Capt. Rick Stanczyk

12/6/2023 December Tarpon on a chilly Islamorada day!

Capt. Stephen got a nice tarpon yesterday fishing with my dad even though it was pretty cold! Normally cold weather kinda kills the tarpon bite though they got one fishing a pilchard in the backcountry for snook. You just never know! There have been a good amount of resident tarpon around and I bet when it warms up again tarpon fishing may be a viable option again. Capt. Trent got out a couple evenings ago too before this front came in and they hooked up with a couple tarpon on an evening trip though didn’t land either of them. Typically once February rolls around we start really somewhat expecting to catch tarpon again as it warms up in the spring. Though through the rest of this month and January, if it’s 80 degrees and the water gets into the mid 70s, it can be an option especially if we have the bait for it. I wouldn’t necessarily book a trip expecting tarpon, unless you are booking it last minute and we say the conditions are good and we have the bait. But if you are good to fish the conditions, the guys at Islamorada Tarpon Fishing are willing to give it a shot and put in the work if it seems feasible, so don’t be afraid to ask.

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

December 7, 2023 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk December Fishing Stephen Byrd

11/19/23 Capt. Trent on some juvenile tarpons!

Capt. Trent got out for a half day today with a father and young son for anglers. We recently have a crazy tropical system pop up out of nowhere last Thursday. Really intense the winds got up to 80 mph clocked at alligator lighthouse and we had torrential rain. I woke up and it legit sounded like we were in a hurricane at midnight! This of course did throw a monkey wrench in the fishing for a few days, as when the bay gets all stirred up like that it can make fishing a little tough. But in the bigger picture and the long run it’s a good thing as we get a lot of fresh water to help with salinity and heat, and the wind stirs up and moves around a lot of the dead sediment in the bottom that can hold toxins and pollution. Anyways that was 4 days ago but now things had a chance to settle back down. Trent found some pilchards for live bait and fished some local bay islands. The juvenile tarpon were happy he said there were quite a few stacked up there. They hooked several and landed two, and what a great catch for his 6 year old angler! They also got plenty of mangrove snappers for dinner and ended up extending there trip because they were having a good time! Great to see the fishing coming back strong after that storm. We have fairly good weather conditions for the forseeable future, a bit of wind in a few days but then back to the standard 10-15 of the fall. Larger resident medium size tarpon are definitely still around I know Capt. Steve was out the day after the storm and said that was a little tough but of course the day after you never know what you will find. But with water temps still hovering in the mid 70 degree range and a few more days for things to settle down, I’m sure they’ll be out and about this coming week. Capt. Trent has plenty of days open from now through Christmas and is offering a discounted rate too. If you want to book a trip please drop me a line or call the marina office 305-664-2461 and ask for Capt. Trent!

P.S. We normally do not boat tarpon though juveniles under 40 inches may be removed from the water for a quick picture before release.

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

11/13/23 Great tarpon action out back with Capt. Stephen!

Capt. Stephen ran a trip yesterday for a full day in the backcountry of islamorada in november. It was a nice day with 10-15 mph winds out of the east/northeast… typical fall breeze with slightly cooler air getting more of that northerly quadrant as it does. Water temperatures are still pretty warm near 78 degrees out in the backcountry which definitely isn’t too cold for tarpon! Steve said mullet were plentiful they caught a few on the way into the backcountry along with there well full of pilchards that they used for snook. Tarpon were in several areas as I reported the day before and I let Capt. Steve know that. He said sure enough they stumbled in to them right off the bat and had action out of fish right way, even hooking a double header! They landed one and got him on the leader though he broke off before they could get pictures handling him boatside. After that they hit some snook spots and did pretty well, then found some more tarpon in another channel. Sure enough these guys were happy to play and they jumped another tarpon and ended up landing another. This time the fish was nice and cooperative for a boat side release shot! After that they found some redfish when the tides peaked around some shorelines. Banner day getting a backcountry slam for each of his clients! As I’ve mentioned we may continue to have some good late season tarpon action here as long as the weather stays fairly warm. We’re getting some wind tomorrow with a weak front coming in, but temperatures aren’t suppose to fluctuate too much. So I think we may still have some viable shots at tarpon for a bit longer. Looking at the longer 7 day forecast after tomorrow it’s suppose to get nice again with some calm days over the weekend. I think that could be very good for that tarpon bite if anyone is looking to go… friday, saturday, sunday, and monday look really good from here. If you want to fish for tarpon let me know I’ll give you my honest opinion on it, and of course if I can’t take you and Capt. Steve does I’m working very very closely with him so we share all the details on what is biting where and when. Hope to get you out soon!

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