Tying Shawn’s Tiny Tarpon Terror
WaterLine photos by Shawn Zelek
Step 1: Double over the lead wire and tie it to the underside of the hook shank. This amount of lead will force the fly to descend a bit but still keep it suspended.
Step 2: Tie in your matched saddle hackles (two on each side) so they make a nice knife edge when viewed from above.
Step 3: Tie in one piece of Flashabou on either side of the fly, with the Flashabou terminating at the same point as the hackles.
Step 4: Tie in the white buck tail so that it surrounds the entire fly with the fibers covering one half to three-fourths of the hackle tail.
Step 5: Tie in two pieces of white hackle and palmer (wrap the hackle forward with even spacing) them forward one at a time so you produce a thick collar that will push or disturb a good amount of water. Whip finish and cut the white thread.
Step 6: Attach the red thread and make enough wraps to make a nice tapered head with a definitive line between the red and white areas of the fly. This red head seems to help quite a bit, so dont skip it. Whip finish and go fishing.
By Shawn Zelek
This is a little fly I came up with recently after noticing a large number of baby and juvenile tarpon in the deep water canals and holes in our area backwaters. After many attempts to hook these fish, I took some time and simply observed what they were feeding on and at what depth. The fish were rolling and seemed to be feeding on or near the surface, but I was wrong. It wasn’t until I went back with this fly and many weight variations that I found the proper weight and depth to get more consistent strikes. The following fly worked the best.
I developed this fly specifically to target baby and juvenile tarpon, but it has proven effective on the flats for snook and trout as well as snook under the lights. Have fun, and remember to get a DNA sample if you get a tarpon: Any tarpon, any size, anywhere. The free DNA kits are available at most tackle shops. This is an important process for understanding the state and health of our tarpon fishery, so do your part.
