12/27/14 December Tarpon Fishing in Islamorada

Well being December I have not been doing much tarpon fishing.  The snook, redfish, and black drum have been keeping me busy in the everglades.  And very good spanish mackerel and cobia fishing in the gulf, along with plenty of action on the patch reefs.  Though I did catch have a client catch a 50 lb tarpon last week on light tackle while we were pitching shrimp for snook in a canal.  Today we actually tried tarpon fishing as we’ve had a warm streak and water temperatures are in the mid 70s.  We happened into a big school of mullet and filled the cooler with one throw.  Set up off the mainland and within 5 minutes we had 2 tarpon in the air, though both spit the hooks.  Tough break as for the next hour we had plenty of action with sharks, but alas no more tarpon.  Just goes to show it is possible in the winter time when it is warm, just can’t count on it being productive all the time.  Anyways may try it again here before the end of the year as things look to be staying fairly warm.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk