10/23/12 Excellent Islamorada Backcountry Fishing despite windy weather!

Well it was blowing as forecast today here in Islamorada fishing on 10/23/12.  However that didn't stop boats from getting out into the florida keys backcountry fishing.  Capt. Jim Willcox and Capt. Rick Stanczyk both fished near the mainland of florida.  The ride was not too bad a few short bumpy areas but for the most part you can run the banks/islands and stay in the calm water, and once near shore and in many of the areas we fish back there, you forgot it was even windy out!!  Capt. Jim reported some nice size redfish and some snook which starts getting good here in october fishing islamorada.  Lots of neat wild life too including a bald eagle/croc Capt. Jim got photos of, plus plenty of white pelicans and spoonbills starting to show up for the winter here in islamorada florida.  Capt. Rick had a good bite of snook this morning with regulars Jim and Gwen, we only managed one snook to the boat but missed/broke off/jumped off at least another 10 - just wasn't are day but that's why they call it fishing not catching!  Also got one nice redfish and jack crevalle, plus a 50 lb sawfish on light tackle which was exciting!  Jim was thrilled to get his first snook and sawfish.  Later we hit some runoffs and caught plenty of trout and mangrove snapper on the way home.  Capt. Bill Bassett fished closer to flamingo fishing and reported a mix bag of snapper, trout, ladyfish, jacks, and picked at half a dozen reds around some islands.  So remember when your here florida keys fishing in october and the wind is honking, the nice thing about islamorada is there are so many options to fish and much protected water - you can still get out there and have a great day!

10/16/12 October Fishing Report Islamorada

Well we had a gentle breeze out of the north this morning on 10/16/12, which had swung out shoreside of the cape area.  Tides were extremely low back there this morning, lots of bird life including tons of roseattes showing up for the winter time.  October fishing in Islamorada is great!  We ran back to the cape today and hit some snook spots early on the low water, however not much action on the pinfish did catch a couple and miss a couple but the fish were funny.  We idled up in a couple creeks and did get into some nice bunches of redfish.  Islamorada Backcountry Fishing is all about fishing the conditions!  As the water started in, it did bring some of the muddier gulf water inside.  We did have a couple more snook bites as the waters rose above many of the downs trees near the shorelines, once the water was high enough we motored back into the sticks.  Picked around at more redfish in the shallows and then headed back towards home for this fishing charter islamorada.  On the way back we came across some several thousand mullets all schooled up swimming hard against the in current and the tarpon were going nuts on them.  Busting tarpon as far as you could see all up and down the beach and canal.  The fall mullet run has been very evident on the incoming tide deep in the everglades and the tarpon are happy.  Great time to catch tarpon fishing in islamorada.  We ended up netting some mullet and did get a coulple tarpon strikes, finally hooking one on a drift and catching it on light 15 lb tackle.  Proud to report that Capt. Vic Gaspeny caught his first 'backcountry' slam consisting of redfish, snook, and tarpon.  Always good to here on an october florida keys fishing report.  The fall is a great time to fish here and the everglades can be a very good place to try!  Still technically in our 'off season' you'll have much of the 'glades to yourself, so come on down let's go fishing!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

 

10/12/12 Islamorada Backcountry everglades fishing report october

We've had a lot of wind the last couple days and it's expected to continue through the weekend from 10/12/12.  Yesterday it was a hard northwest wind of 20 mph and we made our way back to islamorada backcountry fishing cape sable hoping the northerlyeasterly wind would hold there and keep the waters semi-clean.  Unfortunately it swung around from the northwest which it has a way of doing back there this time of year october fishing in the florida keys, and the water in the gulf was a mess plus big swells making the ride a little bouncy but nothing my seacraft couldn't handle.  Luckily the water where we fished was semi-protected, we fished some points on the low water as it was just starting in and picked a few nice reds and a snook on pinfish, also our friend Bob Mclure who fished with us hooked and lose a very nice snook on light tackle casting shrimp.  Bob was a major league pitcher for 20 years in the MLB, pitching for many teams including the Brewers in the 1982 world series.  Great to have him join us on this october islamorada fishing report.  He has still coached for many teams in the last couple decades, including our own Miami Marlins!  We tried a few other mouths and points however the high water seemed to have the fish scattered further in for our october fishing in islamorada.  So went deep into some of the creeks to some very shallow stuff, luckily the in tide and high water I had no problem getting my larger boat around. We found some neat spots, picking half a dozen reds or so in 4 spots, plus a few more snook and a black drum, all in 2 foot of water or less.  Redfish in Islamorada is going to be great this winter!  Later we headed back towards home and fished east cape.  Got into several nice snook here catching another 5 or so, plus losing several on trees and downed debris, plus some more nice reds and a small goliath. Islamorada snook fishing is great in the fall! We also found a few more nice spots with reds in deeper water, and had one tarpon eat and spit a pinfish.  Also lost a snook who jumped into a tree that was likely close to 20 lbs!  Very fun day didn't get in till almost 5:00!

Capt. Perry Scuderi fished around flamingo most of the day and reported catching several snook and some redfish too along with some sharks.  Bob Reineman also had several snook and redfish fishing with Bob the day before.  Been very busy for October Islamorada Fishing and we are happy about that!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk 

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

9/28/12 Islamorada snook fishing in the everglades backcountry!

October fishing in Islamorada is almost upon us being 9/28/12! We've had some very low tides as of late, almost spring-like tides very unusual!  Took my dad, Richard Stanczyk Sr., girlfriend Elizabeth Baxter, and one of the new main men at Bud n' Mary's Steven Byrd out for a day of fun fishing.  Left early again out at 6:00 AM and made the run partially in the dark to the cape for some everglades snook fishing, deep into the everglades up around the bend of the mainland!  Had a load of pinfish and shrimp and caught it just in time for the start of incoming tide.  We worked some of the creeks and channels, when the current got going we got into some good smaller redfish and a few smaller snook as well as a mix of trout, jacks, ladyfish, etc...  Finally just started picking around and would nail a snook or nicer red off the pinfish, one here one there.  Did hit one low-tide spot that was holding some smaller reds which was also good last week.  October fishing florida keys can be great but often you must 'pick and move' as they say!  We jumped around a good 7- 8 times and then ran back down the cape towards home.  The current was ripping, tried a few other spots on the way home but too much water flow.  Finally found a nice hole where the current wasn't moving quite so fast.  Ended up catching 3 nice snook, a nice red, and a juvenile goliath right at the end of our day between 12:30-1:00 which was icing on the cake!  Look for much of this Islamorada backcountry fishing for snook/redfish to pick up as the water temperatures cool more and more - they have already started too slightly and we've had such good off season fishing it's amazing.  With the light/stable winds it's almost been better than much of the spring!!!  That's the great thing about fishing in Islamorada it can be good year round and you never know what your going to find!  Well that's it for this pre October Islamorada Fishing Report, catch 'em up!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk