May 2018

Got out with Howard and Jating again for Day 2 today.  We doubled down and went for the everglades run again.  Hoped with the light winds this AM it’d be a different story from yesterday.  Stopped and checked a couple places along the way, almost set up there but didn’t see enough to hold my interest though did see a tarpon or two.  We got back to where we wanted after that, saw a fish right away.  We set up and got a shark.  Then soon after that Jating hooked a nice 55 lb tarpon!  Good battle and we got it to the boat but didn’t stick around for boatside pictures.  Anyways we were thrilled to get one and after that we didn’t get another tarpon bite.  Good action with some big sharks though, some big blacktips and lemons.  After that the tide slowed and we moved on.  Did some light tackle stuff after that and had good action, tried one other spot for tarpon but didn’t see much though did get a few smaller sharks.  Back at it tomorrow bait has been tough so hopefully can round some up in the AM.  1 for 1

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

Got out for a full day with return customer Howard and his sister Jating.  We made the run deep into the backcountry early.  Today wasn’t our day though, the tarpon up and disappeared on us!  We did see a small handful but they weren’t cooperative, made a few moves around and tried to get in front of a few but no response.  There were several fly fishermen in the area too and they slowly started to move on as well.  Funny how things can change, we had pretty similar weather conditions with the wind and such as the last few days.  Anyways was a tough day for us we caught a handful of trout and a mackerel on the way home and that was about it.  I have this crew again tomorrow and I think I may stick to the same plan and hope tomorrow is another day, I heard the local bite has been pretty dismal and there hasn’t been much else out in the other backcountry areas.  0 for 0

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

Got out with Dave and Kevin today for a full day of tarpon fishing.  We left early to get deep into the backcountry.  A tournament was going on today so I figured we’d have company.  A couple boats passed us along the way and we found 3 boats there when we got there.  But all fly fishermen so we were able to slip in where I’d been sitting and found some tarpon straight away.  Had to wait for the tide to start going out for a little bit, but after one move we hooked up and Dave got a nice one!  After that we got into a little rally and had another bite almost insantly we missed, then a little later another.  Then after we caught that fish again another instant hookup almost!  Things slowed down after that we did get some big blacktip sharks and a big nurse shark.  We mad a move and then had a couple more bites, missing one more and then landing the last one.  Dave had the hot stick but let Kevin get the last fish.  We avoided the rain almost entirely just a little slight drizzle for a few minutes.  Ride home wasn’t too bad the wind laid down a little and no rain like the other day.  I’ll be back at it tomorrow hopefully it stays good I think it will!  4 for 6

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