3/31/18 End of March Key Largo Fishing Report

March is just about over and the fishing in Key Largo has really turned on!  The last couple days the winds have laid out and things have warmed back up nicely after the last little late cold snap we had.  The rest of the week looks to be nice, warm, and calm too so that should be great for fishing.  Tarpon fishing in Key Largo is in full swing with lots of fish showing up both on the Atlantic and Gulf sides.  The last week we’ve been running deeper into the everglades where there have been loads of fishing starting to stage up waiting to spawn.  The last two days fishing was just epic we had 6 bites yesterday and 7 today, landing multiple fish both days.  Love when the weather gets right this time of year as that is when big things happen!  April and May are usually when we consider ‘prime’ tarpon season and it looks to be just starting now.  During some of the late cold snaps in March that I mentioned, we still had some good fishing for spanish mackerel in the bay, as well as some nice mangrove snappers with the occasional redfish or snook around some of our bay islands.  Also had a nice cobia last week about a 40 lber while tarpon fishing, that was a very nice surprise!  If you are in the Key Largo area on vacation and wanting to go fishing, give me a shout.  I don’t have much available but I can recommend some quality guides to get you out on the water chasing your dream fish!

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

3/15/18 Permit Fishing Report in Key Largo

Well March is rolling on and we’ve been very busy here with our key largo fishing charters!  I’ve had some luck with permit fishing in key largo the last few trips.  We hit the patch reefs on the ocean side out on the atlantic and found a few schools of them.  Not a guaranteed thing and they can be one of the most difficult fish in the ocean to catch at least here.  But we managed a smaller 12 lber one day, and got about an 18 lber yesterday!  We also had plenty of action on the patch reef catching yellow jacks, hogfish, porgies, various snappers, groupers, and more!  Winter and spring are great times of year for this fishing, and especially during a cold front.  The northerly wind keeps the florida keys to your lee side, so the ocean swells don’t pick up nearly as bad when the wind is south or east.  Shrimp and jigs do the trick for many of these fish, though for the big bad permit we float a crab out in the distance.  When that rod bows over you know you have something good because only so many fish will eat that crab on the surface.  Anyways our season has kicked off in a big way and things are busy.  I don’t have much available the next few months and I’ll be mostly focused on the tarpon grind that I love.  But summer time can still be very good for tarpon so if you want to go tarpon fishing in key largo, give me a shout and book in advance before it gets filled in.  Otherwise I’ll try to post updates on here a couple times a month but you can always read my more frequent reports on my other websites or follow me on facebook/instagram.  Tight lines!

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

3/1/18 Key Largo Tarpon Fishing Report in March

Well March is here and it almost feels like it’s summer time with as warm as February has been!  Not a single cold front all month and temperatures in the 80s every day.  Though looks like we have some cold weather coming this weekend it’s suppose to drop into the low 60s for several nights.  It will be a nice change for sure and I think overall a good thing as it feels like it has gotten way to hot to early here.  The last week the tarpon fishing had been fair though the last couple days it really turned on.  We made some deep runs into the everglades the last couple days and it was well worth the two hour trip!  We caught 6 tarpon in the last 2 days.  Day 1 they were big mamas… a couple in the 110 to 120 range, and then a big bruiser that was 150 lbs+ for my angler Irv!  What a day it was just fantastic plus plenty of sharks too, and even a couple triple tail.  Today the fish were smaller but still lots of fun, a couple 50 lbers and a 90 lber.  We also missed one more tarpon that would’ve been a double header but he threw the hook as he ate the bait right away!  We finished up today with some trout and snappers in the bay to mix it up a little bit, because the tarpon bite died out by 10:00 or so.  The early bird gets the warm or so they say!  Looks like tomorrow the winds will kick out of the west, but not suppose to blow too much until later in the day, so the morning may still be good fishing.  I have the same crew again tomorrow as I had today, and they are game to make the long run again for a chance at glory.  If you are down in the key largo area in march, give me a shout I have a few open days and the tarpon season seems to be starting very early this year!

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