11/11/17 Early November Offshore fishing report

Things are getting better each week at Bud n' Mary's Marina since Hurricane IRMA. The outside dock where the houseboats are usually tied up should be back together within a few weeks and we will have some more accommodations available for season. The last couple weeks most boats have fished the reef but a few have still verntured offshore. The Fall is a transitional time here so we see a little bit of everything, but every day is different. The first few days of November we saw some great catches of sailfish, with boats having as many as 7 releases! This week was a little slower on the sailfish but there has still been a couple caught each day. They should get more consistent as each week passes. There's been plenty of action with snapper, mostly yellowtails with a few mangrove and muttons mixed. Also a couple red and black grouper. The kingfish are just showing up and we've seen a few "smokers' over 25 lbs, but most have been in the 5 - 10 lb range. We've also been seeing a few cobia on the wrecks and plenty of barracuda on top of the reef. There's been a couple blackfin tuna caught on the edge of the reef, and some offshore on the humps. The tuna bite on the humps has been on and off, a few days they bit very well and some of the days the bite was non existent. The mahi are thinning out, but there's still being a few caught. 

 

Way offshore the swordfish bite was good a week ago but it did slow down the last couple trips. On the Broad Minded we released a small fish one trip and the next day kept one for dinner around 90 lbs and let a 100 lber go. The gimme jimmy also had a handful of bites one trip and released a juvenile swordfish. We did some deep dropping in the 800 - 1000' depth a couple of the days and caught barrelfish and blackbelly rosefish. 

 

Give the marina office a call at 305 664 2461 when you're ready to come down to Islamorada and go fishing!!! We have motel rooms and boats available!!! 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

10/28/17 Late October Islamorada Fishing Report

The marina is looking better everyday since Hurricane IRMA. We've got most of our rooms and the ocean front house available to stay in, and should have our houseboats ready to stay on in December. We've had a handful of boats fishing most days both on the reef and offshore. The "offshore" fishing for mahi has been suprisingly good most days with "schoolies" and some "gaffers". There was a couple days where the boats didn't find them, but that is expected as we get into the late fall since it's the tail end of the season for them. There's also been some blackfin tuna on the humps, and the sharks seemed to thin out a little bit since the boats are actually getting some tuna to the boat. I think the next month we will see some catches of dolphin and probably more blackfin tuna. Dolphin aren't a given this late in the season though.

More and more boats will focus on reef fishing as we get later in the year. Some of the boats have already had action packed days the last couple of weeks. We've seen a couple sailfish caught the past couple days, as well as quite a few kingfish, bonito, barracuda, snapper, cero mackerel and a couple grouper. We just had our first cold front of the season and we have another coming tomorrow, which should only make the reef fishing better.

Way offshore I have been swordfishing but it's been the toughest fall I have seen in 11 years. We haven't had a bite our last 4 trips in a row, but I'm hoping when they show back up they are thick! We have done some deep dropping on the way in and out catching barrelfish and blackbelly rosefish. 

Give the Marina Office a call at 305 664 2461 when you're ready to book your fishing trip or accommodations at Bud N' Mary's and we'll set you up! 

Tight Lines 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

10/17/17 Offshore/reef fishing report post Hurricane IRMA

Well this is my first offshore fishing report since Hurricane IRMA hit the Florida Keys on September 10th, 2017. We've been working hard to get things cleaned up and back to normal, and although we aren't 100% there yet we have been doing some fishing in Islamorada! Boats have fishing the reef as well as going offshore the past couple weeks. The last week we saw some nice catches of mahi, some boats having as many as 30 - 40 fish! We are at the tail end of the season for mahi but I'm sure we will see some the next few weeks.  

 

The blackfin tuna bite has been pretty good but the sharks have been so thick it's been hard to get the tuna past them! Hopefully the sharks thin out a little so we can put a few more tuna in the box. Back on the reef there's been yellowtail snapper, mutton snapper, grouper, kingfish, cobia, and a couple sailfish. A lot of boats will start fishing the reef and wrecks this time of year and throughout the winter. The Miss Islamorada Party Boat has been fishing Friday - Sunday and reported some nice snapper and even a surprise bonefish! 

 

Further offshore I made it out on a handful of daytime swordfish trips the last 10 days. We had two trips with two fish, two trips with zero fish, and one trip with one fish. We had one nice "pumpkin" swordfish that weighed in at 213 lbs! The fall is as good as anytime to try for a swordfish so if it's on the bucket list keep that in mind for the next couple months! We also landed a mako shark on a recent trip offshore, so that was a nice suprise. On the way in and out we did a little deep drop bottom fishing and caught a few barrelfish and blackbelly rosefish for the dinner table too. 

