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Got out with Lance and his sons Black and Grant today and tarpon was on their list.  We caught a little bit of bait early and had some leftovers from a couple days ago.  Got lucky to get one throw and get 2 dozen mullet, we made a few more throws and came up empty!  Bait is a little tough on the mornings with falling tide right now… but thankfully I think Monday we will have some incoming for a few days and that’s been much better for bait catching.  Anyways the tarpon were not very responsive early on we found a good batch where they had been the last few days, but no bites we moved a few times and only got some bluefish and jacks.  We went up into a channel nearby and found a few more in there, though another boat had gotten lined up on them before us so we watched them get a couple bites but we couldn’t get anything going.  I decided to move on figuring it wasn’t gonna happen for us there so we ran out along the mainland to catch the start of the incoming tide.  The sharks have been horrendous out there, so I was hoping there’d be enough tarpon to make it worth while.  Luckily there was and we went through every bait we had dealing with all the little sharks, but we ended up landing two tarpon and jumping a few others off.  It seemed like every time we got a bite, you had to move to get away from the sharks.  So that’s what we did and it was pretty good fishing but it was a lot of work, though sometimes that is part of it!  Anyways Lance caught both fish I wish we could’ve got the boys each on one, but at least they had a few shots too.  Didn’t do much wrong just didn’t want to stay buttoned for us.  Oh well thats fishing and everyone had a great time.  Hopefully the fish cooperate tomorrow!  2 for 6

P.S. We normally do not lift tarpon out of the water for pictures, though if they are under 40 inches like the one pictures on the right, you are allowed to for a quick release picture.  We try to always support the belly and not hang them by their gills, not let them flop around on the deck too much wiping off slime, and make sure to revive them a little in the water if necessary.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
@richardstanczyk

Back to the grind after a nice 4th of july weekend getaway.  Got out with Tapani Hennrikson over from Finland today for some tarpon fishing.  We caught some bait early and I had a little bit of a stash from before I left that stayed in fairly good shape since somebody helped me keep them tendered.  We checked a couple spots where the tarpon were before I left and didn’t see much, caught a nice lemon shark.  We moved out to check one last area and found the mother load.  Fish were busting and splashing, and I marked several on the bottom machine.  We had about an hour of tide and we went to work.  Tapani hooked the first couple and landed them.  We then caught a couple more on the dead stick on the rod holder, even got the last bite on the slack tide.  All in all we landed four out of four bites, and then we finished the day trying to get a ‘mud marlin’ for Tapani.  We caught several big sharks and finally got the mud marlin at the end of the day, only saw his tail before he cut us off.  Hopefully the fish will stay put, I got cancelled tomorrow so I am available if anyone wants to go last minute!  4 for 4

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
@richardstanczyk

Got out with Alan and Angela over from Scotland today for a full day tarpon fishing charter in Islamorada.  We headed back into the everglades around the flamingo area to hunt for some tarpon.  They’ve been in some of the channels the last few days.  Caught some bait on the way and then hit the tarpon grounds.  The fish were there, not quite as many as yesterday, but good to see ’em first thing.  We had to move around a little bit, but after an hour or so Angela hooked a nice size 80 lb tarpon.   Didn’t think it was one at first, it was a very slow and methodical fight, but eventually he surfaced and then jumped and we knew it was him!  Alan took over after a while so it was a team effort but after 30 minutes we landed a nice fish.  We caught a few sharks after that and jack crevelles… nice big lemon shark and then a sting ray.  We then moved out a little ways to another area and saw a handful of tarpon still rolling.  Again after a few moves we hooked another nice fish not quite as big but probably a 50 lber.  Alan caught this one all on his own.  The tide slowed down after that and the fish seemed to as well.  We went to a different area entirely and found a handful of tarpon rolling but not a lot.  We moved several times trying to entice them, but only had some shark bites.  Landed several black tips, then we got a nice goliath grouper, and that was the end of our day.  Anyways glad to get a couple.  I’m out of town through the weekend then back at it on July 5.  Hopefully the fish stick around and stay happy!  I have a few days left open in July, it is still a GREAT time to fish for tarpon especially back in the everglades like I do… if you are looking to go this summer drop me a line.  August can still also be very good and that is wide open as of now.  2 for 2

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
@richardstanczyk