Rio Chico was fantastic with a 9 wt. flyrod and poppers. The tarpon are small but numerous and will definitely take the rod out of your hand when they hit. I "hooked up" to 8-10 tarpon every day, but landed considerably less. I've never had a fish come ou t of the water so fast. If you had to think about the hook set, you lost the fish. And the snook were everywhere. A #9 rod, a bunch of Gaines Poppers, and you're in paradise. We were helping the University of South Carolina do biological growth studies on tarpon. The large ones may be 75 years old so make sure you throw them back. It takes a long time to grow a big tarpon.