Some of the big hotels are closed for the next 3 - 6 months in Islamorada due to Hurricane Irma, but remember we have some lodging options right here at Bud n' Mary's Marina and there are plenty of other small resorts with rooms. Give us a call at the marina office at 305 664 2461 to set up a fishing trip or hotel stay. 

Tight Lines

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

 

8/28/17 Late August Deep sea fishing report

August fishing is almost over here in Islamorada, Florida Keys. We had some wind for a few days over a week ago, but the past week was much nicer. A few days were cloudy with passing rain storms, but it didn't stop the fleet from catching a bunch of fish! It was really a great season on mahi this summer, and it's still been good as of late. Sure there have been a few slow days but overall most boats have had 15 - 30 fish on full day trips. The fish have ranged from 4 - 15 lbs on average, but theres still been some nice bulls and cows in the 20 - 30 lb range. If you want the best shot at catching them a FULL DAY is what you really need to do. For example, One boat fished back to back days last week. The first day they had 30 mahi before lunch but the next day they only had 2. Yes when the bite is on and the fish are close you can score on a half day, but it's a gamble going offshore on a short 4 hour trip. 

 

The humps turned back on and we've seen a lot of blackfin tuna the past few days. It was a little quiet before that, but it's looking like we may have a great fall season on blackfin again. We haven't had the live bait around like normal, but we've been getting them on artificials and some on the dead bait. A couple of our deep drop bottom fish will close at the end of August, including blueline tilefish and snowy grouper, but we saw a lot of nice fish caught while the season was open. The Gimme Jimmy had a 39 lb snowy yesterday and a giant 35 lb golden tilefish! Also a nice barrelfish. 

 

On the reef the yellowtail snapper bite has been decent most days with some mangrove snapper still in the mix. We should start seeing some kingfish show up the next few weeks as well. Way offshore a few of us have been daytime swordfishing. The bite was good a week ago, with fish each trip, but then it slowed down and there was a couple days without any action at all. The good news was yesterday we went 3 for 4 on swordfish, so hopefully they are here to stay for a while! We tagged and released two of the juveniles and kept one for dinner. Long time marina customers and friends aboard the peanut got one swordfish each day last weekend including a nice fish at 157 lbs! 

 

The traffic has dissapeared in Islamorada for the most part, so come on down and avoid the crowds the next couple months. It's nice when there's only a handful of boats fishing offshore compared to 50! Give us a call at 305 664 2461 when you're ready to book you're next deep sea fishing charter! Remember we have offseason room rates at the marina for our hotel rooms, house, and houseboats! 

Tight Lines

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

8/16/17 August Islamorada offshore fishing report

We've had some incredible catches of mahi the first couple weeks of August! The crowds are thinning out so the next month or two may be the time you want to come down and fish at Bud n' Mary's Marina. Most of the boats have been averaging 20 - 40 mahi on full day trips. We've seen a lot of "schoolies" in the 3 - 6 lb range, a fair amount of gaffers in the 8 - 15 lb range and some nice bulls in the 30 lb class as well. The bite wont last forever so come down and get in on the action! 

 

The blackfin tuna bite has been fair, mostly ''footballs" in the 3 - 6 lb range but we did get a 25 lber on a popper one day which was exciting. There's been a few tripletail caught on floating debris as well. Down deep on the humps there's still a few ambjerjack and almaco jack. The Reel McCoy had a really nice wahoo one day weighing in at 47 lbs and there was a sailfish released amongst the fleet too.

 

A handful of boats have been getting in on the deep drop bottom action while the season is still open for most species till the end August, and we've seen a few big snowy grouper, a lot of blueline tilefish, a couple yellowedge grouper, rosefish, and a few barrelfish. Back on the reef there's been a decent bite of yellowtail snapper, mangrove snapper, and a couple mutton snapper. 

 

Way offshore we have been swordfishing a fair amount. Last week was slow but the bite picked up this week. We managed two fish yesterday including a big 273 lber, an 80 lber the trip before that, and we tagged and released a 40 lber a few days ago. The next few months are prime time to try for swordfish, so if it's a bucket list fish or something you might want to try let us know! 

 

Give the marina office a call at 305 664 2461 when you're ready to book your next Islamorada Offshore Fishing Charter and we'll set you up with a great boat. 

Tight Lines, 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk