5/5/11 Busy in the backcountry!

Braganini brothers,long time Bud & Mary's folks, today with Capt Jim Willcox caught Tarpon, 4 tripletails,many trout & doubleheader redfish way far away from the crowds!!!  Also Capt. Rick Stanczyk made it out there today.  Had my regulars Rick Coyne and Steve Tyson for 2 days and 2 nights.  Had several big bull sharks, hammerhead shark, cobia, mackerels, jacks, lost possibly a big tarpon to a huge tiger or hammerhead shark???  Reeled a permit to the boat that ran off and also got eaten by bull sharks.  Very exciting day.  The other day we caught big goliath and had a mud marlin on we pulled off.  Also caught several tarpon on our two evening trips.  Have a few pics but forgot the camera o nthe boat, sorry on the lack of updates fishing full days and nights all week has left me a little drained.

4/17/11 BIG day gulf side!

Capt. Jim Willcox and Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished another day with our english gents from the U.K. for their 4th day here fishing in Islamorada.  The winds laid down to flat come so we had an opportunity to run far from home and fish the middle of nowhere.  Tarpon and permit were laid up everywhere as it was slick calm.  Capt. Jim caught 2 tarpon and Capt. Rick caught 1.  Capt. Rick also had a couple cobias swim up and we caught those as well.  We ran a little further out later on, unfortunately Capt. Rick had gotten eaten off by tarpon and permits and ran out of crabs.  They fished with the big rods and caught 4 big bull sharks up to 400 lbs!!!  Also caught two goliath groupers, one which was close to 350 lbs!  Capt. Jim caught 3 permit and was able to safely release them away from the bull sharks, and also caught a couple big bulls.  Both also caught some big jacks and a few spanish mackerels as well.  Great day for these brits on their florida fishing vacation!!! 

 

4/5/11 More great florida keys fishing in April!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk had party of a large group that is fishing at Bud n' Mary's yesterday along with 7 other guides.  Several caught tarpon, plus plenty of trout, ladyfish, jacks, snappers, etc...  Capt. Rick caught this nice 100 lb tarpon, and also this 300 lb goliath grouper which was a special treat!  Also check out the picture the 'Kalex' caught of this 76 lb cobia!!!  A monster fish!  The party boat 'Miss Islamorada' fished today and came in early, catching their limit of yellowtail!  Great fishing in the florida keys for this April!

2/18 + 2/19 - Quality, not quantity, in the offshore and backcountry!

The Proctor family fished with Capt. Nick & Capt. Rick Stanczyk this weekend, 2/18/11 and 2/19/11, for some offshore and backcountry action.  They fished aboard the "BnM" on Friday for a full day.  Fishing was kind of tough, sailfish did not cooperate, nor the king macs, or even the yellowtails on the reef!  However, they did catch a nice 40 lb cobia out of the kite while sailfishing!  They also dropped on a hole and caught a huge 18 lb mutton, as well as a 20 lb black grouper, too bad they weren't in season!  They also caught a few tunas, a schoolie dolphin, some kingfish and a big ol' porgy!  Saturday they went for a half day with Capt. Rick Stanczyk in the backcountry.  They fished the edge of the gulf, again fishing was a little tough back there, though they did catch about 15 spanish macs, ladyfish, a couple bluefish, 2 nice blacktip/spinner sharks, and a lil' 10 lb. cobia on the light jig rod - very fun on light tackle!  Sometimes it's quality, not quantity, that counts!  As the weather continues to warm up, the backcountry fishing should really be taking off again, looking forward to great days in the gulf, as well as tarpon fishing in the back!!!

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

2/6/11 Backcountry Tarpon

Captain Jim Willcox did an AM 1/2 day this Super Sunday with JW Howard & his son Wade. They both caught non-stop jacks, trout & pompano. In the final hour 12 year old Wade caught his first permit & a 120lb tarpon.  Yesterday Capt. Jim fished and jumped 2 tarpon off, though did catch a few bull sharks and some other shark varieties, as well as some smaller stuff.  Capt. Jeff Beeler did catch a tarpon in the back yesterday as well.  Offshore today Capt. John Johnansen and Capt. Rick Stanczyk took some people fun fishing, and caught them their first sailfish, a nice 25 lb cobia, and limit of kingfish.  Saw plenty of sails though they were tough to get to eat and there was a tournament going on so we didn't want to mess with them too much, and a big school of smaller cobias, and the kingfish bit well!