March 2019

Fun day with Mitch and Eddie. Winds calmed down and things warmed up a bit. We focused on tarpon for most of the day. Tried a spot with some shrimp early, plenty of trout and some big lookdowns which was cool! Also caught a double header sting Ray and eagle Ray. Not sure if we snagged the eagle or not, but had me going I thought it may be a big permit. Oh well! Tarpon started to show a little, we caught a few sharks then Eddie hooked a big poon about 130 lbs. Chased her down and landed her, but she didn’t want to roll over for pictures. After that a few more sharks, we made a move and then Mitch hooked a smaller 30 lb tarpon. Got that one on the leader but he got under the boat and pulled the hook. After that things simmered down, a few more sharks and did get a nice tripletail that floated by. Eventually we got into another good pack of tarpon, but no response from them. Headed on home after that and caught a bit of fresh bait for our day tomorrow as the boys have me again. Looks like it’ll be a nice calm day again should be OK fishing! But unfortunately cranking up again tomorrow night and another cold front, then big winds on Thursday. Not gonna help out the backcountry tarpon. Might be sticking to the bridges again for a few days.  2 for 2

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Well we had a late cold front several days ago and I had yesterday off.  So I hadn’t really given the tarpon a try as my anglers have opted for action over sitting there waiting for a bite all day.  Unfortunately with these cold fronts, the backcountry waters where I’ve been fishing get a few degrees colder than the local Islamorada waters, and it’s far from the gulf stream, so it takes some time to warm back up.  For the most part the big schools of fish back there are spread out probably hiding in the deeper gulf waters waiting for it to get nice again.  There are some tarpon locally around islamorada that are a little less affected as the warmer atlantic is nearby, however they still aren’t super happy plus you have a bunch of boats out there being spring break.  Anyways we decided to mix it up today and we hit the backcountry first.  Put a nice catch together of about 15 redfish, 8 snook, a couple black drum, and maybe 20 trout.  Had to work at it a little the areas we fished were a little more affected by the ripping winds, but we made it happen.  We spent our last hour in town around Islamorada trying for a tarpon.  Did not see much, but the water did get up to 75 or so, definitely in the range to get a bite or two, but just did not happen for us.

Tomorrow and tuesday morning look nice and calm, so that may be a better window for the tarpon out in the backcountry.  Then we unfortunately have another cold front tuesday and wednesday night.  Not getting super cold but it’s not going to do the backcountry tarpon any favors.  So it’ll likely be good for snook/redfish/etc… but if you want tarpon, may be best to sit around the bridges and such.  We’ll see what my anglers want to do when the time arrives.  0 for 0

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Mark and his son Andrew really wanted a tarpon. We knew conditions deteriorated big time yesterday with a late cold front and some hard north winds. We caught bait early on and decided to stick to the bridges, as the backcountry tarpon fishing likely will be very tough until things have a chance to warm up again back there. The bridges the water stays warmer near the Atlantic so the fish aren’t as effected. Anyways we found a few fish had several cheap shots on our live baits in the morning but no commitment. We fished hard and then things kinda died out. We made a move and then within about 15 minutes we hooked a nice 85 lber that screamed out line. He stayed on for us and we got a nice release next to the boat and plenty of pictures. It was all smiles and the boys appreciated the fish a lot and knew we worked hard for that one. Andrew was psyched to land his first tarpon! We fished some other channels for the last bit of time, saw a few tarpon there too but no love. We did catch a few nurse sharks, Jack’s, and a mutton snapper throughout the day as well. Anyways I think we will be focused on other things tomorrow, it’s suppose to stay chilly the next few nights. It’s time to fish your conditions!  1 for 1

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing