What would you buy?

I am thinking Loop, but I have a pro-deal with March Hare.

TFO aren't bad either - finding the best bang for your buck is the best part of buying a new saltwater outfit!

9weight Sage rod. Tibor Reel.

I've a Pate Tarpon on a G-Loomis rod that I'm currently learning on. Found it in my in laws garage in a fly rod case, was my wife's uncle's before he passed. I know not a damned thing about them, but apparently it's a decent set up.

If you go to Ebay, you can generally find a slightly used or demo new Sage or G.Loomis rod with a Riptide Tibor reel for a huge discount. Folks try it and give it up pretty quick. Bonus for those of us who love fly fishing.

If you are trying a single weight for all three species, you need to stick with a 10 weight. Otherwise a two outfit solution would be an 8 and a 12 weight.

Where will you be fishing?

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
Where will you be fishing?

South Florida maybe GTMO if my SIL gets a job down there.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana1:
9weight Sage rod. Tibor Reel.

if you are using a 9 wt outfit for tarpon, you are fishing for small tarpon. i use a 12 wt Abel rig in Costa Rica and it still takes at least 1/2 to 2 hours to land the bigger fish on 20 lb tippet( fish over 125 lbs are quite common)

If you will be around Marathon or Key Largo you will certainty encounter some potentially large Tarpon. As jdollar said you can find some sizable Tarpon in the May to July time frame. The 60 to 90 pound class is typical the rest of the year, only they are not podded up as they are in May/June time.

If you are a one rod show over multiple species then a 10 weight is still the way to go if you are interested in the bigger stuff.

I fished Marathon for 20 years and then moved to Panama and Belize and never looked back. Belize is fly fly fishing heaven and Bone/Permit/Tarpon in a day is fairly easy. Not sure what Gitmo has to offer but would be interesting to try.

Good luck and check out the deals on ebay. End of season is the time to gobble up great deals on slightly used equipment.

Sounds good, I'll get a 9 and a 12.

I hate to get in a situation where I am breaking tackle to keep a fish.

Nothing against used, I'll check ebay and see how it goes.

quote:

Originally posted by FFemt5287:
I've a Pate Tarpon on a G-Loomis rod that I'm currently learning on. Found it in my in laws garage in a fly rod case, was my wife's uncle's before he passed. I know not a damned thing about them, but apparently it's a decent set up.

FFemt.....that Pate Tarpon reel is the Cat's meow! If you decide you don't like/want I will make you an offer on it anytime.