# 2/4/11 Tarpon back in the FL Keys! And 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. 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 frieght 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
[email protected]
305-747-6903
http://www.budnmarys.com


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## feelin' wright

That is awesome congrats on a great day fishing. I thought at one time that you needed to contact FWC when you caught one of these. Is this still true now?


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## syxx

Your not required to do it that I know of. They use to have a program that you could voluntarily report sawfish 'sightings' though I haven't seen the paperwork or information for that in a long time. Though we catch them more and more frequently now, the conservation efforts have really paid off. Last year in the spring you could go back there and catch them fairly consistently if you put the time in.


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## Ultralite

thanks for the report! cool looking fish and that tarpon is huge! 

looking at those pictures and listening to the thunder and rain and cold makes me envious and so ready for spring...


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## Chris V

Looks sunny and beautiful. Great report but why did the weather have to be so terrible last week when I was in the keys? If only I could control that.

Thanks for sharing


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## WAHOOU39

Thanks for sharing. I have fished out of Bud and Mary's with Capt Erik. I ahd an awesome time catchng tuna a dolphin aboard his boat. I love Islamorada!


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## SHunter

Dr. Grubbs at FSU is doing research on sawfish. Here is a link if you are interested. Great photos. Wish that I was there and out of the cold for a few days. I guess that I shouldn't complain because of the ice north of here.

www.marinelab.fsu.edu/faculty/sawfish.html


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## syxx

Here's a nice one we caught yesterday, the bites slowed down a little as we've had some cooler weather, and will probalby shut off for a few days after tonight it's suppose to dip down to 60 degrees . Had Keith fishing from across the pond in Australia. He was suppose to go swordfishing but his buddy canceled 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!


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