2-27-11 Backcountry mixed bag!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk had Charles Ruoff out fishing today in the backcountry.  We mixed things up a bit, first caught some nice mangrove snappers for dinner and a nice red grouper.  We actually hooked the red the day before and he cut us off, and we got the jigs back from out of his mouth!  After this we moved out further and caught some mackerels and blue runners, they weren't biting great but good enough the water was pretty clear and current into the wind didn't help.  After this we tried some tarpon spots, though didn't see any fish and no bites, though did catch a few blacktip sharks.  Ran out to closer gulf spot, but no signs of any real life so we moved back into the backcountry.  After putting the tarpon rods out again for a bit with just a shark bite, we decided to finish the day just bending the rod on small stuff.  Lots of ladyfish and jacks with a handful of trout, pompano, snappers, and this nice little baby permit in some ditches nearby!!

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

My brother also fished Thomas from the local resturant Overseas Kitchen today on the "BnM" and caught over 20 tunas and this nice amberjack!

2/19 + 2/20 Backcountry & Offshore action!

Capt. Rick & Nick Stanczyk fished another father/son team over the weekend.  The Hodges were down and did some islamorada offshore fishing and some florida keys backcountry fishing out of Bud n' Mary's!  They caught their limit of kings, some yellowtail, and this nice  33 1/2 lb african pompano on 15 lb test.  In the back, they caught blacktip sharks, a bull shark, a big nurse shark, plenty of mackerel, a couple nice 3-4 lb pompano, and some trout!  They said they had a fantastic time and can't wait to do it again!!!  The water temps in the back finally reached 70 today with a warm south breeze blowing, so look for some reports of tarpon here soon!  Rick Stanczyk fished a half day today, and the mackerel were CHOMPING, every cast!  The sharks were swarming too we caught 4 blacktips, including one 35-40 lber on a 10 lb spinning rod!

2/20/11 Good backcountry fishin'

Captain Jim Willcox fished with Bud & Mary's regulars,staying at the marina, Bill & Diane from Moorehead City NC today. Plenty of Jack, ladyfish, & some huge trout & we finished with several lemon sharks over 200 lbs. The most amazing part of the day was this 6 foot goliath grouper tailing in 2 feet of water!  Fantastic day on this florida fishing charter!!!

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!

2/4/11 Tarpon are back! Along with other good fishing!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished with his father, Capt. Richard Stanczyk Sr., and friend Capt. Dave Peck from North Carolina down here for the winter today.  We fished some channels between Islamorada and Flamingo in the morning, got a late start around 8:30, but still had some good falling tide.  Caught plenty of seatrout, some ladyfish, and a couple good pompano for dinner.  After hitting a few spots we moved out to hit some good tarpon holes as we had heard there were some free-jumpers spotted the day before, and we saw a couple in some deeper channels while we were running around back there.  We set up about 11:00 when the tide started coming in, and boy was it fantastic!  Our florida tarpon fishing trip saw 4 tarpon hooked in the air, however we were only able to get one to the boat.  We even hooked one on a light rod with jig/shrimp.  We also caught a couple of blacktip sharks.  The strangest thing of the day though was a 500 lb sawfish we caught on accident, Capt. Dave Peck had never seen one so it was very exciting for him!  We caught him on a tarpon rod with 80 lb mono leader and a small 4/0 hook, amazingly, he took off like a frieght train then stopped dead in his tracks and hugged the bottom while we finger-tipped him up with the leader and got a good look at him.  We released him unharmed as these are very rare and protected fish - true dinosaurs!!! Hopefully this is a good sign that it will be a fantastic year for our florida keys fishing!!!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
rick@seethefloridakeys.net
305-747-6903
http://www.budnmarys.com