Umpqua Feather Merchants Laid-Up Tarpon Fly

When tarpon float or sleep near the surface, they are said to “lay up” or be “laid up”. Rick’s fly is especially designed for these, his favorite conditions. At his request we use the Owner AKI preferentially because the 2/0 remains lighter for softer splash down and to ensure the slowest possible sink rate. The fly is also dressed to be bushy and over–hackled, again to land softly and sink very slowly. The combination of light hook and over–dressed fly allows for a very slow strip presentation, one with lots of inherent motion. Rick maintains that traditional and more sparsely dressed tarpon flies must be stripped too fast to prevent sinking below the fish’s view to allow for this style of fishing. The Tan color is taken for a Shrimp, the Chartreuse is deadly in off–colored water, and both colors have proven themselves for other species such as Snook and Stripers.