# Tarpon



## sidelock

Wonder why everyone is so tight lipped about this one !


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## Megalops

Poons man. The only guys that give advice don't fish the area they give advice.


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## DBStoots

Fished that area on Saturday and did not see any. But, the wind was howling and the water was mucked up.


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## sidelock

Megalops said:


> Poons man. The only guys that give advice don't fish the area they give advice.


Wasn't looking or asking for advice.


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## DuckNut

sidelock said:


> Wasn't looking or asking for advice.


I don't think he was giving you advice. I think he gave you his report along with the general consensus about tarpon. 

If you do a search on here about tarpon fishing you will find some interesting threads and none of them tell where they are at.

So if you are looking for a report where someone expelled time money and energy to find you a place to go fishing - I don't think you will get many takers, a few rises, but few takers (pun intended).

Head over there now that the wind has calmed down and give us a report on what you find.


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## Megalops

Don't take it personally Sidelock, bunch of stoic MFers on here when it comes to poons (myself included).


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## sidelock

DuckNut said:


> I don't think he was giving you advice. I think he gave you his report along with the general consensus about tarpon.
> 
> If you do a search on here about tarpon fishing you will find some interesting threads and none of them tell where they are at.
> 
> So if you are looking for a report where someone expelled time money and energy to find you a place to go fishing - I don't think you will get many takers, a few rises, but few takers (pun intended).
> 
> Head over there now that the wind has calmed down and give us a report on what you find.



If go back and re read my post, you'll see that I was quoting Megalops post not DBStoots


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## sidelock

Megalops said:


> Don't take it personally Sidelock, bunch of stoic MFers on here when it comes to poons (myself included).


No worries, none taken. Just wish people clearly understand what they read before they reply but it's all good just the same.


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## SomaliPirate

There were a couple of rollers off Cedar Key yesterday. Unless you're my boss, in which case I was very ill and in bed.


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## sidelock

SomaliPirate said:


> There were a couple of rollers off Cedar Key yesterday. Unless you're my boss, in which case I was very ill and in bed.



HaHa, maybe you should come straight with your employer, just think how much more time you would have to fish if he fires you LOL


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## LowHydrogen

Megalops said:


> Don't take it personally Sidelock, bunch of stoic MFers on here when it comes to poons (myself included).


Got this off the dark-web, keep it quiet though, this is not easy info to come by...possibly hacked by the Ruskies (not what you think...these are ******** native to Ruskin, very dangerous lot).


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## DuckNut

sidelock said:


> If go back and re read my post, you'll see that I was quoting Megalops post not DBStoots


If you go back and look you will see I quoted your quote of Megalops. Pay attention lad, it aids in the learning process.

Get your answer yet? We haven't got ours.


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## lemaymiami

...and if you think the folks in this area are tight lipped about tarpon you should try to get some info out of Chokoloskee about tarpon.....


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## sidelock

No worries folks, nothing a little money can't take care of.


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## crboggs

Around here, the only thing people share details about less than grown tarpon are baby tarpon.


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## DuckNut

sidelock said:


> No worries folks, nothing a little money can't take care of.


Yep. A little for the truck and a little for the boat. Then time on the water will tell you the answer.


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## sidelock

Boat and truck are paid for, will hire a guide for the first week and fish on my own the second week.


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## Backcountry 16

There in Charlotte harbor but don't tell anyone though.


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## sidelock

I heard some have left Charlotte harbor without telling you.


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## MariettaMike

sidelock said:


> ...will hire a guide for the first week .


What's the name of the guide you're going to hire?


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## sidelock

Sorry but if I have learned anything from this post it's not to share anything or give out any information so when you're in Rome......


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## MariettaMike

sidelock said:


> Sorry but if I have learned anything from this site it's not to share anything or give out any information so when you're in Rome......


Sorry, I think you're mistaken. There are thousands and thousands of posts on this site giving out information including guide recommendations, fishing techniques, how-to's...Don't you have anything to give?


