The Tarpon is my White Whale...a Kraken, if you will. I've had the brief pleasure of jumping 5 in the year I've spent in FL, always by accident. They always seem to take my smallest bait on my smallest rod.

1. The first time I surf fished with live bait on my BIG rod, I quickly lost a giant Poon because I didn't know what a drag system was (I thought it was a screw that kept my reel intact).

2. My first time out in my new yak, I was blindly jigging a DOA shrimp on 10# mono, and a 100#+ Poon took me for my first (sideways) sleigh ride. My Slammer 360 got so hot I burnt my hand.

3. Throwing a Top Dog off the surf one morning in August, a prehistoric monster gulped it off the surface, jumped, and snapped my loop knot off.

4. On a guided Tarpon trip, I had a small Poon to the boat when he surged underneath to the other side and jumped.....snapola

5. Jigging a paddletail on my Trout rod a juvenile Silver "Prince" took the bait and put on a frantic jumping display....my 20# leader was no match.

Now it's personal. I saw those big boys rolling of the beach yesterday for the first time in 6 months.... I'm arming myself with the big rods/reels/line and leader and catching and LANDING a 'poon. This is my mission. I have 3 weeks.

Go get 'em, Ahab.

Bow to the king. Love the Icon.

Had the same issue for a long time. Light line and little lures when I encounter one. Hooked a number of them and lost them all. I've never actually targeted them so that may be my problem. They always showed up when I was after other fish.

http://www.jeffstacklebox.com

How goes the hunt, Vinny?

Didn't happen on Saturday...I trolled a Giant tsunami shad all over town hoping to get lucky....no such luck.

they are a strange fish for sure. it seems they are harder to get when actually targeting them.

i got one in the bahamas (only one i have ever seen there) one night while soaking a partial tuna carcass for sharks while anchored up and enjoying the other part of that tuna. the drag started screaming and we thought we had a big shark, when all of a sudden we hear splashes from the fish jumping! I said damn i think the shark just jumped, we got the spot light out and all of a sudden the light reflected off the side of a tarpon well over a 100 pounds. what a nice suprise when looking for bull sharks and black tips. We were anchored just off the beach from blue marlin cove (around the corner from west end)

have not seen another tarpon in bahamian waters since!

bridal up a live large mullet should do the trick for you, good luck

A swing and a miss is better than sitting in the grandstands!