Backcountry Fishing Reports

Got out with Jim and is son Adam for the day today.  We had a mixed bag plan again.  On the way out, we found a couple big herds of mullet and caught a bunch of them!  Now I had tarpon on the brain….  We checked some of the channels in the backcountry, and did see a handful.  We set up, and soon had a shark on and then Adam had a tarpon bite that we missed!  Unfortunately that was the last of the tarpon action, fish didn’t seem super happy with the water still on the chilly side and the south wind we had.  When the tide quit, we hit a redfish hole and bailed about 30 redfish in 30 minutes, great bite!  When the tide started out, we checked again for tarpon and found a couple different groups of fish, but no big schools.  We tried a few places, and just couldn’t get them to respond but we did catch several more big sharks.  After we’d had enough, we went and looked for tripletails.  Saw quite a few of them and caught 3, but nothing real big.  The boys then decided they wanted to try and catch some snook.  So we bolted for the mainland creeks, and had to work around a few spots but they each caught a snook at least and missed a few other random bites.  South wind was ripping on the way home, got things really muddied up.  But looks like we have a minor cold front on Wednesday night that’ll get the wind back in the north and cool things down slightly.  Not that the tarpon fishing is great but it’ll probably slow that down even more, just not much happening super early with them but hopefully that means it’ll be real good later in the season since they are being held off!

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

Lots of action today in the glades! Larry had booked with me some time ago, and I had he and his son out today! Last year we caught big tarpon. They wanted to try and catch some snook as they hadn’t caught those down here yet. We headed out into the Everglades early and planned on a mixed bag day, with hopefully some snook included of course. We checked an area for tarpon first thing and we did find a handful, though they weren’t very interested in our offerings and kind of split as soon as we got set up. We did catch a few sharks though. After that we went to out lighter gear and got into a ton of redfish! It was fish every cast. We also got a few small snook, or sneaks as we like to call them. A few juvenile Goliaths were landed as well. We tried a few other spots and all had a variety of fish, including one other spot with plenty of reds and some nice size trout. On the way home we hit a couple more snook spots, and did catch a few nice size ones for the boys which was fun. Back at it tomorrow likely with a similar plan. Fishing is still really good, more fish in the Everglades then I can ever remember!

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

Great day with Jeb and Melanie, despite the 20 knot winds! Started off not too bad but was blustery by days end. We caught our limit of snappers quickly which was nice and easy. Then we headed to the mackerel grounds. Had to jump around to three different spots to find good water, but we did and caught a good 15 or so plus some other odds and ends. After that we checked an area for tarpon but didn’t see much. Did hook a few big sharks though. We decided to bail and finished up on a great redfish bite, catching a good 3 dozen or so to round out our day! Back at it tomorrow.

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

Nice day with Irv and Carson! Carson hadn’t caught a snook before so we decided to go after some of them. With the warmer weather, it’d been a little harder finding nice size snook/reds, but we did manage a handful and some smaller guys too. Irv had the hot hand though, landing the biggest snook, a nice black drum, had a small tarpon on for a minute, and several monster lookdowns! We also had plenty of redfish, and a few snappers including a juvenile cubers, and they each got a tripletail but was a little rough out there and we didn’t see any keepers. We did have a 30 lb Cobia swim up to us while tripletailing, but by the time we got spun around and set up we didn’t see him and it was difficult to get set up with the big swells. Nice to see the backcountry still so alive! Off the next couple days and then back at it Sunday!

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

Great day with Garrett Kim, and their son Finley. Garrett tried to fish with me last year but I was already booked, so for this year they planned well in advance. We decided to mix it up some, as it’s a transitional time of year and you are never sure what you’ll find out there. But big tarpon was on his list and I said it’s possible, I hadn’t really tried yet but it’s getting to be time. Anyways we mackerel fished early on and that was a blast. Very good and bites every cast. After that, we went searching for tarpon. We found some out off the edge of the gulf, free jumping and splashing while we were triple tailing. We got set up and soon Garrett was hooked up! He caught a nice 70 lber and was stoked! After that we got into some good sharks, some big blacktips and a big lemon. The tide quit and we decided to try some redfish spots. Not much doing but we did catch one. After the tide changed, we looked for some more tarpon and found a few in a nearby channel. Soon Kim was hooked up to a fish roughly the same size as Garrett’s which she landed. After that a few more sharks and it was time to come home. Great day and glad we got the fish we wanted! Back at it tomorrow, spring is here and it’s tarpon time – my favorite time of year!

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