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## sidelock

I can see that by the number of considerate and generous sarcastic replies to a simple question in this post.


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## MariettaMike

sidelock said:


> I can see that by the number of considerate and generous sarcastic replies to a simple question in this post.


Try looking around a bit. Use the search function....post something about yourself, where you fish, boat you run,.....

Don't just ask for poon info. Makes you appear selfish.


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## Backcountry 16

sidelock said:


> I heard some have left Charlotte harbor without telling you.


No they all textedme on the way out


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## deerfly

people in the know credit Billy Pate with ruining the tarpon fishing in Homosassa


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## anytide

whats a poon?


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## TheFrequentFlier

Gents, I started a new website and associated iphone/android app called "PoonTinder"...

Just set your radius to about 3nm while on the water and swipe right...you'll be sure to ge_t _lucky.


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## TheFrequentFlier

Does anyone else think it's cheap/BS to go out with a guide for a week, and then presumably "take his spots" while DIYing the next week? 

Honestly, I think that's pretty busch league...and frankly, if I was a guide and a client pulled out a GPS, I would quickly drop him off at the nearest shoreline. 

I'll maybe go out with a guide a day or two if I want to learn a completely new style of fishing/fishery, but the way I see it, the more spots he takes me to, the less places I can actually go to find fish when I do it on my own...that's because I'll never go back to a spot a guide has taken me to, and therefore why I have more fun exploring and discovering the spots on my own.


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## lemaymiami

back in the day..... Homosassa was the place to be in the late seventies but like any great tarpon area - it's only great if a very few fish it (you and maybe one other skiff....) so we've all learned the hard way....

I can remember when Al Pflueger (a great angler - who set a lot of records years ago and was a very prominent member of the Tropical Anglers Club back when I joined them in 1976) returned from a trip to Homosassa in the late seventies and told those of us listening that it was "all over" there sine the word had spread and too many folks were fishing there.... and so it goes. My first big tarpon fly order was for Ted Jurascik... I didn't learn until years later that he was Billy Pate's fishing partner - and the pattern was Pate's Simple Brown...

If you're a guide you take folks to places they might never have considered or found on their own - that's just part of the deal, period. Tarpon are easiest to approach and feed when they've been left alone as much as possible so we're always in a conflict situation. Not surprising to learn that some folks even remove all the flies from their rods before returning to a boat ramp where others might be watching (then try to clear the ramp as though they'd just robbed a bank and didn't want any attention at all...).

Fortunately I fish tarpon out of Flamingo where there's so many places to fish tarpon that no one can cover them all in a day - even if they ran a 100 mile trip.... so I always have places to fish... Last Saturday it was a bit frustrating since several of "my spots" had someone already there before me. When that happens I just ease away and hope that they haven't learned everything about the place they're working.

A lot has changed since I first wandered out on the flats all those years ago. Back in 1974 there were only three guides for all of Biscayne Bay... Can you imagine that? My how things have changed.... back then you were never supposed to get close enough to be able to see what color another skiff was if you were flats fishing.


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## Backcountry 16

lemaymiami said:


> back in the day..... Homosassa was the place to be in the late seventies but like any great tarpon area - it's only great if a very few fish it (you and maybe one other skiff....) so we've all learned the hard way....
> 
> I can remember when Al Pflueger (a great angler - who set a lot of records years ago and was a very prominent member of the Tropical Anglers Club back when I joined them in 1976) returned from a trip to Homosassa in the late seventies and told those of us listening that it was "all over" there sine the word had spread and too many folks were fishing there.... and so it goes. My first big tarpon fly order was for Ted Jurascik... I didn't learn until years later that he was Billy Pate's fishing partner - and the pattern was Pate's Simple Brown...
> 
> If you're a guide you take folks to places they might never have considered or found on their own - that's just part of the deal, period. Tarpon are easiest to approach and feed when they've been left alone as much as possible so we're always in a conflict situation. Not surprising to learn that some folks even remove all the flies from their rods before returning to a boat ramp where others might be watching (then try to clear the ramp as though they'd just robbed a bank and didn't want any attention at all...).
> 
> Fortunately I fish tarpon out of Flamingo where there's so many places to fish tarpon that no one can cover them all in a day - even if they ran a 100 mile trip.... so I always have places to fish... Last Saturday it was a bit frustrating since several of "my spots" had someone already there before me. When that happens I just ease away and hope that they haven't learned everything about the place they're working.
> 
> A lot has changed since I first wandered out on the flats all those years ago. Back in 1974 there were only three guides for all of Biscayne Bay... Can you imagine that? My how things have changed.... back then you were never supposed to get close enough to be able to see what color another skiff was if you were flats fishing.


