March 2018

Got out with Easton and Jake today for a full day of tarpon fishing.  Borrowed my dads skiff to get her done since my boat was still being worked on, but thankfully I got it back already this afternoon ready to roll for tomorrow!  We caught bait early on but not a lot, so I had to catch a little more on the way out which worked out.  Winds were still cranking but slightly less then yesterday and definitely fishable.  We had good shark activity early on but no tarpon bites in the first stop for an hour.  We moved a bit and then had a few more sharks and sting rays, then Easton jumped a nice tarpon!  We moved around again after that as things seemed to slow down and Jake caught a tarpon in that spot… about a 50 lber good fish.  We then had more shark action with some blacktips and a bull shark.  Jake put his rod in the rod holder to film Easton on a shark and of course then we had another tarpon bite!  The fish stayed on for a minute and we reeled him into the boat quickly on the wind-on leader for a technical catch, but he unfortunately threw the hook on a jump as it just wasn’t in there very good.  That always happens as soon as you put the rod down that’s when the bite is going to come!  Oh well at least we got one up to the boat for pictures and a technical catch on another.  We tried for a snook on the way home but no dice there.  Back at it tomorrow and back on my boat very glad it was fixed so quickly.  Winds should be coming down a little more and by the weekend it looks like a nice stretch for a while so the tarpon fishing should be game on then!  2 for 3

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

Got out for a full day today after having the last couple days off.  The winds slicked off nicely yesterday and things got to really warm back up and I heard some tarpon had moved back in.  Today the winds were slightly breezy but not too bad.  We found some bait had to work for it but managed enough to fish with.  We found a decent amount of tarpon in one of the areas where they were before the front.  Sharks ate us up pretty good in the first stop, but we moved around and soon hooked a nice 90 lb fish for Matt!  He fought it well and we got it boatside for some pictures.  Later on we caught a few more sharks including a cool hammerhead.  Then Matt’s son Will got a nice 80 lb tarpon.  After that we gave the tarpon a break and looked for some snook which Matt hooked a nice one but we lost him unfortunately in the sticks.  We finished the day up catching some nice mangrove snappers for dinner.  All in all a great day on the water, though unfortunately we had some motor problems on the way home and had to get towed in.  Luckily we were fairly close to home so it was only about a 45 minute tow home.  Had to give my trip away tomorrow and take my boat into the shop since we couldn’t figure out what was wrong.  Hopefully they can diagnose and fix it quickly, though luckily I have another skiff to use for the rest of the week.  At least we got to get our day in though and it was a good one!  2 for 2

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

Got out for a full day with Jason and Tammy today down from Maine.  Jason had a dream of catching a tarpon though I told him chances might be slim with the cold front we had that came in the past couple days.  Water temperatures plummeted into the mid 60s and low 60s in some areas of the bay, plus locally we are in the midst of a terrible algae bloom that hopefully will be getting pushed out to sea soon.  Anyways we opted to fish mostly for other things but gave the tarpon a try for the last hour of the day.  Seemed to be the right move as that was when the wind laid out some, and the water warmed up to at least the 69 degree range.  We did see a few tarpon around but unfortunately not very happy we didn’t get a bite, but did hook a big shark and a sting ray.  We had fun in the morning though with snappers, sheepshead, and mackerel.  Anyways I think maybe tomorrow might be a better bet the winds are suppose to swing back to the easterly direction but the water temperatures still won’t be great… but at least in the range where you may have a shot.  Sunday is suppose to be pretty calm though so that may be the day things warm back up and get back in ‘the zone.’  Though this week looks to be windy with the winds kicking up hard out of the east.  But will be better for tarpon then the cold that’s for sure.  I’m off tomorrow but available sunday if anyone wants to give it a go… as I said conditions look favorable!  0 for 0

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