Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

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

Well today was a little slower then yesterday.  We did catch 1 tarpon in the morning though we fished for a little over an hour before we had a ‘for sure’ tarpon bite.  Got him though.  Lots of sharks too.  After that we did some stuff with the light rods – big mangrove snappers and a few trout.  Then we tried tarpon again in the afternoon.  Caught a few more sharks including a big 200+ lb bull shark.  Jumped one other tarpon off unfortunately that one did not stick.  But 1 for 2 on the day, fishing is consistent for tarpon in July here in Islamorada.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Well yesterday was my birthday as well as Independence day.  It didn’t keep me off the water though!  I took my fiance Elizabeth and good friend Mike DePaula just for a couple hours.  We fished close by and left early at 6:30 AM.  Found several tarpon and we caught 2 out of 3, both big fish in the 80-100 lb range.  Great way to start the day for us!  Today I had a charter and we went into the backcountry.  Lots of rain and weather around though we dodged it for the most part.  We tarpon fished first thing, caught some fresh mullet, and it was good.  We caught 2 out of 3 tarpon plus a few sharks.  One fish of 35 lbs and the other was maybe 60.  We did some other things mid day including snappers, trout, and a nice snook.  Then we were driven from the snook areas from the rain and bugs, so we tarpon fished more and had some more luck.  Caught another 2 out of 3 tarpon, these were bigger fish all in the 80-100 lb range again.  So 4 out of 6 tarpon on the day, great fishing for this july!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk