7/31/17 Late July Deep Sea Fishing Report

July flew by here in Islamorada this year. It's been a very good season overall on mahi, especially compared to 2016. We had a few slow days last week but this week was pretty steady each day. Sure there were a few boats that just had a handful of fish but overall the offshore charter boats have been average 15 - 30 fish. Most fish in the 4 -15 lb range, with a few slammers over 20 lbs in the mix. Hopefully the mahi bite remains steady for August. 

 

Other offshore action has inlcuded plenty of football size blackfin tuna and there's been a couple wahoo caught while trolling. The gon fishin v had a 45 lb wahoo the other morning. The gimme jimmy caught a monster 17.4 lb tripletail off a pallet the other day too! The deep drop bottom fishing has provided a mixture of tilefish, grouper, barrelfish, and rosefish. Also check out this longtail bass aboard the Indigenous. 

 

On the Reef There's been a decent bite of snapper inlcuding mangrove and yellowtail, with the occasional mutton in the mix. Also some barracuda and a few sharks. Further offshore the swordfish bite picked up a little the last few trips. We had a few trips without any bites last but we managed 1 fish on each of our last 3 trips on the Broad Minded. The smallest fish was 40 lbs and the biggest 160 lbs. The next few months are as good as bet as here to try for a swordfish, so if you dont mind fishing all day for a quality fish you may want to give it a shot this summer or fall! 

Tight Lines

Capt Nick Stanczyk 

7-24-17 Islamorada Offshore Fishing report Mid July

We've had some great weather the past ten days here in Islamorada. It's been a little warm so make sure you bring plenty of water to drink.  The mahi bite was great in the middle of the month with all the boats getting in on the action, but it slowed down for a few days late last week. Half the boats found mahi and half didn't for a few days, but the good news is it picked up again yesterday and we saw some nice fish caught. The biggest fish last week was a monster bull on the Predator weighing in at 48 lbs and there was a 35 lber caught yesterday on a private boat at the marina. Most of the fish been in the 4 - 12 lb range. 

 

In addition to the mahi offshore there's been a lot of football blackfin tuna on the humps as well as some skipjack tuna. Down deep there's a few amberjack still around, so if you want a big pull ask about that! The gon fishin v was trolling the other day and caught a really nice wahoo at 42 lbs as well. The deep drop bottom fishing last week was good with tilefish, snowy grouper, barrelfish, rosefish, and a couple yellowedge grouper. The current really picked up the past few days though and it made it much tougher. A few boats have been staying on the reef, especially on half day trips. The snapper bite has been decent overall but a couple days when the current was slow the fishing was too. It's been a mix with a few mutton snapper, mangrove snapper, and yellowtail snapper. Also a couple black grouper. There was a few permit caught on the wrecks last week but the school of fish has got really small now. 

 

Way offshore the swordfish bite has been on and off. We had fish on 3 of our last 6 trips. One real nice fish at 254 lbs and the others were 50 and 90 lbs. Hopefully they turn back on this week.

 

Give the marina office a call at 305 664 2461 when you're ready to book your next fishing charter in Islamorada! Remember we have hotel rooms at the marina as well! The Deli at the marina shut down this month so make sure to bring food with you. 

Tight Lines, 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

 

7/11/17 Late June and Early July Deep sea fishing report

Sorry for missing our fishing report last week but we've seen some great fishing this summer! The mahi bite has been the best we've seen in a couple years, with lots of schoolies, some gaffers, and a couple big bull dolphin in the mix!

Other offshore fish have included blackfin tuna, a couple wahoo, a couple tripletail, amberjack, and still a couple billfish. The reel mccoy released a 300 lb blue marlin one trip and the next day had a white marlin. The gimme jimmy also released a blue marlin one trip. The cloud nine  had a sailfish on the troll the other day. We've seen some good bottom fish while deep dropping including blueline tilefish, snowy gouper, yellowedge grouper, barrelfish, rosefish, and we had a huge 42 lb golden tilefish one day which was a nice bonus!

 

A few boats have got swordfishing the past couple weeks and it's been a decent bite most days. The Broad Minded, Bn'M, Indigenous, and Water Damage have all got in on the swordfish action. You don't catch them every trip, but the next few months is prime time to give it a shot.

Give the marina office a call at 305664261 when you're ready to book your next trip in Islamorada at Bud n' Mary's Marina and we'll find a great boat for you!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

6/24/17 Offshore fishing report for Islamorada

We had some super nice weather a little over a week ago follow by a few really windy days and now its starting to let up again. Some boats still fished in the 20 + knot winds and came back with plenty of fish. The last 10 days has been some of the best dolphin (mahi) fishing we've seen in a couple years, with plenty of schoolie size fish and quite a few gaffers. There's been a few slammers around as well, with fish in the 20 - 45 lb range. We are all hoping the dolphin fishing stays steady because it sure is nice when you can go out and catch 20 - 40 fish! 

 

In addition to the dolphin we saw a couple nice surprises caught and released this week. The reel mccoy released 2 white marlin (two trips each with one marlin) and the Predator released a 150 lb blue marlin. There's been some football size blackfin tuna on the humps with some big ambjerack and almaco jack down deep. The deep dropping for bottom fish in 400 - 800' has been decent as well, mostly blueline tilefish with a few snowy grouper in the mix. The cloud nine weighed in a 39.6 lb snowy grouper one day! 

 

When it was windy a few boats stayed on the reef and caught plenty of yellowtail snapper and there's been a couple black grouper still around. The permit have been a little tricky on the wrecks but if you're patient and make the shot count it's a possibility! 

 

Way offshore we swordfished before the wind came last week and lost one really big swordfish pushing 400 lbs one trip and missed a couple other bites over a couple of the other days. The last trip we fished though we got Niles his first ever swordfish, so that was pretty cool! 

 

Give the marina office a call at 305 664 2461 when you're ready to book your next Islamorada fishing charter or even stay at our motel! 

Tight Lines,

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

6/15/17 Mid June Islamorada Deep Sea fishing report

The dolphin (mahi) bite has been on fire the past week here in Islamorada! A lot of boats have been limiting out on schoolies (3-6 lb mahi) and there's been a few gaffers and slammers in the 25 - 40 lb range in the mix! The blackfin tuna bite has been decent on the humps, most fish in the 3 - 10 lb range but there was a couple over 20 lbs caught. If you want a big pull just send a bait down deep and we've seen some bruiser amberjack from 40 - 70 lbs! Deep drop bottom fishing has provided tilefish and grouper as well. 

Back on the reef the yellowtail snapper bite has been steady with a few mutton snapper in the mix. The permit have been pretty consistent on a couple wrecks too. We catch and relesae our permit here, especially since they are spawning this time of year. Barracuda have been around the top of the reefs as well as a couple mackerel. 

Way offshore a few of us have got out on daytime swordfishing trips. The Bn'M caught a 135 lb fish about 10 days ago. The fished  a few days back and pulled 2 hooks, and I fished the past two days, missing one bite one trip and then battling a giant pushing 400 lbs yesterday. The big fish yesterday was foul hooked and eventually pulled off. That's part of swordfishing. Other exciting news from last week was when I teamed up with my friends on the "PAYDIRT" and we fished the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Championship and we caught a new pending record for Mississippi! The fish weighed in at 242.5 lbs and won the swordfish division in the tournament! 

Give the marina office a call while the weather is nice this coming week to book your fishing charter! 305 664 2461! 

Tight Lines, 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk