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Well we had a late cold front several days ago and I had yesterday off.  So I hadn’t really given the tarpon a try as my anglers have opted for action over sitting there waiting for a bite all day.  Unfortunately with these cold fronts, the backcountry waters where I’ve been fishing get a few degrees colder than the local Islamorada waters, and it’s far from the gulf stream, so it takes some time to warm back up.  For the most part the big schools of fish back there are spread out probably hiding in the deeper gulf waters waiting for it to get nice again.  There are some tarpon locally around islamorada that are a little less affected as the warmer atlantic is nearby, however they still aren’t super happy plus you have a bunch of boats out there being spring break.  Anyways we decided to mix it up today and we hit the backcountry first.  Put a nice catch together of about 15 redfish, 8 snook, a couple black drum, and maybe 20 trout.  Had to work at it a little the areas we fished were a little more affected by the ripping winds, but we made it happen.  We spent our last hour in town around Islamorada trying for a tarpon.  Did not see much, but the water did get up to 75 or so, definitely in the range to get a bite or two, but just did not happen for us.

Tomorrow and tuesday morning look nice and calm, so that may be a better window for the tarpon out in the backcountry.  Then we unfortunately have another cold front tuesday and wednesday night.  Not getting super cold but it’s not going to do the backcountry tarpon any favors.  So it’ll likely be good for snook/redfish/etc… but if you want tarpon, may be best to sit around the bridges and such.  We’ll see what my anglers want to do when the time arrives.  0 for 0

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

Mark and his son Andrew really wanted a tarpon. We knew conditions deteriorated big time yesterday with a late cold front and some hard north winds. We caught bait early on and decided to stick to the bridges, as the backcountry tarpon fishing likely will be very tough until things have a chance to warm up again back there. The bridges the water stays warmer near the Atlantic so the fish aren’t as effected. Anyways we found a few fish had several cheap shots on our live baits in the morning but no commitment. We fished hard and then things kinda died out. We made a move and then within about 15 minutes we hooked a nice 85 lber that screamed out line. He stayed on for us and we got a nice release next to the boat and plenty of pictures. It was all smiles and the boys appreciated the fish a lot and knew we worked hard for that one. Andrew was psyched to land his first tarpon! We fished some other channels for the last bit of time, saw a few tarpon there too but no love. We did catch a few nurse sharks, Jack’s, and a mutton snapper throughout the day as well. Anyways I think we will be focused on other things tomorrow, it’s suppose to stay chilly the next few nights. It’s time to fish your conditions!  1 for 1

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

Got out with Jack, Jake, and Chris for day 2.  Little windier today, northeasterly breeze it was kinda chilly back there and overcast.  We hit some areas first while we had the last trickle of falling tide for snook and such.  Nothing in the first stop, but the second stop we caught two nice snook, one redfish, and a handful of trout.  Good action and a little something different!  After that we saw some tarpon blowing up and decided to move in on them.  First area we saw some fish, but just didn’t seem to be a good concentration of them, so we moved around more.  Eventually we found a few more and could see a boat that had just hooked up.  We got in the area, and after 20 minutes or so Jake had a nice 65 lber on that we chased down and landed.  We moved again after that, and found a hungry pack of smaller fish.  We had a couple bites that picked up the bait and dropped it that I’m fairly certain were tarpon but didn’t see them.  But soon we hooked another and Jake had another 40 lb fish.  After that, Chris got one about a 30 lber.  We caught a few sharks in there too.  We tried another area where we had found fish later in the tide several times in the last couple weeks, but not much there today.  We did tango with some big giant sea mosnter sharks, but never got a look at any of them.  After that it was about time to head home.  Looks like we have a major weather change Tuesday, with a cold front and a lot of rain coming.  Not going to get super cold, but likely cold enough to slow down the backcountry tarpon fishing.  Unfortunately the water back there gets much colder as it’s so far from the atlantic gulf stream, and the air gets colder over the nearby mainland by 5 to 10 degrees often.  So I might be having to stick bridge fishing this week for those that want tarpon.  Hopefully by the weekend though things will have a chance to warm up.  3 for 3

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