2/4/11 Florida Keys Tarpon are back! And a 500 lb sawfish!

[syxx]

Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished with his father, Capt. Richard Stanczyk Sr., and friend Capt. Dave Peck from North Carolina down here for the winter today for some florida keys fishing. We fished some channels between Islamorada and Flamingo in the morning, got a late start around 8:30, but still had some good falling tide. Caught plenty of seatrout, some ladyfish, and a couple good pompano for dinner. After hitting a few spots we moved out to hit some good tarpon holes as we had heard there were some free-jumpers spotted the day before, and we saw a couple in some deeper channels while we were running around back there. We set up about 11:00 when the tide started coming in, and boy was it fantastic! Our florida tarpon fishing trip saw 4 tarpon hooked in the air, however we were only able to get one to the boat. We even hooked one on a light rod with jig/shrimp. We also caught a couple of blacktip sharks. The prize of the day though was a 500 lb sawfish, Capt. Dave Peck had never caught one so Rick found one for him. We caught him on a tarpon rod with 80 lb mono leader and a small 4/0 hook, amazingly, he took off like a freight train then stopped dead in his tracks and hugged the bottom while we finger-tipped him up with the leader and got a good look at him. We released him unharmed as these are very rare and protected fish - true dinosaurs!!! Hopefully this is a good sign that it will be a fantastic year for our Florida Fishing Charters!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
rick@seethefloridakeys.net
305-747-6903
http://www.budnmarys.com








[signature]

[HookedEm]

Those are great pics man! Wish I was down there!!!!!
[signature]

[syxx]

Caught this one the other day! Had Keith fishing from across the pond in Australia. He was suppose to go swordfishing but his buddy cancelled out on him, and he always wanted to catch a big tarpon. I told him there had been a few around so we gave it a shot! We caught a bunch of ladyfish and a few mackerel and blue runners in the morning, and then off we went. We caught a few sharks, big 60+ lb blacktips, nurse, and lemons, for the first hour and a half. Then we had one of the conventionals in free spool and heard the clicker slowly start going out and watched the line go straight back. Keith picked up the rod and figured it was another shark, so I told him to lock it up and hang on. For a minute or so it just steadily pulled drag and shook his head a few times - a shark right? Nope! Big 150+ lb tarpon comes crashing out of the water. We fought him for over an hour. Capt. Jim Willcox came from nearby and took some pictures. Keith was thrilled! After that the tide died out, so we ran to another area close by, ate lunch, and resumed fishing. Caught a bunch of small blacktip sharks, and then another 'sea monster' on the bottom. Finger tipped the braided line up, touched the leader, and then the braid broke. Anyways, some very exciting florida keys fishing, great to see this time of year!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
[url "mailto:rick@seethefloridakeys.net"]rick@seethefloridakeys.net[/url]
http://www.budnmarys.com




[signature]