Tarpon at Night–Dead Drift
My friend Chuck Furimsky, founder and owner of The Fly Fishing Show, was recently fishing for tarpon in the Florida Keys with our mutual friend, Capt. Jake Jordan. They were up at 3 am to catch the outgoing tide, and were sliding the boat into the Gulf side of the bridge in less than an hour. Casting a floating deer-hair crab on a short line, they drifted the boat in the currents under the bridge and out on the Atlantic side. Chuck was instructed to hold the rod tip low and pointing straight down the line. Tarpon waiting to ambush drifting crabs and other food items would pick up the fly as softly as a trout sucking down a small nymph. When the hook went in, the fish went nuts, jumping and tearing around in the dark like a deranged water buffalo. The terror came from the potential interest that an unseen, monster hammer head might find in the fighting fish and attached boat.
All in all, Chuck landed three fish of 70, 100, and 120 pounds, fishing in the dark on his first day. Anyone wanting to try this most exciting fly fishing should have a look at Jake’s web site. Contact him for potential available dates.
Chuck obediently dead drifting his crab fly per Jake's instructions. Photo by Jake Jordan.
This is what short-line dead drifting at night for tarpon is all about. Photo by Jake Jordan.