Who's Artie Price? The guy who has captained the Professional Tarpon Tournament Series Yamaha Team of the Year for the last 2 years running. He's also a pro tournament redfish angler.

But back to tarpon. Think it's luck when you're over thousands of tarpon, battling other boats, sharks and God knows what else, and you're still pulling up the biggest tarpon time after time?

Think again. Price has more than a few tricks to get the giants to bite. He isn't real happy talking about them, but we pulled a couple out of him this time. Specifically, he talked about the importance of switching baits – artificial baits, that is.

First, Try Different Baits

This should be fishing 101, but let's face it: If you have a day or a weekend to spend tarpon-fishing, you're probably going to put on the freshest live bait you have (or the guide has) and to heck with experimenting.

According to Price, a former tarpon guide, that could be a mistake. Not that you won't catch a tarpon, but you might not catch the biggest or most that you could.

"When I was guiding, I'd put one or two good baits down and then put a bait down there that I just wanted to try," he said. "I kept playing with baits every day. Some baits would get hit six times a day, and some would get hit only three times a day – but it would be a bigger fish each time."

So throw your crab, shrimp or baitfish in the water, but drop an artificial down there too.

Second, Pay Attention to Color

Another fishing 101 rule is lighter colors on brighter days, and darker colors on darker days. Price practices that to the hilt, with a couple of important twists.

Number one is that you can't just consider what's going on in the sky. When the fish are 40 to 80 feet deep, you need to figure in the light conditions in the water too, including the water clarity.

"The light conditions and water color are telling you what (the fish) can see at that depth," he said. "If a lot of rain turns the water brown, or in lower light, darker colors work better. If it's crystal clear, clearer colors work better." Then there's every variation in between.

So he starts with that rule of thumb, and then tweaks from there.

How does he find what works? Before a PTTS event, "I usually go couple days ahead of time and do pre-fishing," he said. "I try colors and shapes until I come up with a bait that consistently gets bigger fish.

"Sometimes you find (such a bait), sometimes you can't. But you always find a bait that pulls fish more consistently than another one. And if you can catch seven fish vs. three, you have a better chance of (catching) a big one going through seven."

You're saying: 'Alright already. Give us your favorite colors.' His favorite bait is a 4-inch Berkley Gulp! Pogy (shad-tail-type bait), and his favorite colors are:

> Green tiger – "It's the number-one best color down there (Boca Grande) year-round, especially when it's clear water and sunny." (Editor's note: This actually is a Berkley Power Bait color that Berkley no longer makes. Price said he's using the ones he stockpiled.)

> Root beer gold – "This is the best color in lower light and stained water."

Just in case you think that's it, he keeps 80 colors of "Dippin dye" (CO INFO) on his boat. "I think they see tints or shades of colors, not real colors," he noted.

Oh yeah, that second twist. Here it is: He'll switch colors all day long depending on the conditions.

For example, "What happens is people see it's sunny in the morning, and don't take into consideration when a cloud (hides the sun), it's dark and they don't switch (colors)." But Price does. "I'm making adjustments when I need to," he said.

What helps him know how and when to make those adjustments? That all-important "time on the water."

More TOY Tips

> Favorite rig – A 6-ounce circle-hook jig with a 4-inch Pogy.

> Why such a small bait for such huge fish? – "Sometimes I'll bite an inch and a half off," he said. "Sometimes I'll use just a 2-3 inch bait."

> Why the Pogy? – "The way the current runs, it wiggles the tail. I like it swimming down there by itself."

> Any other baits? – "Sometimes I'll go to a Gulp! Jerk Shad body when big shrimp are coming through the pass. It depends on what's coming through. The Gulp! Crab works well when crabs are flushing through."

> Why all the Gulp!? – "It's more scent-enhanced. You can even catch grouper on it. I catch cobia and everything else when I'm fishing the tournament. It's a little added edge. In redfishing, I quit using soft-plastics – I only use Gulp! What (Berkley) told me is that there's certain things in (bait species) that (sportfish) like and don't like. And what (Berkley did) was pump up the things they do like about 300% and got rid of the things they don't like."

> Why artificials when live bait is allowed? – "An artificial presentation is just a better presentation. You just drop a bait and go. I suppose you could do the same with crabs or shrimp, but (with artificials) you don't have to mess with that.

> Favorite rod – 7' Fenwick Bugs Ramsey-edition sturgeon baitcasting rod ("you can't break it").

> Favorite line – 50-pound Berkley Big Game in clear ("the water's so clear down there you need clear line") for mainline, and 100-pound Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon leader, tied together with a Jam knot.

> Keep it deep – "When I drift the pass, no matter how fast the tide is, we drop the jig to the bottom, and reel it up one crank so we know the bait is a foot off the bottom. The guys constantly check the bottom. My job (as captain) is keeping the bait straight up and down. As the bottom changes, it's my job to tell the guys to go down a foot or come up a bit."

Notable

> Price captains the Team Ranger team on the PTTS. His team also includes: Mike Witfoth and brothers Brian and Scott Hart. Mike and Brian guide, and per PTTS rules, only two guides are allowed per boat.