1/26/13 January Islamorada Backcountry Fishing Report

Had a gorgeous day here today january fishing islamorada.  Andy and his sons Derek and Conrad fished with me again on 1/26/13.  The wind blew but not too bad mostly out of the north/northeast.  Temperatures were chilly in the morning but nice after the sun was higher in the sky and we stopped running.  Caught the end of the falling tide back fishing cape sable.  Lots of redfish in the ditches and run-offs, today mostly little guys with a handful of nicer fish here and there.  Mostly caught jigging shrimp.  We also got some really nice big 20 lb black drum right off the bat, one we lost around a tree stump but one we caught right after on our islamorada fishing charter!  All these guys were eating shrimp on jigs, slowly twitched on the bottom.  We moved further in some of the creeks on the incoming tide and picked away at redfish, sheepshead, ladyfish, trout, jacks, and snapper.  Mid day we caught a handful of other fish along with a nice snook.  Backcountry islamorada fishing in the winter is lots of fun.  Capt. Jim Willcox and Capt. Mike Bassett reported similar fishing back at the cape including redfish and snook.  Capt. Willcox and Capt. John Johansen also did some trout fishing later in the afternoon and reported lots of nice big trout showing up in the ditches between islamorada and flamingo, which have been slim pickings the last month at least as far as the large ones go.  Great day here on the water flats fishing in the florida keys.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
rick@seethefloridakeys.net 

1/24/13 Winter fishing islamorada backcountry in January!

Well it cooled down a bit again as we had another small cold front pass through the last couple days.  Today on 1/24/13 it was a chilly ride into the islamorada backcountry fishing.  Many guides repoted having to wear jackets and long pants all day so remember to bring them!  Capt. Mike Bassett reported good fishing back around the cape area of the mainland.  He had some fellows from Minnesotta down staying at Bud n Marys and happy to be out of the cold weather back home!  They got into redfish, black drum, trout, and snook.  Fishing mostly the deeper runoffs and plugs slow jigging shrimp.  January islamorada fishing is often good in those areas!  Capt. Jeff Beeler reported some trout, ladyfish, jacks, etc... out west on the edge of the gulf, kind of a slower pick, but they also caught some sharks as well at the end of the falling tide as things warmed up a bit and the sun radiated.  Islamorada shark fishing can be done all year long as you can see, though is often tougher when the water is colder.  Capt. Bob Reineman had some good islamorada flats fishing for redfish, they poled and blind casted and caught 30 or so on bucktails.  Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished a later afternoon half and we got into a pretty solid bit of trout, ladyfish, jacks, pompano, and even a few spanish mackerel mixed in.  One real nice size trout as well as big ladyfish, the rest were mostly throwbacks but fun to bend the rod on.  We also picked a handful of redfish around one of the islands before heading home this afternoon.  The weather should be decent the next few days but still a little chilly, so go out for some great january florida keys fishing!

1/19/13 Backcountry and Gulf fishing islamorada in january!

Well we've had another minor cold front hit the keys a few days ago for our islamorada fishing in january and chilled the water down a bit, luckily however not too cold and is back on a warming trend already.  Islamorada backcountry fishing has been decent the last few days.  Capt. Rick Stanczyk and Capt. Perry Scuderi had a group trip yesterday.  We picked at the redfish, black drum, and sheepshead.  Got one snook as well around an island moat.  In the afternoon we caught our limit of trout for dinner plus plenty of ladyfish, jacks, and a few pompano.  Today the islamorada flats fishing was similar in the back.  We got into a good snook bite this AM catching 8 or so, plus a nice redfish.  Picked a few more redfish as well as black drum out of the hole.  Then picked at fish in a few other places - sheepshead, mangrove snappers, and jacks.  Decided to try the trout january fishing islamorada again in the afternoon and we caught plenty of those, however not quite as large this time no keepers but lots of fun rod bending action.  Also got some pompano as well before heading home.  Capt. Mike Bassett reported good fishing in the gulf, they got into some spanish mackerel, a few cobia, a permit,  a 40 lb kingfish!!!... and some larger trout out there.  The weather is suppose to be calm tomorrow and continuing to warm, so look for some good fishing all over the place fishing in the florida keys!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@seethefloridakeys.net 

