Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Well May is finally at a close and we finished with a good day of fishing.  It’s nice things have been much more consistent for me the last couple weeks fishing in the backcountry/everglades.  June should get better and last year that was my best month overall.  Anyways today we had a bit of leftover bait though tried to get a little extra first thing.  It wasn’t easy to come by I made several throws with my net but did managed to get another 8 baits at least.  We tried the channel where we found them good yesterday but didn’t see the big school of fish that was there on the day before.  There were a handful rolling around once in a while.  We fished through the tide change, then looked around a bit and set back up to try again, though didn’t have a bite.  The fish quit showing so I looked elsewhere.  Checked a couple other areas though I didn’t even stop as I was wanting to see visible signs of fish with as calm as it was.  Anyways we ran to another channel and I saw a free jumper so we set up near that.  Soon a fish was rolling behind the boat, we caught a few sharks then hooked a tarpon.  We got him on the leader though he jumped and threw the hook at that point, but a technical release at least.  A few more sharks after that.  We kept to our guns and looked for tarpon out off the beachs, though no signs of life, but we did get a big bull shark and nice lemon shark.  We ran back towards flamingo to try another area, though not much luck in there didn’t see any fish nor any bites.  Finally we tried the first spot again and we did see a few fish rolling again.  With my last couple baits we used the trolling motor to get in front of them, and soon after we jumped a tarpon.  Not what we wanted to happen but eventually we got lucky and got another bite, and finally got this tarpon to the boat to finish the day.  2 for 3

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Got out today with Bob and Bill down from North Carolina.  Tarpon was on the itinerary and we went off into the everglades fishing for them.  Had leftover bait though will be having to restock soon and will be tough with the glass calm weather and holiday boat traffic but hopefully can do it tomorrow AM.  We tried the first channel and saw some fish rolling there but no bites out of them.  Gave it a good hour and a a half as fish were rolling right by our baits but never a bite.  We did catch a couple sharks however.  After that we ran towards flamingo and tried an area where my buddy said he found some the previous day.  He was right before we came off plane we saw several tarpon rolling so we anchored up and got in position.  Soon we hooked a double header and both guys landed there fish though we only got Bills up for a pictures, little guy of 20 lbs.  After that we proceeded to get 2 more fish to the boat, 2 more on the leader before the jumped off, and another one we missed entirely.  Ended up catching five my best catch date so far this year!  I’m glad summer time is here this is my favorite time of year hands down nowadays for tarpon fishing.  5 for 7

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Had Jim, Jay, and Ruth Anne out again today for some tarpon fishing in the everglades.  We got out early and caught a little bit of bait on the way though the bait was a little tough.  Luckily we had plenty stashed away from the previous day to fish with but just have to try and keep on top of it for the next days sometimes too!  We set up in the same area we started yesterday and saw a few tarpon rolling and busting though not a ton of activity.  It was slick calm so I expected to see fish if there was a pack of them around.  Eventually we got a bite but he didn’t stick on the hook unfortunately we jumped him off.  A bit later Ruth Anne hooked one and we took off after him.  Unfortunately though he didn’t stay buttoned and came off after a wild jump.  Nothing anybody did wrong but sometimes tarpon just don’t like to stay on the hooks!  After that we ran caught a big shark and then ran out to try another area where there had been plenty of tarpon a few days ago though we didn’t see much this morning.  We did catch a few sharks though.  We ran the long way along the shoreline to flamingo to check for free jumpers or any signs of activity off the beach along the way, though didn’t see much.  I stopped at one area that can get very good in the summer and idled around for a few minutes but didn’t see anything worth stopping for.  We got to the channels in flamingo and the tide was still coming in hard so that was good.  We didn’t see much life but did see a couple tarpon roll and eventually had one behind the boat.  I thought for sure he’d eat and after 5 minutes, Jim had slowly lifted his line checking for grass and we saw a big huge boil as a fish got spooked.  I’m pretty sure that was him sniffing out the bait but just didn’t eat for whatever reason and then got spooked.  We did end up catching a big lemon shark after that and then it was time to head home.  Wish they were a little more cooperative but we had a couple shots at least and some fun with the sharks.  My trolling motor also had crapped out on me so time to send that in, luckily I have one in the shed that is suppose to be rebuilt brand new so just threw that one on there.  Back at it again tomorrow!  0 for 2

Capt. Rick Stanczyk