6/17/15 Mid June Offshore Fishing Report

June is flying by here while offshore fishing in Islamorada! We are already past the mid way point and we've had lots of fish stories made here the past week at Bud n' Mary's. The wind finally let up a little the last few days so the ocean is calming down, but it was definitely windy and a little rough here at the end of last week and over the weekend. Unfortunately we had a few slow days on the mahi, where a lot of boats really struggled finding fish, or keeper size fish I should say. Lots of boats were finding big schools of mahi, but the problem was many of the fish didn't make the 20'' minimum size limit. A lot of boats just had a few mahi they could keep, although a couple boats still did good and had 15 - 20 fish. There was a couple "slammers" on the dock each day from 20 - 30 lbs, and a few gaffers from 10 - 15 lbs.

The good news is the fishing really picked up the last couple days here! Yesterday we saw quite a few "gaffers" hanging up and a lot of boats each had a couple "slammers", incluidng some real nice bulls. The blackfin tuna bite has been very steady the past week here around the humps. Pretty much all "footballs", but still great eating and great fighters on light tackle. When trolling you never know what you'll catch and we saw a couple wahoos here the past week, and the Gon Fishin V caught and released a 150 lb blue marlin yesterday!

There's been a few tripletail hanging around the floating debris as well. Back on the reef the yellowtail snapper bite has been very good the last few days. Almost all the boats that anchored down limited out on snapper. Some of the boats are getting in on the mangrove snapper spawn too. I saw a few big mangs that were 20" - 22" on the fillet tables. We should see more mangrove snapper each week here the next couple months. There's still a couple black grouper around the reef and wrecks, as well as a few real nice mutton snapper. We had some nice mutton snapper from 10 - 14 lbs hanging up on the racks for the boats that did reef trips. The Miss Islamorada Party boat has been doing great on their trips with tons of snapper, and they even had a nice 30 lb cobia that swam up into their chum slick. You really just never know what you'll catch off Islamorada.

Way offshore I've done a few daytime swordfishing trips, with each trip producing one fish. We tagged and released two juvenile broadbill , and we kept one for dinner that was 110 lbs. If you want to take a gamble and try your luck for a swordfish we are getting into the season where the weather and fishing is usually consistent. It's call big game fishing for a reason though, and you're not going to get one every day.

 

The summer is a great time to fish here in Islamorada for a lot of species, so give the office a call at 1 800 742 7945 and set up a fishing trip.

Tight Lines,

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

Comments

[Leo age 6 CA]

I want to recommend the boat named Warbird. Fast boat that will run down your Tuna, Dolphin, Sails, Triple Tail, Snapper, Permit, Sharks, you name it. Capt. Shannon spends the time to teach you how to fish. He never tires of anwering any questions that you may have. Never an attitude. He is great with kids and can change his game given the fishing ability on the boat. If you want to do more on the boat than just reel the fish in after the mate hands you the rod, give Team Warbird a good hard look. Fast boat so hold on tight!

Leo - age 6 CA as told to his Dad.

P.S. Great fishing reports Nick - probably the best source of wants going on week to week! Keep up the good work. Thanks.