August 2016

8/25/16 August Islamorada Tarpon Fishing in the Everglades

Had Roger and Susan out fishing for tarpon today they were down from the Treasure Coast of South Florida.  The weather slowed us down a little this morning there was a big cell over the bay so we had to wait a little bit and run the long way around it but still got back in the backcountry fairly early.  Bait was easy we loaded up on mullet in once toss of the cast net.  We fished around Flamingo first and caught the last couple hours of the incoming tide.  A few fish in one of the channels to start however they were only rolling for a little bit and we never had any bites but did catch a few different sharks including a lemon and spinners.  After that we went to another close by channel and had a tarpon free jump practically right between our baits, I would of swore he was hooked but no drag ever pulled.  Anyways no more bites and we ran back to the channel where we had caught fish the last couple days.  We found a few tarpon after moving around a little but they had ‘lock jaw’ and didn’t want to play.  We landed a few more sharks and then as we were running to check another channel I saw one free jump in the open bay just outside the channel.  We stopped and saw some more roll and a few bust, so we set up to give it a little longer.  Eventually we got one to bite and Roger landed his first tarpon, a nice 50 lber.  After that we decided to catch some small stuff and got into some trout and a few ladyfish.  Was glad to get another tarpon, very surprising how tough they have been to get to bite, but that’s not been uncommon this year!  Fun fishing tomorrow and then suppose to go out of town if this storm doesn’t change our plans.  So may not have any reports for a while.

September we can still catch some tarpon, barring a hurricane the conditions are usually fairly good.  There aren’t always tons of fish around but you can definitely find some of the residents.  October is usually even a little better too!  If you are interested in going don’t hesitate, drop me a line!  1 for 1

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

82516tarpon

8/24/16 Islamorada Tarpon Fishing Report Late August

Got out today with Jim and his son James.  Weather looked a little nasty we had some lightning and rain pass over when I got to the dock.  We were able to get out though just took our time waiting for it to move through ahead of us.  Mullet were easy to catch and we set up in the channels where we had seen fish yesterday.  The tarpon were there though again were very finicky.  We moved around several times and had only shark bites, even with tarpon rolling almost on top of our baits!  Eventually the tide changed and we were able to hook into a nice 90 lb tarpon that James landed.  We didn’t get him up for good pictures as another patch of rain was coming towards us so we got the leader release and he popped off.  Anyways we fished some different channels for a while but made our way back there in the last part of the day.  However no more tarpon bites but the sharks kept us busy.  Was glad to get one today!  1 for 1

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

8/23/16 August Islamorada Tarpon Fishing Report

Got out today for some tarpon at first we were going to try for snook, but the bait wasn’t very cooperative so we bailed on that plan.  We were able to still catch some mullet a little later in the morning after that.  Fished the last of the incoming tide around flamingo and had a few fish around but they didn’t bite.  When the tide quit we ran to some other channels and the fish were in their pretty good.  We saw several roll and bust as we stopped and set up.  Eventually we hooked a nice 75 lber that we landed.  After that the fish seemed to have moved on we caught a couple little sharks.  Moved the the channel and saw a few more rolling but no bites just a few more little sharks.  Kept moving down and caught a few more sharks and eventually saw some more fish rolling.  We moved a couple more times and eventually got another bite catching a nice 90 lb fish.  After that we went off the beaches and caught some big lemon sharks and a couple other things.  Good to see a decent amount of fish though they weren’t super happy as I would’ve guessed we would of had at least a couple more bites, but glad we made both count!  2 for 2

 Capt. Rick Stanczyk