5/13/11 + 5/14/11 Some redfish action and some big monsters in the back!

Capt Jim Willcox on 5/13/11, over 100 redfish with Eric & Jack from west coast Florida plus a limit of large snappers! 27 double headers!!!The tarpon did elude us at the end of the day!  Also Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished today on 5/14/11 in the back... caught plenty of snappers for dinner, ladyfish, and some trout.  They put the big rods out in hopes of tarpon, saw plenty rolling but they weren't biting.  Did catch a nice blacktip, big 300 lb goliath grouper, and a 2 out of 3 'sea monsters' that were several hundred pounds!!!  The tarpon did bite last night though, but they are getting a little funny as we approach the full moon!

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!!! 

 

4/11/11 Big day backcountry fishing tarpon!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk had a wonderful day in the islamorada backcountry fishing along with several other guides as well!  He fished Roger Barry and his son James from the U.K.  Roger fished with his father Richard Stanczyk almost 20 years ago for tarpon down here and loved fishing with him because Richard was always sharing his knowledge of fishing with him!  Well today was a treat for them, we caught and released two tarpon up to 60 lbs on the spinning rods which was a lot of fun!  Roger also caught this giant 400 lb goliath grouper off a bottom bait which was an unusual catch and quite amazing!  James also caught a large bottom dweller that was almost 250 lbs all by himself.  We also caught a small blacktip.  Capt. Jim Willcox was fishing next to us and went 2 for 4 on the tarpon.  Capt. Skip Nielsen reported good fishing as well, and Capt. Bill Basset jumped 5 fish.  Capt. Mike Basset had a nice snook in the back and caught three the day before which was good to see, plus several puppy drum reds.  The trout and ladyfish were biting decent as well.  On the ocean side, the Kalex had a rackful of nice 25-30 lb blackfin tunas!  The BnM caught another big tiger shark as well, and the Catch 22 reported a 600 lb mako eating several jacks and such they were trying to catch before they could get them to the boat!  Exciting fishing in Islamorada this April!!!

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!