Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Here you can read our latest fishing reports.  I try to keep this section updated regularly when we are tarpon fishing consistently.  Though remember in the off season we may not be fishing as much or we may be targeting other things.

We’re almost to the end of March!  Spring break has been in full swing and we’ve been busy for sure.  Unfortunately the tarpon bite has been a bit hit & miss this March with several late season cold fronts and lots of early season pressure on them… at least that’s what I’m blaming it on!  Though now near the end of March water temperatures are approaching back near 80 degrees and we should be starting to get more into ‘prime time’ mode.  As long as we don’t have any more cold fronts April should start to yield some better fishing.  I’m also hopeful we’ll have a little more productive late May and June, as some years when February/March is really good it dies out by then, but maybe since it’s been a slower start it’ll be the opposite?  One can hope!  We’ll keep you updated as April rolls on but this is getting into our typical ‘best’ times of year.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

More tarpon action today we fished a 3/4 day and got out early.  Had bait from yesterday and we hit some backcountry channels around flamingo.  Took a little bit but eventually hooked up a nice 50 lb tarpon we landed.  Also later on we got a hammerhead shark.  After the tide quit we ran and tried off the beach area though first we caught a couple dozen more mullet out of a mud real quick.  At the next stop we got a few nice big snook of 15 lbs or so, a cobia, and a few more sharks.  All in all a fabulous day.  We saw some tarpon starting to roll when we left though they didn’t seem real happy.  We had a steady 15 mph southwest breeze.  Anyways day off tomorrow and then the same folks again on Thursday.  1 for 1

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Today I did a similar routine as the other day.  Today we had a slight south breeze, nice to have a little movement on the water.  Did not see many fish today though they were there.  We caught 2 first thing in the morning on the last of the outgoing tide.  After that we caught some snappers and a few pinfish for snook bait.  Found that big mud again when the tide started coming in and caught a few dozen mullet out of it.  We messed around with some snook but were not able to land any unfortunately.  After that I tried off the beaches and we jumped a tarpon right away, and caught a few sharks.  We saw a few fish rolling near us and moved over and we caught a nice cobia soon after.  Eventually we got another tarpon bite and landed a nice 40 lber.  Good day overall!  Have a 3/4 day tomorrow and I know tarpon is on the list.   I’ve found a nice school of fish in the early mornings and I think I can pick a few off each day consistently hopefully the next week or so.  3 for 4

Capt. Rick Stanczyk