Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got out with Darrel again today for the last day.  We opted to leave early again and got out on the water at 5 AM.  Stiff north wind this morning and it shuffled the deck on us.  Fish were not in the spot they were yesterday we made a couple drifts there and then looked elsewhere.  We found them though in the next spot, near the end of our drift their we hooked a nice fish of about 100 lbs.  Darrel landed him quick though he popped off on the leader before we could get pictures.  After that it was getting to be light and we saw some fish roll.  We made another drift and got another bite though missed him.  After that things quieted down and we moved to the next channel over.  I hadn’t caught a fish in this channel yet this year though had seen them here a few times.  Anyways we saw plenty of fish roll on our first drift through.  We set back up and near the end of this drift Darrel hooked another pig a big 130 lb fish.  He never jumped at all and just stayed low we pulled on him a while before he finally surfaced and rolled.  Nice big fish.  Anyways he saved his energy and dragged us over a mile offshore near some patch reefs.  We landed him finally and got some good pictures.  Anyways a great morning was glad we got out early again!  2 for 3

Also last night we went and had it honking out of the west 25 mph.  We fished the oceanside where it was calmer and found some fish rolling.  It was ripping though the current looked like the Mississippi delta rolling out at 5 knots.  Anyways we got lucky and hooked a nice fish in the first hour that Bob landed.  After that things slowed down we saw a couple other boats catch fish.  Finally at 7:30 we had another bite we missed, then soon after hooked another and Bobs son Matt landed his first tarpon a nice little 40 lber.  Called it a night after that was very glad to get them 2 as they had fished that morning with someone else and had a slow morning not catching one.  2 for 3

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Had Darrel Brock out the last two days and have him again tomorrow morning.  Yesterday we fished all day around town locally and it was tough.  Saw a handful of fish caught but we never had a sniff unfortunately.  I tried in the morning and we moved several times, watching fish roll all around us but couldn’t get them to respond.  Late morning I went and stocked up on some more bait and we tried a few more areas.  No luck however we caught a few little sharks and that was about it.  So today I took him super early we fished 2 AM to 8 AM.  I normally don’t do the middle of the night thing but have had to resort to it a few times this season since the fishing has been so unpredictable during the day.  Luckily we left when we did we had good fishing until about 4 AM, having 5 bites and landing 2 fish.  After that the wind swung from south to west/northwest.  The fish just didn’t like it I moved a half dozen times and tried multiple different drifts, baits, etc…  We saw fish rolling around us in almost every area and just not very happy.  I spoke to another captain who fished that night and he said the same thing they had a few bites early on and then nothing.  Anyways glad we left when we did I always try my best to put my customers on fish.  I’m fishing an evening trip tonight will have a report for that probably tomorrow, and again tomorrow morning with Darrel we will be fishing from 5 to 9 AM.  I am open sunday night for a trip and tuesday evening as well.  Tides look favorable going into sunset the next several nights so may be a good time to go.  If you are looking to go drop me a line if I can’t take you I can recommend someone for sure!  0 for 0 and 2 for 5

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Tarpon fished again today with Nick, Craig, and Steven.  They fished me a couple days ago and we had landed a couple tarpon.  Nick still needed to land one.  Unfortunately it didn’t happen for us today.  I caught us some fresh lively bait first thing this morning.  Fishing was very slow I never saw anyone catch or even hook a fish all morning.  We tried several of the bridges, with boats around most of them.  Saw plenty of fish at the last two stops, though they were just non-responsive.  We ended up fishing up around town locally the last couple hours.  Saw a few fish in a channel and set up and we did finally get a bite, though he didn’t stay on for us we jumped him off.  Anyways tough fishing the water is still cold 75 degrees or so.  The el nino late winter is really killing us this spring with the day time tarpon bite, the fishing is just very slow.  Sometimes you get lucky and get in the right spot at the right time and may get a bite or two, but all the usual tricks that get them to respond are just not effective.  Anyways a day off tomorrow for some service work and then I have the same client for 3 days over the weekend.  Gonna try and talk him into going late at night as my schedule permits me to do it and I have him multiple days so I can adjust accordingly.  I don’t like fishing in the dark, but with the way it’s been I am going to do what I have to do.  We did have good luck the last several nights I fished last week!  0 for 1