Got out in the backcountry august tarpon fishing in islamorada with Steve, Steve, and Michael down from Texas. They fished with me last year we had stellar fishing for both days then. Today I told them things weren’t quite what they were last year which has been true. Luckily we got on bait early, had to make a few throws but loaded up nice on mullets. The flamingo tarpon fishing was pretty good we found fish in the first channel we stopped. Caught one right away and then caught another one after that, big bruiser at 100 lb or so. The latter one took about a 45 minute fight! Afterwards the tide had switched and started to fall we had a couple more shark bites and landed a nice lemon shark. We ran out to check off the beaches though not much for tarpon life out there we caught several sharks and that was it. Finished the day trying to catch a few trout for dinner but didn’t have much luck, we found a handful of trout and ladyfish and that was it. Anyways great day always very glad to get a couple poons! Back at it tomorrow. 2 for 2
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
8/5/16 Everglades Tarpon Fishing in August
Got out today for some tarpon fishing in the everglades. We left early at 6 AM and caught our bait on the way. The mullet were swarming which is a good sign, lots of bait around throughout the day. We fished some areas where I had seen some tarpon the previous days. The tide was just starting to fall and it was very muddy from the heavy south winds plus the torrential rain a couple days ago that stirred things up. Some tarpon started to roll but weren’t very happy. After 45 minutes or so we finally got a bite but he didn’t stay buttoned. We moved around later and saw tarpon at the next stop but no bites there. We did catch a monster 350 lb goliath grouper which was very cool and a lemon shark. Not much after that so we ran up inside the channel further. A few tarpon were showing on the edge of the flat and eventually we got one on the line. This time he stayed on there and we landed a nice 50 lber. We also got a few blacktip sharks and bonnet head sharks. After the tide quit we moved back out to the channel mouths, but no more luck with tarpon just a couple more sharks and it was time to go home. Not easy fishing but we got what we were after so that is always good. Tarpon fishing in August in the Florida Keys will hopefully get better the winds started to subside this afternoon, and the next few days look very calm! 1 for 2
8/3/16 August tarpon fishing in the Florida Keys
Tough fishing today we had torrential downpours for hours early in the morning, though it did dry up by the time we left the dock. Anyways the water temperatures dipped down to the low 80s, which sounds plenty warm but when it goes from being 88 degrees to that, the fish can act funny. Plus the salinity of the water changes and can often get ‘mudded out’ in certain areas. Anyways we didn’t see much for tarpon early I fished several different areas and scouted several others just hoping to see some rolling. Eventually around 10:00 we finally saw one but no bite, we caught a few sharks. Finally we caught the tide change and a handful of fish did start showing though they were doing the ‘high tail slap’ where they slap the water and just look like they are not happy. Which they were we couldn’t get them to respond at all, though we did start catching plenty of blacktip sharks. Anyways tough day hopefully now that the rain/weather is gone things will get a little better. Hopefully the wind will lay down and another strong push of fish will show up before September! 0 for 0
