Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Well yesterday we caught 1 out of 3 tarpon in the backcountry everglades tarpon fishing in the morning.  We finished the day doing other things mostly triple tail fishing which is lots of fun!  Today was special we caught a load of mullet in the morning, big balls of them were everywhere with birds bombing – just what I like to see on my way out to the fishing grounds!  After a couple throws we had a livewell full and a cooler full.  We fished the backcountry again but it was tough lots of weed and not many fish willing to eat.  Had one follow a bait in but didn’t strike it as it had nasty red weed on it.  Tried another spot but kept getting eaten up by sharks.   So frustrated we headed back towards Islamorada since it was overcast and we had falling tide, a decent tarpon fishing condition.  We went to one of my favorite spots as of late just a few miles from the marina.  Another boat was fighting a fish which is always a good sign.  We anchored up and within 5 minutes hooked a nice tarpon.  Chased him and caught him and the other boat went home.  We ended up catching 4 more and missed one that tried to eat a live bait.  Great way to end our day.  We went back out this evening on another trip to the same spot, and caught 6 more tarpon ranging from 60 to 100 lbs.  Pretty crazy bite 11 out of 12 tarpon in about 7 hours of fishing, doesn’t get much better than that!

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

Went 2/2 this morning backcountry tarpon fishing Islamorada.  We were loaded up with mullet and unfortunately the guys only wanted to tarpon fish for a ‘little while.’  But 2 nice fish in 1.5 hours is great!  The islamorada mullet run is having lots of mullets showing up in the bays in muds as well as big balls that we’ve been castnetting.  This gives you plenty of ‘prime’ tarpon baits for this time of year.  Some days it is east to get a bunch, other days you have to work at it, other days you may not get them at all and resort to other baits.  Luckily live mullet are delivered this time of year if you so choose to utilize that option.  The islamorada night tarpon fishing is good too.  Locally fish are in all the usual spots and it’s a great time to be tarpon fishing!  I heard today locally in the morning there were lots of tarpon fishing indian key bridge, all eating live mullets on the top.

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

backcountry tarpon fishing

Been tough to update lately been fishing day and night.  Tarpon on every trip, multiple hook ups and fish brought to the boat.  Today we landed 3 out of 4 big tarpon in the backcountry.  Last night we caught 2 out of the 2 bites we had fishing the local channels of islamorada and channel 2 bridge tarpon fishing.  That day we caught 2 out of 4 tarpon we hooked.  The day before that we caught 1 out of 2 unfortunately due to an angler free-spooling a conventional reel and birdsnesting it while fighting a fish.  Always be VERY careful using conventional gear on tarpon not to turn the drag lever down, this is the first time I’ve had someone due this while fighting a fish – oh well you live you learn!  That night we also caught 2 out of 4 tarpon we hooked.  Like I said – tarpon, tarpon, tarpon fishing in april in islamorada is fantastic!  You likely won’t reach me if you try to call since I’m out catching poons day and night this time of year, but leave a message or email me.  Or you can always call the dock at Bud n Marys to try and book me at 305-664-2461, if I’m not available they can refer you to an excellent islamorada tarpon guide.

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