July 2017

Got out with Andy Thompson and his boys Conrad and Derek again today.  We focused more on tarpon today for most of the day.  Bait was easy and we got to work soon after.  Had the last bit of incoming tide, fished a channel I hadn’t hit in a while but heard there was some fish there.  We found a good pack of ’em, and managed to catch a couple before the tide quit after an hour or so.  We then ran out towards the mainland to try out there where we had done so good yesterday.  Today we saw a lot of fish rolling straight away, unlike yesterday where they were not showing much.  But it was tough to get to them the sharks were bad, we made several moves and just couldn’t get a bite and after 45 minutes or so the tarpon seemed to quit showing.  We gave up and tried a few other channels, without much success aside from a few more sharks.  We tried one last spot where fishing had been good a few weeks ago.  We saw a fish jump out of the water and then a few roll in that area, and we set up and within 10 minutes hooked another tarpon.  Got some good jumping video and photos and got him to the boat before he took off and jumped off.  But had the leader for a release.  I’m out the next couple days and then next week is slow so far, I’m going to be doing some boat work but will have another skiff to use in the meantime.  August is great for tarpon so hit me up!  3 for 3

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
@richardstanczyk

Got out with Mike, Cary, and Brandon today we had a two boat trip along with Capt. Jeff Beeler aboard Huntinator.  We caught plenty of bait early on and hit the channels where we had found fish yesterday morning.  We didn’t get a bite but Capt. Jeff got his anglers on a nice tarpon there.  After that the tide soon quit.  We decided to take a look out off the mainland areas, fish had been plentiful out there a month ago, though the last week or two it’d been much more hit or miss, but was worth a shot.  We got lucky and they were out there, not showing a whole lot on the surface but I could see them on my electronics.  We jumped one straight away where we had seen one splash.  After that the sharks were not eating us up too bad thankfully, and we had plenty of more tarpon action!  Eventually the sharks got bad and we moved a bit, then eventually moved back where we had been and had more tarpon action!  Capt. Jeff also had some bites and landed one more fish.  We were lucky and made every other bite of ours count and landed five fish.  It was pretty epic fishing.  After a few hours of that, the tide quit and it was getting hot so we wrapped up a little early.  Great fishing hopefully those fish will stay put out there for the next few days.  August again is coming up and that can be a great time for tarpon fishing in the everglades… though full days are usually required and I like to leave early around 6, but let’s go give it a shot!  5 for 6

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
@richardstanczyk

Got out with the Thompson crew today, Andy and his boys Derek and Conrad.  They’ve fished with me for several years and always come in the winter and summer.  I hadn’t been fishing since last week as I was out of town and had a few other days off, so a good 5 day break.   We caught mullet early on it was pretty easy nice to see plenty of bait around, even saw some later in the morning too.  Tarpon weren’t too plentiful but we did find some on our first stop.  We had the last trickle of incoming tide for about an hour.  Didn’t see much for tarpon rolling but saw one on our bottom machine.  Derek hooked up though unfortunately after a little run and one big jump she came unbuttoned, looked like a nice big fish close to 100 lbs.  After that the tide slowed way down, I was almost about to leave but we marked another fish.  I said let’s keep them out anyways.  Andy hooked up on the slack tide, again a bigger fish of 90 to 100 lbs.  We chased him and he put up a good fight, landed him and got some boatside pics.  After that the tide had turned and was falling.  We saw a few tarpon roll and one free jump, I moved over into that area and we marked a couple go by.  I thought for sure we’d have another shot, but nothing much happened we had a couple shark bites and got a big blacktip.  After that everything kind of seemed to dry up.  After that we did light tackle stuff, caught a few mangrove snappers but they were even hard to come by!  Getting to be that time of year where things can get tough on ya.  Anyways we had a half dozen for dinner, plus a few more sharks, so all in all not a bad day.  Back at it tomorrow and tarpon will likely be on the menu.  Tarpon fishing can still be good in August if you are looking to go!  1 for 2

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
@richardstanczyk