# Intermediate tarpon lines



## texican08 (Sep 13, 2016)

I’m looking to get a spare reel rigged for tarpon but have no experience in intermediate lines. Here’s what I have/know so far and looking for so advice from there...

- It’s going on a Hardy 12000 ultralite 
- wanting a full intermediate line and not a sinking tip
-would prefer to at least have the tip clear if not the entire line clear

That being said, what would be your recommendations on make/model of line? Thanks in advance!


----------



## Rick hambric (Jun 24, 2017)

Cortland or rio


----------



## Rick hambric (Jun 24, 2017)

Cortland clear camo is my preferred


----------



## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

I buy Rio intermediate lines (two or three in each size at a time...) and find them just the ticket. For many years we used Scientific Anglers intermediates - but the Rio are a bit less money and hold up well in the mangrove jungle areas of the Everglades. I work big tarpon in rivers up to 12- 14 feet deep and a full intermediate (with a clear tip the way they come from Rio) works just fine).


----------



## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

https://www.cortlandline.com/collections/saltwater-fly-line/products/big-game-intermediate

In 10-12wts, they call it their Big Game Clear Intermediate. It's a good deal for the money and a decent casting line.


----------



## eightwt (May 11, 2017)

Are intermediate lines used more than floaters for tarpon? What tarpon behavior dictates which type of line you throw? Thanks and pardon my ignorance.


----------



## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

If you're sight-fishing big silver in clear waters (like the Keys where the fish are in less than six feet of water - mostly...) then a floating line is your best bet.... Some of us, though, are fishing places like the dark waters of Everglades National Park where you might be working fish up really shallow or right on the bottom in rivers that are 10 to 15 feet deep (and every depth in between). With an intermediate you can fish every depth and the fly stays at that depth when you're stripping it... No you don't get a second cast the way you can with a floater and intermediates aren't very useful for popping bugs, etc. and there are a few tricks with it but some of us use mostly intermediates so that we can count the fly down to exactly where fish are holding like salmon in small rivers (we're talking every size of fish as well - some of them as big as they get....).

I know a fair number of anglers who keep a spare spool loaded with an intermediate just for times when getting your fly down is the only way you'll get bit - it's a situational thing...


----------



## eightwt (May 11, 2017)

Thank you Capt. I fish the Big Bend, so an intermediate may be useful for me. I use an intermediate also for other inshore fishing and along beaches.


----------



## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

lemaymiami said:


> I know a fair number of anglers who keep a spare spool loaded with an intermediate just for times when getting your fly down is the only way you'll get bit - it's a situational thing...


I keep one of my rods loaded with an intermediate when I go. 

Some like it riding high, but some like it low!


----------



## 024H6 (Jan 28, 2018)

Anyone have any suggestions for a 12wt floating line?


----------



## Rick hambric (Jun 24, 2017)

Cortland clear tarpon


----------



## k-roc (Feb 8, 2018)

I fish the glades from a SUP (that's really micro microskiff) the last two weeks of April every year. I'd like to know how and when to try going deep for tarpon. Basically unless I can see fish near the surface or in the shallows, or when fish are rolling or gulping air, I don't catch anything blind casting in murky water...

And I've had the Rio Tropical WF8-I and it's been fine but I kind of like the low stretch core and durability of Airflo lines these days.


----------



## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

You're pretty much handicapped by your ride when it comes to deeper waters tarpon out of Flamingo - since all of that is on the west coast of the 'Glades (and we're talking a run of 20 miles west at a minimum...). If you're fishing out of Chokoloskee or the areas close by you might have a shot since the rivers there (where all the "deep water" is...) are much, much closer.. Deep is a relative term out of Flamingo since there are basins and channels very close to Flamingo where you might find big tarpon in six feet of water or less (and with the right conditions actually see fish at the surface rolling, finning, and just plain hanging out this time of year). What will happen to you with an SUP with a big tarpon hooked up might just get exciting - too exciting for an old guy like me...

That said, your ride is perfect for working shallow and sheltered - trying to fish where there's a lot of current isn't healthy with what you're working out of...


----------



## k-roc (Feb 8, 2018)

Thanks for the info Bob, greatly appreciated. I stay at my folks' condo in Naples so I haven't ventured as far as Flamingo. We typically launch near Goodland, sometimes Chokoloskee.
We're set up in a way that we can cast at whatever we see that day, 8 wt. rods with usually 30 lbs. tippet and much of the time it's a black and purple EP fly. We've caught reds, snook, jack and tarpon on that fly. Basically if we were to hook into a massive fish from the SUPs, the plan is to break it off after a few jumps! My wife been towed around before and has landed a few babies (20 pounders). I've choked more often than not when setting the hook in stained water, I'm so surprised when i get the bite and can't see a fish that I don't set hard enough!

The weather doesn't cooperate that often in April, it's only happened to us a few times that we've had hot, humid, calm conditions that are prime for tarpon.

Anyways sorry for hijacking the Intermediate line thread!


----------

