1/11/13 January backcountry fishing Islamorada

Well the wind continued to howl from the east again today here on 1/11/13 however that didn't prevent us from making a good day of it!  January Islamorada Fishing has had a little bit of everything going on in the backcountry, however with the high wind and mudded up water, there are only so many realistic options.  Today we ran way back in the 'glades fishing cape sable.  The water near flamingo all the way to east cape look like choclate milk.  However once we got around past middle cape, the water was very pretty and clean up to northwest cape.  We caught the very start of the in-tide, first stop the bugs ate us alive so we moved quickly. Luckily as the sun came up they subsided.  Next stop we got into a little flurry of snook and redfish.  A few medium size ones mixed with some little guys, plus plenty of jacks and ladyfish.    We later hit some more structure, downed trees, run-offs, etc...  However not much luck aside from snapper, jacks, and ladyfish.  We moved back to another set of creeks and hit some nicer snook and redfish right off the bat, again a little flurry then it quitted down.  Moved further in but alas only jacks, ladyfish, and snapper for this time flats fishing islamorada.  Caught maybe a dozen or so snook and a dozen reds, plus 10 sheepshead.  Hit a few more high-tide snook spots on the way home, however not much luck fishing the pinfish.  A good backcountry mixed back for this january islamorada fishing report.  On the way home made a stop in a channel and caught about 20 trout, several nice slot size ones too.  Not a bad way to spend the day given the conditions!

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

1/7/13 Great fishing offshore and backcountry fishing for the Dwyers!

Jason and Brendan Dwyer from Arizona recently visited and went florida keys fishing with us last week after new years .  They fished offshore on The Reel McCoy as well as in the backcountry with Capt. Rick Stanczyk, and early morning for tarpon near Islamorada with Capt. Vic Gaspeny.  Successful in all venues, they caught sailfish offshore with Capt. George McElveen on Reel McCoy, tarpon and a even a few permit with Capt. Vic, plus a mixed backcountry bag of mackerel, snapper, bluefish, trout, pompano, and a couple cobias with Capt. Rick Stanczyk.  With the warm winter weather we have had recently, just about anything is possible fishing in islamorada.  Give us a call and we can set a trip up for you!

1/4/13 Backcountry and Gulf Florida Keys Fishing Report

Had Sue Cocking down from the Miami Herald today on 1/4/13 for a little fishing story for the outdoors section of the Herald.  There was a last minute cancellation to her original plans and we set something up the day before.  We decided to go for a backcountry islamorada fishing trip and to showcase a variety of fish, as that is one of the special things about fishing in the florida keys.  We started out near flamingo, fishing some high-water spots near some mangroves for redfish.  We caught about a half dozen or so, as well as a few black drum and sheepshead.  We later moved to some deeper moats on the change of the tide to look for some snook.  We did hook one nice one that broke us off near the boat, and ended up catching a few more black drum and sheepshead.  Later we moved to some other channels where there had been some nice muds with a good mix of fish.  Trout, ladyfish, pompano, and a baby permit were to be had.  All fish to this point were caught on simple shrimp and jigs whilst islamorada fishing.  We started to use some tiny ladyfish pieces to catch pinfish,  and we mohawked them catching a couple dozen while bending the rod with other stuff!  We then headed out into the gulf of mexico fishing as the weather was slick calm and looked too pretty not to try.  We found several tripletail on the way out, and caught several keeping 3 for dinner.  Casting shrimp on a bare hook with tiny float was effective, and we even caught a few on light jigs as some were staying down a little deeper.  We then went gulf wreck fishing and caught several cobias up to 15 lbs, as well as another permit, and a large 100 lb goliath grouper!  Cobias were all caught on our fresh pinfish.  We then wanted to try to catch some mackerel, so we headed back towards sprigger bank and fished a few miles out from there.  On the way we came across something very unusual - several large packs of bonitas in the 8 - 12 lb range feeding on something very small.  We didn't get any bites out of them, but were able to drive right on top to confirm what they were!  As soon as we anchored and casted in our mackerel area we had fish on, we put a little chum out and caught about a dozen spanish mackerel as well as a few bluefishfish and snappers.  We then headed home, another beautiful day here and fun to be had in all areas, not just islamorada flats fishing in the backcountry!  Capt. Vic Gaspeny has reported excellent water and temperature conditions for tarpon fishing in islamorada.  They caught 9 in early morning trips as well as a 30 lb permit.

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.