11/7/12 Winter time fishing in Islamorada

Had a 3 boat trip today out of Bud n' Mary's Fishing Marina in Islamorada Florida Keys on 11/7/12.  This is a transitional time of year so the fishing varies a bit and can be a little inconsistent as temperature and winds fluctuate often.  Today myself, Capt. Perry Scuderi, and Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti fished the Kanipus party.  We fished the flamingo area, which winter fishing in islamorada is often good back there.  The wind kicked up good as yesterday it was flat calm and suppose to get cold tonight, but wasn't too bad 15 mph out of northwest.  Capt. Perry and myself started out with some nice catches of redfish, we got probably close to 30 with several nice slot size fish.  They were eating pilchards and shrimp as the pilchards have been easy to get and close by.  Capt. Vinnie reported a decent pick of various fish including redfish, snapper, trout, and a few juvenile snook where he went november fishing in the florida keys.  Later our boat was after meat so we hit some runoffs for trout which usually gets good as the water temperatures drop, we caught plenty of trout and got 5 or so keepers plus some snapper, jacks and ladyfish, mostly on pilchards again but a few on shrimp too.  Capt. Perry reported some mangrove snappers, jacks, and a few small snook as well around one of the islands back near flamingo.  We then decided to try to catch something bigger and ran out west to try for either big shark or goliath.  We put the big rod out and a few pinfish for possibly a cobia or big snook, and of course we caught a 10 lb cobia on the big rod on a dead ladyfish on the bottom.  Oh well at least we got one!  Great day on an islamorada backcountry fishing trip, the boys are bringing all their fish to lazy days for a fish fry tonight and had a great time!  The cold weather thats coming should start pushing more fish to their winter time spots, including the spanish mackerel into the edge of the gulf of mexico fishing.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

7/28/12 Fishing the gulf of mexico

Capt. Rick Stanczyk had Bob Davidson and crew out for a day of fishing the gulf of mexico on 7/28/12.  We started off some of the banks that line the edge of everglades national park and the gulf.  The bite was hot with a mix of big ladyfish, sea trout, mangrove snappers, and jack crevelle.  We loaded up on fish for dinner, as well as more for bait for larger specimen.  We then headed to try to find some goliaths we had some action with the prior day, however another boat was fishing it, so we headed back west into the open gulf.  We had one of wrecks to our selves and the fish were there!  We had the last of the incoming tide.  Big schools of permit in every direction, great permit fishing in islamorada.  We caught about 8 total on shrimp and even bare jigs!  We tried pitching the one crab we had to some of the larger ones, though they did not appear interested.  After the tide started to fall we anchored up, and chunked up some ladyfish and caught 6 big goliath groupers up to 200 lbs!  Bob also got a nice 75 lb bull shark.  We also managed one cobia to the boat, and had one other small 4 pack follow a goliath up and disappear.  Great action and love to see it this time of year!

Capt. Bill Bassett also fished in the backcountry today and reported good action.  They caught plenty of trout and ladyfish in the bays.  They found lots of tarpon around some islands and had a couple in the air!  They also poled around a bit later and caught several redfish, after that they headed in a little earlier to beat the heat!

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!