Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Got out with Mike and Harry for a full day today.  Bait was tough for us we didn’t catch much in the AM but got a handful, and I had a few leftovers from a few days ago.  We found some small fish first thing in the AM, had a couple bites out of them but they threw the hook straight away!  Also got a big trout, a few sharks, and a bluefish.  After an hour or so the tide quit, we tried to catch a bit more bait.  It was a struggle but we caught another 8 or so which helped.  Next stop it paid off Harry hooked a big 120 lb tarpon we landed on one of them!  We moved around a bit more and then had a few more sharks starting to bite.  Then Mike had a nice 80 lb tarpon grab a bait but he didn’t stay on the hook for us unfortunately.  I was running low on bait again and we looked around one more time but bait just wasn’t very catchable, but one of our sister boats who was also fishing the same party spared us a few extra he had.  We ended up getting a big sawfish on one of those baits which was cool!  We moved one more time where we had seen a tarpon but no more tarpon bites.  Though sharks kept us busy.  Back at it tomorrow with these guys hopefully we can get Mike a tarpon!  1 for 4

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

Got out with Matt, Mike, and Kevin today for a full day charter fishing for tarpon.  We left early and hit the backcountry areas.  Found a decent amount of fish in same area as yesterday.  They didn’t seem super happy though.  We had to put some time in but eventually got one to bite.  A nice 60 lber for Matt!  We landed him and got back to it.  Hooked a big sawfish (i think) that broke us off, and got a nurse shark too.  After that the tide quit.  Things seemed to slow down and we made a move to another channel.  A few more tarpon here.  I was saying how the little sharks weren’t too bad today thankfully, but I spoke to soon as they started to show up!  We caught a few of them and then had another tarpon bite!  We missed this one though, looked like a little guy that just spit the bait straight away.  I talked to a buddy of mine who said he was in a good tarpon bite, we moved over near him as he was leaving soon.  Watched him catch one and he left and gave us some bait.  But it was all over but the shouting just sharks for us there!  Some times you just have to be in the right place at the right time.  We tried to catch a little more bait with limited success, and tried another channel.  We had a few more shark bites and then Kevin got a nice cobia which was a welcome treat.  Finished up after that, tough for the tarpon for us but at least we got 1!  Looks like tomorrow will be a decent day and then Sunday really looks like crap – 70% chance of rain and 25 mph out of the south – ugh!  May be a good one to skip we will see how it looks.  Back at it tomorrow!  1 for 2

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

Got out with Gary and his friend Bob today for a full day tarpon fishing charter.  We left early and got out after the fish.  Had a good load of bait from yesterday.  Winds were blowing somewhat, north breeze and a little chilly ride in the AM but it swung to east later on and warmed up.  Found a good amount of tarpon in our first area where I hadn’t been in several days.  Great to see!  Bob hooked up a nice 100 lber right off the bat!  We chased him around and landed him, but didn’t stay boatside for long on the leader but we got a few good jump shots and they got some video alongside the boat.  After that Gary got a small fish about a 50 lber which was great.  A little more acrobatic this one was.  We fished a little more and the sharks showed up but not as bad as they were last week.  We worked at it and got one more tarpon for Gary, a big 110 lber!  This one streaked off a couple hundred yards of line and we had to give it some juice chasing her.  She went over the flats and into another channel but we caught up and landed the fish.  Good boatside pictures of this one for the boys.  After that things quieted down some, a few more sharks and that was all.  We hit another channel and got a big bull shark to start off there that we chased down.  Then we had two smaller tarpon bites right in a row!  Small 30 lbers or so, but they both came unbuttoned fairly quick.  I thought we’d get a few more tarpon bites there but it wasn’t to be.  More sharks plenty of blacktips and one more big bull shark.  We moved around a little but no more tarpon love.  Though great day overall with 3 tarpon landed and 2 big girls!  Back at it tomorrow.  3 for 5

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