6/3/12 Backcountry fishing report and florida keys tarpon fishing

Well summer feels like it is here things sure are getting hot now.  We've still been having some crazy weather patterns though the last few days have been absolutely gorgeous.  Before that we had a couple days of solid rain again coming out of the tropics.  On 6/3/12 I got back in the backcountry fishing with Mickey, Mike, and Mike for some backcountry fishing.  The day before we had caught loads of trout, ladyfish, and a few snappers.  Had tried islamorada tarpon fishing for a little while but action fishing was preferred!  On this day we started out way back in the everglades.  First fish of the day was a large snook of 20+ lbs!  Great way to start. We then caught 3 big sea monsters for something large for the boys to pull on.  One of them drug us a mile inshore.  We also had a hammerhead shark eat a pinfish off the surface while getting pulled around which was a cool sight to see.  Tarpon were rolling in the area but we did not have any bites out of them.  After this we hit some high tide shoreline spots and found some nice redfish, and also caught half a dozen black drum which is unusual for this time of year, as well as another snook!  Great day of family fishing in the florida keys!

Capt. Skip Nielsen had been reported good tarpon action on mullet last week with several multiple fish days, though finding the mullet is getting tougher and tougher.  Some bites on the falling tide in the afternoons have also come on crabs, Capt. Perry Scuderi had a nice fish the other afternoon on a crab. Capt. Mike Bassett also reported some snook action in the everglades on live pilchards. The falling tide will be extending nicely into the evening trip hours throughout this week, so it would be a good time to plan a night tarpon fishing trip in islamorada!

2/3/12 Great fishing in the everglades despite the wind!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished with Carlo and his brother down from Canada today on 2/3/12 for a full day islamorada fishing charter.  The winds were howling, a steady 20+mph all day with gusts over 25!  Luckily it is coming from the eastern quadrant which is not too bad in the everglades.  We skated the edges of the banks and channels towards flamingo, arriving early at 8:00 am.  Caught the end of the falling tide.. first boat there luckily.  Fishing was red hot, we used primarily shrimp.  Lots of redfish, a handful of slot fish mixed in with lots of puppy drum.  We caught a couple nice snook early too, one with a horn hooked shrimp on a jig, the other off a pinfish on the bottom.  Several black drum were in there too with one nice size one, as well as half a dozen slot trout which we kept!  We fished for a few hours catching close to 50 fish, through the slack tide and the in tide.  After things slowed a bit, we moved to some channels a little further west for some florida keys shark fishing.  Lots of trout in there mixed in with jacks, no pompanos today.  We saved some stuff for bait, and after we ran out of shrimp, moved deeper in the channel for some shark fishing.  We caught probably 8 black tips, mostly little ones, and this nice 90 lb bull shark.  No tarpon today though the hard winds and bit of chill in the air likely has shut them off again.  Last bait of the day we hooked something big... ran us down to the mono backing on our BG 90 while I threw the anchor ball.  We chased the big sea monster around for 25 minutes or so, but unfortunately while pulling on him he got the wind-on leader wrapped around his sharp toothy bill and cut us off!  We then headed home, the boys are fishing offshore tomorrow and staying on one of Bud n' Mary's houseboats tonight!

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

1/28/12 Good Backcountry Fishing in Flamingo

Bob and Bobby Joyce from Boston went out on a full day in the backcountry with Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti a few days ago. They fished in the Flamingo area catching trout, redfish, and Blackdrum. They also caught black drum and a snook!  Capt. Skip Nielsen reported a good bite of tarpon the other day in the backcountry with Cliff Fox, they caught 4 out of 6!  Capt. Rick Stanczyk reported a good spanish mackerel bite on the edge of the gulf yesterday, they caught a boat load, plus mangrove snappers, trout, and pompano.  They jumped a couple tarpon they couldn't get to stay on, but did catch a couple 100lb bull sharks!  The tarpon may thin out again for a few days since we had a drop in temperature, but after it warms up again for a few days it should be game on! 

1/20/12 Monster Black Drum in the Everglades!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished John again for his last day here on 1/20/12.  Did another full day back in the 'glades for some more january islamorada fishing.  The water temperatures had warmed up considerably, however there was another mass of cold air all the way up from north florida that made it a chilly ride back there.  The fish didn't seem to mind though, we fished some deep canals and run-offs.  Lots of black drum with a few ladyfish and jacks mixed in at first.  Shrimps on jigs were working as they usually do on our florida keys fishing charters, but the best bet was a shrimp on the bottom with a 1 oz lead and circle hook.  As the tied slowed the fishing got a little better, and before we left we had slow heavy bite on the bottom rod.  John picked it up and wound tight as the rod bent over and drag started slowly peeling off.  Didn't know if we were gonna stop the fish, finally turned him and he started thumping very hard.  Came up to the surface half a dozen times, creating some major turbulance as he went back down.  Finally boated him after 10 minutes, big old black drum, close to 30 lbs!  After that we headed further back up the cape to check out some new scenery, fished a few other creeks and caught some more reds, sheepshead, and a few big trout with the high incoming tide.  Also one nice red drum out of a drain!  Once tied died we ran back home, wind had kicked around out of the east and was pretty snotty, but not too bad of a wind direction for back there.  Beautiful day here for this islamorada fishing guide!  Capt. Mike Bassett reported a similar bite of black drums and reds, they also lost a big snook in the mangroves and caught a couple smaller ones.  Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti reported lots of black drum, and Capt. Jim Willcox reported a good bite of reds and some nice trout to end his day.

1/14/12 1/15/12 Fishing the Everglades in January after cold front!

Capt. Jim Willcox ran back to the cape yesterday on 1/14/12 after another front came through Islamorada and chilled things down.  Many guys struggled on half day islamorada fishing charters as the wind mixed the bay up pretty bad and the cold weather the night before shut some fish down.  In the deeper canals and creeks they caught several redfish, black drum, and sheepshead.  Saw some crocodiles as well as had some bull sharks eating the drums!  Today Capt. Rick Stanczyk had similar fishing with Andy and his sons Conrad and Derek. We caught several black drum and a few sheepshead.  The bite wasn't red hot we kept hopping from spot to spot, picking a few fish from each and moving on.  We ran back to some run-offs around noon time and caught plenty more reds to finish the day out strong.  The crocs were thick in one of the run-off creeks in the cape canal, we saw 4 of them, one we idled right up to and he didn't moved, but posed nicely for a picture!  Hopefully after the weekend now there won't be near as much boat traffic back there, and better fishing in the everglades!  I also saw that the party boat, Miss Islamorada Capt. Ben Loy, had loads of kingfish from the afternoon today!  Remember no matter what the conditions florida keys fishing in january, there's always something you can do to bend the rod!