Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got out with Mike and his dad for a full day of tarpon fishing in Islamorada.  We crushed the bait early this morning so we had that going for us.  Strange weather with a southeast breeze that swung around to hard north mid morning then let up nice for the afternoon.  Weak front hitting us.  We found a few tarpon early at the bridges but it was busy their with 8 boats lined up.  We had our shots though and landed 1 nice tarpon but didn’t get any pictures as it was tough around the bridges and boats for me to get it.  After that we had a few more cheap shots but nothing stuck.  We waited on the long tide change and moved around to the other side of the bridge.  Had one more bite there and had a cuda eat us off.  We tried another bridge and found some tarpon there too.  Had one big tarpon flash our bait but didn’t want to eat.  We then found a big ball of bait and reloaded the well and set back up in our original area.  We had one more tarpon bite here but jumped him off quickly unfortunately.  After that not much else happened, several nurse sharks on the bottom.  But at least we got one!  Back at it tomorrow think I’ll be going out into the backcountry winds should be back into the northeastern quadrant.  1 for 3

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

Got out with Carl and Buck again for their final day.  We decided to mix things up as the boys wanted to try some everglades snook fishing too.  There had been some bait around for that so we caught some early on and then headed out back.  Tarpon fished early on and found a good load of fish but the sharks were horrendous tough to keep a bait out.  We found an area where the sharks weren’t as bad and Buck had a couple tarpon bites but both of them didn’t stay on the hook for us.  A few more sharks and then Carl got a nice 75 lb tarpon!  We got him to the leader several times but he broke off before we could get a boat side pic but a legal catch anyhow.  After that we gave the snooks a try.  Had a couple good bites in one spot but didn’t connect and then the next few spots were empty.  The south breeze we had is not my favorite for snook fishing most of the areas I like, it’s just tough with that on shore wind.  We were gonna give it up but we decided to try one last spot and that had some nice fish!  We caught several big mangrove snappers, and one big 10 lb snook!  We missed another 4 or 5 snook too, they were all big and just hard to keep out of the trees especially with the current ripping like it was.  But good fun anyhow and we got one to the boat for pictures at least.  Back at it tomorrow.  1 for 3

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

Got out with Buck and Carl again who fished with me the day before last.  We had a half day today fishing the local channels and bridges.  Winds let up a little bit light out of the southwest.  Not very strong tide.  Didn’t find a whole lot of fish the first few places we looked.  We found a few in one area where we tried but no bites.  Eventually got the call somebody was getting them at one of the other bridges.  We didn’t see much for activity on top but could see a few near the bridge.  We lined up and had to move around but eventually got a bite.  Carl had a nice one on but unfortunately he threw the hook.  We had the rod a little too much at a 90 degree angle and a little too much pressure on him.  We moved around again and this time Buck got one.  A nice 60 lber we had to chase around the bridge pilings for an exciting battle.  We got him to the boat several times but didn’t cooperate for a boat side picture, but an official catch none the less.  After that we didn’t get any more shots.  A handful of other fish were caught though one guy was lined up on them he caught a bunch.  But that’s how bridge fishing goes sometimes if you are the right boat in the right spot you can whack ’em, and everybody else has to watch!  Also can be annoying especially on the weekends with people fishing from the bridges too.  Anyways I’ll be back to my full day routine for the foreseeable future and fishing my usual areas.  The crowds seem to be dissipating back there thankfully!  1 for 2

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