Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Well I have just gotten back from a couple weeks off, having a nice vacation in Turks & Caicos!  So I had not been fishing since end of June but we got out yesterday.  Bait has been around and was fairly easy for us to catch locally which was great.  We found tarpon in several locations… however they were very spread out and not wanting to bite very well.  We would set up and see a few, and then everything would just seem to scatter.  After our 3rd spot, we moved a few times and then finally hooked a big lemon shark.  As we lifted the trolling motor to get around that, we hooked a tarpon on our other rod that was still out!   A nice little 25 lber.  And that was really it for the tarpon action, we finished the day catching a couple tripletail and some trout & snappers for dinner.  So I will say the tarpon bite is still a little tough in the backcountry, about how it was before I left.  The fish are there you just must put time in to get the action out of them, and it is easy to dedicate a day to just getting a handful of shots at them.  However that being said – I really feel like it’s due to open up here and get good soon, I was hoping me taking a couple weeks off it would have changed when I returned, but doesn’t seem to be the case.  Though as with all fishing, that could change tomorrow.  But I’m hoping we’ll perhaps have a very strong August/September later summer tarpon season.  The fish are out there they have to bite sometime!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing
YouTube: Bud n’ Mary’s Marina

Well the daytime bridge fishing is starting to get a little more inconsistent.  I had a good long run this year, much longer than I normally do.  Usually by early June I’m starting to venture in the backcountry more in search of tarpon, however this year the bridge fishing was solid until just recently.  Today we fished the backcountry channels and found some decent schools of fish.  Had to work a little at it and got chased around by some weather, but Chris managed to catch 3 nice 30 to 40 lb tarpon and we jumped off 1 more.  Right now the bait is a little difficult to catch but there are a few fish around, as we get closer to July things should start to settle out and get more consistent – july is often one of my best months!  I will be on vacation the first couple weeks however, though I do have a handful of days at the end of July available and August is fairly wide open.  Some years August and even September are very good for tarpon, some years it’s just fair.  But they are definitely still catchable.  Drop me a line if you want to get out there, business is slowing down and I’ll have more availability short notice and I’ll always shoot you straight with what’s going on with the tarpon fishing.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing
YouTube: Bud n’ Mary’s Marina

A great battle with an awesome tarpon for David… this fish takes us through the bridge in some different directions.  We get tangled in another captains lines but thankfully working together we are able to un-do it.  We get some neat underwater footage chasing the fish on the trolling motor.  And finally a successful release but not before the fish gives a nice couple jumps boatside!

The tarpon bite has still been nothing short of stellar but I’ve still been fishing around the bridges mostly.  The last few years I’d been starting to venture deep into the everglades for resident tarpon and then fishing the regular backcountry areas in the later summer/fall.  But the bridge bite has still just been really good so we’re still doing that.  Every year is different and I always go where the fish are!

Right now I’m pretty much all booked up through until the last week of July.  But plenty of dates available in August, September, and October.  The tarpon bite is a little more hit & miss then, but some years it’s really good at those times.  Though we do usually have good fishing for snook, redfish, tripletail, and other things then if the tarpon aren’t happening.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing
YouTube: Bud n’ Mary’s Marina