Once again spot on Mr Lemay always enjoy reading your posts.


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## MariettaMike

tgjohnso said:


> Does anyone else think it's cheap/BS to go out with a guide for a week, and then presumably "take his spots" while DIYing the next week?


It depends on if the DIY gives full disclosure of his intentions.

...and this reminds me when Capt Steve Huff did a "Legends" dinner in Orlando last year. Someone asked Steve if his passing on his fishing spots to Dustin contributed to Dustin's success as top tournament guide.

His answer was the opposite of what you might expect. He said he didn't give Dustin any spots, and that he never asked for any spots during his career. Finding spots on his own was the most gratifying part of fishing for him. And is why he never stopped poling part way across a flat.


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## SomaliPirate

anytide said:


> whats a poon?


I used to chase those in Savannah area clubs about ten years ago.


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## Megalops

Or imagine this scenario like what I did yesterday: wake up at 4am, load and put in at sunrise, hump bait, give guides poling their clients along the beach a 1/4 mile berth, sneak into the corridor I know where the poons travel, TM into area, have a feisty threadfin locked and loaded, talk to my buddy in a hushed voice only to have my corridor burned thru by 3 jackwads on jetskis. I cannot put into words how much I despise jet skis.


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## crboggs

Jetskis during summer tarpon and air boats during winter reds...despise them both...


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## sidelock

tgjohnso said:


> Does anyone else think it's cheap/BS to go out with a guide for a week, and then presumably "take his spots" while DIYing the next week?


If your PRESUMPTION was my intention, I would tell the guide not to take me anywhere he doesn't want me to go back to in advance and frankly, I'm proud to say that I don't belong nor subscribe to the busch league fraternity !


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## sidelock

tgjohnso said:


> Does anyone else think it's cheap/BS to go out with a guide for a week, and then presumably "take his spots" while DIYing the next week?


If your PRESUMPTION of "taking his spots" was my intention, I would tell the guide not to take me anywhere he doesn't want me to go back to in advance and frankly, I'm proud to say that I don't belong nor subscribe to your busch league fraternity !


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## MariettaMike

sidelock said:


> ....will hire a guide for the first week and fish on my own the second week.





sidelock said:


> If your PRESUMPTION of "taking his spots" was my intention, I would tell the guide not to take me anywhere he doesn't want me to go back to in advance and frankly, I'm proud to say that I don't belong nor subscribe to your busch league fraternity !


Regardless of intention the PERCEPTION from the guides' point-of-view is former clients returning to an area as DIY are poaching their spots.

Suggest you find your way out there on your own first. Keep your distance, watch and learn, do like the Romans. And if (when) a guide yells at you, hire him. WIN-WIN


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## sidelock

I am fully aware, respect and practice proper fishing etiquette thank you and presumption or perception without any action is just that. Accusing or even suggesting that someone has the intention of breaching respectful fishing etiquette is just ignorance !


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## flytyn

Fished the **** area for two days the beginning of the month with a guide friend. He has all the rocks marked on his Loran, a compilation of decades of learning. Go ahead take your skiff and run the maze. You're sure to hit one or two or three. Watch out for Guido. It's a big'un


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## sidelock

flytyn said:


> Fished the **** area for two days the beginning of the month with a guide friend. He has all the rocks marked on his Loran, a compilation of decades of learning. Go ahead take your skiff and run the maze. You're sure to hit one or two or three. Watch out for Guido. It's a big'un


Thanks for the sage advice but I figure if I run on plane at WOT I'll just skim right over Guido and probably won't even now he's there especially in pitch black darkness. Should I inadvertently run into Guido, I'll just replace my lower unit on the spot with the spare I keep in the skiff LOL.
I guess the sarcasm is starting to rubbing off !
I'm enlightened with all the generous advice and the many intelligent posts, utterly amazing what a simple question in my OP has morphed into.


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## Flats Broke

flytyn said:


> Fished the **** area for two days the beginning of the month with a guide friend. He has all the rocks marked on his Loran, a compilation of decades of learning. Go ahead take your skiff and run the maze. You're sure to hit one or two or three. Watch out for Guido. It's a big'un


Also, if you get out of the channel in the river heading back to the ramp, you are likely to run into one or more of Guido's relatives too. Just another word of caution. Sadly, I speak from experience.


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## Megalops

sidelock said:


> Thanks for the sage advice but I figure if I run on plane at WOT I'll just skim right over Guido and probably won't even now he's there especially in pitch black darkness. Should I inadvertently run into Guido, I'll just replace my lower unit on the spot with the spare I keep in the skiff LOL.
> I guess the sarcasm is starting to rubbing off !
> I'm enlightened with all the generous advice and the many intelligent posts, utterly amazing what a simple question in my OP has morphed into.


We just don't know you yet. But, how did you tie the foam head on this?


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## LowHydrogen

sidelock said:


> Any word on weather the tarpon are starting to show in the Homosassa area ?


You seem to be having a hard time with some of the banter. I assure you most of it is in good fun. Keep that map I gave you on the DL though lol.

I know this thread started on the 8th , and I'm not sure if you made a trip yet or not but the fish are definitely there by now. Fishing in N.FL yesterday spotted 8 with 2 shots 1 follow and no hook-up. So most likely some decent numbers of fish down that way.
Tight lines.


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## sidelock

Megalops said:


> View attachment 10843
> View attachment 10843
> 
> We just don't know you yet. But, how did you tie the foam head on this?


Check your PM !


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## Megalops

Thanks Sidelock!


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## TheFrequentFlier

Megalops said:


> Thanks Sidelock!


I'm confused...did you tie those foam headers or did @sidelock?


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## sidelock

Megalops said:


> Thanks Sidelock!


No worries, glad I can help !


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## Megalops

tgjohnso said:


> I'm confused...did you tie those foam headers or did @sidelock?


Sidelock tied em! I wish I could tie a toad like that. The word that best describes mine is: wonky. Haha.


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## Flats Broke

deerfly said:


> people in the know credit Billy Pate with ruining the tarpon fishing in Homosassa


I can still see Pate out there with the snow fence around the casting deck of his boat to keep his fly line from going over the side. He'd be doing pushups between shots at fish. The man was intense.


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## TidewateR

SomaliPirate said:


> I used to chase those in Savannah area clubs about ten years ago.


 finally, someone giving up a poon spot!


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## Megalops

TidewateR said:


> finally, someone giving up a poon spot!


Lol


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## Backwater




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## SomaliPirate

Poons were gone from Cedar Key as of Saturday. I looked around all my usual places; no dice.


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## Megalops

Saw a couple poons here in DC. Running a tad bit on the skinny side.


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## Backwater

Megalops said:


> View attachment 11542
> Saw a couple poons here in DC. Running a tad bit on the skinny side.


Now that's what I call "slim pickins!" lol


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## eightwt

Megalops said:


> View attachment 11542
> Saw a couple poons here in DC. Running a tad bit on the skinny side.


 Hickory shad in the Potomac are called poor man's tarpon. Fun to catch though..


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