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Fun day with Jeff and Katie visiting from the Pacific Northwest. Tarpon was on the agenda so we gave it a go. Bait was a little tough but made it happen. Fished a different pattern as we didn’t see a lot later on the day yesterday. But today we found a big group of fish at day break ! Within 30 seconds we were on and Jeff caught a nice 30 lb tarpon. After that I thought it was going to be easy living, but they clammed up and it got tough! A few fish hung around but the catfish and sharks got bad, and soon it seemed to dry up. We checked a couple other nearby areas but didn’t see much. We worked out way to another area and found some more tarpon. Katie jumped one, and then a few more sharks. Jeff hooked up again to a 40 lber. This fish went nuts, we got it boatside and it ended up jumping in with us. Luckily we got it out quickly without much damage. Things seemed to quiet down again and made one more move. We got a crack on a last tarpon, this one was a nice 75 lber! Katie fought it well and we got it to the boat for a few pics before heading on home. Nice day with great people! Back at it tomorrow.  3 for 4

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

Fished a full day today and had Alan visiting from Louisiana to try and catch his first tarpon.  He’d tried a few times but hadn’t had any luck yet.  I’ve been off the last couple days, we had a lot of weather over those two days with some major storms blowing through Friday, and some again on Saturday and even early this morning too.  So I wasn’t sure what was going to be up with the fishing.  We caught bait early, it was pretty tough to get.  We checked multiple areas and just didn’t see a whole lot.  Finally we found a few in one spot, and after a few blank throws, we finally caught about 18 or so which was goo enough.  We ran back to where I was fishing last week with high hopes of a lot of tarpon being there.  Though today it was slim pickings.  We didn’t see a whole lot, maybe just a handful.  We set up and caught a few sharks, then we did hook up a nice 100 lb tarpon that Alan landed!  It ended up being the only one we got, but at least it was a big one probably largest I’ve had in the last month.  After that though things went quiet, we moved a couple times where we had seen fish, but seemed to be not much when we set up just some more sharks.  Eventually some more weather came through but dissipated.  We worked our way through the backcountry channels, fishing 3 more spots and looking in a couple others, but I don’t think we ever for sure saw another tarpon today.  I really think the weather over the last couple days must’ve pushed them around, as the last day I fished we had seen tons of fish.  I think it will get better as the weather stabilizes.  Looks like we have slick calm conditions possibly tomorrow, which should be good for them.  We’ll see what happens!  1 for 1

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

Fun day 2 with Dave, Jack, and grandad Wally. Winds were blowing a little which was a nice break from the steamy hot and calm. Little northerly so it felt nice in the morning with a touch of cool air. We caught bait and headed to tarpon land. Didnt see a whole lot but we just set up. Soon Dave was hooked up to a beast of about 100 lbs! We landed her, Dave went for the facegrab but the fish kicked him off and then broke free before we could get a good picture. After that Wally hooked a nice one that we landed, about a 65 lber still good size for this time of year, but again just not cooperative for a boatside picture. After that Jack had a couple shots and hooked a couple fish both of which we fought a few minutes before throwing the hooks. Things slowed down a little and we decided to do some jigging as the tide turned. Caught a few redfish and nice trout. Then we tried the poons again and caught one more for Wally that finally cooperated for a good picture. A few more sharks and it was time to call it a day. I’m off for a couple days and then back at it Sunday. Looks like we may have a bit of weather over the weekend but hopefully nothing too bad.  3 for 5

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