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Gave the tarpon a try again today but definitely not our main quarry.  I had John and his son Andrew out and they wanted to try for a mixed bag.  We started out in the gulf with the spanish mackerel, that fishing was really good and all the action you could want.  It was a bit windy but not too bad for my boat.  The wind was howling north early and we then proceeded to the tarpon grounds after we finished up with the macks.  Tarpon were there for sure, we set up and put our gear out and fished hard.  No tarpon bites though but plenty of sharks.  The tide quit after about an hour and we decided to mix it up more and caught some triple tails, and got a really nice redfish in another spot for Andrew which was cool.  The wind had slicked off before this which was great as triple tail fishing isn’t very fun when it’s blowing 20 out of the north here.  We ran hard back to the tarpon grounds after that with the tide falling now and the wind having swung back to the southeast.  Didn’t see as much tarpon activity but we did see a few bust and set up in a spot.  Again though no more bites but we did get a big 100 lb blacktip for Andrew which was a great fight very similar to a big tarpon!  After that we called it a day and headed home, the boys were glad though they caught a bunch of fish and many different kinds.  A buddy of mine dedicated his whole day to tarpon in that same area, they did catch one and had another one on I know, so you really just gotta put your time in and a little bit of luck helps too.  But tomorrow night it’s suppose to drop back into the mid 60s and get slightly colder each night throughout t he weekend.   That’ll likely put the tarpon off for a while, as they aren’t super happy right now anyhow.  So it may be it for the year for me though I’ll likely give it a shot tomorrow if my customers would like to.  0 for 0

Got out with Rich and Luke Cromwell today.  We had a banner day catching all kinds of stuff including snook, triple tail, trout, cobia, and of course tarpon!  Figured it might be a little better today as the water was warmer and the winds were lighter and more out of the east.  We didn’t give it a shot until later in the day as I knew early on we’d have lame tide with a weak incoming.  We got their and found the tarpon still in the same area.  It wasn’t really easy we had to work at it and make several moves.  But after about 1.5 hours we finally fooled a nice 90 lb tarpon!  Luke fought him well and the silver king put on a good shot for us.  Lots of jumping and hard fighting.  We got him boatside after about a 30 minute battle, and he cooperated for nice pictures!  All in all a great day for Luke and his dad hopefully the fish will be as cooperative tomorrow.  Looks like we may get a couple more days of it staying just warm enough for a realistic shot at catching tarpon in december.  Friday night though another cold front back down in the 60s, and then it will get even colder the next several nights.  So that may be all she wrote for tarpon in our area until next year!  Will keep you all posted.  1 for 1

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

Got out with Mark and his sons Tyler and Steven today and we gave the tarpon a shot.  It was pretty good a few days ago before xmas as we had a warm streak.  Though last night a mild front came through and the temperatures dipped into the high 60s again… not too much of a change really but even a little bit can turn this fickle fishery (this time of year) off in a hurry.  We had a northerly wind in the morning, and the water temperatures did drop from the mid 70s to about 71.  We tried the tarpon early on and we did see a lot of fish, so they didn’t go anywhere.  But we had a weak tide and it took a while to turn.  Not much action to start with but after an hour or so the tide did start to move finally.  A few sharks, and we made 3 moves trying to get on hungry tarpon.  They really were all around us we saw a lot of fish rolling, busting, jumping, and marking them on the bottom.  But just wouldn’t bite!  The sharks did bite a little at least though.  We gave up after a couple hours and caught some mackerels in the gulf along with some tripletails.  We decided to try again in the afternoon as things warmed up slightly and the wind went more easterly.  I really thought they would bite a little bit then.  Though no luck the tarpon were still thick in the area, we must’ve seen hundreds of them.  But just not interested in eating any bait at least.  Plenty more blacktip sharks though and we called it a day.  Maybe tomorrow they will turn back on though we do have another front coming I think by the weekend, so we might get a couple more days of activity and that will likely shut it down.  0 for 0

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