Tackle setup · Intermediate

Heavy spinning outfit for bridge tarpon

Tarpon at Channel Two, Channel Five and Long Key, drifting live crabs and mullet in the current.

Charter a boatBring your own boatShore, bridge, kayak & wade

The outfit

Rod
7 ft heavy spinning rod
Reel
8000–10000 spinning reel
Line
50–65 lb braid
Leader
4–6 ft of 60–80 lb fluorocarbon
Hooks
6/0–8/0 in-line (non-offset) circle hooks
Weights
A small float to keep a crab near the surface; 1–3 oz egg sinker for a bottom-fished mullet
  • A 30–50 lb conventional outfit does the same job and is easier on the arms from a pier.
  • Tarpon over 40 inches must stay in the water: fight them from the lowest point you can reach safely.

Bait to pair it with

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