Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got out for a 3/4 day today for tarpon with Tom and Rich.  We headed out early and made our way back into the everglades.  Caught some bait on the way found it in a spot that was a little easier then the last few days.  Hopefully they will stay there!  We looked around where we had caught a couple tarpon yesterday and didn’t see much.  I didn’t really want to stop unless we saw signs of them as that’s proved to be better opportunity as of late instead of just sitting and waiting in a spot.  Anyways we rode around a bit and didn’t see a whole lot where they were yesterday.  But I figured they were close by.  After a little investigative work we stumbled across them.  We got eaten up by sharks first thing though, and then finally when I was about to move we hooked a nice tarpon of about 40 lbs!  He stayed on and we got a good fight out of him.  When we released that fish, then all of a sudden we were surrounded by tarpon!  Just so exciting when that happens.  We ended up catching another one, and then hooked a double header!  One of those came off though, but before we landed the other one we hooked another.  This one stayed on so we were able to land both fish for the double officially!  Been getting a few doubles lately it’s that time of year for sure.  After that we jumped off a couple more fish and then things died down aside from the sharks.  We decided to do some light tackle stuff after that and caught a bunch of nice sea trout.  Anyways a great day nice when things just work out as planned.  Fishing is really good right now and as I keep saying I expect July will be a very good month for the tarpon.  It’s my favorite time of year and a lot of times the fishing is like clockwork – the weather is stable and warm with light winds, there aren’t a whole lot of other guides fishing, and the fish get in very predictable patterns.  If you are a fishermen then there is no better situation to be in then that!  I have the next couple of days off then back at it Friday, but I may go fun fishing Thursday with my dad and try a few different things.  4 for 7

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

P.S. Again we only lift small tarpon under 40 inches out of the water for pictures, big tarpon you are not allowed to do so with.  We lift them quickly by the mouth and belly, get a picture, and put them back in head first to swim away unharmed.  Trying to make sure not to drop them or wipe off too much slime.

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