1/4/13 Backcountry and Gulf Florida Keys Fishing Report

Had Sue Cocking down from the Miami Herald today on 1/4/13 for a little fishing story for the outdoors section of the Herald.  There was a last minute cancellation to her original plans and we set something up the day before.  We decided to go for a backcountry islamorada fishing trip and to showcase a variety of fish, as that is one of the special things about fishing in the florida keys.  We started out near flamingo, fishing some high-water spots near some mangroves for redfish.  We caught about a half dozen or so, as well as a few black drum and sheepshead.  We later moved to some deeper moats on the change of the tide to look for some snook.  We did hook one nice one that broke us off near the boat, and ended up catching a few more black drum and sheepshead.  Later we moved to some other channels where there had been some nice muds with a good mix of fish.  Trout, ladyfish, pompano, and a baby permit were to be had.  All fish to this point were caught on simple shrimp and jigs whilst islamorada fishing.  We started to use some tiny ladyfish pieces to catch pinfish,  and we mohawked them catching a couple dozen while bending the rod with other stuff!  We then headed out into the gulf of mexico fishing as the weather was slick calm and looked too pretty not to try.  We found several tripletail on the way out, and caught several keeping 3 for dinner.  Casting shrimp on a bare hook with tiny float was effective, and we even caught a few on light jigs as some were staying down a little deeper.  We then went gulf wreck fishing and caught several cobias up to 15 lbs, as well as another permit, and a large 100 lb goliath grouper!  Cobias were all caught on our fresh pinfish.  We then wanted to try to catch some mackerel, so we headed back towards sprigger bank and fished a few miles out from there.  On the way we came across something very unusual - several large packs of bonitas in the 8 - 12 lb range feeding on something very small.  We didn't get any bites out of them, but were able to drive right on top to confirm what they were!  As soon as we anchored and casted in our mackerel area we had fish on, we put a little chum out and caught about a dozen spanish mackerel as well as a few bluefishfish and snappers.  We then headed home, another beautiful day here and fun to be had in all areas, not just islamorada flats fishing in the backcountry!  Capt. Vic Gaspeny has reported excellent water and temperature conditions for tarpon fishing in islamorada.  They caught 9 in early morning trips as well as a 30 lb permit.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@seethefloridakeys.net 

12/28/12 Islamorada Winter Fishing Report

December Florida keys fishing been great here in Islamorada so far this christmas week!  The florida keys winter fishing is providing lots of action.  Today we were on the hunt for some snook and the fishing was better than expected!  We started out around flamingo with the falling tide, luckily the tide wasn't ripping even with the full moon just a good steady push.  We were throwing big shrimp on jigs around some bushes and got several nice size snook and lost a couple pigs as well!  We also caught some redfish which were in many of the deeper runoffs and channels with the colder water.  Islamorada backcountry fishing is fun for everyone!  Later we ran out west, tried a couple spots for cobia near the start of the incoming tide but no luck there.  Headed back into east cape canal after that which was pretty busy with boat traffic!  Cape sable snook fishing was pretty good too.  We caught one nice snook in the canal, and then worked our way back a little further.  Near lake inghram we found a little spot that had several smaller snook, plus plenty of redfish and a few black drum and sheepshead.  A couple of the reds were nice slot size fish.  You don't have to catch them islamorada flats fishing style this time of year, which makes it easy for young kids as well as adults.  All in all a great day with about a dozen snook, 2 dozen reds, and a few other various species!  

On the offshore side... Some sailfish around each day, one or two boats doing great and the rest are picking a few off, which happens in sailfishing quite a bit. Last two days the reel McCoy has been in fire releasing 7 fish each trip, the catch 22 released 5 yesterday and 3 today. The relentless had a sail yesterday and 3 today. The BnM had 2 sails today and a nice 32 lb wahoo for a great surprise. Both the strictly business and Gon Fishin V got in on some king mackerel action, including some nice smokers (20+ lbs), the Gon Fishin had a 42 lber today. The finnster has caught some great eating fish the past two days, including porgy yellow eye snapper tilefish and a big hogfish, as well as a sail today. The predator released 2 sails today , the could nine had a sail and a bucket off yellowtail snapper and a few cero mackerel. The fearless released a sail today. He also had a good patch reef fishing trip a couple days so with cero mackerel, yellowtail, mangrove, and a mutton snapper, which is always great for action especially if its windy since we fish shallower water. 

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@seethefloridakeys.net 

Update on Friday, December 28, 2012 at 05:45PM by Capt. Nick Stanczyk