Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Had Jen and Phil from a couple days ago again today.  I had a little bit of bait leftover from our previous session as I had the day off yesterday.  We ran right to the channels where there had been some fish early and we got on them again this morning.  Jen hooked a big tarpon of 75 lbs that we didn’t think was a tarpon at first.  It made a slow run out and then just a big circle around the boat.  I thought it was a lemon shark or ray or something, so we locked the drag down and slowly got him near the boat.  After about 15 minutes he finally jumped off the bow and it was a nice tarpon!  We fought him from the dead boat and Jen landed him, very strange fighting fish.  While that was going on we jumped another one on the other rod that was in the holder.  Than later on Phil caught a nice 40 lber we got to the boat and jumped off boatside.  We also got a few other little sharks.  Later on we caught some bait, it wasn’t easy but we found a little mud on the flat with dolphins chasing the bait everywhere but were able to get 15 or so.  We tried off the beach and we got a few hammerheads and landed another smaller tarpon plus a few other sharks.  After the tide quit things slowed down we didn’t catch much the last hour just a couple small blacktips and a nurse shark.  But another great morning with multiple tarpon!  3 for 4

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Here you can read our latest fishing reports.  I try to keep this section updated regularly when we are tarpon fishing consistently.  Though remember in the off season we may not be fishing as much or we may be targeting other things.

We’re almost to the end of March!  Spring break has been in full swing and we’ve been busy for sure.  Unfortunately the tarpon bite has been a bit hit & miss this March with several late season cold fronts and lots of early season pressure on them… at least that’s what I’m blaming it on!  Though now near the end of March water temperatures are approaching back near 80 degrees and we should be starting to get more into ‘prime time’ mode.  As long as we don’t have any more cold fronts April should start to yield some better fishing.  I’m also hopeful we’ll have a little more productive late May and June, as some years when February/March is really good it dies out by then, but maybe since it’s been a slower start it’ll be the opposite?  One can hope!  We’ll keep you updated as April rolls on but this is getting into our typical ‘best’ times of year.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

More tarpon action today we fished a 3/4 day and got out early.  Had bait from yesterday and we hit some backcountry channels around flamingo.  Took a little bit but eventually hooked up a nice 50 lb tarpon we landed.  Also later on we got a hammerhead shark.  After the tide quit we ran and tried off the beach area though first we caught a couple dozen more mullet out of a mud real quick.  At the next stop we got a few nice big snook of 15 lbs or so, a cobia, and a few more sharks.  All in all a fabulous day.  We saw some tarpon starting to roll when we left though they didn’t seem real happy.  We had a steady 15 mph southwest breeze.  Anyways day off tomorrow and then the same folks again on Thursday.  1 for 1

Capt. Rick Stanczyk