Tarpon Flies

The short answer: tarpon flies fall into three buckets — toads for laid-up fish, bunny streamers for backcountry and darker water, and baitfish profiles (deceivers, mullet) for beach and pass fish. Hooks matter more than color. Size the fly to the fish and the water — not to the box.

Tarpon flies by situation

Laid-up fish (Florida Keys, Everglades backcountry)

Toads and small bunnies in size 2/0 to 3/0. Cast to the head, let it drop, and don't strip until the fish reacts. Our Poon Candy and Bisharat's Strip Tease are laid-up standards.

Migrating fish (spring beach and passes)

Baitfish profiles in size 2/0 to 3/0. Deceivers, black death, and mullet-imitating streamers. Strip aggressively — migrating fish are actively feeding.

Backcountry rolling fish

Bunny leeches and small streamers in size 1/0 to 2/0. Dark colors (black, purple, olive) in stained water. Small profile in gin-clear.

Baby tarpon (Everglades, Costa Rica jungle, Belize)

Downsize everything to size 1 to 1/0. Small streamers, poppers, and shrimp. Baby tarpon eat like snook.

Big migrating tarpon (100+ lb)

Full-size 3/0 and 4/0 patterns on the strongest hooks you can buy. This is where hook quality is the difference between landing and losing.

Hooks: the actual thing that matters

Tarpon are hard-mouthed and famous for throwing hooks on the jump. Every FINATICS tarpon fly is tied on chemically-sharpened saltwater hooks (Gamakatsu SL12S, Ahrex, or equivalent). Do not fish tarpon on freshwater hooks or generic saltwater hooks — you will lose fish. This is the one place we won't compromise.

Color

Gin-clear water: tan, chartreuse-and-white, pearl. Stained water: black-purple, black-red, all-black. Overcast: darker is almost always better. If in doubt for a first cast, throw black-purple.

Where our tarpon flies come from

Our tarpon-tied FINATICS patterns are designed on Louisiana coastal water where tarpon show up May through September. Partner-tyer patterns (FlySmith Flies, MAC Flies, Rainy's) are patterns we've personally fished. If it's on this page, it's been through a real tarpon jump — or has been tied by a tyer we trust with our own trip.

Starter tarpon box

• 2 black-purple bunny streamers, size 2/0
• 2 tan or olive toads, size 3/0
• 2 baitfish deceivers (white and chartreuse), size 2/0
• 2 mullet-profile streamers, size 3/0
• 1 topwater popper, size 2/0 — dawn and dusk

Nine flies. Enough to fish a 3-day Keys trip or a summer of Louisiana pass work.