Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Well today I had a full day fishing in the islamorada backcountry again.  Yesterday I fished a half day for tarpon and we struck out… no bites but we did catch a half dozen sharks.  Unfortunately the half days this time of year can be tough as I am running in the backcountry which takes close to an hour, and then sometimes have to catch bait (which we did quickly).  Even staying a little longer it only leaves a couple hours to fish.  There were a few tarpon in the channels but we got there a little late catching the slack tide.  Anyways it happens that is fishing but today was very good again.  I had bait leftover from yesterday and we got an earlier start and caught the last 45 minutes of the falling tide.  Had 3 bites and caught 1 tarpon, then we caught another on the incoming tide a bit later so went 2 for 4 plus a few sharks.  Spent the rest of the day snook fishing which was pretty good and got 1 redfish also completing a ‘backcountry SLAM’ for one angler!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

More great fishing.  My same anglers from last night had me again today.  We caught a couple tarpon in the morning, not a red hot bite but we got both of them plus a few sharks.  Caught some pilchards and had a blast catching LOTS of snook and a couple reds after that.  Then we caught another tarpon near home in Islamorada to end the day.  So 3 for 3 on the tarpon today, great fishing!  July tarpon fishing in the florida keys is still good!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Well had a morning half and an evening half today.  Likely one of my last evening charters as I’ve had a very busy season and still fishing most days so I’m happy.  Though I may open a few evenings when conditions look good if people are still interested in going so definitely check with me.  I can always point you to other good tarpon guides if I’m not available!  Anyways we had 1 tarpon bite this morning back in the everglades that we caught, a 50 lb fish on a light rod.  Good fight.  We also caught plenty of sharks including lemons, blacktips, and a nice hammerhead.  Mullet were a little tougher though I did get lucky and made 1 throw and caught about 2 dozen.  This evening we fished locally around islamorada.  Incoming tide just about until dark.  I didn’t have real high hopes but fishing was great.  We caught 3 out of 5 tarpon in the 65 – 100 lb range!  We also got a couple sharks and a couple of ‘mud marlin’.  Great fishing for this time of year!  July tarpon fishing in Islamorada can still be very productive, it’s a matter of being at the right place at the right time!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk