Got out with Brian and his sons Drew and Carter for a full day trip today. Tarpon were the main desired target so we set out after them. I’d had the last couple of days off, I did go fun fishing with my dad yesterday and we caught some snook and redfish. Though I was also able to catch a little bit of bait for today as well. That was a good thing because bait was pretty difficult. There has been a lot back there but it’s all staying up very shallow, and very spooky every time you try to get near it they run. Being their before the sun comes up has been critical as of late. Anyways we were able to catch a little bit plus what i had we were good. We found some tarpon where they had been a few days ago. A little more spread out in the first stop. But we jumped around and we were able to get one. After that they thinned out again and I decided to run and look in another close by spot. Here the tarpon were thick. The sharks ate us up early but we moved and then got a tarpon pretty quickly. A little later we got another one and then dad and the boys had all caught one – great! We made one last move before it was time to go and ended up getting a final tarpon. All of them stayed on the hook which was lovely. We tried for snook for the last couple hours of the day, unfortunately where the snook fishing has been good it’s another 20 miles from where we were, and there was some weather back there so we couldn’t really make that trip. We tried some other spots that were closer but just a lot of nasty water. Nothing in the first couple stops, then we did get a couple bites in the last stop, but unfortunately the one snook jumped off the hook, and the other got buried in some fallen debris. Oh well anyways still a great day with four tarpon! 4 for 4
P.S. Again tarpon under 40 inches we are allowed to pick up for photos. We take them out of the water carefully, trying not to drop them or wipe off any slime, then do a quick picture and release right back into the water.
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing
