1/11/12 Florida keys backcountry fishing january!

Well the threat of weather loomed all day long in the backcountry fishing islamorada today.  Luckily it never got bad on the water till everybody got home safe!  Capt. Jim Willcox reported lots of mackerels on bait and fly in the bay, also caught limit of snappers and a nice cobia on a live grunt.  They finished the day catching trout in the ditches in the everglades.  Capt. Rick Stanczyk reported similar fishing though we started fishing the ditches in the glades for trout which was good.  Fished around the cape area after that caught a few red and black drum and a big ray on a light spin rod, though not red hot in there.  Finished the day in the bay and found a nice hole caught 4 nice red groupers, a couple mutton snappers, mangrove snappers, porgies, mackerels, trout, and sharks in.  Had a good breeze out of the south most of the day and the rain came around 3:00, though suppose to be nicer tomorrow!  Great january fishing in the florida keys!

1/10/12 Winter time backcountry fishing in Islamorada Florida Keys

Capt. Rick Stanczyk had the McGradys out today for a father-son retirement fishing trip!  Fishing has been pretty good overall in the backcountry especiallying fishing in flamingo.  We ran to that area and headed even further towards the cape and fished a few areas which have been pretty good as of late.  Seems the fish have been pretty beat up I've seen lots of boats sitting in there.  We poked around a few spots and had to work hard at it.  Between getting eaten alive by bugs on the boat and catfish on our baits, we finally got into a few good fish.  Several nice black drum along with a few other jacks, ladyfish, trout, etc...  We put a shark rod out and also caught a nice bull shark.  Saw a handful of tarpon rolling but they did not seem interested in eating.  When the tide quit we ran back towards flamingo to catch the end of the tide and fished some runoffs.  Not much to talk about there, did catch one little red and a nice snook on pinfish at the end that made it worth while.  Brian also caught a double header seagull and redfish at the same time - not what he was expecting!  Finished the day where we had a good bite of trout the other day, they were still there caught several nice size specs, along with jacks, pompano, and you guessed it - more catfish!  The guys had a blast though and our fishing with Capt. Nick Stanczyk offshore on Thursday.  They also are already planning a spring/summer trip for tarpon!

Capt. John Johansen reported a similar bite near the east cape area.  Capt. Mike Bassett reported a good mackerel bite on the edge of the gulf, good to know those fish are back as they had shut down due to the cold we experienced about a week ago.

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

1/6/12 Islamorada snook fishing in January!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished a full day today and headed back into the everglades early.  Yesterday some big schools of snook showed up way in the back, likely from this cold weather driving them down from the gulf coast of florida.  These fish were there today for our islamorada snook fishing trip.  We set up early, leaving the dock by 7 AM.  Shrimp was the bait of choice hooked through the horns on troll-rites, as the water was still cold.  Fish bit all through the end of the falling tide, slack tide, and the in tide.  We never moved all day, probably caught close to 40 snook, several nice size specimens such as these.  Also about a dozen redfish, handful of larger ones.  A couple black drum, trout, and sheepshead!  Aside from a few other boats running in on top of us and pratically casting into our boat, it was a great day on the water!  Come on down for some january fishing in islamorada!

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

1/5/12 Great fishing the everglades in islamorada

Capt. Rick Stanczyk and Capt. Mike Bassett both fished deep in the everglades today on their florida keys fishing trips.  The water/wind was still pretty cold, the air not quite as cold as yesterday but the water hasn't had a chance to warm.  We fished some deeper channels and the redfish and blackdrum were loaded up again today.  A few nice size ones plus lots of smaller ones, great fun light tackle fishing islamorada.  Capt. Mike also found a big school of snook and caught several dozen nice size ones like this!  Hopefully they will stick around a few more days the cold weather likely drove those fish down from the northern gulf coast of florida!

1/3/12 Islamorada flats fishing and offshore report

Capt. John Johansen fished the other day with some customers in a 22' Center Console and did some offshore fishing with them.  They caught several nice tunas and 20 mahi in the 5-7 pound range!  Crazy to see them still around here even in January!  However with the cold weather we experienced last night that could all change.  The islamorada flats fishing turned on for Capt. Jim Willcox who ran back into the everglades today.  The winds were ripping out of the north 15-25 mph - cold chilly ride but able to run the edges of the banks.  Fishing was incredible for them!  Lots of drum, red and black, and big ones too as you can see up to 36 inches!  They also caught dozens of snook!  Two big bull sharks also were caught to put the icing on the cake for this action packed day here january fishing in islamorada.