10/13/14 October Florida Keys Backcountry Tarpon Fishing Report

Well the fishing had been a little tough the last week.  I had not been doing much tarpon fishing as I’ve been trying some other things.  It’s been a lot of work though there have been some snappers, ladyfish, trout, handful of snook, and sharks around.  I had a tarpon bite yesterday afternoon at the end of our day so I figured I’d give it more of a shot today.  We had the right tide to hammer the mullets early in the morning.  We did and then ran and looked for some free jumping fish.  Saw a handful in an area that was loaded with bait and birds bombing.  So we set up and fished.  Some big blacktip sharks at first, though after the 3rd one we started getting tarpon bites.  Missed the first two they spit the baits as they went airborne.  But the next 2 we caught, a nice 25 lb fish and a 60 lb fish.  It was good to see and reminds me why tarpon fishing is probably my favorite thing to do on a charter down here.  We finished the day catching loads of snapper, a few trout, ladyfish, jacks, and had a couple shots at snook though one jumped off and the other buried us in the sticks.  But as long as the weather stays fairly warm the next couple weeks can still have some great tarpon fishing.  And once we get some more northeast chill breezes, the bait migration should push down our shores and that can be some of the best tarpon fishing we see all year.  Let me know if your interested in getting out, things are getting busy for me again fishing most of the rest of the month but I have a few openings here and there.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk