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.

1/14/12 1/15/12 Fishing the Everglades in January after cold front!

Capt. Jim Willcox ran back to the cape yesterday on 1/14/12 after another front came through Islamorada and chilled things down.  Many guys struggled on half day islamorada fishing charters as the wind mixed the bay up pretty bad and the cold weather the night before shut some fish down.  In the deeper canals and creeks they caught several redfish, black drum, and sheepshead.  Saw some crocodiles as well as had some bull sharks eating the drums!  Today Capt. Rick Stanczyk had similar fishing with Andy and his sons Conrad and Derek. We caught several black drum and a few sheepshead.  The bite wasn't red hot we kept hopping from spot to spot, picking a few fish from each and moving on.  We ran back to some run-offs around noon time and caught plenty more reds to finish the day out strong.  The crocs were thick in one of the run-off creeks in the cape canal, we saw 4 of them, one we idled right up to and he didn't moved, but posed nicely for a picture!  Hopefully after the weekend now there won't be near as much boat traffic back there, and better fishing in the everglades!  I also saw that the party boat, Miss Islamorada Capt. Ben Loy, had loads of kingfish from the afternoon today!  Remember no matter what the conditions florida keys fishing in january, there's always something you can do to bend the rod!

1/11/12 Florida keys backcountry fishing january!

Well the threat of weather loomed all day long in the backcountry fishing islamorada today.  Luckily it never got bad on the water till everybody got home safe!  Capt. Jim Willcox reported lots of mackerels on bait and fly in the bay, also caught limit of snappers and a nice cobia on a live grunt.  They finished the day catching trout in the ditches in the everglades.  Capt. Rick Stanczyk reported similar fishing though we started fishing the ditches in the glades for trout which was good.  Fished around the cape area after that caught a few red and black drum and a big ray on a light spin rod, though not red hot in there.  Finished the day in the bay and found a nice hole caught 4 nice red groupers, a couple mutton snappers, mangrove snappers, porgies, mackerels, trout, and sharks in.  Had a good breeze out of the south most of the day and the rain came around 3:00, though suppose to be nicer tomorrow!  Great january fishing in the florida keys!

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.

12/29/11 Islamorada fishing guide report

Islamorada fishing guide Capt. Jim Willcox fished a full day today on 12/29/11.  They ran deep into the everglades all the way up to the cape area of the mainland.  The cool weather from the cold front we've had the last day often turns these fish on - and it did today!  They caught lots of redfish, sheepshead, trout, black drum in some of the different creeks.  They also caught this monster snook!  The wind layed down today to a nice 10 knots or so in the AM, and was even lighter by this afternoon almost turning out of the west.  Capt. Rick Stanczyk reported a decent spanish mackerel bite this morning along with plenty of blue runners, ladyfish, and mangrove snappers.  They also caught a 250 lb hammerhead shark but unfortunately it got wrapped in the leader before we could snap a picture.  This afternoon he fished another party and they caught several snappers, sheepshead, jacks, a nice pompano, and a few big trout!  Capt. Perry Scuderi looked like he had some nice hogfish this afternoon, he was able to sneak out to the patches!