I like fishing for tarpon early in the day and late in the day into the night But especially early- like in position fishing before the sky even starts turning grey . On the run to where I'm going if the shrimp are running, there will usually be some that jumped into the skiff on the run to the spot. But a Q-beam shined around will light up their eyes in an any event. So I use a streamer with barred hackle on a 3/0. I tend to use bigger hooks than most of the quides do.
It there are a lot of mullet around, I'll start with a mullet immitation. If I don't see squat and water is not real clear, bayside I start a black and purple toad deep. Oceanside and clear, a red and yellow splay tailed old school fly or a smaller one in bright colors tied like a cockroach.
But like Davo said, the presentation is the most important thing. Single file fish moving along the edge of flats are very hard to get the bite from than if two or three are in a V. If one's fins start quivering, likely they will both/all want it, so get ready. Keep it moving in front of them as long as possible, and position the skiff on the flat, if possible, casting from shallow to deep. Then they won't run towards you after the bite when heading for deeper water.
Cheers,
Jim
