7/10/14 July Fishing in Islamorada

This july fishing in islamorada has really been sensational.  I’ve been mixing things up a bit though still doing a lot of tarpon fishing.  The early departures at 6 AM have really helped especially with the catching of bait.  We are loading up on mullets easily before the sun gets really high which increases the chance of catching a tarpon tremendously having the fresh bait.  The backcountry channels and beaches have had consistent tarpon action and I’ve caught tarpon on every trip this July with exception to one where we only had a half day and just didn’t have time to move around much.  Though we did catch plenty of sharks that day and saw some tarpon that just would not eat.  The afternoon tarpon bite has been good too if they don’t cooperate or stay on the hook in the morning, your chances are still very good in the early afternoon.  I often like to try again for the last hour of the day before we head in.  Other than tarpon the trout and snapper action in the bays has been great.  That is the best option for ‘dinner fish’.  I’ve also been finding some nice white bait a.k.a pilchards in the gulf.  When we are able to chum those up and net them the snook fishing has been stellar.  Many days we are catching double digit snook and some days they are pulling us out of the boat!  A few red drum are mixed in there and we’ve had several days with backcountry SLAMS consisting of redfish, snook, and tarpon. The gulf  is also a good option with the calm weather there have been a few permit and cobia out there and of course the big dogs goliath grouper and bull sharks!  I am pretty booked up through the middle of the month when I am going on vacation  though I have some open days when I get back near the end of July.  August is also pretty wide open and that can still be a great time to fish tarpon and other species as well!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk