The 125-pound tarpon explodes six feet in the air. Capt. Robert Trosset (R.T.) tells the angler to point the rod at the jumping fish. The tarpon finally sulks on the bottom as the angler strains to gain leverage with the 20-pound-test spinning rig. After a 30-minute battle, Trosset guides the still-frisky fish by the fluorocarbon leader to the boat, grabs its lower jaw and hangs on. After a few pictures, he revives the tarpon, and it slowly swims away.

The day begins before dawn, cruising off Key West, Florida, and looking for shrimp boats. It isn't shrimp cocktail Trosset is interested in, but the bycatch - small fish caught in shrimper's nets. For tarpon, nothing beats natural bait. Despite what so-called purists may say, using natural bait requires skill, whether it's dead or alive, and nobody knows how to use it better than the master guides of Key West. Trosset pioneered the use of shrimp-boat bycatch for Key West tarpon more than 20 years ago, a technique that is now used by virtually every guide there. While taking refuge from a storm at a shrimp-boat dock, Trosset bought a box of shrimp heads. He began to toss the shrimp in the water, which sent a school of tarpon into a feeding frenzy that resulted in his charter catching nine fish right at the dock.

Later Trosset began to chum from his boat with shrimp-boat bycatch for tarpon, permit and snapper. To the casual observer, this sort of fishing looks deceptively easy. But there's more to it than just tossing the chum out, hooking on a dead fish and then reeling them in.
Doling out the right amount of chum is one of the first considerations. "You have to know what's going on behind the boat," says Trosset. "If the fish are far back, there's probably not many fish, and you only want to throw out six or eight pieces to try to get them to compete for the bait. If they are close, there's probably a lot of fish, and you can put out more chum." The bycatch, which Trosset cuts in half with a pair of strong scissors, contains pinfish, flounder, sand perch, poisonous scorpion fish, mantis shrimp, and mojarra, which Trosset likes to use as bait.

The day's first fishing spot has a medium-strength tide running, so we don't need additional weight and just tie on a Mustad 91152 hook to the Seguar fluorocarbon leader, which is practically invisible underwater. We hook the silver-scaled mojarra from underneath the chin and freeline it out with the tide, making sure it acts like the chum by not putting any tension on the line. Later, when the tide runs faster, Trosset uses a 3/4-ounce Hank Brown Hook Up jig to keep the bait running deeper. When the tarpon takes the bait we flip the bail closed on the spinning reel, point the rod at the fish and reel like crazy. Despite what you've read about ripping the lips off a tarpon when setting the hook, Trosset has found that reeling works as well. Forget the adage about using sharp hooks too, the Mustads he uses aren't particularly sharp and he doesn't touch them up. "Sharp hooks will catch on anything," says Trosset. These hooks, which have a small turn on the point - almost like a circle hook - will skip along until they catch something large like the corner of the mouth. Trosset explains that while dead bait is superior for tarpon during the day, at night live bait has better results. Other species also prefer live bait, and the next day we're offshore in five-foot seas and are fishing for blackfin tuna with live pilchards with Capt. Greg Sherertz. The 45-gallon livewell is brimming with frisky baits. While cast-netting bait looks simple, doing it right requires extensive skill and local knowledge. "We use pelicans not only to help us find bait, but to help us tell what size they are," says Sherertz. "One trick we use is to take note of the length of time it takes for a pelican to raise its head out of the water after diving. It takes them longer if they've captured small fish, since they have to slowly strain the water out of their pouch to avoid losing them." While bait tend to frequent certain areas, finding them in windy conditions can be tough. "We sometimes use electronics to locate bait that we can't see or use chum such as jack mackerel or bread balls to bring them to us," says Sherertz. "Hanging chum over the side in a bag also makes an oil slick, which creates a calm patch on the water that allows us to see bait disturbing the surface." When getting into position to throw the net, stealth is needed to maximize the catch. "I prefer to drift into them rather than motor in," he says. Keeping live bait lively requires careful handling, and Sherertz has noticed that larger baits such as theadfins caught on sabiki rigs (a string of tiny jigs) stay friskier when taken off with hook removers and not touched by human hands. Constantly monitoring the condition of live bait is critical. "Don't use the recirculating pump more than you have to as the direct blast of water can injure the bait," says Sherertz. "My in-deck livewell has two through-holes in the hull to keep the bait fresh when there is enough boat movement from the sea."

Chumming with live bait is a relatively new fishing technique that has been embraced by guides. Most pros use live bait chumming to "prospect" an area to see if fish are present. The experienced eye can discern more information than just if fish are present. "Sometimes we can tell what species of fish is present by the bait's reaction and their activity in the water," Sherertz says. "When using live bait as chum, bounce the bait off the transom while tossing them in. First, the stunned bait attracts fish by swimming erratically and signaling weakness. They also tend to stay closer to the chum line, which increases the chance of a hookup." Most people use live bait incorrectly. They put a bait on the hook, cast it, and sit waiting for the action. However, using live bait requires a certain amount of finesse and thought. For instance, blackfin tuna are boat-shy, so Sherertz says to let baits out far away from the boat. Kites are also an excellent way to present live bait. Not only will the bait be far from the boat, but bait species such as blue runners will stay on the surface where they will beat their tails and be easily detected. Sometimes little details make all the difference when trying to maximize hookups. Says Sherertz, "If the fish seem to be hitting the bait predominantly from one side, place the hook in the nostril of the bait with the point facing the oncoming fish and you will hook more fish." The final bit of advice that Sherertz offers is that if the fish aren't biting, try something else. Put some weight on the line, reel it in fast, or hook the bait differently. Natural bait is probably the most effective to use, but it's not a no-brainer. Figuring out what the fish are doing and delivering the right amount and type of bait is the key to catching fish.