5/12/16 May Backcountry Fishing in Islamorada

For the most part it's starting to feel like summer time now however we did just have a late cold front several days ago that chilled things down quite a bit.  Air temps got in the 60s at night and the water temps dipped to the low 70s in the backcountry which did really shuffle the deck on our fishing for several days.  Things now have warmed back up and seem to be back to normal.  Tarpon has still been the target for most guides and anglers and shall be for a little while more to come.  The best way to describe the season so far is inconsistent that is for sure.  There has been windows when fishing has been good and the tarpon have been cooperative but there have definietly been a lot of times when it's tough and you are working hard to just scratch out a bite or two on a trip.  It's not been uncommon to come up empty handed at the end of an outing unfortunately so if you have the opportunity it may be best to book several trips or try day and evening as that gives you more time on the water and different tides, conditions, etc... to be there at the right time.  Anyways we've had tarpon action on most of our trips though we have had a few strike outs in the last couple weeks.  I had good activity on several early morning trips landing multiple fish the last few trips.  After a few tougher days in the backcountry where we were able to eek out a catch with a variety of sharks, smaller things like trout, snapper, etc... Today we had a good day mixing it up in the backcountry with snook, tarpon, trout, snapper, cobia, and shark and that was nice!  The stepan polymers corporate group is here and they've fished multiple guides every day including Capt. Dave Sisung, Capt. Perry Scuderi, Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti, Capt. Ted Wilson, and others.  Everyone has been mixing it up a bit and doing different things but mangrove snappers have been a go-to for table fare, and some tarpon, sharks, and big cudas for larger things to pull on most days.  Capt. Jim Willcox had some good action in the backountry a few days ago with several snook and a nice tarpon.  Capt. Skip Nielsen has been on the tarpon and had some snook and redfish mixing it up in the backcountry the other day as well.  Today Capt. Bill Bassett had a nice tarpon in the afternoon fishing locally, as well as cobia and a few tripletail in the gulf.  Capt. John Johansen has been catching some tarpon as well as some big sharks in the backcountry.  Anyways it was nice to have normal weather today for this time of year and things look to be stabalizing for the rest of the week.  Summer time fishing is one of my personal favorite times of year and there is a lot less pressure on many of the fisheries in the coming months which can mean good fishing for you while you are out there!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk