March flats fishing in Islamorada Florida Keys

March fishing in Islamorada was pretty good today in the backcountry.  We had a good easterly breeze of about 15 mph which is fairly light compared to how it has been!  Drifting some of the bays towards the gulf side there were plenty of trout, ladyfish, and snapper to be had for Capt. Rick Stanczyk.  They also caught a couple spanish mackerel.  Further off some of the banks Capt. Jim Willcox reported larger ladyfish and trout.  Capt. Rick reported fishing a few shorelines on higher water and catching a couple redfish just for something a little different.  Both Capt. Jim and Capt. Rick reported catching some big mud marlin, Capt. Jim actually caught 2, plus both reported some sharks as well.  Capt. Rick also caught a nice cobia on light tackle off the back of the large bottom dweller.  Capt. Bill Bassett reported lots of shark action, several large spinner sharks, and a few others mixed in including some bull sharks.  Fishing the backcountry in March has had a variety of opportunities considering the windy conditions in the florida keys.

3/10/12 Spring time monsters of Islamorada

Well after a long week of high winds which is typical of March, we finally had a little calmer day today on 3/10/12.  Almost every boat was out today at Bud n' Mary's Marina, it's very busy and everyone is happy about that!  Fishing Islamorada in March has been tricky as the high winds have left the backcountry very stirred up, lots and lots of weed everywhere you go.  Winds were down but not gone, started this morning out of the north with some scattered showers around most people avoided.  By afternoon it swung around to the east and was blowing steady 15 mph again, still not too bad.  Most everyone did some drifting in the bays and muds in the backcountry.  Trout fishing was fair for most, not a red hot bite but most fish were keeper size.  A handful of ladyfish mixed in but most guys had to really run around to find any of those.  There were some keeper size mangrove snappers also out on the edge of the gulf for some good table fare.  We had several multi-boat group trips in the islamorada backcountry today, and all did plenty of rod bending and caught big fish.  Remember if you have a group charter, with Bud n' Mary's every captain and guide is at one dock, you can get your breakfast/lunch and drinks to go.  There is no calling multiple captains, wondering if one will not show or any miscommunication of what's going on.  We all get along and can work together to produce fish for everyone!  Capt. Rick Stanczyk had a slow start, but ended up catching 2 nice tarpon of 75 and 120 lbs plus several smaller blacktip sharks.  Capt. Jim Willcox caught some blacktips and lemon sharks, as well as a 250 lb goliath grouper that was 6 ft. long in one of the backcountry channels.  Capt. Clyde Upchurch had a large mud marlin and also caught a cobia off of him.  Capt. Perry Scuderi reported getting the leader on a 50 lb tarpon before he jumped off, and also reported a decent bite of pompano in a mud close to home.  Capt. Bill Bassett reported lots of sharks, from blacktips to lemons and bulls.  As you can see in the tarpon picture below, once the in tide got going the weed made it almost unfishable, hopefully it will clear up soon!  Islamorada tarpon fishing in March has been tricky, fish are around but conditions are not ideal.  On the islamorada deep sea fishing side both the BNM and Finnster reported some nice big amberjacks.  9 yar old Q caught a 76 lb amberjack with Capt. Nick Stanczyk on BNM.  Relentless had a couple sailfish, Reel McCoy ahd one sail, most boats had plenty of yellowtail on the reef, and Catch 22 had a pair of cobia up to 40 lbs.  Islamorada reef fishing has been steady and the yellowtails have been fairly big, lots of flags!

3/7/12 Rough winds, limited options, but fish to be caught backcountry!

The wind was howling today close to 30 knots out of the east, not leaving many options for those who dared to make it out today in the backcountry fishing islamorada.  Fishing was also extra tough as the shrimp boats did not make it out last night so most captains were stuck with frozen shrimp.  Capt. Jim Willcox did some stake up bonefishing close to home as we had some overcast/rainy weather this AM. Colleen Starman caught this 30 knot 9 pounder bonefish near home with Capt. Jim!  Capt. Rick Stanczyk and Capt. Bill Bassett did some snapper fishing around the islands in the florida keys everglades.  Hugging the banks was imperative and the ride/spray was not too bad, ended up dodging most of the rain too.  Both reported a good bite of snapper, lots of little ones with some big ones mixed in for dinner!  Capt. Mike Bassett ran back in the backcountry further east of flamingo where the water was a little cleaner and found some good mud eventually and caught lots of trout and ladyfish.  You've almost always got options here fishing in the florida keys, and they are usually better than sitting in your hotel room!

2/24/12 Great backcountry fishing for big fish!

Today we had the wind out of the south again though not blowing too hard about 10 mph.  Capt. Jim Willcox and Capt. Rick Stanczyk were both fishing out on the edge of the gulf in everglades national park for this trip fishing islamorada in february.  Both reported good catches of big trout in the bays with a mix of ladyfish, snappers, jacks, and occasionally other fish as well!  After that both fished some of the channels in the area.  Capt. Willcox caught this monster tarpon!  Many of the fish back there now are very large mostly 100+ lbs!  Capt. Stanczyk caught this 'mud marlin' that was close to 200 lbs!  They also caught a 15 lb cobia that was following him, unfortunately they didn't have a gaff and he jumped out of the net.  After that fight with the sea monster, the anglers had enough big stuff.  So they hit some shallow spots for some redfish since they were about at the bottom of the falling tide.  They had some luck catching about 10 redfish up to 8 lbs, and a mix of trout in there as well as a few on fly!  They ran back up to the east along the mainland since they wanted to see some more of the everglades, and ended up catching a nice snook on artifcial GULP bait, and a couple more reds around some islands.  Great way to end a fantastic day of florida keys fishing charters!  Capt. Ken Cohan also reported an encounter with a seamonster and a cobia.  Florida keys tarpon fishing is starting now, come down and get in on the action!

2/19/12 Backcountry fishing florida keys february.

Well the wind kicked up out of the southwest this morning and by the end of the day was howling for islamorada fishing in february.  This really churned up the water in a lot of the backcountry.  We weren't able to do anything on the edge of the gulf or back at the cape, so stuck around flamingo.  Caught plenty of ladyfish and trout in several spots.  Shark fished for a while and caught a nice 80 lb blacktip.  Saw a few tarpon rolling but they were not biting.  As the tide died we moved, lots more trout and ladyfish and a few pompano and jacks.  Water was incoming now and we decided to try some redfish spots.  Hit the right spot first and spent our last hour catching about a dozen reds, several slot size fish 20+ inches.  Also caught a big black drum and a smaller one, and a sting ray.  Good finish to the day.  Capt. Bob Reineman reported catching several redfish poling and casting.  Capt. Jim Willcox reported some good action with snappers, trout, and ladyfish, and lots of small blacktips and a big 100 lber further out west for his day of february florida keys fishing.  -- Capt. Rick Stanczyk