Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got out with John, Jamison, and Christie today for a full day tarpon charter in the everglades.  We caught bait early and headed out.  I had the day off yesterday but had heard fish were still in the area where I had done very well the day before.  We headed that way.  We set up and did mark a good group of fish as we came into the spot so that was a good sign.  First few bites were just sharks and a sting ray.  Eventually though as the tide died we got a tarpon on for John, and then a minute later Jamison hooked up – double header!  We landed both fish and got some good pictures.  The tide was dead after that and then started to fall fairly soon.  No more tarpon bites here though we moved around and no luck just sharks.  I ran to another area where I hadn’t been in a while though heard there was some fish there.  There was a good group we set up and had to move around but Christie hooked up a big 100 lber!  The fish didn’t stay buttoned though we came back with nothing but a scale on the hook which was strange, must’ve been foul hooked.  Anyways it slowed down after that but we kept our eyes open and eventually saw the fish on the other side of the channel showing.  We snuck over there and then it was game on!  We had another 8 or so tarpon bites there, landing another double header, missing one more, and then a few singles.  Just great fishing.  Back at it tomorrow hopefully it stays just as good.  This july has been one heck of a month!  7 for 11

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Incredible day with Andy Thompson and his sons Conrad and Derek! Just when you didn’t think it could get any better after yesterday it did! We headed out early and spent some time catching our bait. Nice and easy after a few tosses of the cast net we had the well full of fresh live bait. I told the boys fishing was pretty good yesterday and we had ideal conditions today (calm, warm) so it likely would be again. We joked about possibly setting the season record again as I told them I broke it yesterday. Low and behold we went and did that and didn’t jinx ourselves! We caught the start of the falling tide and found a huge school of tarpon that had moved in from the Gulf. Pretty green water and I just knew they would be happy. Our first two baits that hit the water yielded a double header within a few minutes! A big 100 lb fish and a smaller 40 lber. We had to chase the 100 lber down and that was the biggest fish I’ve had landed in over a month or so. We ended up catching two more double headers after that – just ridiculous! After that we had a few singles, missed a few fish including two more double headers, and Derek got a nice cobia that swam up by the boat. After that the tarpon seemed like they slowed down a hair, but we continued picking away at them, fish of all sizes from 30 lbs to 80 lbs or so. We got a big lemon shark too. Conrad had a big tarpon that we thought was a lemon and we cranked the drag down hard on him almost to try and break him off but decided better of it. Turns out it was a nice 90 lb tarpon that just didn’t want to jump and was doing erratic, head shaking runs like a shark! The tide eventually quit on us and we were about to call it quits, having beaten my record handily already. Then we ended up hooking another double header! Unfortunately one of those fish came unbuttoned, but Andy got his for the final fish. The boys went 16 for 20 for just a magical day here in Islamorada, Florida fishing for tarpon. July has been nothing short of epic… it’s not even half way over and I’m already closing in on my best monthly total ever after two huge days yesterday and today. For those that don’t know the summer time is hands down my favorite time of year for fishing down here. Yes it’s hot but it’s worth a little sweat to get conditions like these on the regular. No big crowds, tons of fish, good conditions – you really couldn’t ask for anything else if you are a fishermen. I’m scheduled to be off tomorrow but just may have to get out there for fun or move some of my clients around later in the week because it looks like it’ll be flat calm again and you can bet fishing will be good.  16 for 20

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got out with John Page today who has been following me on Facebook for a while.  He wanted to catch some tarpon and booked the day a little while back.  We headed out early and I told him fishing had been pretty good as of late.  Summer time as I always say it’s my favorite time of year!  We got on the bait early to start and loaded the wells.  Always nice when that part is easy.  We checked a few spots for tarpon along the way but didn’t see much.  We did have a nice northerly breeze which was cool, but may have been keeping the tarpon from showing as much.  Anyways I decided to run where we had done well the last few days.  Caught the last trickle of incoming tide to start but we did eventually see a few fish roll.  Not much but when the tide started to fall the bite turned on.  We ended up getting five tarpon here plus a few sharks and other odds and ends!  John did well and listened precisely how I explained to hook and fight the tarpon, and he was rewarded with not missing a single fish all day.  I on the other hand did miss a couple of bites lol but mostly out of the rod holder.  After that slowed down we ran out originally to try some other stuff.  I decided to check a spot though in hopes of catching something cool like a cobia or big snook.  Low and behold there were some tarpon out here too!  We did get a big snook to start which was very cool.  Then we shuffled around and got in front of the tarpon.  Pretty much insantly we were on with a nice 75 lb tarpon for John, good size fish.  We battled him and then went back to where we were.  Eventually the tide turned and we had a few more bites.  We ended up getting four more tarpon here and like I said missed a couple others, including a would-be double header!  After that though the tarpon seemed to thin out for the last 30 minutes, but overall just phenomenal fishing!  It ended up being my best day of the season with 10 tarpon landed!  John had a banner day and can’t wait to come back next year.  Hopefully the fishing stays like this for a while longer.  August is just around the corner and it can still be very good no doubt, I have plenty of days open so if you wanna try your hand at it, give me a shout!  10 for 12

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing