Puerto Rico Tarpon Fishing

of year-round resident tarpon. Plenty of larger fish also ply the regions bays, lagoon and estuaries throughout the year. The big Tarpon are present, presumably to take advantage of the warmer waters and plentiful forage. Cabo Rojo is a magnificent area to cast a streamer in front of hungry tarpon. I was presented with the options of casting to schools of feeding fish over vast shallow flats, working amongst entangled mangroves to pocket pools & tiny creeks with single fish, and working the magic of the river. There’s enough variety in this game to keep anyone engaged. A massive mangrove shoreline dominates the coastal habitat. Crystalline waters are the norm for the lower reaches as they empty into sweeping flats. On the other hand, rust-stained hues characterize the smaller quarters of the upper river and tiny creek habitats. The estuary habitat is superb; shallow sandy-bottomed grass beds, banks dominated by mangrove roots and green canopy. The entire region sports an average depth of two to Twenty feet overall. The dynamics provide you with a perfect window to sight-fish. The estuary’s open water affords fly fishers with 360 degrees of casting opportunity. Keep your eyes peeled – scan for dorsals & tails, breezing baitfish, or erupting water and instant mayhem. The flats are a casters dream situation. The longer you can cast a line, the better your chances of reaping the harvest. Everyone standing on the bow of the flat boat have the opportunity to cast your fly in front of the silver king. It’s an awesome place to explore. It’s darn productive for feeding fish. This place isn’t for the faint of heart however as you’ll be challenged in all aspects of your angling skills. You earn every fish that comes to hand. I love this game. Once the fly hit its mark a tarpon wouldn’t waste any time with their reaction. Any quality reel in good working order, with a smooth drag system, and capable of holding 350 yards of line will be suitable for fishing in Boqueron Bay properly. A lot has been written about leader systems for tarpon and I am sure that everyone has a favorite set-up. I tend to rig my tarpon fishing rods as big game rods, coming from my big game experience pelagic species. The leader system is very simple and allows the person that has to leader the tarpon some control, as these fish can be downright crazy and even dangerous on some occasions. I like to start with a 3 feet of double line knot to which I attach to my 20 pound on the reel, that section will be on 40 pound test. After that section I like to use a blood knot to attach 3 to 4 feet of 60 pond test fluorocarbon followed by another blood knot and 2 feet of 80 pound fluorocarbon leader. The rough mouth of the tarpon along with the environment where I fish, with mangrove roots, and waterlogged trees with barnacles everywhere, trying to provide for protection from cut-offs is a number one priority. The main thing for the guides fishing in many parts of the world should be conservation; it is an unwritten rule here in Puerto Rico for all guides to preserve the fisheries for our future generations, so we encourage the use of circle hooks exclusively for bait fishing for tarpon. Gone are the days where the tarpon that were released after a fight would show up dead a couple of days later after being gut hooked and fought with a standard “J” hook, after adopting the use of circle hooks exclusively almost 10 years ago, very rarely do we see such a sight. With many types and brands of circle hooks available these days, I like to choose my hooks according to the size of the bait, and most importantly it’s physical characteristics. A delicate Bay Anchovy can not carry a heavy wire circle hook for long, and it kills the bait quickly. Many of the major hook manufacturers are making extremely sharp hooks suitable for tarpon and they come in sizes from 1/0 to 10/0. I happen to like light wire hooks on most occasion, specially fishing in daylight hours, although you have to be careful and try not to “horse” the tarpon in on the leader, as this can straighten or break the hook. During fishing, we tend use heavier tackle (20 pound test!) to control the tarpons initial runs, heavy wire hooks are preferred. In my course of work, I find that hooks from 3/0 to 8/0 will be enough for the majority of the tarpon encountered in Puerto Rico, which usually run from 20 to 150 pounds, with larger fish always a possibility during peak times of the year. We have encountered tarpon over 200 pounds in the Bay and falts, but all have broken off after being fought for a while, there are a lot of obstacles in the area, as I stated before, and like fishermen say, he got big by not being dumb! Fighting the Tarpon are all different, as these are truly individual fish. The fish can be a very wild one with strong runs and repeated jumps and on very rare occasions a very lazy animal. Indeed, it is this unpredictable behavior that has endeared it to the countless anglers that have fallen into the tarpon addiction. There are a few points that are important to remember when fighting these fish, number one rule among all tarpon anglers is “Keep your tip low”, this simply means that when the tarpon’s head breaks the surface to jump, you lower the rod tip to perpendicular with the water’s surface, an action that looks very much as a knight’s chivalry act with a sword. Number two, “never give the tarpon any slack, simply said, never let the line go limp, on many occasions the hook will pop out of the hard mouth of the tarpon upon the line being slack. Number three, fight the fish from the bow of the boat, many anglers make the mistake of staying in the back of the boat, this hinders the anglers ability to react quickly to a surging fish tarpon have an amazing ability to seek places to break you off, and that includes the boat’s engine, trim tabs and hull, the angler in the front of the boat can compensate for the fishes behavior and can protect the fishing line from contact with the boat, on some occasions even having to put the tip of the rod in the water and swing the rod around the bow, after the fish dives quickly under the boat. One of the most important things to remember while fighting a tarpon is that if you want to end the fight quickly, the angler must modify his actions with the rod. Tarpon must be forced to work hard by pulling with the rod in the opposite direction of where the fish wants to swim; this hinders the tarpons ability to properly oxygenate and zaps his strength. You can put the rod in the water while applying pressure in this manner, a technique popularized by the legendary Florida guide Stu Apte, and is called the “Down and Dirty” way of fighting a tarpon. The tarpon will tire more quickly this way and eventually rolls over and gets confused, giving the Captain or mate the opportunity to hold him either the lower jaw for smaller fish and the jaws and gill plate for the larger individuals. This applies to spinning, casting and fly rod fishing and when one properly, this fish fighting technique works wonders on many other species as well. Tarpon fights swing in the fishes favor with every passing minute, so the angler must strive to apply the maximum amount of pressure in the shortest amount of time to be successful. If you want to fight the fish for a long time keep the rod in the normal position, pumping up and down during the fight. Fly Fishing for Puerto Rico winter paradise fishing for tarpon of all sizes continues to be a sport in growing demand for the traveling angler, as more and more people realize it is easier to schedule a fishing trip to Puerto Rico than to a foreign country. Being a commonwealth of the United States, there is no passport and tourist visa required by US citizens to enter and leave Puerto Rico, also the local currency is the US Dollar further simplifying your travels. It is like going to Florida for the winter but with a Caribbean flair! I am the only fly fishing guide service in the west coast of Puerto Rico and we are booked months in advance during the winter tourism season, which coincides with the best tarpon fishing, with many opportunities for fly fishermen to experience tarpon on a fly. An experienced angler should hire a guide to see where the fishing action is taking place, what is the technique employed and the choice of flies and equipment, once that is information has been passed on by the guide, the more adventuresome angler can then fish with confidence for the same species the guide fished with the customer. Unfortunately, the truly great fishing is available only from these knowledgeable guides, who monitor the moving schools of tarpon, and in reality these fish are accessible only by boat. Tarpon are indeed the favorite target for fly fishermen, with fish of every size available at all times of the year, from juveniles in the mangrove lined channels that run from 5 to 15 pounds to 150 pound or more giants that can be found anywhere in this water . Fly fishermen can expect some chances to hook one of these fish, with success measured in the fish you “jump” rather than catch, mainly due to the hard mouth of the tarpon, which makes hooking and landing one of these fish very frustrating at times. As a guide, I have noticed that the main reason for tarpon to throw the fly is because most anglers will lift the rod on a strike, like in the act of hooking a trout, tarpon have a very hard mouth and must be struck very hard, I like to recommend the fishermen to practice fishing with the rod slightly lower than perpendicular to water’s surface, and practicing strip striking with the stripping hand, then lifting the rod and fighting the fish. Releasing a tarpon of any size on a fly rod is an awesome feeling, knowing that you have conquered one of the truly game fish species in the world. Fly fishing in saltwater is really a lot of work, casting heavy rods for hours waiting for the right time, it is worth the wait! The visiting fly fisherman that travels to Boqueron Bay in search of tarpon and snook will have to be equipped with at least 3 rods, an 8 wt, a

9 wt and a 11 wt; these will enable the angler to address most of the fishing conditions that arise. Reels need to be preferably of the large arbor type capable of holding the fly line plus 350 yards of backing and equipped with a smooth drag system that will handle the fast, strong runs of a tarpon. Lines can be of the floating, or intermediate sinking type, with a shooting head line a nice addition to the arsenal, just in case the wind decides to get a little nasty. Most charters will provide all fly fishing equipment, as well as Us and locally tied flies. Shore fishing can be done from most the shore targeting several of the reef species found in the area usual catches are snappers of various species, barracudas, ladyfish and a variety of jacks. A spinning reel and matching rod capable of holding 250 yards of 8 pound monofilament is the best choice of tackle as most of the beaches will be wind swept during the day, making fly casting difficult in the open. Jigs, plugs and shiny spoons seem to gather the most attention among the reef predators as they resemble the small baitfish that congregate on the reefs. As in other Caribbean islands you have to be careful as you wade and fish the beaches, always gently shuffle your feet as you walk, that way you disturb the stingrays making them swim away without a tail swipe and possible injury with their poisonous spine. The fly fisherman needs to be able to cast in different scenarios, short 20 foot roll casts in the mangrove channels and 60 to 70 feet long casts for open water fishing. It is important to practice the double haul at a park, football or soccer field. I am going to emphasize, Please practice your double haul ahead of time, I can not tell you how hard it is to learn this on the water, with tarpon rolling everywhere. And in the event of a spectacular tarpon feeding frenzy, you will hear your heart pounding through your chest. The waters in Boqueron Bay is cristal clear, and let me tell you folks, tarpon have the keenest eyes, make no mistake about it, when they want your bait or fly they will eat it! Because of the cristal clear water , distance is more desirable an accuracy; the longer the fly is in the water (Strike Zone!), the better the chance for a strike. Many different types of flies work in Puerto Rico, most of the tarpon and snook are taken on the following: Tarpon Toad Purple/Black, Woolly Mullet, gray Grey/Silver/Black, a tarpon bunnys Back/Brown/Purple, Clouser Minnow,Olive/White/Black,Black paradise, and the innovative Gummi Minnow. Always have some Guglers in 2/0 on hand just in case a Tarpon and Snook feeding frenzy forms while you are in the water, an unforgettable sight for those fortunate to see the hundreds of fish working under the screaming seagulls and pelicans. For those that want to wade the reefs and beaches, some deceivers in white, olive, yellow and silver are always a good choice. Leaders need to be 6 to 9 feet long, with a butt section of 50 pound fluorocarbon tapering to 30 pound, then followed by your tippet section in 16 to 20 pound and finished with 2 feet of 40 pound fluorocarbon and a bite tippet of 50 to 100 pound test fluorocarbon, depending on the size of fish