Got out with Eric and Courtney today visiting from Texas. Winds were kicked up blowing a good 15mph out of the southeast. We caught a little bit of bait locally as we were heading out. Looked like we were going to crush the bait, but ended up throwing a few times to scrape together 20 or so and then they were gone. But enough to get started with. Bait was difficult back in the backcountry, so we started fishing and found a few tarpon early. No bites the first couple stops but plenty of sharks. Eventually we got a good bite and Courtney jumped a nice 40 lb tarpon. Then we were out of bait unfortunately. We ran to another channel as the tide was dropping out now and I hoped the bait would come off the flat. It seemed to be so we started throwing the net again, had to work very hard and make 10 or so throws to get another 24 baits or so. We then bent the light rods a little while the tide changed catching about a dozen trout or so. We ran back after the tide started roaring in which is when I’ve been having better luck with tarpon the last few trips. We didn’t see much and the wind was really howling against the current now so it was rough and not easy to see them. Nothing in the first stop aside from sharks, but did get a nice hammerhead there. Then another stop we thought we saw a few tarpon on the sonar. We set up and soon Eric jumped a nice tarpon then the next bait out he caught a 40 lber! After that we caught some more sharks I was hoping we’d get another shot at a tarpon for Courtney but no luck. We fished the rest of our baits and then headed home. I’m off the next couple days but am booked Wednesday and Thursday. Our conditions look to be the same for the next week or more, with a good east wind but not too crazy. Tarpon should still be catchable I think you might have to invest some time and effort for a few bites, but should be worth going if you are up for it. Give me a shout if you wanna go! 1 for 3
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing
