to reel the fish in when it's stopped dead in the water. Be patient with the fish. Then when the tarpon stops to turn your way, start to take up the line. I took 30 minutes to land an 80-pound tarpon last year using this system. Patience will land more tarpon than power will.

For more information on DOA lures, call (877) DOA-LURE (362-5873), or visit the website at www.doalures.com. To learn more about Mossy Oak Apparel's TrekLite clothing for hunting and fishing, go to www.mossyoak.com.

TOMORROW: Catching Redfish