Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

More tarpon fishing today.  Yesterday we did not have time to give it a try but we got my angler several goliath groupers which he was after!  Today I had a 3/4 day.  We caught some bait in the back it was tough again though we managed a couple dozen.  The baits been up on the flats not in the deeper areas where it is usually easier to catch a bunch at once.  Anyways we ran off the beaches and caught the last couple hours of incoming tide.  Did not see much for fish showing, no rollers really just a handful we saw splash.  After several sharks and moving a couple times, we finally hooked up to one nice 75 lber right as the tide started to slow down.  A good battle and we got the leader on him, though unfortunately were not able to get the boatside trophy picture we were after.  That was the only bite we had the tide soon quit and I tried in some channels further west where the tide was still moving for the last 45 minutes but nothing going on there.  Day off tomorrow for some boat service and nothing booked for Saturday at this time though may take some friends fun fishing in the evening.  1 for 1

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Well back from a nice vacation it was good to get away out of the heat for a few days!  Today I was back at it I had Juan, Carlos, and Carlos down from south miami.  We left out around 6:30 a little later than I would’ve liked but it was OK.  Bait was very tough and one of those days the extra 30 minutes could make a big difference.  Anyways we had to hit two areas for bait and managed to scrape together a few dozen.  I went off the mainland areas I’d been fishing before I left and fish were still there.  Saw a few jumping fish and we set up on them and before you know it we jumped a small tarpon.  15 minutes later we hooked a nice 40 lber we caught.  Sharks started to bite us up and we moved a bit further down and nothing but more sharks.  Then I ran another mile or so down and we set up where I’d been fishing the week before on some numbers.  Saw a few tarpon roll right away and we jumped a nice fish quickly.  Another 10 minutes and we had a big 80 lber on that we caught!  Good jumps and fighting out of that one.  A bit later we hooked our final fish another big 70 lber that we fought for a good 45 minutes or so.  After that we had a little under an hour left but things shut off just a few shark bites and that was our day.  Not bad though just coming back.  All 3 anglers got to catch a tarpon that is always a great day! Unfortunately I didn’t get any good jump shots was just an off day for that. Tomorrow goliath grouper is the request though I may give the tarpon a shot we will see!  I do have some openings throughout July it is slowing down a little bit.  The everglades tarpon fishing can be good all the way through August so drop me a line if your interested in going!  3 for 5

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

More tarpon action today.  Bait was very difficult this morning luckily I had some leftovers from yesterday.  I could of spent some time scrounging up some but definitely not the ‘1 throw and go’ that I like!  We tried some of the flamingo channels first since we’d be waiting on a tide change out where I’d been fishing in the mornings.  No signs of life though not even a shark bite we fished for a good 30-40 minutes.  After that we ran out to the beaches and set up, just catching the start of the tide.  Sharks were not too bad it was very fishable which was nice as I didn’t have tons and tons of bait.  Eventually the tide got moving and we hooked a nice 75 lb fish Chester caught.  Sharks stayed not so bad and eventually Matts hooked a nice 50 lb fish he landed.  After that we were running a little low on bait and sharks got a little worse.  Though the last bait we had Matts hooked a nice 80 lb tarpon and he landed that one.  Great day one of those where we caught every bite we had.  The boys did well taking direction and pointing the rods at the fish, hooking them with circle hooks.  It was very hot back there the last couple days and we decided to head back in around 12:15 calling it a day!  I’m going out of town myself now for a week or so.  Be back fishing on the 7th of July have a 3/4 day tarpon trip.  See you all then!  3 for 3

Capt. Rick Stanczyk