7/30/18 End Of July Deep Sea Fishing Report

July was one of the nicest weather months we have seen in a long time here in the Florida Keys. Most days were light winds with sunshine, and there was only a few days with wind and thunderstorms. Overall the mahi bite was very good for the month. Sure not everyday is great, and there are days where some boats fill the box and others just have a handful of fish, but overall we saw some great fishing. July was the month of the big "slammer" mahi for sure. The Warbird brought the biggest to the dock this season with a 53 lber!!! The Cloud Nine had a 47 lber one trip and there was quite a few other fish in the 30 - 40 lb range. The schoolies were nice size and we had quite a few gaffer size fish in the 8 - 15 lb range. As we approach Fall we should see some of the best blackfin tuna fishing coming up the next few months. 

There was still a few billfish caught trolling including a couple blue marlin, white marlin, and sailfish. The blackfin tuna bite was fair. The bite was good for a few days and slow for a few. A lot of boats bottom fished out deep and we saw blueline tilefish, barrelfish, yellowedge grouper, and snowy grouper. On the reef we had great mangrove snapper fishing. Many boats limited out on their reef trips, plus theres been some yellowtail and a couple mutton snapper. 

The swordfish bite was slower than expected in July. Usually it's one of our best months but we had more slow trips than good trips. One of our good trips was while shooting a show with Nicky Sinden (The women's world record holder for swordfish) from New Zealand for her series called "Addicted to Fishing". That trip we had 2 bites and tagged and released a 90 lber and a 50 lber. One trip the week prior we released a 50 lber as well. A handful of trips resulted in no bites at all. I think the bite will pick back up soon, and hopefully this Fall is good fishing. 

If you want a shot a mahi, blackfin tuna, or just want to stay on the reef and catch some snapper for dinner give us a call in the office at 305 664 2461 and we'll set you up with an Islamorada Fishing Charter!!! Remember we have lodging options available right at the marina too! 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

7/9/18 offshore fishing report

I'm Back!!! I apologize for the lack of reports and not keeping everyone up to date with whats been biting in islamorada! Instant Social Media has become the quickest and easiest way to get out the current fishing report, but since I had a number of people ask about the blog I wanted to get another post up asap! It was a very busy summer on the offshore boats and overall the fishing was good. The next couple weeks aren't slammed so if you want to get out on a fishing trip or need a hotel in Islamorada please give us a call at 305 664 2461 and we'll set you up! All types of fishing go up and down and other weeks are better thans others, the bite can turn on and off overnight! That being said the mahi bite overall was good but we did have some very slow days and some mediocre days in the mix. The last couple weeks we finally started seeing some "slammer" dolphin in the 20 - 40 lb range, and quite a few medium size fish in the 5 - 15 lb range. The last weeks boat have averaged 15 - 30 fish on their full day trips. Mahi will be our main target the next couple months while deep sea fishing in Islamorada. We have seen a handful of billfish caught while trolling too, a few sailfish , blue marlin and white marlin. We're not the best spot by any means to catch a marlin but you never know what you'll catch off Islamorada! 

 

Other fish we have caught have inlcuded blackfin tuna, both "footballs" in the 4 - 8 lb range and a few in the 15 - 30 lb range on live bait. A lot of boats have got in on the deep drop action and we saw more Yellowedge grouper caught this year ( in 400 - 700 of water) , then we've ever seen before! There's also been a few golden tilefish, barrelfish, plenty of blueline tilefish, and even a couple of wreckfish the past week! All of the deep water bottom fish are great eating so no complaints there! 

A few boats have been fishing the reef, especially on half days, and the yellowtail snapper bite has been decent and there's been a handful of mutton snapper. The mangrove snapper are just starting to spawn so we should see plenty of those the next couple weeks! The Miss Islamorada party boat had a keeper black grouper and a suprise cobia on one of their recent trips, so that made for some excitement. If you plan on fishing on the party boat please call ahead of time to make a reservation so we can put your name on the list. Remember we need a minimum of 10 people to fish! 305 664 2461. We also just added an instagram account for the Miss Islamorada so check them out at @missislamorada. 

 

Way offshore we have done a number of swordfish trips and the bite has been decent this summer. We haven't got them every trip but I would say an average of 3 out of 4 trips we get atleast 1 fish. The fish have ranged from 40 - 125 lbs lately but we did battle one over 200 lbs that got away on a recent trip. 

Thanks for reading our blog post and if you've had fun on a recent trip at bud n mary's marina we'd love a review on trip advisor. 

Tight Lines 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

 

4/23/18 April reef/offshore fishing report

What a week at Bud n' Mary's Marina!!! On April 19th I had Patrick out aboard the Broad Minded for a swordfish trip. It was quiet all day, but late in the afternoon we hooked up. Patrick wanted to hand crank so we got him in the harness and he went to work. After a two hour battle we put the gaff and harpoon in a 600.5 lb swordfish!!! It's one of the biggest ever caught in the Florida Keys and the biggest we've ever seen at Bud n' Mary's Marina since we started daytime swordfishing back in 2003!!! Congrats Patrick!!! The catch 22 also fished that day and released 2 swords and kept 1 for dinner. We released 2 swords our next trip on the Broad Minded, but we didn't get any yesterday. 

 

The mahi bite has been fair. We had a couple good days and boats had 20 - 30 fish, but then the next day there was just a few caught. It's still a little hit and miss right now, but it should only get better and more consistent each week. We saw fish from 3 - 25 lbs caught the last few days. The blackfin tuna bite has been great, with a lot of "footballs" in the 3 - 7 lb range and a few nicer ones from 12 - 25 lbs. There's been some big amberjacks and sharks still around too. 

