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Got out with Chester and Reuben today again.  We gave it a shot in the backcountry today after having spent all yesterday around town.  It was nice and calm in the morning, light breeze out of the north, but kicked up pretty good mid day out of the east on the way home.  The water was still pretty chilly, in the low 70s, so I figured it may not be great fishing but we gave it a solid effort.  We caught some snappers in the morning for dinner and that was good, then tried for tarpon.  We didn’t see much way off the mainland areas… I looked in several spots and finally just happened to mark something, wasn’t sure if it was a tarpon or not, on my bottom machine.  After 20 minutes or so Chester hooked and landed a nice 40-50 lb tarpon, so maybe it was what we saw!  We never had another bite, not even a shark there.  We tried a couple other areas, but not much else was going on, we caught a couple blacktip sharks and a stingray.  Anyways all in all it wasn’t too bad, always a good day when you get a tarpon, and some other stuff too.  I had heard the fishing around town today was pretty slow, so glad we made the run.  Hopefully things get better it should slowly be warming up though the wind is going to be howling so it might take a little while.  1 for 1

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Got out with return client Chester and his nephew Reuben.  Tarpon were the target though we had tough conditions with the cold front hitting last night and it was blowing 20-25 out of the north this morning, though winds subsided mid day and got fairly nice in the afternoon.  Water temperatures however did dip and got down to 73 degrees in some areas we fished.  We ended up catching a nice tarpon early at the bridge, we had another bite on a live bait too as well as some ‘cheap shots’.  We also caught a nice mutton snapper on the bottom.  After we landed the fish though it was more or less over with, we had a couple other cheap shots fishing under the bridge, but then the tide quit.  We went and caught some more mullet and then fished a different area.  We didn’t see much though did see one bust that looked like a tarpon crashing on something.  We sat for a bit and eventually hooked into another tarpon!  We landed him and then ended up fishing the rest of the day trying a few other areas, but not much luck.  Was glad to get a couple fish though on a day that could’ve been tough for a lot of people I imagine with the weather change.  Tomorrow I have the same crew, I think we are doing some meat fishing though may give the tarpon a try for an hour or two.  2 for 3

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Got out with Buck and Carl today and we had some nasty conditions.  It was blowing 20-25 out of the north with a cold front that hit last night, and it’s suppose to get even colder tonight down into the 50s!  Awful late in the year for that but oh well.  Anyways we knew fishing would be tough but we gave it a good go.  Our first bait in the water at the bridge Carl hooked a nice 65 lb tarpon!  It was a mission getting the boat spun around into the wind and towards the bridge, while the tarpon was going crazy and the line was rubbing against the bridge pilings!  We got through and after the tarpon and then had to go around and cut off a couple of peoples lines that were fishing from the bridge because they didn’t get their lines out of the way so that was interesting.  Anyways we landed the fish and the boys were thrilled!  After that things slowed down we tried a couple other spots, and then decided to do some rod bending.  The mangrove snapper bite was pretty good we caught some nice size ones around the islands.  In the afternoon we tried tarpon again with the falling tide the conditions got much nicer as the tide and wind were together.  We didn’t see much for tarpon at either bridge so we ran towards home to try a channel there.  We caught a bonnethead shark, a big jack crevelle, and then finally a nice 35 lb tarpon for Buck!  A great way to end the day it was nice to catch a couple on a tough day.  2 for 2

Capt. Rick Stanczyk