Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got after ’em again today.  I had Greg fishing with me down from Minnesota.  Winds were howling 30 mph out of the east and it  was a little rough but nothing my seacraft couldn’t handle!  We caught a little bit of bait this morning it was good to see a few around after striking out yesterday with the mullet early in the morning.  Anyways we broke the day up, mackerel fishing again in the morning.  That was good fishing and plenty of action.  I had trouble getting my anchor to hold it was so windy and rough, but I was able to stay on spot with my trolling motor which saved us out there and let us get our fishing in.  Then we had to take the long route to the backcountry channels to not get beat to death and sprayed in the big waves.  We finally got back there around 11 and fished for 2 and a half hours.  Several large blacktip sharks were landed and we jumped 1 tarpon off and then landed one at the end.  I fished some channels I hadn’t yet tried this year and it was good to see some fish there.  Looks like it will continue to be windy throughout the week at least, but there are some fish around and you can usually get a few shots in a day of fishing.  1 for 2

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Got back out and did a some tarpon fishing today.  Bait was difficult we didn’t find any in the early morning and I looked a few other places on the way out and didn’t see much.  Wind kicked up hard out of the north though temperature didn’t drop.  Anyways we had some leftover bait from yesterday thankfully.  We spent the morning catching mackerels and pompanos and that was good.  Around 10:00 we made our way back into the glades and fished off the mainland where the fish were yesterday.  Today it was very muddy and windy though, we didn’t see much for fish though wouldn’t expect to in those conditions.  We caught some sharks, bulls and a big lemon.  Though eventually we did see a tarpon roll behind the boat.  A few minutes later we jumped him off about 5 feet behind the boat.  We caught a few more sharks and then finally before we were about to make a move, we hooked another tarpon.  This one stayed on and we were able to chase him down and get him to the boat though he jumped and threw the hook next to the boat.  We were able to get the leader to the tip of the rod however for the technical release.  Anyways not bad for the terrible conditions.  It looks like it will be pretty windy for the next several days.  Tarpon fishing will likely be tough as the water won’t have a chance to warm up. Though there are some fish around you just have to put your time in.  I have a trip tomorrow so we will see what it has in store!  1 for 2

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

3/4/16 Today we did a mixed bag trip, it was myself and another boat for a group party.  In the morning we mackerel and tripletail fished, it was very productive.  Mid day we put the tarpon/shark gear out.  We did see some fish in the backcountry channels and moved around a few times trying to get in front of them, however we had no bites from the tarpon.  Plenty of small blacktip sharks though to keep busy.  We later tried around town again where I had found some fish the day before, however the tide was pretty slack and we saw no signs of life.  I fished 3 different spots and did not see any, however as stated we hit the tide at a bad time.  However we had a great day overall still catching plenty of other stuff.  The tarpon fishing isn’t quite good enough yet to dedicate the whole day to it, in my opinion!  0 for 0

3/5/16 Today we did a similar plan as yesterday.  Mackerel and tripletail in the morning followed by fishing the big rods out back again.  I tried a different area for the big rods and we found some various sharks – bulls, lemons, and blacktips.  In the distance I could see some busting and rolling tarpon, so after an hour we moved out in that zone.  We had to move around a couple times, but eventually we got in front of some happy fish and had a couple tarpon bites within 10 minutes of each other.  Unfortunately neither fish stayed on the hook for us, we caught a few more sharks.  We moved around again and we were able to hook and land a nice 50 lb tarpon plus a few more sharks.  After that the wind switched to due west and the tide slacked, which was kind of the end of our day.  But happy to get a nice poon!  1 for 3