Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got out with Jeff and his son Jefferson today.  Tarpon was on their list and young Jefferson hadn’t caught one before.  Winds were blowing out of the east thankfully, no more south/west!  Though it was a little breezier than I like but not too crazy.  We headed out early and caught a few baits on the way.  With the last of the incoming tide early, bait should be much easier the next week or so first thing.  The fishing was a little tough, we found a few tarpon in one of the channels where they had been swarming last week, though last time I was there they had disappeared a couple days ago.  We got a bite after 20 minutes and caught a nice 100 lb fish!  After that we caught a few sharks, including a nice little hammerhead.  We ran out off the mainland later on after about 4 different moves with no more tarpon.  We caught the start of the incoming tide, and the sharks bit well but no tarpon.  Some big blacktips kept us busy and a large nurse shark.  Was happy to get one, hopefully the fish will show back up soon once the full moon goes away.  1 for 1

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Got out with Matt, Steve and Augie today.  Part of a big corporate group trip.  We focused on tarpon.  Had some leftover bait from yesterday and caught some early as I didn’t leave until 7 AM, didn’t see a whole lot of catchable bait out back though there was some if you really needed to scrap a few together.  The tarpon were few and far between, nothing in the first couple channels we fished where they had been pretty consistent the last week.  Hardly even any sharks!  After our 4th move we hit another channel, and sat and waited.  We had a fish free jump behind the boat when the tide started in which gave me some hope.  After another 10 minutes, I marked about 10 fish going by and told the guys to get ready.  A few minutes later, Augie hooked a nice 30 lb tarpon we landed.  After that things dried up.  We caught a few blacktips, then caught some trout and ladyfish for fun, and finished up with a big lemon shark.  Got booked for tomorrow, not sure what we are doing but we should start to have the nice incoming tide early in the backcountry, which makes bait catching a whole lot easier.  Hopefully as the wind swing back to the east and we get off the full moon, some fish will settle into the channels back there.  1 for 1

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Last day with Chris and Paul today.  Yesterday we cancelled due to foul weather.  Today it wasn’t as rainy, but the winds were howling at 25 mph southwest…  We did some light rod action first and then tried for some tarpon locally close by.  Didn’t see a whole lot and never had a bite, we saw one boat catch a fish out of about 15 or so that we had ended up fishing near in the 3 spots we hit.  Anyways I was hoping we’d at least get one, but all in all the guys had a great trip, catching 12 tarpon in the 4 days they fished.  They got to see the good and the bad.  Tomorrow I have a full day with a group trip, not sure exactly what we’ll be doing.  Saturday I actually had planned to take off, but since I got a day off yesterday I’ve opened it up.  So if anyone wants to go fishing on Saturday drop me a line, looks like conditions will be much better than today!  0 for 0

Capt. Rick Stanczyk