10/25/12 Islamorada bonefish report!

Well we had tropical storm force wind warnings due to the formation of a late season hurricane out in the atlantic.  You know what that means... good bonefishing in islamorada weather!  The changes in pressure, overcast skies, wind, and rain can really give you a good opportunity to catch them.  Traditionally many people think of poling the flats with light winds, having to cast in a specific spot that seems like a mile away - it doesn't have to be that hard!  This is catching a bonefish for the average joe, and the nice thing is even in these sometimes dangerous conditions, there are great flats to fish within less than a mile of Bud n' Mary's Marina in perfect safety.  You fish multiple rods with some big live shrimp and just let 'em sit and wait - you never know what you might get.  Watching that rod bend over and drag scream when a lunker bone grabs it is very exciting! Capt. Jim Willcox and Capt. Rick Stanczyk both snuck out today to squeeze a half day in.  We each caught a florida keys bonefish, as well as several bonnet head sharks, atlantic sharpnose sharks, and some other various 'picker fish.' We did get chased in an hour early due to intense winds/feeder bands coming in, however being close to home it was no big deal and we got back safely, just a little wet!  Absolutely beats sitting in a hotel room watching it rain!  In the next few months continue to look for opportunities to exist such as this - often before a cold front or any storm bonefish, among other species, can go nuts and go on a feeding frenzy.  Bonefishing in October is something to keep in the back of your mind!

10/24/12 Wind continues to blow, doesn't bother the fish!

It continued to howl today here as we draw closer to fishing in islamorada november on 10/24/12.  We went fishing in the everglades back at the cape area, not a bad ride over though it started cranking mid-day.  We picked around hitting several banks, run-offs, and creek mouths.  Got into a decent snook bite first thing in the AM, catching a few and losing a few nicer ones unfortunately.  These were biting large shrimp on the jigs.  Later we worked are way further back and got into more snook and a few redfish, snapper, and sheepshead.  Lots of glass minnows and small pilchards and feeding frenzies going on.  Later when the tide quit we worked are way back to the big canal, and had a couple other bites snook fishing and medium sized sawfish.  We ended up with around 8-10 snook total which is a good day on an islamorada fishing trip.  The sawfish were fun to battle though we weren't able to get them up this time!  The wind was honking now and ran up the shoreline towards flamingo, making one final stop on the way which paid off.  Got a nice juvenile goliath, a decent redfish for dinner, and a few other baby redfish and some mangrove snappers.  Capt. Jim Willcox also ran deep in the glades even furhter back today.  He reported a decent bite of redfish and some snook as well back there.  If your think about florida keys fishing in november then these species are what you'll have to look forward to, as well as the spanish mackerel, pompano, bluefish, and cobia in the gulf..  Carefully ran home and it wasn't too bad, however tomorrow is suppose to be even more windy so we will see what happens!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Also some pictures from a few days ago, including a redfish and a spotted eagle ray we snagged on accident!

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