Woodland Jetty Fishing Hotspots: Tarpon or Hai Leng 大眼海鲢 Caught at Woodland Jetty 2013

Indo-Pacific Tarpon [Megalops cyprinoides] also known as Hai Leng 大眼海鲢[chinese] or Ikan Bulan [malay] can be caught using Sabiki Jig or Tamban Jig. Today a good day for Tarpon fishing total 7 hits 3 from Me, 3 from Joanne and 1 from Ah Tan only one landed by Joanne using Sabiki Jig 0.2mm line and size 5 hook. They can be often seen schooling in a group, rising to take air with dorsal fin and tail breaking the surface as they dive down. Then they leave a bubble trail, expelling the air taken in. Tarpon often school in this manner in the current of the deep or next to the snags of the estuary river, especially when the current is flowing. When this behaviour is observed, they are normally in a feeding mood. Young tarpons will not miss some chances of feeding on small fish as well as shrimp, crab and other small crustaceans. They often throw the hook from their bony mouths and very strong, sharp hook should be used. Once hooked, the fish at times will go berserk with some acrobatics into the air but will kick some drags but they fight just above all cleanly.

Tarpon Fishing Tips
Once you have hooked a Tarpon, it will almost always immediately leap into the air and start thrashing around. As soon as it gets in the air you have to immediately drop the rod tip to make the line slack. This is one of the few situations in fishing where you want slack line while fighting a fish. If you keep the line tight, it makes it much easier for the Tarpon to snap the line with its violent head shakes. Even when you know it can be hard to do because the leaps can be so sudden, especially the first one. Raise the rod and reel the line tight as soon as the fish re-enters the water. Once it has stopped jumping you should put as much pressure as you can and change angles frequently. This disorients the fish and helps you get it in sooner. If you just apply constant pressure from one direction it will figure out how much resistance it needs to put up to avoid being reeled in and it will put up just that much resistance. Also, if you let it rest during the fight it will come up, gulp some air, and get a second wind.

NB: It is important that your line always be moving. If line is not peeling off your reel, you need to be reeling. If you let the fish rest they will take much longer to catch.

Indo-Pacific Tarpon [Megalops cyprinoides] also known as Hai Leng 大眼海鲢 [chinese] or Ikan Bulan [malay] Caught by Ah Ling at Woodland Jetty on 7th April 2013. Today early in the morning Ah Huat called to tell me that there are plenty of Indo-Pacific Tarpon or Hai Leng 大眼海鲢 or Ikan Bulan at Woodland Jetty. On reaching the jetty Ah Ling was already there and i was shock the water surrounding the jetty are flooded with school and school of Indo-Pacific Tarpon or Hai Leng 大眼海鲢 total more than 40 hits only 4 landed and alot of bust lines using 2-4 lbs Sabiki jigs or Tamban jigs.