12/11/18 Early December deep sea fishing report for Islamorada

We moved right through November and are almost two week through December? I just can't get over how fast this year is flying by!!! The Islamorada Sailfish Tournament took place almost two weeks ago and there was some excitement on the reef! Some boats had very slow fishing but the last day was much better than the rest and the team aboard the Cloud Nine managed 8 sails the last day to put them in 3rd place! They had 3 sails one day, 1 the other day, giving them a total of 12 fish over the 3 day event. The past 5 weeks we have had a decent sailfish bite overall. The boats that have been putting their time in have had a few shots most trips. 

 

Other reef action has included a few wahoo, some late season mahi, blackfin tuna, yellowtail snapper, mutton snapper, king mackerel, barracuda, and black grouper. Further offshore we have had some really active days on the humps while live baiting for blackfin tuna too. 

The swordfish bite was very good the past couple weeks. We landed two double headers and 2 fish over 200 lbs. Most of the fish have been in the 40 - 80 lb range but we had a couple others around 100 lbs. I had the pleasure of fishing baseball hall of famer Wade Boggs in Late November. He was chasing his first ever swordfish. The first day we lost one near the boat, but a couple days later we got back out and managed 3 broadbill swordfish! We also had a bonus pomfret one trip. We also caught a few big queen snapper one day heading offshore for swordfish. Last winter was the best swordfishing we saw for the year so if you want to give it a shot now is as good as time as any as long as the weather cooperates. If not, you can always fish the reef! 

 

Give us a call in the marina office at 305 664 2461 if you want to book your next Islamorada fishing charter and we'll set you up on a great boat! Remember we have lodging options available at the marina including motel rooms, a couple small houses, and a few houseboats. "Galley Girls" cafe is open at 6 am daily now so you can get breakfast and lunch before you go fishing. 

Tight Lines, 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

11/4/18 October and early November fishing report

Sorry we've been slacking on the Islamorada Fishing reports on the blog here. Social Media has really taken over our daily updates, so Make sure to Follow Bud n' Mary's Marina on both facebook and instagram. Here's a report from the last month that should get you pretty excited! In early and Mid October the offshore fleet had some great days live baiting for blackfin tuna on the humps. The bite wasn't on every day, and the tuna did slow down the last couple weeks, but it was on fire for a lot of trips! A few weeks ago We had calm weather with tons of pilchards around, which we netted hundreds, and the boats were able to get the blackfin tuna popping right behind the boat! It was a battle most days to get them past the sharks, but we saw a lot of fish in the 5 - 12 lb range and some in the 20-25 lb range. Hopefully they turn back on this month like it usually is in November. 

 

Back on the reef some of the boats racked up the numbers sight fishing for sailfish the last couple weeks! There's been some sails outside the edge of the reef too but the days multpile boats had 7-11 releases each they were up "showering" (chasing ballyhoo) in 20 - 30 feet of water!  Thats some of the most exciting fishing we see here in the Florida Keys. Yesterday was good on them again with A couple boats having 4 releases and a few others released amongst the fleet. The upcoming months are prime time for sailfish! On the edge of the reef and wrecks There's been a couple tuna caught on the live baits, quite a few king mackerel, and the snapper bite has been decent while anchored down too. We saw a few black grouper the last week as well. Grouper will stay open till the end of the year and then shut down for 4 months. 

 

Way offshore there was a couple great weeks of swordfishing. The catch 22 caught 5 fish one day, another day with 3, and a couple days with one. The fish were anywhere from 40 - 120 lbs. On the Broad Minded We had a few slow days the past month missing our only bite on those trips, but then we had a few days with 3 fish, a few with 2 fish, and a few with 1 fish. A couple of the fish were really nice ones weighing in a 238 and 366 lbs! Most of the fish were 40 - 170 lbs. The next couple months is a great time to try for a swordfish, so if you want to give it a shot let us know! We have a handful of boats that fish for them! We had a few mahi last trip, but it is the end of the season for them so they were be a bonus anytime from here on out. 

 

Give the marina office a call at 305-664-2461 to book your next trip! Remember we have lodging options available and the Deli is open for breakfast and lunch. 

Tight Lines

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

9/27/18 Islamorada Offshore Fishing Report

It's hard to believe September has almost come to an end! It's been over a year since Hurricane Irma wrecked Havoc on the Keys and fortunately we are almost re built bigger and better than before here at Bud n' Mary's Marina! It's "off-season" for tourists this time of year in South Florida, but don't think for a second that we still don't have some incredible fishing this time of year! Yes the mahi get a little more hit and miss as we hit September and October, but we have seen some incredbile catches the past few weeks! A few trips have been some of the best catches we have seen this entire year! Not everyday is a home run, (yes it's always fishing), but we saw a lot of "gaffer" size fish in the 10 - 20 lb range , with a few bigger bulls, and still plenty of schoolie size fish in the 3 - 7 lb range. The Blackfin tuna bite has been decent overall, with tuna on most of the trips. A couple weeks ago was very good, and the past week has been good for a few boats but not every day. The sharks have been fericous as well, making it tough on some tirps to get a tuna in the boat. We saw a couple stud blackfin tuna in the 28 - 30 lb range and the rest have been "football" size to 20 lbs. The fall is typically some of the best blackfin tuna fishing we see, with a lot of medium size fish in the 7 - 15 lb range, so hopefully the full on action starts back up soon! 

