Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got out for a 3/4 day today after the tarpon fishing in Islamorada, Florida Keys.  I had yesterday off and of course I heard the word that fishing was actually good for several guys around town yesterday.  We’d been picking away but it’d been a struggle to get a bite or two as of late.  I caught some fresh mullet early and put a good effort into getting ample bait to start the day, and we got out around 7 AM.  We hit the bridges where I’d been fishing as of late and where I heard there was good action yesterday.  But today it was not the case (of course).  Didn’t see much activity up top sighting fish, marked a few fish around the bridge itself laying on the bottom.  We gave it a good 45 minutes but no action at all, then tried out on the bayside where we had seen a fish roll but no love.  We did catch a few jack crevelle though.  The other two boats in the area left at that point as well.  I decided to bail and run out into the backcountry since we still had good time left being a 3/4 day trip.  We ran into a channel about 50 minutes away and checked it out, set up and within 5 minutes we had a nice tarpon on!  Not a huge one but a good 40 lber that fought well and we got boatside for some pictures.  After that we caught a small shark and then looked elsewhere as I hadn’t really seen any other signs of tarpon.  Next stop we caught a couple sharks, saw one tarpon roll on the tide change but no bite.  We then ran even further to catch the good start of the incoming tide off some of the mainland areas.  But no bites out there at all and didn’t see much, possibly marked a few swim under us but not really sure.  Continued with the run and gun and tried two more spots and fished them hard for about 20-30 minutes each, but no activity aside from another blacktip shark.  Got a couple phone calls from guys who stuck it out around the bridges and they said nothing was going on there, so at least I feel like we made the right move!  Glad to have gotten one, hopefully things will get easier here soon and a little more consistent.  Full day tomorrow I may make a run into the deeper ‘glades to see what’s going on way back there, I don’t think they have a specific target in mind so if it doesn’t happen may try some other things too.  1 for 1

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

Got out with Terry today for a half day trip.  The weather didn’t look great some big showers around.  But we ventured out anyhow.  Caught some bait early and went around the bridges.  Found a bunch of fish, but surprisingly they weren’t very interested in feeding.  We had a couple blow ups on our baits in the first hour, but no actual bite, and they didn’t come back after the first attempt.  Very strange!  It looked just perfect… overcast, nice incoming tide, and fresh bait, you can’t really ask for anything more.  Anyways the rain started to pour and we moved around.  The fish seemed to spread out and we found them closer to the bridge.  After another move we had a few rolling behind us and finally got one up boiling on a bait.  Finally he ate and Terry was hooked up to a nice 60 lb tarpon!  He put up a good fight with some nice jumps, took us through the bridge and into the bay.  We landed him and got some release photos.  Great fish and was glad to get one.  A few other boats shows up but I didn’t see anyone else hook up.  Just hard to beleive I’m not sure why the fish are so tough to get to bite as of late.  Anyhow after that we went and caught a few snappers by the bridge for lunch and headed on home.  Terry was thrilled to land a silver king!  1 for 1

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

Got out today with Jim and Bob for a half day of tarpon fishing in Islamorada.  The weather looked like it may be an issue but the morning would not be a problem to get in.  We caught some bait early on and headed out.  Found a load of fish at one of the bridges.  We had to move around a bit but there was a short window where they were active.  Quite a few cheap shots and misses but Jim hooked up a nice 65 lb fish.  Most the boats there probably 6 or so hooked up in that window.  We had to chase him through the bridge and cut a few fishermens lines that were fishing from the bridge, always hate the weekend when we must fish around town there, but luckily we got the fish!  After that we set back up and had a fish up chasing a mullet immediately, but he didn’t eat and then the tide slowed and it seemed like things just turned off.  We tried at another bridge and saw some fish but no love, and then tried up near home for the last 45 minutes and saw a bunch of fish there too but no action out of them either.  Glad we were where we needed to be when the gettin’ was good!  Full day tomorrow I’ll be running out into the backcountry as long as the weather allows it, rain is in the forecast for sure but today really didn’t end up being too bad even though it was suppose to.  Can never trust the weather man!  1 for 1

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