3/12/15 Tarpon Fishing Islamorada in March

Well more wind today.  Was a struggle trying to catch bait this morning did not really find them.  But had some from the days before.  We tried a bit of tarpon fishing in the backcountry though no luck back there.  The sharks did keep us entertained.  Caught some dinner mid day and then found a nice mullet mud and caught about 3 dozen fresh mullet out of it.  Then set up in some of the local channels for the last hour and a half in the afternoon.  Caught a few sharks again and a big sting ray, and just when it looked like it was all over we jumped a tarpon.  I said ‘just our luck’ and put the baits out for a few more minutes.  Strangely enough we had another bite soon after and hooked a nice 60 lb fish.  We chased him and got leader on him for a technical release, however the knot at the leader caught around the rod tip and we had some slack for a bit.  The fish was able to go under the boat and we were in shallow water and cut us off before we were able to get good pictures.  But at least we got one!  Hopefully fishing improves the wind looks to stay blowing but there are fish around they are just ‘laying up’ and floating, not really hanging consistently in the channels and normal bait fishing spots.  1 for 2

Capt. Rick Stanczyk