Best Fishing Lures For BIG Tarpon

Want to catch big tarpon on artificial lures?

Then this video is for you because it shows some fun Tampa Bay tarpon jumping action along with a chat about the best fishing lures for catching big tarpon.

And it all was filmed on Tampa Bay recently due to a tip from a Salt Strong Community member.

The lures shown in this video are:

1. DOA Baitbuster

2. Livetarget Mullet

3. Spooltek 6"

These lures can all catch tarpon of any size. And I particularly like them for targeting big tarpon in Tampa Bay because they allow me to cover a lot of water given how far they cast and how easy they are to retrieve... just cast them out, and then reel them in.

Click the link below to learn more about the Salt Strong Fishing Community:

And click here to see more tips for catching tarpon on our website:

Any other awesome tarpon lures that you love? Let us know in the comments.

[lukesetam]

Can’t beat a bait buster. By far the best tarpon lure ever created

[miamiwax]

Head rigged soft plastics with circle hooks are by far the best tarpon lures. Not only do they catch fish, tarpon cant shake off a circle hook when they jump and they are very easy to release especially if u use a barbless circle hook. Also properly snelling your circle hook means near certain hookup once it's in a fish's mouth. Anything from a mag fluke to zman heroz to hogys. U can rig these (on circle hooks) from top water to bumping bottom. You're welcome.

[louisara]

Those are all promising lures. However my favorite has been the big black/purple rattletraps (forgot the specific name and weight). They're heavy and help get a long cast from our S.Tx jetties, but the heavy weight does give them leverage to spit out the hook.
I noticed you keeping your rod tip down when getting hits. What's worked for me is to keep my rod tip up. That way if I do get a hit, I've give my lure an extra second to get inside its mouth, get a deeper hook set, and stay away from the lips.

[michaelhaynes]

Pa Pow!  Nice Vid.  Insider Club all the way.  Thanks for the tips and lessons...definitely up'd my fishing game here in Texas.  I miss Pinellas County fishing.

[silverarow]

I prefer to use as light as a lure as possible when I target tarpon. I find that heavy lures give them more of a chance to throw the hook. I like to use weightless flukes for tarpon. Just make sure to use a strong and sharp hook. I like to use the owner cutting point octopus hook and nose hook a fluke.

[danielmatamoros]

Hogy protails are high Quality baits and good for big tarpon

[Skunk_Monk_Alex]

Hey Luke all those lures you shown I have use and put to the test on tarpon in the 10000 islands with insider John Freeman and I have realized something about the spooltek swimbait is that the wire actually will snap off the lure when a tarpon jumps I have bow to them and keep my rod pretty low so they don’t jump and landed a few but they usually snap the wire out so in my opinion spooltek has a excellent presentation for tarpon but not durable enough for tarpon

[GetOutTheHouseGoFish]

I'm hoping this is my year to hook in to a Tarpon.

[joeyjoe]

That's awesome dude I got every single one of those lures and I hope it's a big tarpon on a mirrordine I'm not sure if I spelled that right LOL

[josiahknapp]

nomad design madscad works really well too

[mv]

Nice footage Luke! what # line and leader?

[manrod]

Hi. Nice video. What power and action do you recommend for tarpons. They spit everything I throw. And, they tend to do an attempt of bite but, it seems like they repent at the last second so there is no pressure on the rod. What could be the reasson? Anyway, it was a nice video.

[PlayCJ]

old school Bomber Long A, Red and White color

[jelly_fishing]

Any PROs or Cons for any the baits used? Do what do you attribute the reel breaking? I had never seen that before

[wolverine]

Just had a 5 1/2' one on a live shrimp. Fought him for about 5 minutes with a couple of jumps. On his third taildance he spit the shrimp. Was never hooked just didn't want to let go. Piched the same shrimp next cast and caught a nice Black Drum. Still thinking about the poon.

[theLandJackal]

Those LiveTarget swimbaits are deadly. Nice to know that you can get 'em on the finger mullets. As far as your reel....what a POS !!! That would really piss me off. I only fish Penn. Finally, I was fishing a DOA shrimp on a popping cork with my son a couple of months ago on the grass flats just North of Cockroach bay. We weren't targeting anything particular as I just wanted to get him on some fish. I was using a spinning reel with 12 lb mono (I know....stupid....didn't care at the time). At any rate, my cork started ripping across the surface. I set the hook, ~20 yards of drag peeled out, and the biggest tarpon I've ever seen in my life leaped about 3' out of the water. He shook his head was gone.

[fishingshallowminded]

THE DOA BAIT IS HOLLOW YOU CAN FIT A RATTLE IN THE BACK BEHIND THE HOOK

[brianbickhaus]

Hey Luke, when was this tarpon fishing episode in Tampa Bay filmed? Brian Bickhaus

[MrPedroPhd]

Very good! I am a sports fisherman as well. Congratulations for the Tarppon fight, it must be large to have broken your gear. Last time I was fishing on the bay, some baby Tarpoon broken my gear as well. Do you think I can use the same type of lures for baby Tarpoons, what do you recomend? Thanks in advance!

[carlosllama]

How do I join the salt strong community???