Got out with Dan, Mike, and Jay for a full day of backcountry fishing in Islamorada in April. Dan’s fished with me several times. He likes tarpon but also likes to mix it up with sharks and some smaller fish, so that gave us our answer of where to fish. The backcountry provides much more flexibility with those things. We tried tarpon to start and I knew some sharks would be mixed in. We found some fish but they were just not happy at all. We moved several times and fished very hard going through a lot of bait. I tried 3 different channels, moving several times in each one, but all we got were blacktips sharks and a few nurse sharks. We definitely had some tarpon around us in every spot, not tons of fish but a good handful which we could see visually and on the sonar. I was very surprised to not even get a bite but all I can figure is the full moon may have gotten us, though it could’ve also been the crazy winds which were starting to build and will be blowing all this week. While you cannot predict many conditional factors far in advance the full moon is always one that sometimes throws a monkey wrench into the best laid plans. I did hear some fish bit locally but back there it was just not happening. Anyways we did a little bit of light rod fishing after that and caught some trout. Then tried tarpon again for the last hour, again had a handful of fish around us in one of those areas too but no love. We did get a nice hammerhead which was a good surprise to finish. Anyways tough day I was expecting to catch a few but tarpon can always keep you humble. I have a big group trip this week for the next four days, so we will likely be doing some tarpon but mixing it up a bit too. Winds will be kicking so it may be a little tougher, last year these guys had flat calm dream days of fishing. 0 for 0
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing
