Are you a novice fisherman or just new to tarpon. Either way you need a guide. First order of business with the guide is to tell him you're a novice and want to learn. Too often we expect guides to be mind-readers, the client winds up disappointed but the guide doesn't know why. Understand that by targetting tarpon you're risking a fishless day. It can be especially frustrating for newbies b/c your boat is staked-up,your eyes aren't used to seeing fish, you're standing there for hours and you begin to doubt the fish exist or wonder whether the guide knows what he's doing. If you'd like to catch a tarpon,but really need to just catch something, tell the guide. You can then spend half the day w/tarpon but if things don't go as planned there will be time to get you into something. Lots of guide's names have been given on the board and everyone has their fave. I think it's rare to find an island guide who doesn't know what they're doing. In fact I don't recall any negative comments on this board(about guides anyway) GOOD LUCK