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Forgot to do my report yesterday but here it is for the 24th.  Fishing was very good we caught bait in the morning it took a few throws but managed 3 dozen or so.  We go to the channels and tide was rolling in pretty good.  Nice clean water and a light north easterly breeze.  Fish were happy we hooked a big ray off the bat and caught him, then a nice tarpon.  We ended up catching four tarpon in all, with three of them being 75 to 100 lbs!  Very big fish for this time of year and nice to see.  After that we ran and tride some shoreline areas and saw a few small tarpon rolling but no bites, but we did get some big bull and lemon sharks, and a nice snook.  Great day back there on this day!  4 for 5

On the 25th I was hoping for more of the same… we left out early and ran towards flamingo in the everglades to tarpon fish.  Wind had swung around more southeast today, it had been north/northeast the last few days which was pleasant.  Bait was very tough we have the last of the falling tide in the mornings and that has been very poor for bait fishing the last few weeks.  Luckily I had a couple dozen baits stashed away from the other day.  But I did check a couple areas and did not see much for mullet, made a few throws and came up empty.  Anyways we ran to the channels after that and the tide was slack getting ready to start coming in.  I saw a few tarpon rolling around and we set up.  We started fishing harder once the tide got moving 20 minutes later.  Tarpon were very finicky today they did not want to bite, had rollers near us and moved around 3 times before finally getting a bite after an hour and a half.  We landed a nice 65 lb fish and then set back up.  The grass got really bad in the channel and I had to move around again near one of the edges, we fished a little while longer but we were no longer seeing fish so I moved to another nearby channel.  We only had a half dozen baits left but we fished conservatively and after 45 minutes or so I saw a fish roll down the way.  A few minutes later with our last bait out we hooked one and landed another smaller tarpon about 40 lbs.  That was right about time to go was glad to get a couple on a day where somebody had flipped the switch off.  Even the sharks were tough we had a couple shark bites but both cut us off.  Anyways taking tomorrow off and then I have thursday and friday booked, then nothing for a little while.  Getting to the end of season and I feel like I need a little break!  2 for 2

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

More tarpon fishing today I had a half day scheduled and wasn’t sure what the target species was going to be.  My customer Doug and his father had been out the day before tarpon fishing without much luck so they were originally wanting to do some rod bending.  However I told them it was still a far run to get to decent fishing this time of year even for simple rod bending, so they discussed it and decided to just do the tarpon thing again.  We ran back towards flamingo and fished some of the channels where the fish had been the last few days.  Caught the start of the incoming tide and fishing was good.  First we had a couple big rays on.  Next we hooked a nice 40 lb tarpon we landed from the dead boat, very nice for them to get one!  Then we hooked another tarpon of about 60 lbs that made several good runs and jumps, we had to chase him down for a little while.  After that we caught a couple sharks, a big lemon shark and a big blacktip shark.  We moved a little further down the channel for the last 30 minutes and jumped another tarpon, then soon after hooked another big fish of 80 lbs.  We landed him and that finished our morning.  Normally it is tough to do a half day trip back there as half your trip is just running back and forth, though since the islamorada tarpon fishing has been consistently good lately back there and I knew we wouldn’t have to wait on a tide change or anything, I thought it was worth the risk.  And it paid off!  Full day tomorrow will probably be hitting the same thing again in the early morning.  Not much on the books for next week we are definietly getting into ‘off season’ and not sure what this hurricane is going to do, but if you are in town and looking to go catch a silver king, lemme know!  3 for 4

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Went out with friends and family today for a few hours.  Mullet were thick we netted a bunch and stockpiled some for the next couple of days.  Tomorrow is just a half day so may not be tarpon fishing but we will see.  Anyways had incoming tide all morning back around flamingo.  Found some fish in the channel they were in the last couple days.  We got in the action pretty quick and  caught a couple nice ones, one of 40 lbs or so, and another about 90 lbs.  The 90 was definitely a big fish to see this time of year!  After that we jumped one more off about 45 minutes later as the tide started to slow.  We checked out off the beach to the west after that with the start of the falling tide, though did not see much for tarpon we only fished for 30 minutes or so.  Caught a couple sharks and a big jack and called it a day!  2 for 3

Capt. Rick Stanczyk