Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Yesterday we went into the backcountry and had a great day fishing for many fish, small and big.  Didn’t see much for tarpon back there but we were after other species anyways.  Today we got back to the tarpon thing around town in Islamorada.  This morning we caught 1 nice fish of 85 lbs and lost another one.  Had a few other sharks and sting rays, though not much other tarpon action the rest of the day.  Fishing has been a little tough with the high winds still.  I also fished this evening for a 4 hour trip.  We had a few cheap shots early right off the bat but never connected.  Tried another spot with no luck, and finally got into a good channel around 6:30 or so.  We hooked and caught a nice 100 lb fish, and then had another one that dumped a spool on us while we were chasing him.  That doesn’t happen often, but once in a while they get you!  Likely another big fish!  So we were also 1 for 2 in the evening.  Couple of nice big tarpons for the day!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

The last couple days have been tough yesterday we had 30 mph winds and today it was nicer in the morning 10-15 but was 20-25 by the end of the day.  We had another late cold front hit us and it is really late in the year for that.  Usually by mid april they are done with.  Anyways tarpon fishing has been tough the last couple of days.  Bait was very tough the last few days but today finally there was a few good schools around in the morning.  Yesterday we had a couple cheap shots in the morning but couldn’t connect, then we did some rod bending mid day, and tried again for tarpon the last hour.  But no success.  Today we tarpon fished all day.  We had lots more bait though fishing was tough, north wind in the morning, then swung to hard east later in the day.  We saw fish every where we went, and had ‘cheap shots’ in every spot, but the fish just did not really get the mullets.  We had 8 or so blow up or boil on the baits, and one grabbed a bait and spit it right away.  The fish were just not really happy.  I saw a couple fish caught today though most people I talked to struggled.  The water temps in the everglades dipped back to 72-73, though I think I may run back there tomorrow to do some other fishing.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

A late cold front in May?  Yes it happened.  And suppose to blow northeast the next several days and blow hard!  Today it was more north wind, but really late for us to be getting chilly weather.  The bait was very tough this morning we only caught a handful, but luckily it was enough to catch us 1 nice tarpon.  We did not have any other bites, we caught some snappers for dinner and then tried again for the last 45 minutes of the day but no more action with the tarpon.  Overall it was slow I talked to several boats and we were very happy to get our nice fish.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk