1/26/13 January Islamorada Backcountry Fishing Report

Had a gorgeous day here today january fishing islamorada.  Andy and his sons Derek and Conrad fished with me again on 1/26/13.  The wind blew but not too bad mostly out of the north/northeast.  Temperatures were chilly in the morning but nice after the sun was higher in the sky and we stopped running.  Caught the end of the falling tide back fishing cape sable.  Lots of redfish in the ditches and run-offs, today mostly little guys with a handful of nicer fish here and there.  Mostly caught jigging shrimp.  We also got some really nice big 20 lb black drum right off the bat, one we lost around a tree stump but one we caught right after on our islamorada fishing charter!  All these guys were eating shrimp on jigs, slowly twitched on the bottom.  We moved further in some of the creeks on the incoming tide and picked away at redfish, sheepshead, ladyfish, trout, jacks, and snapper.  Mid day we caught a handful of other fish along with a nice snook.  Backcountry islamorada fishing in the winter is lots of fun.  Capt. Jim Willcox and Capt. Mike Bassett reported similar fishing back at the cape including redfish and snook.  Capt. Willcox and Capt. John Johansen also did some trout fishing later in the afternoon and reported lots of nice big trout showing up in the ditches between islamorada and flamingo, which have been slim pickings the last month at least as far as the large ones go.  Great day here on the water flats fishing in the florida keys.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
rick@seethefloridakeys.net 

Islamorada tarpon fishing in April!

Capt. Skip Nielsen reported for the past week islamorada tarpon fishing...

I had Bryce Henderson from Leeds, England out for five Tarpon fishing sessions this past week. On the first 4 trips he caught 2 Tarpon each time. On the last trip he had fantastic action catching and releasing 5 Tarpon. All the fish were caught using Foxsportfishing Tackle on live Mullet for bait.

Last night, Capt. Rick Stanczyk had Nick and John Hodge, they each caught a big tarpon and had a couple others eat knock off our mullets.  The fish did bite early on the in tide which was good, water was very clear you could see them laying on the bottom all around the bridges. Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti also had some successful nights tarpon fishing this past week, again mostly on live mullet, as did Capt. John Johansen, Capt. Mike Bassett, and Capt. Jeff Beeler.  Tarpon fishing in April is prime time.  The fish our feeding on mullet during the days, crabs will still work but usually better around sunset/sunrise or when it's dark.  Live mullet is available through Richie now, check at Bud n' Mary's and they can put you in touch!  Get on out for some florida keys night tarpon fishing!

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.

1/1/12 Islamorada Fishing in January 2012

Happy New Year everyone, gorgeous weather today here fishing in islamorada!  Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti was out the other day and John Gray fishing along with his dad John Gray caught some nice Hogfish for dinner. They fished a full day in the backcountry. We released lots of nice trout and ladyfish. In the afternoon the winds dropped  off and we headed out to the shallow reef. Lots of action out there on barjacks and other hard fighting bottom dwellers.  Capt. Rick Stanczyk also fished Richard Cromwell and his son Luke, who are fishing with his brother Nick today offshore.  We caught a couple dozen reds, very beautiful fish way back in the everglades.  Also caught snappers, sheepshead, ladyfish, and jacks.  In the afternoon we ran out to some structure in the gulf and had a 35 lb cobia swim up but couldn't get him to eat.  Then we ended the day catching big trout in some channels and headed home!  Capt. John Johnsen fished the bay and ocean side as well yesterday... similar report mackerels, ladyfish, snapper in the back and lost a big goliath grouper at the boat.  Then caught hogfish and grouper oceanside and a nice cobia on fly rod!  Hope your out on the water today for your florida keys fishing in january!

Update on Sunday, January 1, 2012 at 06:41PM by Capt. Nick Stanczyk

Out on the Reef the New Year started out great as well. It was a beautiful day and Luke fished on the BNM and caught and released 2 sailfish, as well as keeping a couple of mahi, kingfish and yellow jacks. The Sugaree also had a limit of kingfish and a sailfish release.

12/25/11 Christmas Day Fishing in Islamorada Florida Keys!

Capt. John Johansen went out today with his friend Jimmy Conrad who has been islamorada fishing for fun with him the last few days in the florida keys backcountry.  The past few afternoons they've done very well spanish mackerel fishing in the bays!  Lots of spanish macks and bag limit of nice mangrove snappers for dinner.  Look for these fish to stick around well through the period of fishing islamorada in january!  They also caught some nice big blacktip sharks, pictured below is Capt. Johnsen with one fine specimen!  This afternoon on 12/25/11 christmas day they bonefished close to home as the wind did howl a bit during the day.  Jim caught this nice bonefish in the early evening to end his day of florida keys fishing!  Stake up fishing was a good bet with the overcast and windy conditions.  Stay tuned for more news about fishing in the keys and we'll have some great islamorada fishing reports this week as it is one our busiest weeks of the year!  If your down here stop down by Bud n' Mary's and get out on the water it's about as nice of weather as you could ask for christmas week here in the keys!