Well today it got flat calm and conditions were ‘right!’ We caught some mullet on our way out, found some birds bombing on a flat and were able to get nearby in the channel and catch enough bait in a half dozen throws of the cast net. We ran back into the everglades where we had found the tarpon yesterday, but today I knew we’d have tide all morning plus loaded with fresh bait so it was a good scenario. The tarpon fishing was epic… I had Steven and his son Mason from Arkansas. They had fished here before offshore, but never in the backcountry. Today was their lucky day! We proceeded to mash the tarpon… going 6 for 12 in about 3 1/2 hours! It really does not ever get any better than that. Around noon time, the boys had had their fill so we decided to just do some rod bending. We caught plenty of trout and a handful of ladyfish. Just an awesome day, the one i’ve been waiting for! Definitely the best day I’ve had this year, though tomorrow it sounds like it’s suppose to change and blow 25. Good thing I’m taking off. Hopefully some of these fish will continue pushing through into the backcountry and locally here. 6 for 12
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
3/22/17 March Tarpon Fishing in the Everglades
Gave the tarpon a shot again today. We had some leftover bait from the last few days. Mullet were not very easy where I looked today, so didn’t give it very long trying to catch them. We caught some trout and ladyfish in the bay then tried some of the backcountry channels for big stuff. Tide was coming in, fairly weak tide still but better than it was a few days ago. We had plenty of shark activity and caught a nice cobia just under size. After that we ran further into the backcountry to check some other areas for tarpon. We found the mother load, tarpon busting as far as I could see! We set up and within 10 minutes we had a nice 100 lb fish on. We fought him for about 40 minutes and landed him. After we set back up though the tide started to quit and the fish slowly dispersed. We caught plenty of more blacktip sharks, but alas no more tarpon bites. The water was still chilly, but with the calm weather it started to get on a warming trend, getting back up around 71 degrees at least. Hopefully tomorrow will still be good, then Friday it’s suppose to blow like crazy so the tarpon may not like that. 1 for 1
3/21/17 March Tarpon Islamorada
Well I’ve been back on the water for a few days after celebrating the birth of my son, Felix! Today we finally gave tarpon a try again. Fishing had been a little tough since I’ve been back – the late cold front we got while I was away really cooled off the water, and it’s stayed in the low 60s at night so it hasn’t had a chance to warm up. The water today finally got up to around 72 degrees or so ‘around town.’ Still on the chilly side for tarpon, they really became a solid option in my eyes when the water is a steady 75 degrees. Anyways we didn’t make tarpon the priority and spent the morning catching plenty of nice sea trout, ladyfish, snappers, and jacks. We gave the last hour or so a shot for tarpon around the local channels. We did find some fish, not many rolling but was able to mark them on my bottom machine. Unfortunately we were in a very weak tide cycle, and we had hardly any moving water for the first 45 minutes or so that we sat there. Eventually the tide started coming in and did move a bit for the last 20 minutes or so, though I was not seeing the tarpon like I had when we arrived. We had a couple shark bites and that was it. Anyways hopefully things will warm up a bit more, though I don’t know we are suppose to get heavy winds on Friday… may keep the water from getting back into the ideal range. Though it’s getting to be the time of year when tarpon are the priority most days so may be giving it a go regardless. 0 for 0
