1/24/13 Winter fishing islamorada backcountry in January!

Well it cooled down a bit again as we had another small cold front pass through the last couple days.  Today on 1/24/13 it was a chilly ride into the islamorada backcountry fishing.  Many guides repoted having to wear jackets and long pants all day so remember to bring them!  Capt. Mike Bassett reported good fishing back around the cape area of the mainland.  He had some fellows from Minnesotta down staying at Bud n Marys and happy to be out of the cold weather back home!  They got into redfish, black drum, trout, and snook.  Fishing mostly the deeper runoffs and plugs slow jigging shrimp.  January islamorada fishing is often good in those areas!  Capt. Jeff Beeler reported some trout, ladyfish, jacks, etc... out west on the edge of the gulf, kind of a slower pick, but they also caught some sharks as well at the end of the falling tide as things warmed up a bit and the sun radiated.  Islamorada shark fishing can be done all year long as you can see, though is often tougher when the water is colder.  Capt. Bob Reineman had some good islamorada flats fishing for redfish, they poled and blind casted and caught 30 or so on bucktails.  Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished a later afternoon half and we got into a pretty solid bit of trout, ladyfish, jacks, pompano, and even a few spanish mackerel mixed in.  One real nice size trout as well as big ladyfish, the rest were mostly throwbacks but fun to bend the rod on.  We also picked a handful of redfish around one of the islands before heading home this afternoon.  The weather should be decent the next few days but still a little chilly, so go out for some great january florida keys fishing!

1/19/13 Backcountry and Gulf fishing islamorada in january!

Well we've had another minor cold front hit the keys a few days ago for our islamorada fishing in january and chilled the water down a bit, luckily however not too cold and is back on a warming trend already.  Islamorada backcountry fishing has been decent the last few days.  Capt. Rick Stanczyk and Capt. Perry Scuderi had a group trip yesterday.  We picked at the redfish, black drum, and sheepshead.  Got one snook as well around an island moat.  In the afternoon we caught our limit of trout for dinner plus plenty of ladyfish, jacks, and a few pompano.  Today the islamorada flats fishing was similar in the back.  We got into a good snook bite this AM catching 8 or so, plus a nice redfish.  Picked a few more redfish as well as black drum out of the hole.  Then picked at fish in a few other places - sheepshead, mangrove snappers, and jacks.  Decided to try the trout january fishing islamorada again in the afternoon and we caught plenty of those, however not quite as large this time no keepers but lots of fun rod bending action.  Also got some pompano as well before heading home.  Capt. Mike Bassett reported good fishing in the gulf, they got into some spanish mackerel, a few cobia, a permit,  a 40 lb kingfish!!!... and some larger trout out there.  The weather is suppose to be calm tomorrow and continuing to warm, so look for some good fishing all over the place fishing in the florida keys!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@seethefloridakeys.net 

12/24/12 Backcountry December Islamorada Fishing Report

Well the winds have switched around a bit and things are starting to warm up a bit here on 12/24/12.  The water temperatures in the backcountry are still pretty cold, low 60s, however should have a chance to start warming now as the wind turns to southeast.  Today we did a half day islamorada backcountry fishing trip and started around flamingo.  Caught a few reds but not real red hot for us so I ran further west, however lots of boats on the water.  I ended up running all the way to east cape which I normally don't do on a half day, but hoped with the cooler water some fish would be piled in there.  We ended up catching a handful of black drum, sheepshead, and redfish, maybe 15 in total while florida keys inshore fishing. Though one nice size black drum which made the trip!  We had low tide early at flamingo and incoming current at the cape by then.  Capt. Bob reineman reported getting into a couple dozen redfish early while working some runoffs islamorada flats fishing though once the tide quit so did the fish.  Capt. Jeff Beeler reported a slow pick of fish throughout the full day back at east and middle cape... redfish, black drum, sheeps head, snook... but did catch a few quality fish including this nice snook - and some trout on the way hom!  Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti and Capt. Jim Willcox reported mixed bags on the islamorada patch reefs including snapper, mackerel, small grouper, and porgy.  Overall not too bad of a day, the fish will hopefully get acclimated to this cooler water hopefully since it looks like more cold weather will be arriving in another week or so.  That's it for the islamorada fishing report for december!  Christmas week is here and this next week is looking slammed, if your interested in fishing make your reservations ASAP or you might miss out!  Looks to be a gorgeous week with light southeast winds.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk  
305-747-6903
rick@seethefloridakeys.net 

10/3/12 October Islamorada Fishing Report

Went fun fishing today with fellow captain Mike Bassett for some October fishing in Islamorada.  We headed way back off the mainland deep in the everglades to check things out.  The winds had been fairly wild the last few days, and on the way there I had my doubts as to whether the fishing would be good.  Lots of muddy water, weeds, etc...  We kept chugging back there and luckily found a few areas where the tide falling out of the creeks was very clean looking water.  We fished all over, trying some new spots and fishing some other mouths, runoffs, and sandbars that I've fished the last couple weeks.  Most spots were holding nice snook in islamorada.  We caught probably a dozen in total and missing another 6 or so, as well as 20 redfish, mostly on pinfish and some on shrimp.  Most the reds were slot size though not many bigger than 22 inches or so.  The tide ran out for a very long time, longer than it was suppose too.  The wind also kept it moving out even when the level started to rise, as we could see the muddy water making its way in - very strange!  Also bagged a nice tripletail on the way home for dinner, as well as a bullshark on light tackle.  I also lost a 15+ lb snook on my engine at the end of the day fishing a new spot - but got a good look at him at least!  Great florida keys fishing in october especially for a day when things didn't look so hot to begin with!  On the offshore side Sugaree stayed on the reef catching some close in mahi, yellowtails, and an unexpected cobia.  The relentless and redfish had some more yellowtails, mutton snapper, black grouper, and cero mackerel mixed in.  The Catch 22 had some nice tunas a couple days ago 10-18 lbs, as well as a 90 lb sword.  That's the great thing about fall fishing in Islamorada is that you never know what you might get since we're in a transitional period!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

1/28/12 Good Backcountry Fishing in Flamingo

Bob and Bobby Joyce from Boston went out on a full day in the backcountry with Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti a few days ago. They fished in the Flamingo area catching trout, redfish, and Blackdrum. They also caught black drum and a snook!  Capt. Skip Nielsen reported a good bite of tarpon the other day in the backcountry with Cliff Fox, they caught 4 out of 6!  Capt. Rick Stanczyk reported a good spanish mackerel bite on the edge of the gulf yesterday, they caught a boat load, plus mangrove snappers, trout, and pompano.  They jumped a couple tarpon they couldn't get to stay on, but did catch a couple 100lb bull sharks!  The tarpon may thin out again for a few days since we had a drop in temperature, but after it warms up again for a few days it should be game on!