Got out with Gary and his friend Bob today for a full day tarpon fishing charter. We left early and got out after the fish. Had a good load of bait from yesterday. Winds were blowing somewhat, north breeze and a little chilly ride in the AM but it swung to east later on and warmed up. Found a good amount of tarpon in our first area where I hadn’t been in several days. Great to see! Bob hooked up a nice 100 lber right off the bat! We chased him around and landed him, but didn’t stay boatside for long on the leader but we got a few good jump shots and they got some video alongside the boat. After that Gary got a small fish about a 50 lber which was great. A little more acrobatic this one was. We fished a little more and the sharks showed up but not as bad as they were last week. We worked at it and got one more tarpon for Gary, a big 110 lber! This one streaked off a couple hundred yards of line and we had to give it some juice chasing her. She went over the flats and into another channel but we caught up and landed the fish. Good boatside pictures of this one for the boys. After that things quieted down some, a few more sharks and that was all. We hit another channel and got a big bull shark to start off there that we chased down. Then we had two smaller tarpon bites right in a row! Small 30 lbers or so, but they both came unbuttoned fairly quick. I thought we’d get a few more tarpon bites there but it wasn’t to be. More sharks plenty of blacktips and one more big bull shark. We moved around a little but no more tarpon love. Though great day overall with 3 tarpon landed and 2 big girls! Back at it tomorrow. 3 for 5
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing
