Whatever the specie, there are natural occurrences that make the fish go crazy and eat a natural bug, worm or fish that is easily mimicked with a fly but difficult to fish with any other tackle. For tarpon anglers, there are 3 events, which enable us to take advantage of the tarpon and hook great numbers of fish on fly. We refer to these events as "hatches" although they may not be hatches in the true sense of the word.

The Shrimp Hatch
Tarpon love shrimp and can not resist a live one. In the evening and morning light, when the conditions are slick calm and the tide is at the end of a very low outgoing tide, all the shrimp on the flats are flushed into the surrounding deep water and forced to swim with the tarpon and other fish. Needless to say, tarpon take full advantage of this opportunity and eat with reckless abandon. Tarpon will "bust" the shrimp on the surface of the water with a pop loud enough to hear from 100 yards away. Although often wary and elusive, tarpon are easily taken on fly during these "hatches" with shrimp-like flies and standard tarpon flies in natural colors. Because they are looking to the surface to feed, a surface fly can also fool the fish. My flies of choice include the Diggler, and Rowland's Frog lips.

The Worm Hatch
The Atlantic Palolo worm actually does hatch out of the coral rock and swim en mass along the surface to propagate. Tarpon feast these small worms with great busts and tiny sips. I believe that the Palolo worm has a narcotic effect on the tarpon and causes them to act drunk. At no other time can you catch a tarpon of 100 plus pounds on fly, twenty feet from the boat with the engine running. During a worm hatch tarpon are keyed in to the worms and will only eat flies that closely resemble the natural. For the worm hatch, I tie a variation of Fitz Coker's Worm Fly; an all rabbit fly in colors to match the natural.

The Guppy Hatch
Early morning calm conditions can also yield my favorite tarpon event, "The Guppy Hatch". When the tide is at a lower stage but flowing strong, various small fish are forced off the flat and onto the deeper edges. These fish will raft together on the surface and also swim by themselves. The tarpon will hunt these edges for the easy meals. Slipping up under the small schools of baitfish on the surface, the tarpon will attempt to get as may as possible. When I target a "guppy hatch", I always use a surface fly. In years past, I used a deer-hair bug that was about 4 inches long including the hackles but had continuous problems with it sinking. Recently, I have gone to using an alteration to Steve Huff"s Hot Lips fly and to Jack Gartside's Gurgler. We call the fly "Tom's Frog". It includes some different materials to make the fly appear more like a shrimp and to anchor the light weight fly to the water so that the bow wake of the tarpon coming to eat it will not push the fly out of the fish"s mouth. The fly is easy to tie and the strike is unforgettable.

Catching a big tarpon on the surface fly could possibly be the most amazing thing that you ever do in fishing. Usually, the light is low and the fish is invisible under the water. You cast to a roll or a fin exposed above the water. As you slowly wake the fly along, you have the feeling that the fish saw it, but you are still unsure. Suddenly, the tarpon explodes under the fly and ½ of the fish is out of the water. A loud pop still rings in your ears as the tarpon streaks off a few hundred feet. For me, catching one fish on the Frog is better than fifteen on standard flies.

The three events that I have briefly described are natural occurrences that tarpon find irresistible. It is a lucky angler who experiences any one of these. Many fish can be hooked and landed. If you are to ever attend one of the big 3, make sure that you have these flies and relish the moment because there are countless anglers who will never see what you are seeing.