Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got out this evening for the silver king.  We fished 6 to 10.  Had the last of the incoming tide with it slicked out, not much wind.  I tried an area I hadn’t fished at all really this year and we saw a few fish rolling around.  I moved and got lined up on them and we put our baits out.  Had a couple sharks early on.  After 45 minutes we finally hooked and landed a nice 90 lb tarpon.  After that the tide quit and we moved back into the other channels to fish our crabs at dark.  As the tide started falling and the sun went down the tarpon got very active.  We had 3 bites on our first drift, jumping off the first two fish and then landing the last one about a 80 lb fish.  After that we made three more drifts, on the last drift we had something crush our crab but not sure what it was.  Anyways glad we were there while they were fired up and always good to catch a couple tarpon!  Full day tomorrow though I may consider fishing a late evening again as I have an opening sunday, will take whatever trip comes first!  2 for 4

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Had a full day today with Paul and his brother they also had me booked for tomorrow.  Fishing was tough today we found tarpon everywhere we went but they were not responding well.  Lots of fish in the morning but no love at all, tried several places and we had one boil on a bait that was it.  Mid day we ran down towards the marathon bridges to fish and we did hook a nice fish by the bridge but the hook broke and we lost him.  We caught some big mangrove snappers and a couple groupers which was cool.  After that in the bay we found some tarpon and had a flash on a bait, but the fish didn’t eat.  I told the guys maybe instead of going tomorrow we could go later this evening so we ended up doing that going at 6 PM.  Fishing was good we caught a nice fish in the first hour then when the tide started falling and it got dark it got very good.  We had a tarpon bite on each drift fishing our crabs and landed 2 out of 3 more fish, including a 110 lb for Paul.  So overall a good day had to work hard at it but felt good to put them on fish.  Tomorrow I have off now but may fish a trip late tomorrow night.  0 for 1 and 3 for 4

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Got out for a 3/4 day with Tom and Will for some tarpon fishing.  They’d fished the day before and didn’t have any luck losing one tarpon.  Today conditions had gotten much better we had a little action everywhere we went.  We caught a nice fish to start the morning of about 80 lbs for Tom.  After that we moved around the bridges and saw a few fish roll, got in front of them, and Will hooked a nice 50 lber though we jumped him off soon after.  Later then we went to another bridge to catch the start of the incoming tide and it was Wills chance again he hooked a good 75 lb fish we chased through the bridge and got to the boat!  Exciting fight in the clear pretty middle of the day.  After the tide got rolling there were fish everywhere rolling must have been 500 or more!   However they were not responding about a half dozen other guides came out there and nobody could get a bite out of them glad we were there at the right time.  During the day the start and stop of the tides has really been when the fish are biting better though I think they will get happier and more consistent as the water warms up more it’s still in the  70 degree range which is OK but on the chilly side.  This is still early season temperatures which that fishing can always be a little more hit or miss.  After that we ran back to where we started our day and found a lot of fish rolling in the bay, I used my trolling motor to line up on them and we soon had a tarpon chasing and busting our bait, but never hooked him up, then it was time to go.  Anyways a great day the boys were glad to each have gotten their first tarpon!

This evening I got out with my brother in law John and his new bride Vivian, my wife Elizabeth also came long.  They were suppose to fish Wednesday day with me but I told them the night was very good the evening before and it worked out for them to go so we did.  We loaded up with fresh bait mid day and then we were at it.  Caught the start of the falling tide and fishing was good.  We got into a bunch of fish by the bridges and I think had 8 solid hookups, landing 4 fish and lost another couple to the bridge or jumped off.  It was action almost as fast as you could go!  Very nice to see them responding the evening falling tide is where it’s at right now.  I did get an out of the water tarpon picture with John, however please note tarpon under 40 inches you may lift out of the water.  We don’t lift big tarpon out of the water as it is illegal and can injure them.  I’m not booked tonight but just opened myself up so maybe I’ll get out again!  2 for 3 and 4 for 8

Capt. Rick Stanczyk