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Fished a morning half again today.  The bite was on the slow side again the fish don’t seem very happy for whatever reason.  The wind had laid down nicely and good falling tide for most the morning.  Saw a few fish in 2 spots out of 5 that I fished again.  We caught 1 of 65 lbs or so right off the bat.  After landing him we went back and had another good zip that I think was a tarpon pretty quickly again.  I was licking my lips thinking it was going to be very good… but after that no more tarpon bites the rest of the morning!  We caught a big jack, sting ray, had a couple sharks on, and that was about it.  Though things should really warm up now as it is getting very calm and I think the fish will really start to pour into the channels, basins, and be moving along the shorelines.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Tarpon are still biting.  Yesterday we had a full day trip.  We went 1 for 3 in the morning around town here.  Several other boats in ‘the area.’  It’s that time of year anybody gets a whiff of where fish are biting and next thing you know there are a dozen boats there.  We went in the backcountry after that as fishing slowed down and too many boats around.  We caught another 1 out of 3 tarpon back there making 2 for 6 for the day.  We also caught a variety of sharks including lemon, blacktip, blacknose, and nurse.  Today fishing was tough we had a morning half day.  We only had 1 for sure tarpon bite that we caught thankfully and 1 other fish boil on a boat but not eat.  I talked to several other guides and reports were similar from at least half a dozen other boats – a bite or two if you were lucky.  Not sure what happened the fish just didn’t seem happy I only saw a handful roll and fished 5 different spots.  The one fish we caught a couple boats saw us fighting him and ran and fished right where I was anchored previously meaning I had to leave the spot after… this time of year gets ridiculous with the out of town guides/weekend warriors.  Please if your fishing and boating down here show some respect to those that live and work here full time trying to make a living!  We also got ran over while fishing later in the day by another boat and a jet ski tour, idiots will drive right over your lines.   Oh well thats my venting for the morning at least we caught a nice fish and I got some great pictures.  More tarpon fishing the next couple mornings stay tuned for the report.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Well more fish continuing to show up locally around local islamorada.  We had some fresh live mullets from yesterday afternoon and I bought a few more while out on the water.  We had the last of the falling tide this morning in the channels.  Action was pretty instantaneous out there and was heavy for the 1st hour.  We caught one tarpon right away of 40 lbs or so.  We had a couple other bites one fish we had one for a few seconds and anglers did not bow in time and he threw the hook.  Another bite we missed entirely.  A few more ‘cheap shots’ and nervous baits.  After that action slowed down a bit we hooked another fish at the beginning of the incoming tide that screamed out some line.  We slowly chased after and had another fish trying to eat the other bait so I tried to wait for the double hookup.  Unfortunately with the hard southeast wind and in tide the weed was very thick in the channel and we got a lot of weed on the line and the hook just pulled on the other fish without even a jump, which is unusual but oh well.  After that I purchased a few more live mullets and we tried another channel but the weed was too bad, we went back to where we first were and anchored in a different area.  It was much more fishable for the most part with a few patches of weed to worry about here and there.  We caught a fish on dead bait, nice fish of 80 lbs or so.  Then we went back and after another 30 minutes or so before it was time to come in we hooked a nice 100 lber.  Chased him to the bridge and got the leader on him a couple times but he got in the hard bridge current and we broke him off which was just as well as he would of been a long time to get a good picture of!  Anyways 3 technical releases of 6 real bites plus other ‘cheap shots’ and great action on live mullets!  Great half day morning tarpon trip.  Tomorrow I have my anglers from yesterday we are going in the backcountry, maybe see if the tarpon are getting happier there too!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk