10/8/12 October Fishing in the Florida Keys

Well over the past weekend here, islamorada fishing in october has continued to prove it's a great time of year to come down and fish.  Shots at all kinds of fish are possible, there's much less boat traffic on the water, and for the most part conditions have been good with light winds and a tad less heat than a few months ago.  In the backcountry fishing florida keys Capt. Jim Willcox had some fabulous fishing.  They had a tarpon on fly first thing in the morning, then some monster redfish on fly!  Pretty impressive size red drum for down here fishing islamorada.  They also had multiple big jacks and some cobias, which have still been around both in the gulf as well as offshore which is unusual for this time of year.  On the offshore side there has been some sailfishing in Islamorada starting to happen.  Both Sugaree and Strictly Business has sailfish releases as well as some good catches of king mackerel (kingfish).  The Strictly business also had a decent catch of yellowtail snapper.  On Friday the Relentless had a good catch of mahi and blackfin tuna further offshore.  Great to still have some islamorada dolphin fishing going on!  Weather looks fairly calm and stable this week with winds out of the northeast which is the norm entering the fall, which should be good for fishing this time of year!

8/2/12 August Backcountry and offshore fishing report islamorada

Islamorada fishing in August has been great thus far!  Kalex had some great dolphin fishing today with a rackfull of fish up to 35 lbs.  Many of the mahi have been in a little closer the last few days, though every day is different.  Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti had some fun fishign with the family. Trish Biondoletti caught two nice islamorada bonefish this morning. We fished early and caught the last of the incoming tide. We only had a handful of shots and caught three fish. Yesterday brought the same number of casts and hook ups but lost all those fish to lines breaking. A change of line and we were back in business. None fishing remains steady and should remain that way for awhile. Good red fishing this afternoon. Lots of fish up on the flats in big schools. Ryan Biondoletti and Nicole Starr managed to catch a half dozen fish in a couple hours. Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished a morning half the other day and an evening tonight and had reported good fishing.  Lots of trout, mangrove snappers, and ladyfish in the gulf, and a big 175 lb goliath grouper.  This evening they tried the local muds and not much going on, so the caught snappers around the islands.  They tarpon fishing for an hour before dark and caught a nice 80 lb fish.  Lots of activity around sunset around the local channels.  Tarpon fishing in August can be a good bet if you hit it right!

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.

11/9/11 Islamorada Offshore & Backcountry Report

Fishing was good all around today here in Islamorada Florida Keys.  In the backcountry Capt. Rick Stanczyk reported hooking double digit snook and catching 8 or so.  Redfishing around flamingo was not so hot just a few small rats.  Capt. Mike Bassett caught a real nice size fish on a half day back there as well.  Capt. Jim Willcox ran deep into the backcountry and caught some snook, redfish, and a baby tarpon.  Capt. Skip Nielsen did say he got a few nice size reds out to the west.  Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti fished the patches and caught several nice size hogfish - great eating!  Also plenty of porgies and other fish.  Offshore Capt. Nick Stanczyk on the BnM got into several nice mahi, great to see them this time of year.  They also caught 2 sailfish.  The gulf edge got a little nasty this afternoon, Capt. Rick reported it started blowing out of the west shutting a lot of fishing down out there this afternoon, we did catch some nice jacks and found a big goliath grouper on some structure.  Unfortunately we hooked him about 6 times and could not pull him out of it with the rod we had, must of been a very big fish!!!  Great fun still though to feel them pull!

455# Daytime Swordfish aboard the BNM 9-24-11

We had John and Pam aboard the BNM for a Florida Keys Fishing Trip on 9-24-11. Pam insisted they were lucky and we were going to catch a swordfish guaranteed. I told both of them we had a good shot, but there had been quite a few small fish around which can be very frustrating when trying to hook them in the daytime. John is a Navy vet returned to the U.S. and was very much looking forward to a fishing trip!  Well it wasn't long until their luck kicked in, on the way out at 15 knots our high speed lure starts screaming and 10 minutes later John catches his first wahoo, a nice 28 lber. I was thinking at least we didn't get skunked today. We continued out to the swordfish grounds and a few miles inside we found a nice weed line with some mahi on it. We hit one school and caught 15 nice schoolies and a couple small gaffers. Both John and Pam were all smiles and I though maybe they wouldn't even notice if we didn't catch a swordfish. An hour later we were on the bottom in 1500' drifting for a broadbill. After 30 minutes we hooked up, the fish seemed small, and after 10 minutes he threw the hook. We make another drift in the same area, but after an hour with no bite, we wind up. I run a few miles south and drop again. After 45 minutes without a bite, we get ready to wind up, and there she is. We're hooked up to a daytime sword. John gets in the chair and goes to work. After an hour I see the fish, I know she's big, but not quite how big. The fish dives all the way back to the bottom and John goes back to work. At 2 hours he has her near the boat again, I see the swivel behind her tail and realize the fish is foul hooked in the belly somewhere. After a couple quick loops the fish goes back to the bottom. Now we're 3 hours into the fight, and John gets the fish within 50' of the boat again, we get a quick glimpse, but down shes goes. At 4 hours into the fight, and everybody exhausted, John gets the fish 10 feet away! We get a harpoon shot, but it pulls out after a few seconds. The fish looks like it's getting tired though, but still dives back to the bottom. We've drifted 11 miles now and John has been on the fish 4 and 1/2 hours! It looks like the fish is dying, since we've been trying to pull her backwards, but she still keeps swimming. The fish makes one last dive, down to 700', luckily not the bottom again, and then races back up. I look at the clock and realize we've been on the fish 5 hours. Before I know it the fish is at the back of the boat, I run back, throw the harpoon in her, hit her with a straight gaff, Pam hands both Matt and John the other gaffs, and we get all of them in the fish. But she isn't done yet. For 5 minutes she kicks and throws water everywhere next to the boat. Finally the fish is subdued and we bring her through the door. It was the hardest fight I've ever seen on a swordfish. The fish was hooked in the anal fin, but John and Pam had good luck and somehow it stayed in the whole time. We steam for home, everybody exhausted and make the call to fire up the forklift. We hit the dock and the fish weighs in at 455 lbs! This is on the biggest swordfish ever caught on rod and reel in the Florida Keys! We also fished the day before and went 2 for 3 on swordfish, keeping a 65 lber and releasing another. This is the place for Daytime Swordfishing!