March 2016

Got back out and did a some tarpon fishing today.  Bait was difficult we didn’t find any in the early morning and I looked a few other places on the way out and didn’t see much.  Wind kicked up hard out of the north though temperature didn’t drop.  Anyways we had some leftover bait from yesterday thankfully.  We spent the morning catching mackerels and pompanos and that was good.  Around 10:00 we made our way back into the glades and fished off the mainland where the fish were yesterday.  Today it was very muddy and windy though, we didn’t see much for fish though wouldn’t expect to in those conditions.  We caught some sharks, bulls and a big lemon.  Though eventually we did see a tarpon roll behind the boat.  A few minutes later we jumped him off about 5 feet behind the boat.  We caught a few more sharks and then finally before we were about to make a move, we hooked another tarpon.  This one stayed on and we were able to chase him down and get him to the boat though he jumped and threw the hook next to the boat.  We were able to get the leader to the tip of the rod however for the technical release.  Anyways not bad for the terrible conditions.  It looks like it will be pretty windy for the next several days.  Tarpon fishing will likely be tough as the water won’t have a chance to warm up. Though there are some fish around you just have to put your time in.  I have a trip tomorrow so we will see what it has in store!  1 for 2

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

3/4/16 Today we did a mixed bag trip, it was myself and another boat for a group party.  In the morning we mackerel and tripletail fished, it was very productive.  Mid day we put the tarpon/shark gear out.  We did see some fish in the backcountry channels and moved around a few times trying to get in front of them, however we had no bites from the tarpon.  Plenty of small blacktip sharks though to keep busy.  We later tried around town again where I had found some fish the day before, however the tide was pretty slack and we saw no signs of life.  I fished 3 different spots and did not see any, however as stated we hit the tide at a bad time.  However we had a great day overall still catching plenty of other stuff.  The tarpon fishing isn’t quite good enough yet to dedicate the whole day to it, in my opinion!  0 for 0

3/5/16 Today we did a similar plan as yesterday.  Mackerel and tripletail in the morning followed by fishing the big rods out back again.  I tried a different area for the big rods and we found some various sharks – bulls, lemons, and blacktips.  In the distance I could see some busting and rolling tarpon, so after an hour we moved out in that zone.  We had to move around a couple times, but eventually we got in front of some happy fish and had a couple tarpon bites within 10 minutes of each other.  Unfortunately neither fish stayed on the hook for us, we caught a few more sharks.  We moved around again and we were able to hook and land a nice 50 lb tarpon plus a few more sharks.  After that the wind switched to due west and the tide slacked, which was kind of the end of our day.  But happy to get a nice poon!  1 for 3

Well things have finally started to warm up and we’ve had some calm weather so a few tarpon have started to show up.  It’s not red hot fishing yet but they are around and if you put time in you can catch ’em.  We tried several areas and did not see a whole ton of fish, there were some way back off the mainland that were making their way into the backcountry it seemed.  We didn’t have much luck back there we did catch plenty of sharks and a couple cobia and some tripletail.  But we gave it at shot close to home in the afternoon and saw a handful of fish rolling in the local channels.  They were interested in live bait only we had two bites on live mullets, one we managed to keep stuck and landed a nice 60 lber.  The mullet are showing up as well no massive schools that I’ve seen but good numbers in the usual areas we look.  It should get better and better and boy are we ready for tarpon season here.  1 for 2

Capt. Rick Stanczyk