For the price of a serviceable tarpon fly rod you now can have a good tarpon fly reel, the Model 1011. All tarpon fly reels must have a smooth, quality drag, and they must hold the fly line and 250 to 300 yards of 20 to 30 pound-test braided backing line. The best plugs have large, extra-sharp hooks. Hooks on many top plugs are secured to each other and to the artificial's line-tie ring with heavy wire inside the lure. This is so if hooks tear free of the plug during a fight the fish is not lost.
Many anglers also prefer short-shank, single hooks instead of trebles on their plugs.
There is a valid school of thought that a single hook is more easily driven past the barb than three hooks on a treble. Moreover, since most tarpon are released, it's much easier to remove a single hook, or a pair of singles on a plug, than a treble or two. Natural baits, like this cut menhaden, are excellent for tarpon. A plastic-tail grub or a jig rigged with a plastic worm is especially good. The lure acts much like a jig, but because the slip-sinker slides, the fish doesn't exert as much leverage to throw the hook as it does a jig with its fixed lead head.