Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got out with return clients Zeb and Suzy today for a full day of everglades tarpon fishing.  We caught a bit of bait early and went right where we found them yesterday.  Today though was a different day, we didn’t see much early on but after a little driving around we started to see a handful roll.  We didn’t get any bites early on and probably moved half a dozen times where we had seen fish come up but they just didn’t want to play.  We eventually had one bite but unfortunately the fish jumped at us and didn’t stay buttoned and it was over before we knew it.  I talked to a friend who was out in another channel and he said it was similar for him they saw a decent amount of fish but never had a bite.  But at least the sharks kept us busy we had some big blacktips and big lemon sharks.  We ended up running out of mullet since fishing was tough we were using them up trying to make it happen, we went and caught some trout and ladyfish.  We then tried again the last hour with the fresh ladyfish and the tide coming in, but didn’t see any tarpon after that but got a couple more sharks.  Oh well as I say it is ‘hit and miss’ this time of year, I thought after yesterday morning being so good that today would be too we definitely had good conditions but the fish just weren’t happy.  I’m off tomorrow and then suppose to go out of town Wednesday but now we have to be in hurricane preparation mode for Irma which is possibly heading this way.  We will likely know for sure in the next 48 hours.  Anyhow we will be safe and hopefully back to tarpon fishing maybe sometime next week.  0 for 1

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

Got out with Taylor, Stacy, and John again today for our 2nd trip.  We blanked yesterday on the tarpon but had some good shark action and variety on the light tackle.  Today though conditions looked much better – no crazy storms in the morning to divert us away from fishing or to scare the tarpon away.  We found a good load of tarpon at our first stop, they weren’t there yesterday but like I said I think that was due to the storms.  Soon after we set up, John caught a nice 60 lb tarpon and did a great job catching him.  Stacy was up next and she got a nice little 30 lber.  Then it was dads turn, Taylor got the big boy a nice 90 lb fish, pretty large for this time of year!  After that things started to die down.  We didn’t see near as many fish rolling or splashing, we made a few moves where we had seen activity and had a few shark bites but that was it.  We left out after that and tried further west.  Didn’t see a whole lot but did see one tarpon jump and another roll, but no bites out of them but did get a nice blacktip shark.  After that we bent the light rods for a while with lots of trout and called it a day.  Glad we put them on the tarpon today after struggling yesterday.  This time of year though as I say it can be hit or miss, luckily they had two days to try!  I think John may be getting that fish mounted for his birthday too they make a beautiful piece of art of for the wall and we don’t have to kill the fish to do it.  Back at it tomorrow, then I’m off Tuesday as of now and out of town Wednesday, so if anyone wants to go Tuesday give me a shout it may be good!  3 for 3

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

Well slow season is officially here, I had 3 days off in a row and that hasn’t happened in some time.  Today I got out with Taylor, Stacy, and their son John.  Tarpon was the target.  Unfortunately we had some pretty bad weather when we headed out, it looked like we could get away from it and it might be alright in the backcountry, but by the time we got back there everything closed in on us.  Luckily we managed to stay dry and ducked into Flamingo until things passed.  We had to hang out there for close to an hour and then got out, fortunately I had some leftover bait from several days ago.  Tarpon fishing was very slow we did not see a tarpon all day.  We fished hard in the few areas I caught them the last day I was out, but never saw a roll or nothing.  We caught a few big lemon sharks, sting rays, and one black tip.  After the tide quit we tried another channel, and had one more shark bite that was it.  We decided to bend the light rods on the way home for the last 30 minutes, and caught plenty of trout, ladyfish, and a few jacks.  The weather I think fouled us up today, tarpon don’t like that lightning and thunder, I thought we’d see them after things cleared up but didn’t happen.  I have them again tomorrow hopefully everything will cooperate a little better!  0 for 0

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