Well the boat traffic wasn’t quite as bad as the last two days thankfully today. But the wind was howling a gale. We left out early and I had bait leftover from the last couple days. We set up nearby and had the last trickle of incoming tide, I was hoping it would of been falling already but not the case. Difficult to fish with weak current going into the wind. Though we did jump a fish right away he did not stay buttoned, and another 20 minutes later we got the hooks in a big 150 lb tarpon. He fought hard going all over the bay and around markers and through the bridge eventually. Not many jumps he was slow and methodical, saving his energy. He went in between bridge pilings which got very interested. He did it twice and I had my anglers jump up onto the spacer between the pilings and ran the boat on the other side to pick him up and we were able to keep the fish on. We got leader on him though he was no where near ready to just lay over. Eventually we went back around the bridge pilings and got the line caught in some barnacles which we weren’t able to get out of so we never got a good picture of him. But a technical leader release. What a fish we will remember that one for a long time! 1 for 1
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
5/24/15 Islamorada Tarpon Report Late May
Got out again today, we had a PR trip promoting Bud n’ Mary’s. I had the travel editor of The Times UK and her son. They were not experienced fisher people but they enjoyed a very spectacular day. Conditions weren’t the best as it was a very busy memorial day weekend plus the winds kicked up 15-20 mph. That didn’t stop us though we stopped at the tarpon area I’ve been having success in the last week, and within 10 minutes we had a big 100 lb tarpon hooked up. We landed that fish and then ran into the backcountry to catch some dinner (trout and snappers). Pilchards came up in our chum so we caught a few of those and finished with a half dozen snook. What a wonderful day and was nice to get away from the crowds in the backcountry. It’s nice the last week to have gotten into a nice groove. As we progress into summer and the conditions stay relatively the same this can be a frequent occurrence, as there is less and less fishing pressure plus fish tend to stay in the same areas as weather doesn’t push them out. 1 for 1
5/23/15 May Tarpon Fishing Report Florida Keys
Got out early today to beat the memorial day weekend crowd. It paid off we landed 3 big tarpon in 2 hours between 6 and 8 AM. Had the last of the falling tide and bait from yesterday. We spent the rest of the day doing light tackle stuff – snapper, trout, and snook. It was a fabulous day and we didn’t have to spend time around all the weekend crazies! 3 for 3