Back on the reef there has been a mix of yellowtail, mangrove, and mutton snapper on the reef and wrecks. A few king mackerel have been showing up, a fair amount of yellowjacks, and the Buzz On even had a suprise cobia yesterday. The dauntless released a sailfish a few days back as well. We should start seeing more and more sailfish as it gets later into the fall, and hopefully it will be a good winter on them. 

Way offshore we have been doing our fair share of swordfishing. The bite really turned on for a couple weeks averaging 3 - 4 bites per trip, but the last few trips has been slower. Our best trip we went 4 for 4,  a few other trips we had 1 fish, one trip we had three fish, and we have missed our bite on two of the last four trips which means we came home empty handed. The fish have average 40 - 140 lbs and we had one real nice one at 248 lbs last weekend. When swordfishing you are fishing for 1 - 2 bites on most of the trips, so if you make that bite count you will have a successful day. 

We still have disocunted rooms at the Marina the next couple months so give us a call in the marina office at 305 664 2461 if you're ready to come down and go fishing for a couple days! Avoid the crowds and cash in on some good fishing! 

Tight Lines

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

End of August 2018 Islamorada deep sea fishing report

Another month has passed here at Bud n' Mary's marina in Islamorada, Florida Keys! Business is slowing down as we are hitting "off season" with the kids going to back to school and summer travel coming to an end. We have had both some great days offshore as well as some slow ones the last couple of weeks. Mahi and Blackfin tuna have still been the main target offshore. The mahi bite has been day to day, with a handful of incredbile catch with nice size fish from 10 - 20 lbs, but then there was a few really slow days right next to the good ones. The next month I believe we will see mahi caught, but it is getting to the time of year where it won't be as consistent as early summer. The Fall blackfin tuna bite is starting off in full swing right now too! They are on almost all of the humps, but the sharks are on some of them too! A few days the sharks were so aggresive it was hard to get a tuna past them, but if you were patient you could put a nice catch together! 

 

 

Our snowy grouper and blueline tilefish season just came to an end the last day of August, but we saw a of each species caught the last week of season. It will re open in May 2019. We have had quite a bit of wind the last few days, so some boats have just been staying on the reef where it was a little calmer. The hot mangrove snapper bite we saw all summer is slowing down as expected, but there is still some around for dinner. The yellowtails have been biting most days and there's been a few kingfish on the reef. 

 

Way offshore the swordfish bite has been on and off like it was all summer, but we did have a few really good days. Two different trips we caught 3 fish, two trips we had two fish, and two trips with one fish. Of course we had a couple trips with 0 fish as well. One of the fish we caught was an absolute beast that weighed in at 423 lbs!!! We have released half of the recent fish and kept half. The next couple of months are as good as any for a chance to get a swordfish off Islamroada, so if it's on your bucket list keep that in mind! 

 

 

Give the marina office a call at 305 664 2461 when you're ready to book your next Islamorada Fishing trip! Remember we have off season rates on our hotel rooms and houseboats if you want to stay on property to be close to the boats!! 

Tight Lines 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

8/15/18 Mid August Offshore Fishing report for Islamorada

Summer is coming to an end for a lot of kids and we had a bunch of families fishing here the past couple weeks. School is starting back up now so the family travel is slowing down, but it was nice to see the next generation of fishermen and fisherwoman get on and off the boats each morning! The mahi bite has been on and off in august. We did see a couple more SLAMMER BULL'S, including a 50.5 lber on the redfish and a 40.2 lber on the cloud nine! The first week of August was pretty good overall but the last week has been hit and miss. A few boats each day would still come back in with a box of fish but when half or more of the boats struggle just to catch a few fish it definitely isn't as consistent as we like to see! A lot of boats were finding plenty of fish but there was tons of undersize mahi, which we call "shakers" , since we shake them off next to the boat back in the water. It's always fishing so nothing is a guarantee, but all the boats here always give it a good effort! Other offshore fish we have seen include blackfin tuna and then some deep drop fish like grouper and tilefish. I think the dolphin bite will pick back up with this south east wind, as we usually see some gaffer size fish this time of year in the 8 - 15 lb range. Blueline tilefish and snowy grouper will remain open the rest of the month but come September we won't be able to keep them. In addition to the tuna on the humps we have seen some big dusky sharks too!!! Our friends also caught a nice wahoo on their private boat trolling one day as well. 

The snapper bite the last couple months has been great on the reef. It was one of the best years we have seen on mangrove (gray) snapper, so that made up for some of the slower mahi days the past week. The Miss Islamorada Party boat has been on them almost every day, with the exception of a couple days when the water was very clear and the current died. Some of the charter boats also threw some yellowtail action in the mix. With the live baits out we saw a few kingfish on the wrecks and reef as well as some big yellowjacks. 

Way offshore the swordfish bite has still been slower than normal, but the Catch 22 did have one very exciting trip where they were fighting a swordfish and a mako shark bit the tail off! The got the majority of the swordfish in and then caught the mako shark on a small piece of the swordfish! 

Tight Lines and remember to call the marina office at 305 664 2461 to book you're next Islamorada Fishing Trip! We have hotel tooms and houseboats for lodging options on property as well!! 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk