Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Well the may florida keys tarpon fishing in islamorada hasn’t been easy as of late.  Today the bait was very tough not even our live bait delivery guys found many of them.  The tarpon bite was also on the slow side however we did catch 1 out of 3 fish, a big 150 lb slob that we fought for 1.5 hours so that made the day!  Yesterday we caught 4 out of 5 smaller tarpon in the 30 to 60 lb range which was great all in the morning on live mullet.  We also caught a nice 80 lb fish last night on an evening trip, though again not much action there a few ‘cheap shots’ where fish busted on the mullets but only that one real bite which we landed luckily.  If the weather stays nice like this the tarpon fishing in islamorada should improve and hopefully more migrating fish will show up.  As of now it seems many of the migrators have left many of the local islamorada spots anyhow, definitely not seeing the numbers we were a few weeks ago though a nasty west wind/cold front can make those fish move on!  However still big tarpon to be caught!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@islamoradatarpon.com

The may florida keys tarpon fishing is still very good.  Bait was easy the last few days.  Yesterday we caught only 1 poon and came in early due to rain and weather issues, though we also caught a nurse shark and lost a big goliath grouper in some structure after battling him for a little while.  Today we caught 4 tarpon which was great news for a may islamorada tarpon fishing report.  Full day and evening trip again tomorrow so will be on the look out for the poons!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@islamoradatarpon.com

Well it was a good start to the may florida keys tarpon fishing for us.  Bait was tough again – none from the commercial guys we usually buy from.  I had some dead leftovers that were on their last day but proved to do the trick.  We caught 1 and had 1 other bite in the first couple hours fishing them on the bottom close to home in the islamorada tarpon channels close to home.  Later we found a handful of mullets in a mangrove enclosed channels, caught a few though they were spread out and moving fast with the boat traffic – but enough to get the job done.  We went to channel 5 bridge tarpon fishing and caught the start of the incoming tide.  One sting ray on a bottom bait, and soon after a nice 100 lb tarpon!  After this we fished the patch reefs for a bit for dinner, then tried for one last big poon back nearby Bud n’ Mary’s.  Luck was with us, after 45 minutes of anxiously waiting, one rod bent over and another big 100 lb tarpon came crashing out of the water.  We fought him for 25 minutes and landed our 3rd and final for the day – time to come home!  Rain threatened throughout the day but never really made it, though the overcast was nice and the tarpon always favor that compared to bright and sunny days! May evening tarpon fishing in Islamorada is a good bet and the tarpon start favoring crabs often in the coming weeks – stay tuned and if your looking to catch a big tarpon shoot me an email I have nights open!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@islamoradatarpon.com