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Casting 12 weight - Tarpon fishing technique

sushiyummy
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Casting 12 weight - Tarpon fishing technique

Post by sushiyummy »

Any of you had come across this?

I spoke with my guide* and he told me I will be using a 12 wght to cast flies to migrating tarpon. He said that one is not really casting the rod, but rather loading it with double haul, with as little false cast as possible.

I don't have a 12 wght so I can't relate to this.

Would this mean casting will tire me out early, so instead I would be double hauling as a means to load the rod as to avoid casting wear?

Appreciate any help on this.

Also, any tips on what techniques I can practice? He said something about holding the fly and a loop with the non casting hand, swing it out and one shooting BC and out for 60 feet.

*My trip is in Mid May, out of Tampa, FL for migrating Tarpons.
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Post by Will »

sushiyummy wrote:He said something about holding the fly and a loop with the non casting hand, swing it out and one shooting BC and out for 60 feet.
Here's a nice video from Marc's blog the other day.

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petevicar
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Post by petevicar »

Nice video.
Sushiyummy - I assume that you have not done this before.

When you are fishing for migrating tarpon it is usually to stake the boat up on the migration route and wait for the tarpon to come by. You will be sight fishing and will have to react very quickly when you see the fish. You only really get one shot at each fish.
Casting will not tire you out as you will not be blind casting but a lot of false casting can spook the fish.


You will see the fish coming towards you and must react quickly, it's like gun fighting in the wild west.
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James9118
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Post by James9118 »

When I'm using a #12 for an extended period (not just a casting session), I automatically find myself doing more work with the hauling hand rather than the rod hand. Probably due to the increased weight of the rod/reel/line combo. I also feed a lot of line into the b/c to minimise false casting. Maybe another tip is to not to try for too tight a loop (depending on the wind) - I rip the delivery loop open a bit, you generally only get one shot and you don't want to fuck it up.
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Aitor
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Post by Aitor »

sushiyummy wrote:He said that one is not really casting the rod, but rather loading it with double haul...
Better don't tell Victor about that. :D
He said something about holding the fly and a loop with the non casting hand, swing it out and one shooting BC and out for 60 feet.

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Post by robk »

You will see the fish coming towards you and must react quickly, it's like gun fighting in the wild west.


This is a very important point. These large fish don't look like they are moving all that fast. You see the dark shapes a way off and figure you have plenty of time. Not so. The fish are moving much faster than you think.

Once you have the cast figured out ( it's not all that hard) you need to control the default panic setting your brain locks into when it sees just how big the fish really are. On my first tarpon, I managed to overcome most of the limbic overload by thinking I was just watching an episode of Nature on HDTV. Not sure if the trick will work for anyone else, but it's worth trying if you get a serious case of tarpon willies. :)
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Paul Arden
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Post by Paul Arden »

He said that one is not really casting the rod, but rather loading it with double haul, with as little false cast as possible.

This is not technically right, but it doesn't matter! You have to learn the quick cast. I would recommend spending some time practising with a 12 weight and a fly (cut the hook off), going from fly in hand, line on the deck, casting to targets at a range of distances. If you don't have a 12 weight, practise with any line weight!

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James9118
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Post by James9118 »

Paul Arden wrote:and a fly (cut the hook off)
This is a really good point. There's a helluva difference between casting a bit of wool and half a dead, wet chicken tied on a sturdy 6/0 :D .
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Zoran
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Post by Zoran »

My experience with casting #12 weight Sage xi II , says that my rod hand has to be relaxed as much as possible .
Rather than using double haul only (which sounds strange to me ) try to use rod latent energy and learn how to load / unload it with less power than you ever might think off .

Practice in the backyard is essential , you must get familiar with it before real fishing (as Paul mentioned it very well )
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Bernd
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Post by Bernd »

Depending on the exact design of each skiff I also may prefer to hold the fly in my rod hand while spotting the fish (or trying to :cool: ).
Some line in front of my rod tip will just hang outside the skiff (not too much or you get stucked in the pole) and the line will be in my line hand while the fly is in my rod hand. That way I can directly start with hauling on the first stroke (compared to Capt. Chris Myers's fine technique). Starting the fly of the rod hand keeps the first loop in a better plane compared to holding it in the line hand mostly. Also it will help to easily keep the line in front of the tip (waiting to be casted) outside the skiff.
If there are "clamps" on the skiff it can make an important differency to hold the fly in the rod hand in order not to get tangled in the clamp.
All in all both techniques (holding fly in rod hand or line hand) work fine for me.

I do not like to first lock the line in the rod hand and then switch over to the line hand while focusing on the Tarpon! That easily can end up with loosing the line and if the skiff moves forward in the same time and the line touches water... the cast will be gone as well as the fish :D .

However I have no doubt Capt. Myers has lots of training on his technique and can well handle that switch.
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sushiyummy
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Post by sushiyummy »

Thanks Gents for the pointers. If there is anybody living in near Detroit that has a 12 weight I could borrow, pls PM me.

The guide said that one must cast without taking your eye off the tarpon. Thus, any switching you do will be done in the blind. So any moves that puts the hauling hand onto the hauling line without the need to take one's eye off the fish sounds good to me.

Also he said that one is casting ahead of the tarpon, so there is no need to open up the loops for a gentle landing. As for gentle landings, I have seen tarpon casters open up their loops for this. Wouldn't it better if the loop was underside like Paul's video than to open the loop?

Also, I have seen bowing to a leaping tarpon. I understand this is to avoid break offs. But wouldn't this also depend how much line is sunk? The more line, the more sunk, the more one needs to bow?
sushiyummy
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Post by sushiyummy »

Also wanted to add that I usually cast with my right, retrieve Left hand style. The guide said a right hand style retrieve is needed as the dominant hand is needed to reel these behemoths in. What do you Gents think of this?

So, in the spirit of this, I decide to increase the Circumference/ revolution with this new home made reel. Note the 4" lampson reel on the floor as a comparison. A little bit bulky but I am sure the multiplying effect is there for Left Hand retrieve.
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James9118
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Post by James9118 »

sushiyummy wrote:Also wanted to add that I usually cast with my right, retrieve Left hand style. The guide said a right hand style retrieve is needed as the dominant hand is needed to reel these behemoths in. What do you Gents think of this?
I personally think it's bollocks. Your dominant hand for winding is the one you practice winding most with! :glare:
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Paul Arden
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Post by Paul Arden »

I'm starting to get a little worried about your guide! :blush:
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shielfisher
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Post by shielfisher »

James9118 wrote:I personally think it's bollocks.

Yup, I'd go with that.... though I have never fished for Tarpon.
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