10/8/12 October Fishing in the Florida Keys

Well over the past weekend here, islamorada fishing in october has continued to prove it's a great time of year to come down and fish.  Shots at all kinds of fish are possible, there's much less boat traffic on the water, and for the most part conditions have been good with light winds and a tad less heat than a few months ago.  In the backcountry fishing florida keys Capt. Jim Willcox had some fabulous fishing.  They had a tarpon on fly first thing in the morning, then some monster redfish on fly!  Pretty impressive size red drum for down here fishing islamorada.  They also had multiple big jacks and some cobias, which have still been around both in the gulf as well as offshore which is unusual for this time of year.  On the offshore side there has been some sailfishing in Islamorada starting to happen.  Both Sugaree and Strictly Business has sailfish releases as well as some good catches of king mackerel (kingfish).  The Strictly business also had a decent catch of yellowtail snapper.  On Friday the Relentless had a good catch of mahi and blackfin tuna further offshore.  Great to still have some islamorada dolphin fishing going on!  Weather looks fairly calm and stable this week with winds out of the northeast which is the norm entering the fall, which should be good for fishing this time of year!

1/2/12 Islamorada Offshore fishing for sailfish

The Cohen family has been fishing in islamorada out of Bud n' Mary's since 1971. When Capt. Skip Nielsen was a mate, dad Gerald caught his first sailfish. Now son Ben released his first sailfish fishing with Capt. Skip on new years eve.He used Foxsportfishing tackle on the Sailfish. His dad Gerald, fished with vic gaspeny years ago and released 17 bonefish in one day. They have spent a lot of days over the years fishing from Bud n' Mary's and still do so today!

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!

1-19-11 Great backcountry and offshore action!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk reported catching many redfish close to 40 in about half an hour in the backcountry today.  They also caught some trout, ladyfish, and jacks nearby.  Had a couple shark bites while putting the big rods out but couldn't keep 'em on.  Later on they caught plenty of mackerel and snappers on the edge of the gulf.  Capt. Bill Bassett and Ken Cohan also reported lots of trout, ladyfish, mackerel, and snappers fishing towards the edge of the gulf.  Capt. Nick Stanczyk had a nice catch of sails today, the Relentless with Capt. Paul Ross had several nice large cobia some over 50 lbs, as well a the Kalex, and plenty of king mackerel on the docks!

GREAT cobia fishing for Catch 22! 1-16-11

There has been some fantastic cobia fishing down here in Islamorada, Florida Keys.  The Catch 22 caught there limit here today, and letting many others go.  About 12 cobias up to 65 lbs, 20 kings, and a nice sail!  Check it out, way to go Capt. Scott Stanczyk!  Fishing for cobias is usually great this time of year, all the way through February!  The cold waters in the gulf of mexico have flushed many of these fish out into the warmer Atlantic ocean.  These fish are caught often by spotting large rays, turtles, and other large sea creatures, which have the schools of fish following them.  Live baits are casted with heavy weights to sink them to the bottom in front of the fish, often live grunts are favorites of the larger fish!  Sometimes you will see cobia on the surface tailing as well, this is very cool when you can sight cast and watch them eat!  As the waters warm up with stable weather, the fish should pop back up in the gulf on the wrecks and structures there, offering great sportfishing opportunity to those vessels there, including many backcountry guides who fish the edge of the everglades national park!  Come on down and let's go fishing!  1-800-742-7945 - Bud n' Mary's Fishing Marina