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Fun day with Dan and the boys down from Minnesota. Dan often dishes with me earlier in the spring but decided to shoot for April this year. Of course the weather patterns are different and we had nice calm weather earlier in February and March and are now getting the hard southeasterlies and some late fronts, but you can never predict it. Anyways we has good fishing, getting two tarpon to the boat and a third one to the leader before he popped off. Also a few big blacktip sharks. After that we caught our limit of Mangrove snappers for dinner. We then had a couple more hours to play with so we tried bonefish fishing. Caught a bunch of bonnetheads in one area that looked very lively, surprised no bones. Tried a couple other spots but not a sniff there. Anyways still an overall great day despite some windy conditions. I’ll be at it again tomorrow in search of silver!  3 for 3

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

Worked hard for 1 today. Had return customer Carl and his buddy Larry. We found some fish early on to start. Looked really good too with a fair number showing. We set up and after 30 minutes or so had a player. Nice fish around 100 lbs for Larry, his first tarpon. Good battle almost 45 minutes. Afterwards though, someone flipped the switch and the tarpon for the most part seemed to have vanished. We worked around and saw a handful more but no bites. Caught a few sharks afterwards though. We checked a few more areas and did not see a whole lot. For the time being seems like the bridges may be a better bet for those after strictly tarpon. If the winds lay down though the backcountry should get better. Unfortunately doesn’t look like that is happening until possibly the end of the week for a couple days. Also looks like another weak front mid week and possibly some rain and hard west wind. Not what we like in April! 1 for 1

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

Tougher fishing today winds cranked 20 to 25 mph, though was forecast to be 10 to 15 mph. I had Joe who fished with me back in February and his dad Joe. We were after a tarpon for Joe Sr. Ran out back and tried a few areas where they had been. But very muddy though we did see a handful of fish. First stop no bites however, after an hour or so we hooked a big blacktip. After that we moved on and tried elsewhere. Didn’t see much not the big packs of fish that were around a few days ago when it was nice. We did see a handful though and moved around, gave it a hard effort but alas no cooperation. Did catch a couple more sharks and them the tide quit. We gave it a bit longer and then decided to bail and try other things. That’s what I love about the backcountry there are often other good options nearby. We had some shrimp and a few bigger live baits left over from the last few days. Worked a few areas and ended up catching 5 very nice snook in the 6 to 9 lb range and lost one other monster. After that we tried my redfish hole as the tide was getting right. First cast another very nice snook! Then we waited it out and gave it a little extra time as we had left early in the AM. But ended up catching a dozen or so redfish and a few other odds and ends. Not bad for tough conditions and having to go to plan B half way through the day. Tomorrow the wind forecast is roughly the same but anyone’s guess how accurate that will be.  Just decided to cancel our trip for tomorrow so I’ll be taking my dad instead fun fishing, not sure what we’ll get in to!  0 for 0

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