2/11/11 Sharks in the back, along with some other stuff!

 Captain Jim Willcox fished with Pete Strope & his 5 yr old son Josh today, we caught a limit of snappers, lots of ladyfish ,trout & jacks....then no tarpon bites so we finished with 4 large lemon sharks. That's Pete & Jr working on the pump & wind technique. Thay are staying in room 4 & are digging all the action around the marina, if you're here to fish Bud & Mary's is really the perfect place. We're fishing again Sunday.  Capt. Rick Stanczyk also had plenty of trout, ladyfish, jacks, etc... on his half day, and hooked a couple sharks though they bit us off as we were fishing mono for tarpon, but no bites.

2/8/11 Tarpon, trout, snappers, and more!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk and Capt. Jim Willcox both dide full days fishing in Islamorada today.  They both caught a tarpon each, Jim had a couple more bites he missed as well as some sharks.  Both caught plenty of jacks, trout, ladyfish, and snappers for dinner.  Capt. Rick also reported catching 15 or so redfish.  Wind started blowing out of the west in the afternoon slowing things down but we got it while the gettin' was good, looks like it may get chillier tonight but hopefully not for long!

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!

2/3/11 - Reds in the back, and some tarpon starting to show up!

Capt Jim Willcox fished with Bud & Mary's regular Tom Looby from Rochester NY today. We caught redfish in everyspot we fished,  & the warm weather has the tarpon showing up early in the back.  Very low tides in the back, and the water warming up, should be some good early tarpon fishing here soon with lots of bait being seen when fishing islamorada.

1/25/11 WINDY day, but good fishing!

Well the wind was howling out of the east all day today 25mph or better for our florida keys fishing trips!  But the backcountry was fishable and when you got in the runoffs and canals it was pretty nice!  Capt. Rick Stanczyk, Capt. Jim Willcox, Capt. Jeff Beeler, and Capt. Skip Nielsen all reported double-digit redfish!  They all also caught some trout and ladyfish as well.  Capt. Skip also fished for mackerel and caught quite a few of those, and had a couple big spinner sharks as well, and did report getting once nice red that was 12 pounds!  Capt. Rick Stanczyk reported catching half a dozen large black drum also, and some snappers for dinner for his clients as well.  Fishing in Islamorada is still happening even with the crazy wind!!!

Capt. Skip Nielsen's full report from the past two days was... Bernard and Paul Pielow of Liverpool, UK fished with capt. skip nielsen 2 days this week. First day was offshore. We caught some nice sized Barracuda on light tackle and kept a couple for shark bait. During the afternoon after some very hard work Bernard released 2 Bull Sharks in the 300lb class. Paul Pielow caught a King Mackerel that weighed 35lbs. nice going on the big Bull Shark and King Macks.
On day two we fished the backcountry. For starters we caught 20 Spanish Mackerel then moved further northwest near Sandy Key and got into a hot bite of Redfish. Bernard released a red estimated at 12lbs. Over 30 were released before moving to the Flamingo area where a couple big Spinner Sharks were jumped and lost. Pompano,Trout and Ladyfish finished the day for the boys. Great fishing for a windy day.