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Day 2 with Ronald we were after tarpon again.  Yesterday we struck out we had one shot all day and we missed it unfortunately.  Today we left early and I obtained some bait yesterday afternoon, but we also came across a good school of bait on the way out and made some throws on that as well.  We ran for the deep ‘glades hoping for glory, but we got there after almost a two hour run and… nothing!  Did not see the schools of tarpon that were there a couple days ago.  We looked around hard, fished a bit, but no love.  We had to backtrack then and I was feeling the pressure.  But we got lucky and found a load of fish in one of the canals!  Usually these guys are fairly hard to get to bite, but there were just sooo many that I figured we’d just put the time in and see what happened.  Plus we didn’t see many anywhere else yesterday in the backcountry.  Not much action at first with the last of the incoming tide.  But we moved around and found a big school in another area.  I was almost about to start trying to catch some smaller baitfish that may of worked better for them, but they weren’t catchable yet, so we waited.  Once the tide started falling we got bit!  We got one to the boat that didn’t stay on for pictures, then missed another.  Then we caught one that was good for pictures!  Not huge guys but both 20-30 lbers.  We then went to another area and got another 20 lber, and had one eat a live mullet but didn’t get the hooks in him.  Anyways what a great flurry of action and awesome landing three tarpon after a couple days where fishing was very tough!  3 for 5

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Well it slicked out today and I thought it was going to be one of those epic days…  But not so for us!  I had Ronald and his wife and we ran out into the backcountry.  They got their a little later then I had wanted to I changed my plans a bit but figured it’d still be a good bet.  But there were just not many fish at all out back anywhere… I think they must’ve moved out to spawn or something.  We checked quite a few areas, and I was in touch with several other guides too.  Only saw a handful of fish in a couple spots, and when I say a handful I mean just two or three!  We did have decent shark action at least, and got a nice triple tail on a GULP shrimp while waiting for tarpon.  We finally got one bite in the last hour of the day, though unfortunately it didn’t stay buttoned and spit the hook and bait straight away.  Another boat my buddy caught one next to us just before that.  Anyways hard fishing with perfect conditions.   I heard there were a lot of fish locally around town, but everybody said they were acting funny and not biting well either.  Doing the daisy chaining, all balled up looking like they were getting ready to spawn and such.  Anyways hopefully it’ll get better in our areas soon.  I have the same crew again tomorrow we are planning on the early departure, might make the long run to see if those fish are where they were yesterday!  0 for 1

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

5/5/18 – Got out today with Jesper over from Denmark.  Didn’t know if we’d make it out we got the remenants of an early tropical system that formed out in the atlantic.  Lots of rain early on.  But we made it out and did get a little wet but not too bad then it got real nice.  The tarpon were pretty thick around the bridges early, we caught one pretty much right away on the last trickle of the tide.  But one of those catches where we got him near the boat on our wind-on leader right away, then after we pulled on him for a few minutes he surged and the hook pulled.  So a technical catch but no picture which Jesper really wanted.  After that the tide slowed and took a long time to change, boats got crowded.  We moved around and got one bite on a live bait that we missed and that was about all she wrote.  We tried a few other areas and saw some tarpon, but it got very calm, with clear water and sunny skies and they were just not wanting to feed.  But glad we got him one at least hopefully next time we can get some pictures!  1 for 2

5/6/18 – Today I was with Mark and his son Andrew.  We made a long trek into the everglades.  South wind not cranking but I don’t normally like that direction, and wanted to get away from the crowds being the weekend.  One certain area on a south wind can be good because it is protected back there, and I had good fishing there last week one day.  But it is a bit of a gamble as it’s a long run and if the fish aren’t there you have to run back a good ways for your second move sometimes.  But the guys were willing to try it and it paid off.  We had to look around a bit, but we found a good school of fish.  Lots of little guys showing, we jumped off a couple after a bit that didn’t stick on the hook.  Them Mark got about a 120 lber, big fish!  After that Andrew got an 80 lber.  Then a few sharks and the tarpon seemed to move on after about 10:00.  Sometimes that is an early morning thing and luckily we got there early!  We finished the day catching a snook and tried a few other spots but not much other luck.  2 for 4

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing