I Don't Know What I AM Doing?!  

Hi there! I have some customers that fish for tarpon in FL using my plugs and they have shared some good info with me about special rigging for hard baits and soft as well. I wish I could add pictures to the comments here but you are speaking my language in this video. First things first grab a pair of 6” Knipex “compact bolt cutters” as they are a mandatory carry-on for surf fishing for striper too (if you ever see a friend get a massive hook in the hand with nothing to cut it off with, you will know why it’s necessary to have a pair on you) though even an 8” Amazonbasics version of the same bolt cutter works if you are just keeping a pair handy at home. For the soft plastic rigging, you can opt for much, much heavier assist cord. The guys I know use 150-500lb assist cord even on SP minnows when night fishing for tarpon. White hollow core, which you need to splice a loop into the cord. Then, using a long, blunt needle, you can thread some braid into the bait from behind and pull the harness into the bait and out the nose. The harness (made from the assist cord) has a hook, several egg sinkers, and a heavy duty swivel at the end which is what will be poking out the nose of the bait. The length of the harness depends on how many egg sinkers you need to add for weight and the hook will be further and further back in the bait depending on the length you use. The best bait to use is always the one that is catching well for you, but if you can use a Zman (HeroZ) that will be the most resistant to tearing during the rigging process. Caveat with those is that they have to be stored away from other soft plastics or they will melt into the other plastic 🫠 Shoot me a message and I can send you some pictures as a guide. I’m a NE striper guy, not a FL tarpon guy, but I know these rigs work based on the pics I’ve seen and I use the same rigs for striper with amazing success 👍🏻

Really like the assist hook train of thought 💭

The assist hook is a great idea man!

keep the drag super loose! just tight enough to set the hook, but then using your hand to control the spool tension. when it jumps you let go and there is no tension on the line at all. my friend has landed giants doing this.

I like your sweat shirt. I live close to the source!! Be glad they spit the hook when you are landing them by yourself! The tug is my drug!

Hey brother, I tried a very similar technique two years ago for giant tarpon and I can testify that it works ! assist hooks are your friends when it comes to giant tarpooon.

What about a line thru style? Check out the 6th sense treble head since you use Elaztech you wouldn’t be able to jam a coffee straw through the bait like you would with a regular plastic bait

The art of fishing!

Won't lie I do the circle hook screw eye weightless for shallow top water striped bass.

Get some Knipex hook cutters. Very useful.

What kind of drawers are those they look really useful

What lure is that?