Magazine Confluenze | fly fishing experience Number 8 Year 2 | Page 68

When you feel the take, it is mandatory to strike
with great energy, since the intermediate line,
with the friction of the water and the current,
will never be tight like a floating line.
I hooked several tarpon with intermediate lines
and I have to admit that 80% of the fish got unhooked after the first jumps. If a tarpon attacks
an artificial fly, then turns his head and starts
running, it will be enough to keep the fly line
well tight and then set the hook with rod jerks.
In such cases, the fish hooks himself. The problem arises when the fish swims towards you. You
will realize how difficult it is to hook a tarpon
while ‘he is looking at you’.
The fish, indeed, goes on by inertia when he
charges our fly and the result will be that the fly
line will never be tight and your strikes will be
uneffective. In such situations, and also when
the fish attacks are closer, hooking the fish will
be most difficult. I was once casting to a tarpon
probably 30 meters far away from me, and he
begun chasing my fly hitting it with its nose and
then deciding to grab it at a mere two meters
from the tip of my rod.
The only way I had to set the hook was to lift
the rod and turn myself simultaneously. But after
a couple of jumps the fish set free.
The best possible strike you can do is with the
rod kept low in front of you, tight line towards
the fish, striking first with fly line hand and then
with rod hand (double strike).
You should not fear to be seen by the fish, you
may cast your fly even if the tarpon swim close
to you. Sometimes it doesn’t work, but if the
fish are excited enough, they will attack your fly
even at a couple of meters from the boat. Even
better if you are fishing a school of tarpon. More
fish means feeding frenzy and implies more aggressive fish.
Tarpon are sometimes aggressive. Even when
you see them almost still on the surface, they
are able to assault your fly with a quick wriggle.
The same can happen when you find them
rolling in deep water. Even if your fish is 2 or 3

68 Confluenze Salt

meters deep, he will rise up quickly to attack
your fly.
In May, in Florida there are hatches of palolo
worms approximately 4 to 6 cms long: well, it is
amazing to see how so small lures can bring to
the surface 80 kilo fish.

Artificials
Apart from palolo worms, the list of artificial flies
which can be used is quite long and varies also
depending on fishing locations.
There are however some ‘must’ among the evergreens that are always effective. Among those, it
is certainly worth remembering the Clouser Minnow on hooks # 2 and 1/0 in colour combinations yellow/green, white/yellow, white/red and
white/blue. Immediately after, the Lefty Deceiver
in the same hook sizes and colours as close as
possible to local baitfish.
Then the Cockroach, Black Death (in red/black
rabbit stripes) Enrico Puglisi’s mythical flies, baitfish imitations that work well everywhere
(colours black/purple/chartreuse) and again Enrico’s crayfish imitation in tan, olive and orange.
Indeed, every baitfish imitation will work effectively if well presented. Please have always at
hand flies having different weights. Shallow
water will call for lighter flies. For example,
Clouser Minnows have heavy eyes, and will be
ideal to be fished with floating lines at a depth of
approx one meter or more. All the other unweighted imitations can be used deep with full
intermediate lines or lines with intermediate tips.
Typically, very soft flies tied with rabbit hair or
very thin fibers (dna, fishhair, etc) will have to be
used in all situations that call for a very slow retrieve, with the fish standing stil l near the mangroves.
One of the most exciting techniques is tarpon
fishing with poppers. Small bright and light blue
coloured poppers can imitate baitfish that noisly
swim frantically on the surface and will be ideal
to attract tarpon that will chase them down with
explosive strikes.