12/24/17 Christmas Eve December Backcountry Fishing Report

Well Christmas is here but you wouldn't have any idea of that living here in South Florida.  We're experiencing an unusually warm late december and it almost feels like summer outside.  Temperatuers the last few days have been in the 80s, going from flat calm to a little breezy the last couple days.  However about 10 days or so ago it was the exact opposite and we had some of the coldest weather of the year with a couple good fronts that dropped temperatures down into the 50s here.  Fishing was good all throughout those periods however and we got to enjoy some of the banner 'cold weather' fishing we get in the winter when it gets chilly, as well as some typical warm spring-time fishing.  The last several days huge schools of tarpon have moved into the backcountry, with lots of big fish in the 100-150 lb range.  I fished a couple days back there and we caught 3 big tarpon in 2 days, two fish around 100 lbs, and one in the 150 lb range.  Also some big mud marlin out there too!  Capt. Skip Nielsen also had similar fishing with similar sized fish as well with Deb and Rich Riolo, they also had some nice snook on their first day, and a few redfish on their second day, as well as the tarpon.  Other than that on my last couple days we also caught plenty of spanish mackerel in the gulf, and found a few triple tails one day as well.  The other day we caught plenty of snapper, and a few redfish and snook to top of our day... it was excellent fishing both days.  Last week during the cold periods where it started to warm up we had very good fishing too.  I had my dad and Capt. Dave Peck out for a fun day and we caught a ton of redfish in multiple spots which was great to see, and also quite a few black drum including a nice 25 lb fish, and several snook too including some nice 10-12 lb fish.  Capt. Jim Willcox also had great fishing last week with some nice size snook in the backcountry, and found a few good redfish and black drum as well.  Capt. Mike Bassett reported some black drum in the backcountry yesterday too, and some cero mackerel out on the patch reefs.  We also had some action on the patches last week, with hogfish, snappers, cero mackerels, and yellow bar jacks.  Capt. Bill Bassett was fun fishing a few days ago and reported a steady pick of redfish, drum, and snook in the deeper everglades creeks.  Capt. John Johansen had some tarpon action the last few days as well.  Capt. Eric Ehlers a couple days ago had a tough day in the backcountry, but ended up catching a SLAM (permit, bonefish, and tarpon) in the afternoon fishing locally around Islamorada... incredible!  Christmas came early for a lot of folks fishing the last few days.  The week after Christmas is always a busy one but we have guides ready and waiting to go.  Don't miss out try and make your plans soon!  You can reach our office today and possibly for a few hours tomorrow morning at 305-664-2461, then we will be back to normal hours on Dec 26th.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing