3/24/11 West wind can be trouble, though turned out alright today!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished Larry and Sherri Kasperek today for a 3/4 day of florida keys fishing!  We headed out back into the everglades around 7:30 am and it was an absolutely gorgeous day - almost flat calm with a slight breeze out of the west.  This is usually not ideal for fishing in our area, though today it didn't seem to bother things much.  We caught plenty of trout, several nice ones in the 17-20 inch range.  Plus lots of big ladyfish which were jumping all over, a few snappers, mackerel, and a pompano - good mix of fish for drifting around randomly in the bay!  They wanted to catch something big like a shark too, so I headed over to one of my favorite spots nearby and put the big rods out with some dead baits on the bottom.  A couple other boats were anchored nearby, Capt. Jim Willcox and Capt. Jeff Beeler.  Last week I had gotten a bad batch of circle hooks, straightened the circle hooks on two tarpon in a row with my anglers doing everything right! Also straightened one out on a big 'sea monster' that was locked on the bottom after only pulling on him for about 10 minutes, so I know it had to be the hooks.  So we went old school with a traditional J-hook as I've second guessed myself out of using them!  Not much action at first, Capt. Jim had hooked a few small blacktips that he caught, then we had something big grab the bait and start swimming across the stern.  I locked it up and reeled the line tight and handed the rod to Sherri.  Then a big 100 lb tarpon came blasting out of the water, jumping 4 or 5 times behind the boat.  I had Sherri point the rod at the fish to keep from pulling the hook and she did a great job, we tossed our anchor ball and raced after him.  He jumped himself out and we caught up with him, snapping a few pictures and releasing him for another day unharmed!  Sherri said it was the biggest fish she ever caught and one of the most exciting things she'd ever done!  We fished the last hour there without much of anything happening, Capt. Jeff hooked and caught a larger blacktip near us.  Then the other guys headed to another spot and we made our way home as the tide was starting to die and it was time to head in anyways.  Well another successful day with some florida tarpon fishing!

3/19/11 Florida Keys backcountry fishing half day!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished a half day today in the florida keys backcountry.  There was a big mud that's been around for a couple weeks and we caught half a dozen nice size trout in there plus a few smaller ones.  Plenty of ladyfish, some nice sized ones too, jacks, and a nice size bluefish.  Good action close to home about 20 minutes away!  We then set up to catch a shark nearby and put the big rods out.  Soon we hooked a nice size blacktip we drifted down on and caught.  After we reset, one rod started zinging out line - boom - big 80 lb tarpon on!  Unfortunately he jumped crazily and we actually straightened the hook on him, oh well!  We gave it another shot for the last few minutes of our morning and then another shark bite.  Line zinged all over the transom and didn't feel like a big fish, but soon he took off straight behind us and we followed.  A nice 80-90 lb hammerhead, 3rd one I'd caught this week!  We got him up for a picture and released him and headed home!

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

 Captain Ted Wilson also reported this week... Just when we were starting to get used to having tarpon back in the neighborhood again things were turned upside down last week by a late season cool front. But with this week's rising water temperatures the tarpon are starting to move back into their early-season locales. Stewart Sarnac from Jacksonville and wife Angie went two for three tarpon in the 90 to 100 lb range deep into the Islamorada backcountry. Strangely the only bites came on pin fish even though they had a variety of baits to choose from. Whatever their tastes, Islamorada fishing guides like myself are excited to see them back in town and ready to eat.

3/17/11 HOT action islamorada tarpon fishing and sharks!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished Todd Belinger and his son today for some great florida keys fishing in Islamorada on March 17, 2011!  We left out early around 7:15 right before the sun starting rising.  We stopped in the back where I've been having luck lately near flamingo and caught plenty of trout, ladyfish, jacks, and a few pompano on the last of the falling tide back there.  Put a big rod out while doing so and caught a few sharks there too.  Once the tide died we moved further up the channel and waited for it to come in.  We caught several more sharks there and had one tarpon bite we missed, then hooked about a 60 lber we landed!  After the the weeds start really rolling through so we moved on a little further out towards the gulf of mexico and fished another deep channel.  Plenty of small blacktips in there we probably caught another 6 of those in there, and another larger 80 lb tarpon right off the bat!  Then we hooked a 150 lb hammerhead that we fought for about 30 minutes and got him up for a picture alongside the boat!  The waters back to normal and getting warmer as we get into spring, the tarpon are getting happier and soon it will be full on!  Florida Tarpon Fishing is spectacular here in Islamorada!

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

3/15/11 Fishing the everglades! And fishing Islamorada!

Capt. Jim Willcox fished a full day in the everglades today and had another good day catching a few nice snook.  They also caught plenty of redfish, trout, ladyfish, and some big black drum.  Hopefully this is a sign the snook fishing will be picking up for the rest of the year!  Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished two half days today, there was a big mud close to home with plenty of trout, ladyfish, jacks, and some sharks in it.  Also fished for some tarpon nearby at the end of the day, saw quite a few rolling around but no bites.  Every guide at Bud n' Mary's is booked tomorrow, so hopefully there will be plenty of good fish stories to tell!!!

3/13/11 Florida Keys Tarpon action plus another big sea monster!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk had Lars, Oscar, and Antoine fishing in islamorada today.  All three are swedes who love to fish!  We caught plenty of trout, ladyfish, and jacks to bend the rod early.  Water temps were still pretty chilly in the mid 60s.  Though they wanted to catch some big stuff so we put the shark rods out.  Within 20 minutes we saw a big bust behind the boat and the BG90 bent over and started zinging line - big 130 lb tarpon!  We fought him for about 30 minutes and Lars landed his first tarpon and it was a lunker!  We fished a while longer though the tide started dying so we moved out further on the edge of the gulf.  Not much action there, one shark bite we missed, so I asked the guys what they wanted to do - bend the rod on smaller stuff or go for the big stuff.  They chose the big stuff, so we ran back to a channel where the water temp had warmed up some in the afternoon sun and put 'em out again.   Same rod bent over again and started slowly taking drag.  I could tell by the action it was something else - we fought it for about 20 minutes again and I started hand-lining it up having the feeling that it was another 'mud marlin' and sure enough it was, about 300 lbs!  We got a good look at him and then he went back to the bottom, and cut us off, but at least we saw him!  Well the guys were happy with their decision, we soon headed back after that.  Not bad for a chilly day in early March!

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