5/29/12 Night tarpon fishing in Islamorada

Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished with his father, Andy Newman, and Bill Reed of the National Hurricane Center last night on 5/29/12 for some night tarpon fishing in Islamorada.  Bill is retiring from the hurricane center this year.  We did some evening fishing as the bite the last several nights seems to have been better at sunset and after dark.  We jumped one fish early down near Channel 2 bridge tarpon fishing right around sunset.  We then drifted further back in the bay, hearing many fish roll and bust around us but no action.  The wind had died out flat making things a little tougher.  We motored up for another drift, and as soon as we put our baits out, we hooked a very nice fish.  I handed Bill the Rod and he started the battle!  It zipped around back and forther quite a bit, and then ran straight at the boat going underneath but we managed to swing the rod around and keep him on.  As we got the fish to the boat and in the light, my suspicions were correct - a nice big permit!  A very nice surprise while fishing for tarpon as we don't catch a whole lot of them while doing this with the larger tackle and crabs that we use!  We then ran back towards home and fished some of the channels close to Bud n' Mary's, and first drift Andy hooked a nice 80 lb tarpon which we landed and then came home!  Capt. Bill Bassett reported getting a couple bites in the normal morning hours 7-11 on crabs and pinfish.  Capt. Jim Willcox also has some tarpon action out in the fishing the gulf of mexico on the flat calm days the last couple of days.

5/21/12 Flats fishing in Islamorada

Been very busy here as of 5/21/12 and lots of rain around so have not been taking pictures and keeping up with reports - sorry guys!  Last week I had Kenny Johnston here flats fishing in Islamorada from across the pond.  We fished two full days in the islamorada backcountry fishing.  Day 1 we started around flamingo.  We got into a decent snook bite catching 10 or so snook up to 8 lbs, lost the first 1 which was a nice fish likely over 10 lbs into the trees.  Lucky for the fish as a large bull shark was after him!  We also caught a couple redfish there and off one other tree nearby, as well as lots of mangrove snappers.  The wind kicked up so we made our way back towards Islamorada and found a nice trout mud on the way home.  Plenty of trout with several slot size fish mixed in.  A big mullet mud was on a flat nearby so we caught a few live mullets and decided to give the tarpon a shot near home for the last hour.  We caught a couple small sharks early, and put our last mullet out on the bottom.  I reeled up the bait to check it after 15 minutes, put it back out, and within a minute the line zipped off and a nice 60 lb tarpon was airborne and hooked!  Kenny caught him in about 30 minutes to complete his backcountry slam for the day!  Great to catch an afternoon tarpon in islamorada!  Day 2 we ran back towards the cape area and found a nice school of redfish up on the flats.  We caught probably 15 of those, then loaded up with ladyfish in one of the nearby channels.  We caught a small shark nearby, and then kept heading back towards the cape.  Kenny wanted something big so we put the ladyfish on the bottom in one of the channels.  Caught 2 mud marlin, one small one of 40 lbs, and another that was likely 200-250 lbs!  Great options here fishing in the florida keys!  Capt. Jim Willcox also reported getting a backcountry slam - snook, reds, and a tarpon, running deep into the glades off the northwest cape.  Capt. Jeff Beeler did well on the redfish with myself in a group trip several days ago as well as some shots at tarpon early in the morning, some nice trout and snappers, and a shark.  Capt. Mike Bassett got a couple tarpon in the afternoon the other day as well on live mullets drifting the oceanside bridges.  Capt. Dave Butler also snuck out after the rain the other day and caught a big tarpon as well as a couple redfish!

As of late the tarpon fishing here has been picking up a bit, a lot of fish around locally however still not many in the backcountry.  The evening trips have been giving more shots at fish, some have been eating crabs as well.  We had bites on crabs early in the evening the last 2 nights, as well as mullet.  We do have falling tides here till near dark this next week, so the fishing will hopefully be good the next several evenings!  Get ou there on a night tarpon fishing islamorada trip!

