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Got out with Brian, Elijah, and John today for a full day.  Tarpon and snook were on their list of species to catch.  We went after tarpon to start.  Bait was a little tough I had some leftover and we did find some back there but it was up shallow.  Tough to get lined up on them and they were spooky but eventually we got enough to fish with.  The winds kicked up a little today not crazy but not flat calm anymore, probably 10 to 15 southeast.  Also lots of rain around.  We found some tarpon where they were yesterday morning, but they did not respond today.  Just sharks and they tore us up!  We made a couple moves and then got out of there.  We tried another area for bait where I hadn’t been lately, we got a few more baits there but I think that might be good first thing in the morning so I will be trying that tomorrow as the bait was there but it was later in the morning now.  We then found some tarpon in another area and a couple other boats were set up there.  We pulled up in the middle of them and soon after hooked a double header of tarpon!  We landed both fish but Brians broke off before we could get both of them in for a double header picture.  But he got a good picture with his anyhow.  Elijah got his which was a little bigger, but both fish in the 30 to 40 lb range.  After that the tide quit and the fishing slowed down.  I decided to make a run and try to catch some snook bait, which we did and avoided more rain that was heading towards us.  We got a few snook baits and then hit a couple islands.  Brian and Elijah both caught a snook and we missed one more bite.  We then tried for tarpon again for the last hour but didn’t do much.  A few more sharks and catfish, did not see any more tarpon.  Anyways still a great day two anglers caught both of their desired species, just had to work a little harder at it to make it happen.  Winds suppose to come down a little more the next couple days and then pick up slightly for the weekend but not bad.  Fishing should remain decent!  2 for 2

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

Got out with Scott, Charlie, and Roger, return customers from last year today.  We headed out into the backcountry around 6, a little later than I’ve been going.  It was a group trip and there was a little miscommunication but no worries.  Luckily there has been some fish showing up closer in the backcountry.  Bait was my main concern.  A fellow captain though was nice and made an extra throw and gave us a few, and we got lucky and got a throw on about 40 nice baits ourselves.  Right now that extra few minutes getting their at day break can really make or break your day with regard to getting the bait…  It can be catching plenty of bait in a few minutes, or spending a couple hours trying to wrangle up just enough.  So make sure to always be there at the dock on time and double check departure times especially with guys like me who like to go early!  We found fish in the channel where we got them yesterday.  We got a good one to start a nice 60 lber.  Then the sharks found us.  We moved further down and got another one, about a 50 lber.  Tide quit and we waited, moved around a bit and more sharks.  Still saw plenty of tarpon.  We made a couple more moves but just never got the tarpon going again.  Funny because yesterday they were feeding hard on the incoming tide, today not so much.  Anyways we decided to go check some other areas, and we found some more tarpon.  We ended up getting one there, a nice 75 lb fish to finish our morning.  Seems like tarpon have shown up in a lot of different places.  I’ve been waiting for this – it’s my favorite time of year when things get consistent and it’s much more easy on me lol.  I imagine the next month or so we should have really good fishing and hopefully through into August which can definitely still be good too.  3 for 3

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

Got out with Chris and his son Thiago for a full day of tarpon fishing today.  I planned on the same routine as I’ve been doing the last couple weeks as it’s been working out well.  We headed out early, I thought weather may be an issue as thunderstorms were in the forecast, but luckily everything dissipated as we ran back and didn’t bother us.  We got back to the fishing area and where I’d been catching bait and looked around.  There had been acres of bait everywhere back there, but today it was a different story!  We didn’t see any of the big bait schools, a few little groups but nothing very catchable.  We tried and ended up just getting 1 bait.  I did have a few left over from yesterday and I could see the tarpon were in the area.  So we gave it a shot.  Unfortunately the tarpon didn’t respond, we moved a couple times and did catch a few sharks and rays, but no tarpon bites.  We looked a bit more for bait and then I decided to make my way back towards home and try some other areas.  We did find a bait school a little ways on the way back but they were very timid.  We got one decent throw and caught another dozen, but I didn’t think that would be enough to get the job done.  So we were planning on trying to catch some ladyfish when I was able to get ahold of my buddy.  He said he could give me a couple dozen baits and he had some luck with the tarpon earlier.  So we ran over to him and got the bait and then set up in a nearby channel.  The tarpon were pouring threw, more then I’ve seen in a long time!  The sharks were tough to deal with though and were biting our baits at a furious pace.  We got through and caught a tarpon though early on, and then moved around a got another one, so Chris and Thiago had both caught one.  My buddy came in and we watched him hook a triple header of tarpon!  We ended up jumping a couple more, and then moved over near where he was since he was leaving and Thiago caught another one.  Then we moved back there and finished the day with a nice double header of tarpon!  Wow what a day and that was all in the last couple hours alone.  Some times you get burned taking the long run and going the distance, it’s part of the fishing game.  And catching bait is part of it to and sometimes that is easy and sometimes it’s difficult or downright impossible.  But personally I’d rather go for the gusto where you stand the chance of having an epic fishing day for fish like tarpon.  Luckily today things fell into place where we had something to fall back on to, which sometimes isn’t the case.  But I think I’ll be sticking to some of these closer areas for now as more fish seemed to have moved in and it seems to be stabilizing.  Or if I decide to make that long run to at least have a little more bait stashed away.  Of course that bait may show back up when the west wind dies as it was still a bit out of the west today which often makes funky things like that happen.  Back at it tomorrow.  5 for 8

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