# 10,000 to Chokoloskee Tarpon - LAID UP



## Nick (Sep 25, 2015)

I've found dozens of tarpon with the weird fronts and I cannot get these fish to eat! I know its "winter" and they tend to get lockjawed, but they are just so damn uniterested in what I'm throwing. I've thrown various flies and my caster ends up usually spooking them after the 2 or 3 well placed casts on them. So my question is - any suggestions or advice on what fly/pattern I should be throwing? All the flies I've been throwing have been black/purple. The water has been pretty clear. Maybe switch to white or chartreuse? All tarpon were 60 lb +. Any advice would help thanks in advance!


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## Zhunter (Feb 19, 2014)

I'll trade fly info for GPS coordinates 

Joking... well kinda joking.

Just a thought, just because you find them does not mean they are in an area that they tend to eat. I know it is odd, but it happens. 

Water Temp?


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## Nick (Sep 25, 2015)

Im not sure of the water temp as I can never find a reliable source on any area!!!! 
But im finding them in areas where i would normally find them in the summer months - so IDK whats going on. So it might be water temperature but then again all these instagram posts of people jumping them left and right!!! And we literally had shots at 11 of em....


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Yep, laid up tarpon in the backcountry can be tough - but I must admit that they're favorites of mine (and my anglers). That said, your first thing to do is get a water temp gauge on your skiff - it's that important in cooler waters.... Most depth finders, chartplotters, etc. will include a water temp function (but you may have to buy the sensor separately...). Newer gear that I've used on other guys boats all seems to be very accurate as well (my own depthfinder - an older model is anything but accurate -it's reads right at four degrees cold... when my temp is shown at 70 - it's actually 74 degrees....).

Here's how to check that temp gauge or get a read on areas in the 'Glades if you don't have a gauge... Go to this website then look for the buoys/tide stations in your area... http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/maps/Florida.shtml

I regularly check sites between Flamingo and Everglades city - look for the Watson place and Cannon Bay readings first -they're interesting to say the least. Over on the Flamingo side of things I regularly check the Gunboat Island and Murray Key stations....

Now for the practical stuff... find big tarpon in less than 74 degree waters -good luck getting a bite in the daytime (at night things change a bit)... Every day though the sun will warm up shallow areas from first light to around 2 or 3pm - so if the water's a bit cold early - it may warm up in a few hours...

Now for presentation stuff - where we all struggle... In clear, calm waters a laid up tarpon may have seen you long before you saw her... so your approach is simply critical. Just because a fish doesn't spook away from you doesn't mean you aren't noticed. Laid up fish just want to be left alone mostly - but a careful presentation can change that (and all the different patterns in the world won't change that equation...). One tip that has worked pretty well for me is to carefully note which direction the first fish you see was facing when they're laid up. Almost all of the fish in that particular location will be facing the same way (either into the wind or into the current). That bit of info can help you figure out how to approach the next fish -before you ever see it...

The best way to fish laid up tarpon is to do a bunch of it - you'll soon start seeing patterns of behavior you can take advantage of. Laid ups are a lot easier when they're moving around a bit. The following short video is from the only TV show that I ever did - the angler is Mike Conner, the show was Shallow Water Angler. It was filmed in Whitewater Bay on 9 December five or six years ago. He was using suspending plugs (what the script called for) - the fish would have eaten better and stayed connected on fly...


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## Zhunter (Feb 19, 2014)

Were your flies at the correct depth? Did the fly itself exhibit enough movement without being stripped?

Let's see your fly, message it to me if you want


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## Nick (Sep 25, 2015)

Awesome advice Lemay. I'm going to try my approach at them a little different. Something tells me they may be hearing or seeing me before I get among them. But I don't know - gonna try a few different flies, present a little differently and make it happen.


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## mingo gringo (Dec 1, 2015)

I have the fly you need,catch is you have take me with you! All kidding aside what Bob said is great advice. As far as the actual fly,I would throw something that definitely floated high if the fish are sitting just under the surface,something that can be left in there face. I think color for the most part has only a small part in it,but maybe try a light pattern. Laid up fish definitely can be frustrating but definitely my favorite. The fishing down in the park has been excellent on early season fish,and was putting fish in the air everyday. I keep my pics off instagram though.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

With the drop in temps tonight (and the next few nights as well) I expect that those laid ups will be out in the Gulf somewhere pretty quickly as water temps fall. If it will just warm up for a few days after the front then, maybe, maybe they'll return inside.... From now to the first week of March inside laid ups will depend on a few mild days and a solid warming trend. Without it our tarpon fishing will be at night for small to medium fish in Biscayne Bay...


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