Got out with Chris and Davis today for a full day charter for tarpon fishing. The guys had been following me online and were excited about fishing. Unfortunately the fish didn’t cooperate very well today. We had the winds kick up a bit out of the south south/west, not a great direction. Not crazy wind but blowing a solid 15 mph in the morning. Also we are near the full moon which so far hadn’t seemed to bother the daytime bite too much. Anyways we got back to the fishing grounds and caught some bait. Bait was very easy we got a big load of it, the easiest it’s been in a while for me. We then ran to check out some of the channels. I looked in the areas where we’d been fishing the last several days. Today though there just wasn’t anything there… We looked and fished and did eventually see one tarpon roll, but no bite. We did get a big old triple tail though which was cool and a few sharks. We left out of there and tried some other channels where some fish had been a week ago. Not much there today though just some more sharks. We looked in some areas and fished in few, and nothing. We kept moving and got into another area where we finally did see a handful of tarpon. But we had some weak tides and the tide was already starting to die out on us. The sharks ate us up and then I gave the boys an option of trying some other fishing since it didnt’ seem to be working out. Davis said he wanted to stick it out though since they got to catch trout and such at home. I said OK and we decided to look back where we had been earlier. The winds had laid out somewhat and the tide was starting to change again. We saw a tarpon roll in one of the channels, and then set up and saw several more! I was excited it was what we’d been waiting for all day. However it just didn’t happen. We moved around several times, and definitely were in some fish. I even stayed an extra 30 minutes to try and make it happen but the fish were just not into it. Anyways we caught a few more sharks and a sting ray and that was it for the day. I talked to several other guides who fished locally and in the backcountry and they all had tough days with the tarpon, nobody I talked to had caught one. Anyways it can change in a hurry sometimes. The guys still had a great time and were a pleasure to fish with and said they’d be coming back. Hopefully things get easier I think the winds suppose to lay off again and get nice and calm like it had been so that should help. 0 for 0
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing
