Feeding a tarpon on fly means presenting and animating your fly so the fish reacts and eats before it has time to think. For this How 2 Tuesday I brought in Captain David Mangum, one of the best tarpon guides I have ever fished with, to walk through it. He covers where to position the boat, how far to lead the fish, why a shorter cast beats a long one, and the small, accelerating strips that make a tarpon commit. The goal is the reaction bite, and David explains exactly how to set it up.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
You feed a tarpon by positioning the boat so a right-handed angler gets a clean shot, casting on the far side of the fish, and animating the fly with small strips that start as a soft pulse and get faster and shorter as the fish closes in. David Mangum's whole approach is built around getting the fish to react instead of think, so the fly is right in its path and it eats quickly. Short casts let you watch the fly and the fish together and coach the strip in real time.
Because if you throw on the boat side and the fish deviates that way, you are out of the game instantly. David and I both believe in casting beyond the fish, on the far side of its line of travel. If the fish moves toward the boat you can strip in toward the boat and stay tight, and if it moves the other way you are still in play. You also want the fish to see the fly out of both eyes, which usually makes it turn and follow.
It depends on the water. In the dirtier water David fishes he will lead a fish only about ten feet, which makes some Keys anglers gasp, but the off-color water lets him get away with it. On a quartering fish he will even fence the fly across the path so the fish has to come to it. In clean water you lead more. The key is putting the fly where the fish runs into it without spooking it.
The first strip on a fly sitting in the fish's path should be a soft pulse, not a sharp bang, so you do not scare it. As the fish gets closer you speed up the strips but make them shorter. David compares it to doodling or the two-handed strip that keeps the fly swimming continuously. The point is to add animation and shorten the time between the fish seeing the fly and eating it.
Because from the moment you release a long cast, any small deviation by the fish leaves your fly off track by the time the line lands and comes tight. David would rather have an angler feed the fish at a shorter distance where the fly lays down cleanly and, if needed, one big strip and a lift puts it right back in the path. Shorter also lets him watch the fly-and-fish relationship and tell the angler exactly what to do.
David Mangum is a professional tarpon fishing guide and one of the most respected sight-fishing captains I have fished with. He is known for very specific, detailed instruction on feeding tarpon on fly, and in this How 2 Tuesday he shares the boat-position, lead, and strip fundamentals he uses with his own anglers every day on the water.
David starts every feed with boat position, getting a right-handed angler a clean 11 o'clock shot so nobody is casting through the boat. He keeps the presentation short and controllable on purpose, because a shorter cast lets him watch the fly and the fish together and feed the angler the exact words in the moment. I get into why that beats a long bomb in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The thing that hit me hardest is something I do not hear many people say. When a fish comes at you, never throw on the boat side, because if the fish moves that way you are done. I want the fly on the far side so I can strip toward the boat or stay in the game if it deviates the other way. David explains the both-eyes principle behind it in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The magic is in the strips. The first one is a soft pulse so you do not scare the fish, then they get faster and shorter as the fish closes. David wants the shortest possible window between the tarpon seeing the fly and eating it, because the longer it follows, the more it thinks. He walks through exactly how to build that reaction bite in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Feeding a tarpon is equal parts setup and feel. Get the boat right, lead the fish into the fly, and let your strips tell the story. Do that and you give yourself the reaction bite every time.
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
David Mangum · tarpon on fly · Florida Keys · fly fishing · reaction bite · fly line management · Michael Pollock · barracuda · redfish · sight fishing · How 2 Tuesday · Saltwater Experience
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill or lesson at a time, from fishing technique and gear to the habits that make you a better angler, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
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