 

On the reef there's been plenty of yellowtail snapper and a few mutton snapper in the mix. Permit have been pretty good on the wrecks, but there not a guarantee by any means. About a week ago we had a weak cold front and it sparked the sailfish bite for a couple days, but then the bite really slowed down. All of a sudden two days ago the current picked up with a little bit of wind around lunch time and almost all the boats that were on the reef caught sailfish! The Catch 22 managed 6 releases, the indigineous had 3 and a few othter boats had a couple. However, the next day the current let up and there was only 1 sailfish caught amongst the fleet. We are looking forward to May 1st because grouper season opens up, so get ready! 

 

Give us a call in the marina office at 305 664 2461 to book you're next Islamorada Fishing Charter and we'll set you up with a great boat! Remember we have lodging options and "galley girls" cafe is open daily at 6 am. We recommend you order food the day before though so it's ready for your fishing trip the next day! Galley girls can be reached at 305 664 0166. 

Tight Lines

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

4/9/18 Early April Offshore fishing report

The last few weeks have flown by here in Islamorada! The marina was slammed busy in March and has been busy the first week of April too. Most boats fished every day and our lodging accommodations were full for the most part too, which was nice to since tourism has been down since Hurricane Irma. It's definitely "spring" fishing right now with a little bit of everything and changing conditions every few days. Most of the boats have still stayed on the reef but a handful have been venturing offshore. There's been a few sailfish caught most days amongst the fleet, with a couple boats having better days. The Kalex had 6 releases one day a couple weeks back and the Predator had 5 releases a few days ago. The permit showed up on a couple of the wrecks the past week and a lot of boats have been catching and releasing them. We've seen a few kingfish, plenty of yellowtail snapper with a few muttons and mangroves in the mix, and a couple wahoo. 

 

Offshore on the humps the tuna bite picked up the past week and we saw some really nice blackfins in the 20 - 25 lb range and then some footballs in the 3 - 7 lb range. The mahi aren't thick yet, but a few boats have put together a catch on them. The Reel McCoy and Catch 22 both had about 10 mahi each their last trip offshore, but other boats caught 1 or 2 all day. The mahi should only get better each week, so just remember it's a gamble now to go offshore and target them. There' been some big ambjerack on the wrecks and humps, as well as some big sharks. Aboard the Broad Minded we released two tiger sharks in the 400 - 500 lb range last week! 

Way offshore the swordfish bite has been decent although there was a couple slow days mixed in. We missed our only bite yesterday but the day before we went 2 for 3. When you swordfish you are hoping to get a bite or two, and if you catch them you will have a good day. Hooking and landing a fish with over 2000' of line out is challenging, so even if you get a bite there's no guarantee you'll catch that fish. If you don't mind taking a gamble and swordfish is on the bucket list, this is one of the best places in the world to try to catch one! 

 

Give the marina office a call at 305 664 2461 when you're ready to book your next fishing vacation and we'll set you up with fishing and lodging right here at the marina! 

Tight Lines 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

 

3/19/17 Mid March Islamorada Deep sea fishing report

Well I thought winter was over but we had two fairly strong cold fronts move through last week. Temperatures dropped into the 50's and the wind swirled directions. For certain fish a front can help the bite, but a drastic change in conditions this time year can shut the bite off on others. We had a couple tough days with slow fishing the day of the fronts, but then things got back to normal and we saw the normal mixed bag of fish for March. The majority of the boats have stayed on the reef and there's been a few sailfish caught amongst the fleet each day, one day was in partictular was good where most the boats had 2 - 4 releases and saw some others. Sometime in the next 6 weeks we should see the "spring time tailing condition" where sailfish and cobia tail down sea on a color change, but we will need just the right conditions. The wind and current must cooperate for that to happen and it usually just lasts for a couple days. We saw a few boats cash in on the cobia the past week, finding nice schools of fish with some cobes pushing 50 lbs! That style of fishing may not feel like fishing at all since we ride around in the tower and look for stingrays without any lines in the water, but if you find the right ray and and school of cobia is on him be ready! We've seen a handful of wahoo around as well as a few kingfish. The snapper bite was good most of the week although there was a couple slower days with the current into the wind and clear water in certain areas. Out a little deeper there's been vermillion snapper and a few yelloweye snapper in the 300-400' range. The Cloud Nine also caught a monster yellowedge grouper weighing in at 37 lbs! It's one of the only grouper species we can keep right now. We've had a lot of kids out fishing with spring break which is great because we love seeing the next generation fishing! Some barracuda and sharks around too! 

Further offshore the hump was very productive a couple days with blackfin tuna and amberjack, but then one day the bite shut off and it was very slow the next few days. It's fishing and things change day to day! We are seeing a few mahi so far and we will start seeing more as we get later into spring. Way offshore the swordfish bite has been steady for most boats. On the Broad Minded we had a 137 lb swordfish yesterday, three fish from 30- -80 lbs the trip before that, and one fish around 40 lbs the trip before that. We also caught a monster DIAMONDBACK SQUID! It weighed in at 33.4 lbs!! Talk about calamari!! The indigenous charter boat caught a big 267.8 lb swordfish yesterday after a 3 hour battle! The had some shots the trip before that and lost a couple fish after 1 hour battles. 

Give us a call in the marina office to book your next Islamorada Fishing Charter and we'll set you up with the best available boat. Remember we have logding options at Bud n' Mary's Marina so you can stay right close to the fishing action! 305 664 2461

Capt. Nick Stanczyk