5/10/12 Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing Report

Islamorada tarpon fishing report is getting better here now fishing in may!  Seems a few more fish have been around locally in Islamorada and biting a bit better than the previous week, as of today on 5/10/12.  The weather has stablized and we have good tides in the early morning and late evenings - prime tarpon fishing charter time!  Capt. Rick Stanczyk reported fishing last night just between 7 PM and 9 PM, taking his buddy Scott Stevens out for fun.  They hooked 4 tarpon and caught 2 on live crabs.  The wind had laid out nice with just a light breeze out of the west.  During the day, Rick reported a good bite of mangrove snappers and nice size seatrout out west, and some blacktip sharks but no tarpon unfortunately.  The west wind was a bit harder with current going into it out back, making for an undesierable condition.  Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti had some action in town during the day reporting a tarpon catch, and Capt. Jeff Beeler caught one on fly further up north near Tavernier. I'd suggest trying to get out for some florida keys tarpon fishing the next few nights - conditions should be ideal into the dark!  Night tarpon fishing in Islamorada is a thrill you want to experience!

5/7/12 Islamorada tarpon fishing in May.

Islamorada tarpon fishing in May is starting to pick up.  The weather has been stabilizing, winds calming, and few more fish starting to move in today on 5/7/12.  Capt. Rick Stanczyk reported a couple bites last night, catching one tarpon of 80 lbs.  Capt. Mike Bassett reported one of 150 lbs the night before they fought for almost 2 hours!  Today Capt. Rick fished the backcountry with Jim and Mary long.  It was Jim's 50th birthday and he had a great day fishing in the florida keys!  We caught some ladyfish for bait, a few snappers for dinner and some throwback trout, and then tarpon fished for an hour.  Had 2 bites at the start of the incoming tide, and caught one nice islamorada tarpon of 65 lbs or so, good fighter too!  Nice to see some fish showing up out in the backcountry.  We then fished for some reds around some islands, and the bite was on!  Probably caught 30 redfish in an hour, up to about 10 lbs, some real nice fish!  Mostly on live shrimp, though they were eating pinfish especially the larger ones!  Capt. Ken Cohan reported getting a few tarpon bites and catching one today too.  Capt.  Bill Bassett did some poling, sightfishing for bonefish, and caught a nice bonefish in islamorada.  They also caught a few reds as well.  May is usually prime time for tarpon, look for them to start biting good in the evenings the next few days, as we have falling tide for most of the night through sunset.  Night tarpon fishing in the Florida Keys is lots of fun!

5/27/11 Tarpon fishing still consistent!

The tarpon fishing was absolutely on fire about a week or so ago.  Right after the worm hatch the fish were going crazy, especially after dark!  Lots of hookups and catches repoted.  The last few days/nights have been a little tougher.  A hard wind combined with the incoming tide and slack tide at/around sunset/sunrise has made the the fishing a little tough.  Plus the lack of mullet around has made bait tough to come by.  I've been consistent though in producing at least a fish a night, just having to put the time in and wait till they are ready.  Been using crabs mostly, and often fishing a little later into the evening at or past sunset, and early in the morning leaving around 5 am for the best results.  I had Max Mayfield and Bill Reed, the former and current directors of the national hurricane center, fishing a few nights ago.  We went for just a few hours from 7 to 10 to catch the falling tide later in the evening.  We hooked one fish fairly quickly, but took us about 45 minutes to land on the oceanside and it was rough, dragging us out offshore a bit!  Max got it in though and up for this picture, unfortunately that didn't turn out to good but the memories will be there forever!!!  By the time we got set back up to fish on the bayside as it was a little too rough after dark on the oceanside, the fish had stopped biting.  But one is always better than none!!!  We've also caught fish the last several nights and early this morning, with a few other bites.  Going again tonight hopefully it stays consistent!!!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@seethefloridakeys.net