5/3/12 Florida Keys Backcountry Fishing Report

Well the rain has finally cleared and we had some pretty weather today although it was still pretty breezy!  Much of the water in the backcountry is still very churned up from the hard winds we had the past few days, that should settle and by the weekend it is suppose to be nice and calm.  The past few days Capt. Rick Stanczyk has been running far near the mainland of south florida in the everglades backcountry fishing.  The mud marlin have been biting consistently, we caught 2 the day before yesterday and 1 today.  Today we also caught several big lemon sharks and one blacktip shark.  Ladyfish was the bait of choice on the bottom.  Yesterday we got into the redfish pretty good, found an area where the water was fairly clean compared to the rest of the bay/gulf water which was very muddy.  We caught 2 dozen nice islamorada redfish up to 8 lbs, mostly on shrimp though several on cut bait on the bottom.  Today we tried the same thing and caught a handful of reds though not like the other day.  Though we did get a nice size florida keys snook out of one of the creeks, and found a good mud on the way home loaded with nice trout and ladyfish.  The islamorada tarpon fishing report has not been real good... the fish will hopefully start showing up more in the backcountry channels and around the local spots as well, perhaps on the next moon and once the weather stabalizes.  Several boats the other night reported no bites at all unfortunately, when we get back into having falling tides in the evenings things will improve.  Capt. Bill Bassett reported a good bite of redfish way back at Cape Sable yesterday, they caught fish up to 15 lbs, poling and casting into ditches.  Capt. Jim Willcox had some nice redfish today as well.

4/28/12 Islamorada Tarpon Fishing Report

This is the time of year for islamorada tarpon fishing.  The fishing as of late had been a little tough, with a cold front coming in April and before that a few days of hard 20-30 knot west winds that really stirred up the backcountry and bay.  Most day and night trips have still yielded some fish, however often it has been only a bite or two a trip and you need to make the most of them.  The overcast and rainy conditions today made for great fishing for Capt. Jeff Beeler.  They caught 3 out of 6 bites on a half day trip fishing live mullters, fishing nearby and dodging in and out of the foul weather!  Capt. Vic Gaspeny had 2 nice fish a couple mornings ago going early, very large fish too!  Capt. Rick Stanczyk reported catching 1 out of 2 fish yesterday, getting a fish early the morning before, and a 1 out of 3 fish during the day before that.  Capt. Ben Loy had 1 fish last night as well.  There have been reports of large schools of fish making their way towards Islamorada especially on the ocean side, so look for the fishing to improve as we get into May, which traditionally is the peak of tarpon fishing in the florida keys!  Crabs have been working good in the dark hours, and mullets are the bait of choice this time of year during the daylight.  As I tell all my anglers even when the fishing is red hot, often you must put your time in.  On most trips the bites do come, however lately you've needed to make the most of them as the shots are limited!

Capt. Skip Nielsen also reported catching one fish on fly yesterday sight casting the edges of the banks in the backcountry of Islamorada.  Fly tarpon fishing in Islamorada can be done too!  They also caught a fish later on live mullet down near the channel 2 and 5 bridges.

4/11/12 Winds lay down.. major gulf/backcountry action!

The winds subsided the last couple of days to flat calm, giving some new options on florida keys backcountry charters.  Capt. Jim Willcox fished the gulf the last few days, running far back 30-40 miles to some wrecks.  They had some big sharks, goliath groupers, cobia, permit, and tripletail.  Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished off the cape, reporting several big sharks, mud marlins, and a big tarpon today.  They also caught plenty of big trout and tripletail on the way home.  Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti also had a nice goliath grouper and cobia today.  Many of the guides ran the trap buoys out west and the tripletails were pretty thick.  Lots of options, this is the time of year for great islamorada permit fishing in the gulf of mexico!.  The tides are right for evening tarpon fishing here the next several nights.. get out there and go fishing for tarpon in islamorada!!!

Tarpon, tarpon, tarpon April 2012!

Debbie and Rich Riolo fished with Capt. Skip Nielsen for a sunset Tarpon trip April 4th 2012. Using Foxsportfishing tackle Rich had 3 releases and Debbie had 2 releases. They also had lots of cheap shots. They were fishing with big fresh live mullet for bait. A very exciting time for these BudnMary's regulars.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished with Stu Heishman last night April 5 and today on April 6.  Last night the bite was on for florida keys tarpon fishing, we caught 3 out of 5 tarpon losing two after several jumps.  We also had lots of cheap shots as well.  One of the tarpons we had leadered and were trying to drag over to a flat for a picture, and he took off into the channel.  Next thing a huge 600 lb hammherhead grabbed him and chomped him in half, playing with him for several minutes.  Unfortunately no pictures as the wind/tide/boat traffic was tough to navigate!  Today Stu fished with his son in the backcountry, it was a tough day hard southwest wind and the water really stirred up everywhere.  We caught plenty of ladyfish and trout this morning.  Tried to run into the backcountry to fish for some big things but not much action just one small blacktip.  Ran back near Islamorada and did end up catching a nice 40 lb tarpon which made the day.  April tarpon fishing in Islamorada is the thing to do!

4/4/12 April backcountry tarpon fishing lights up!

April tarpon fishing in Islamorada lit up in the backcountry today for Capt. Rick Stanczyk on 4/4/12.  Had Rob Gottlieb and Lee Wasserman down, regular who have fished with me the last several years.  Last October they came and we caught some nice redfish, black drum, snook, snappers, trout, and pompano.  Lee also caught a nice bonefish on the next day which was rainy/windy.  This time they were here for the big tarpon.  We fished last night for some florida keys night tarpon fishing.  The bite was fair for the conditions, being in-tide and very weedy.  We had 2 good strikes on the mullets up top which we did not hook up with, and did end up catching on a ladyfish.  Today we did a 3/4 day, fished the bay and caught snappers for dinner, trout, and a few ladyfish.  Headed further into the backcountry for the last 1.5 hours and it was game-on for big tarpon!  We caught 3 out of 4, missing one which grabbed the shark rod.  All nice fish in the 80-100 lb range, which jumped and went absolutely nuts allowing for quick catches since they tired very fast.  These fish seemed to be fresh in from the gulf, very good to see them!  I hope they stick around back there for a while!  Florida keys tarpon fishing in April is prime time, so come on down!