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My son, while he is waiting for school to start, has spent the last two weeks down at the house in Carrabelle. He has been tarpon fishing pretty much everyday. I'm working everyday and he's down on the beach fishing. What's wrong with this picture Anyway he has jumped six so far with either the leader breaking or the hook pulling. He is using, 7' Star spin rod, 6500 Shimano Baitrunner, 20lb Ande line, 4'-5' 80lb flourcarbon leader and a 7/0 circle hook. All have taken live or dead pinfish. He usually gets 2-3 jumps before losing them although he did play one for over an hour before the hook pulled less than ten feet from the boat. Is there somthing basicly wrong with his set up or is this just tarpon fishing? I have wondered about the circle hook. Maybe the gap is not big enough. Any advise would be appreciated

First, what brand Circle hook. The size of the circle hooks vary greatly between brands. My favorite is the Mustad 39960D in a 14/0. That does not mean you need a 14/0 in other brands. That same hook in an 8/0 makes a good Whiting hook!!

With the broken leaders, it sounds to me like your son is not "Bowing to the King"

My tarpon fishing experience is very limited but I was fishing with a pro if that helps. Anyway, we used J hooks, not circle hooks. And if he told us once, he told us 1000 times, set the hook hard. Four or five hard sets when the fish hits. Others can say whether circles are better than J hooks for tarpon but that's what we were using. On the break-offs, if the fish is out of the school when the break-off happens, my only thought is to loosen the drag. The times we had line break was either when the fish was still in the school and other fish cut the line or when too much pressure was put on the fish during the fight. Hope this is helpful.

Thanks for the input. The circles are Gamakatsu and I have about decided to tell him to go back to j hooks. I will also pass on the "bow to the King' advice. Maybe number seven will be the charm. Of cource once he gets one landed then we have to talk about the replica mount

I would stick with the Circle Hooks, just go up another size or two. There may be a guide or two that recommends J hooks, but for everyont of those, there are 20 or more that have gone to Circle hooks for Tarpon. The mouth of a Tarpon is harder than a Concrete block and if you are using a J hook, you must penetrate that mouth. If you have a Circle that is large enough, it will slip around the lip and lodge in the corner of the mouth.



As an Example of hooks, on the bottom row is the Mustad 39960D I was refering to. From left to right is an 8/0, 11/0, 3/0 Aberdeen(for size reference), 12/0 and a 14/0. The 14/0 is a very good Tarpon hook.

Please note, the hooks on the top row are from a size 1 to 3/0 from a different manufacturer. See what I mean by sizes varying.

Thanks George, I'll head over to Bass Pro this afternoon and get some of those 14/0. I can take them down to him this weekend. Do you think he should move up in tackle also. Maybe to a Penn 750SS/ 7' Slammer rod with 30lb Ande?

That Baitrunner 6500 should handle the job, but if I was going to change something I would go to a little longer leader (6-8 feet) of maybe 100lb.

"Bowing to the King" is done for two reasons. When a Tarpon comes out of the water, the wild gyrations will wear the hook hole until it is large enough for the hook to come out. Second is when the fish comes down on the leader, the impact of the thrashing fish pops the line/leader. Both problems are solved when your "Bow to the King" (throw slack in the line).