6/8/15 June Everglades Tarpon Fishing in Islamorada

More good fishing today.  We were able to hammer the mullet early and get right to fishing.  I set up in the channel where we found and caught a nice fish yesterday in the late morning.  Saw a fish roll right away – a good sign!  First bite was a big barracuda that cut us off, then a little shark.  Though eventually mr. tarpon bit and he went crazy jumping!  We caught him and ended up catching two more and another shark.  Really good fishing and great to catch 3 tarpon by 9:00 in the morning!  After that the tide quit and we ran and caught some pilchards, while doing so the trout and snapper kept us busy.  Then we finished the day with some excellent snook fishing and even jumped another tarpon while doing that!  3 for 4

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

6/7/15 Everglades Tarpon Fishing in June

Ran back into the everglades this morning.  Early start and found the mullet in one of my usual areas.  Nice to see the summer time bait showing up with consistency.  We made a couple throws and were able to get 3 or 4 dozen.  We ran back off the mainland to some areas where the tarpon had been recently.  Last trickle of incoming tide I was hoping it was going to be falling already so we had to wait for it to turn around.  It took a while almost an hour before it really started moving.  We were able to catch a few sharks while waiting at least.  Finally saw a few tarpon roll and we tried to set up on them, however the little sharks were horrendous!  You could hardly keep a bait out.  I moved several times in front of rolling fish, only to have the sharks eat us alive before the tarpon could get to the bait.  Finally I moved back to an area where the sharks weren’t so bad and hoped a tarpon would find us.  Luckily one did, young Cody was able to hook and land his first tarpon a nice little 35 lber, perfect size for him.  After that more sharks!  We checked another area and did not see much.  So I ran to some channels where there had been a few tarpon recently.  We didn’t see much for life, but I set up and we put our baits out.  After about 25 minutes we hooked a nice 65 lb fish that Russ got to land on his own rod, he was happy about that.  The fish gave up pretty easily for the lighter rod we were using, and was hooked right in the top of the lip where they usually give you a much harder fight.  Maybe he was over heated?  Anyways after that not much other action we tried another 30 minutes, and then decided to make our way home!  2 for 2

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

6/6/15 June Tarpon Fishing Half Day Islamorada

Had a half day this morning.  Right now it is usually better to book a 3/4 or full day as the everglades fishery has been a little hotter, plus the bait is catchable back there.  Bait has been very tough to come by locally.  Luckily I caught some back there the other day and still had some leftover.  We took off early in the dark so we would have a couple hours of falling tide at least.  It paid off.  We hooked a nice ‘mud marlin’ early on and got him to the boat for some pictures.  After that we eventually hooked a nice 75 lb tarpon.  A good fight we chased him around and he only jumped once and then was fighting us down and dirty.  Eventually we got him up for some good pictures.  After that the tide was really slowing and it was tough to keep our baits out away from the boat.  A tarpon picked up a bait and did a big loop around the boat and jumped on the other side, taking the line completely around the engine and other line that was out.  Luckily I was able to get around everything and we got the other lines in and chased after the fish!  We got him to the boatside on the leader though pulled the hooks on him before we could get good pictures, though a technical catch anyways!  After the the tide slacked for a while and eventually started in, but the bite was over with.  We were glad to have gotten out early!  I have full days coming up the next several days.  With the weather staying nice and calm, the tarpon fishing in the everglades should stay hot!  2 for 2

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

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