5/18/15 May Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing Report

Fished a 3/4 day today.  Have the same guys today and tomorrow.  They wanted tarpon so we gave it a good hard try this morning.  Bait was tough but we were able to get about 3 dozen which I split with another guide who I bait fish with.  We tried several areas, saw fish in a couple but the weed was terrible in both.  So tough you could not fish live baits.  We caught a couple rays and a nurse shark on the bottom.  Had one possible tarpon zip drag for a second, but never saw him just a big boil when the bait was dropped.  Tried tight to the bridges which was fishable, but not much for fish there.  Anyways we caught a few more mullet later in the morning and tried one more spot before we were gonna call it a day.  We got set up and within 20 minutes we hooked a nice 100 lb fish.  Good fight we landed him and Everett got some nice pictures.  As has been the case you really have to put your time in for a bite or two right now, fishing hasn’t been easy but hopefully after the new moon we will get some more big packs of fish in.  Also the sargasm weed will hopefully subside it has been horrendous and I’ve heard from several people who fly planes there is acres of it stretching all the way to the bahamas.  1 for 1

Capt. Rick Stanczyk