More good tarpon action today. We got out extra early as we had a slack tide to start the day. We were able to catch the last trickle of falling tide for about 45 minutes. Saw a few fish roll as the tide slacked and finally got our bite, though we jumped him off unfortunately. After that we hung around a little longer though it got later in the morning and didn’t feel right. So we ran in the backcountry. Found some good fish off the mainland, our first bite back there after 20 minutes was a nice 80 lb tarpon we hooked and landed. Got some good boatside pics thanks to another fellow captain. After that things slowed a little we caught a few sharks. Then when the tide started to quit back there fish popped up just outside of us. We set up on them and caught 1 out of 3 in about 15 minutes! I figured when the tide turned it was going to go off, though the fish didn’t respond after that. Was very weird they bit on the slack tide and not the moving water… go figure! Anyways a great day tarpon and sharks. Bait is getting tougher and tougher I’m totally out of stock right now going to have to try to find something tomorrow! 2 for 5
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
6/3/15 June Tarpon Fishing Islamorada Full Moon
Coming off the full moon and slick calm. Not great conditions this morning. But we got out early and hit the slack tide though it changed right quick. Fish were rolling around good nice to see some numbers. Took a little while but hooked a fish after tide was moving a little. Nice 100 lber we landed and got some nice jumps out of. Set back up and another 30 minutes later we had another one on. A good 90 lb and we got him on the leader though he popped off. After that the rain came it was suppose to come eventually but we were happy to catch a couple and get in before getting completely soaked! 2 for 2
6/2/15 June Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing Half Day Report
Today we had some weather to worry about. Nothing much materialized as far as rain and lightning thankfully, though looks like this evening we will be getting wet. We had incoming tide all morning. I got out early again at 6 and we were able to hook a nice fish within 30 minutes. One that did not want to give up we fought him for an hour and 45 minutes, I think the longest tarpon battle I’ve had all year and probably for several years! He wasn’t super huge, about 90 lbs, but got in the heavy bridge current and just would not budge. But we eventually landed him and my anglers got some good pics, and sent him off unharmed he swam away effortlessly. Sometimes when you battle fish for that long it can over stress them, but this did not seem to be the case and being he was the size he was, I feel he was probably not too old. After that the bite really shut off we saw a few more fish roll but only caught a ray and a shark. Tried a few other areas and only saw one other rolling fish, but no action. Finished up we hooked something big on the bottom we fought for 15 minutes, but the hook opened up and never got a look at it – possibly a big ‘mud marlin’. Anyways suppose to get out again tomorrow if the rain lets us. I had heard there were a lot of fish that showed up down south of us, however only one of several captains I talked to had a bite out of them. They were super finicky possibly due to the full moon. 1 for 1
