Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Fishing Islamorada

Got out with Mike today for a 3/4 day.  He wanted to try and catch snook or tarpon.  I told him snook shouldn’t be too difficult right now, tarpon we may have a shot but it’s of course hit and miss with the cooler water temperatures.  We left early and tried some of the cold weather spots to start as there was very good fishing there yesterday.  Today however things warmed up considerably and the water was back near 70 degrees.  We had a bit of action to start with a snook and a redfish and a few trout, however that was about it.  I was hoping we’d maybe get some larger ones but none of the big boys that were around yesterday while it was still cold.  We moved around and then got on a decent redfish and black drum bite, picking a good handful of fish, and a few snook as well.  Mike got a decent snook here as well just before we were about to pack it up!  We ran back to another area on the bottom of the tide to catch the start of the incoming.  A couple quick stops without much, then the next stop we got the biggest snook of the trip, nothing monstrous but a decent 6 lber.  I was hoping we’d have enough water to get into another area however with the negative tide and only have about 45 minutes left, I didn’t think we’d get where I wanted to go.  So we tried some other grounds I had not fished in a while.  It turned out to be fairly productive.  We caught about 5 snook in one stop, then a couple more in the next stop, and then a couple decent redfish in the 3rd and final stop… all in the same stretch of creek.  So good to see.  Not a bad day at all with probably a good 16 snook, dozen reds, and 8 black drum.  I’m off tomorrow and then pretty much wide open all week!  Looks like we’ll have a couple more cold fronts, dropping us back down into the 50s.  That should be good for our big snook and big black drums in the ‘glades.  These are the days I look forward to.  Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday should all be good for those braving the cold winds and wanting to leave the dock a little early.  Might even take one of those days for myself!

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

A little cool off again yesterday and some of the bigger fish we like to see showed up! I had Matt and Adrienne down from Port Charlotte, visiting for a wedding. The winds laid down somewhat though still a little breezy. Negative tides out back so you really need to pay attention running around! We had plenty of nice, healthy snook with several drag screamers. A fair number of black drums as well, including one of those “big nasties”, a 30 lb monster! Not so many redfish for us today but a handful of little guys. We did get a few nice trout and sheepshead as well. Adrienne had really wanted a tarpon, and we did see a good handful but they were unresponsive. So it goes especially when it’s cold! However all in all, a lot of fun. By late morning it had warmed up considerably and it was time to take the jackets off. Matt booked me for May next year during prime tarpon time, so we can go after the silver king!

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

Day 2 with Scotlands own Ricky Walker and Paul Young. We had slick calm conditions today, prefrontal with another cold front coming in over the next 24 hours. I had stocked up on some bait the last couple days knowing we’d have a couple slick days and the big tarpon might show up. Yesterday we saw a decent amount but they did not respond for us. Today though we got into a gaggle of them early in the morning. We didn’t have much tide though and as we waited for it to switch, the group of fish definitely seemed to spread out. We moved around and kept at it for a couple hours. We caught some big blacktip sharks to keep us busy, then just as we were almost going to call it quits, Ricky’s rod went off and a monster tarpon went airborne! We chased him down and Ricky fought him well. We got him on the leader within about 15 minutes, but boatside he just did not want to roll over for us. Every time we thought we had him about ready to get a quick picture, he’d take off and try to go under the boat or back out again. Finally we subdued the fish and got a few pictures, but unfortunately we didn’t get many good ones before the fish went berserk and snapped the line whilst we had him leadered. Big fish are so tough to get good pics of because you don’t want to wear them down until they are lifeless, and all it takes is a few good tail kicks to get under the boat and snap! But we got a few decent shots anyways. A thrilling catch for the middle of winter here in the Keys, but flat calm conditions they can show up in a hurry any time of year! After that we caught some redfish in the shallows which was good. We tried a few gulf spots and caught a nice 40 lb goliath grouper out there but did not see much else. We tried another area for some big critters and got caught in the wreck on another goliath, and had a big shark that we pulled the hook on. We decided to try a few spots I hadn’t been to on the way home, and found some nice trout and redfish in there too which was good to see. Anyways another fantastic day and awesome to get a big tarpon, have not caught one that size in quite a few months. Off tomorrow then back at it Friday, but plenty of days open after that for the next week, including this weekend! Fishing has been stellar and the usual winter time stuff should continue to be so.

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

Fun day with Krystal and Jon visiting from Canada. We had a late departure as their flight was delayed. But no matter… We still crushed the fish! Saw a few tarpon early on but they were not responsive, water is still a little chilly but it was flat calm. We did get some nice blacktip sharks though. After that we found some redfish and a few snook. Still really good fishing reds on almost every cast on our artificials! Nice to see these fish in the bay again. Later on we ventured further out and found some tripletails which are fun sight casting too. My buddy Capt. John was battling a nice Goliath grouper and we got a picture of them. We tried some other areas for tarpon but still no luck though we did get a big sting Ray. We caught a few more snook in another spot and then tried one last hole where we get a few big critters on occasion and got a nice Goliath for Krystal ourselves to finish out our day! We followed one of my fellow captains in as he had some motor trouble but everyone got home safely.

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

Joel and Alan had a fantastic day out on the water with me today. The winds let up it was a little southeasterly early but then got near slick calm in the backcountry by late morning. We had very good fishing for redfish with some snook mixed in as well and Joel got a black drum too. Really wore the boys out it’s been very nice to see so many fish. After that we caught a few mullets and headed out into the gulf to try some structure. No luck on those spots but we did catch a half dozen triple tails while running around which was cool to mix it up. We did pull the hook on a nice big 10 lber, but a good fight none the less and the boys were practicing catch and release so no heartbreak there! We then found some more snook and a few redfish along some shorelines, solid action again! We tried one more hole for something big as the weather really slicked out and the water looked nice and clean. Joel did get a big sting ray and a nurse shark, but nothing super exotic. Anyways still a great day, fishing is so good right now! Looks like we’ll have some flat calm weather the next couple days, tarpon could show up who knows! I’m fishing the next two days, then I have a good stretch of openings until mid December. So if anyone wants to go, it’s really as good as it gets right now don’t miss out!

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