Bud N' Mary's Fishing Marina is located in Islamorada, Florida, The Sportfishing Capital of The World! It was established in 1944, and over the years has been one of the most famous sportfishing destinations in the world! It is home to over 40 of the finest offshore captains and backcountry guides. We also have a spectacular party fishing boat, the Miss Islamorada. There is also a great dive shop, boat rentals, motel, boat storage, transient dockage, and tackle store. We will be posting fishing related events, catches, media publications, and overall news concerning Bud N' Mary's here, so keep tuned in! You can contact Bud N' Mary's at 1-800-742-7945 or e-mail us: bnmfm@budnmarys.com.
Welcome to our Florida Keys Fishing Reports section. Here we will be posting all the catch reports both offshore and backcountry around Islamorada and the Florida Keys. Remember all captains can be booked through Bud N' Mary's Florida Keys Fishing Charters by calling 1-800-742-7945. Islamorada Fishing Reports vary year round, so check back often! Thanks!
Today the islamorada tarpon fishing was really good. Lots of mullet around in the morning and afternoons. We caught 4/4 this morning in the backcountry by 10:00 AM. Anglers had enough so we finished the day catching trout, ladyfish, and snappers. This evening we caught 4/9 around the local bridges mostly on live mullet on top. Very exciting bites and strikes, mostly smaller fish though did get one 65 lber. Incoming tide on both trips and live fresh mullet for bait. That's a total of 8/13 fish! Capt. John Johansen and Capt. Ben Ekblom also had some tarpon action this evening. Today Capt. Jim Willcox had lots of sharks, a big 'mud marlin', and a monster hammerhead as well. The islamorada backcountry fishing will likely be tough the next few days as another front is coming and suppose to blow 25-30 tomorrow, but luckily not getting very cold so hopefully as soon as the wind lays down it will get back to normal.
Spring, especially march florida keys fishing, is known for big monster fish here in Islamorada. While the cooler weather earlier this month had shut many of these brutes down, they've still been around and lately have been caught frequently. Tarpon, sharks, goliath grouper, and 'mud marlin.' Today Capt. Rick Stanczyk had guests out for a full day islamorada fishing charter. The winds were howling from the southwest 25 knots, not an easy fishing condition. However we made our way into the backcountry fairly comfortably without taking too much spray. We fished for trout, ladyfish, and mangrove snappers in the bay early. The fishing was surprisngly good with several nice keeper size trout to 20 inches, and lots of ladyfish for bait and a handful of snappers. Later we went to the deeper channels, the water was not too pretty lots of grass and mud, though we ran up inside and found some areas that looked fishable with hints of blue in the water. We put the big rods out with dead ladyfish on the bottom, and soon were hooking up sharks in the florida keys. Mostly blacktips and black noses. To our surprise after our 3rd or 4th shark, all of a sudden the rod bent over and a big tarpon came flying out of the water! We kept a light drag to start as I had extra weight on to hold bottom with the weed, wind, and current, and often tarpon can throw hooks especially with a weighted line when they jump. Luckily the hook was in the right place, he jumped several times and we eventually landed him - a nice 100 lb fish! Soon the red weed flowed in which made the area unfishable, so we ran to some other channels to fish the last hour. Had a few more shark bites including one big one we pulled off though caught a couple blacktips and called it a day. Not bad given the conditions! Capt. Ted Wilson had some good action with ladyfish and trout, and also reported catching 3 'mud marlin' close to Islamorada. Capt. Bill Bassett had a half day and caught some nice mangrove snappers hiding around the mangrove islands. Islamorada tarpon fishing in march is likely going to be stalling again a little bit - we are getting more cold weather the next few nights. Though not freezing it is suppose to get in the 50s several nights which will likely bring the water temperatures down, I don't think the tarpon will leave though may be tough to get to feed until water temperatures get back to the low/mid 70s. Also included here is a picture of a 400+ lb goliath grouper caught by young angler Sam last week fishing with Capt. Rick Stanczyk!
Another beautiful day here on 2/23/13 fishing in the florida keys in february. Today I had Martin Williamson who fished with me a couple years ago and had a great time. He was back from across the pond for another special birthday fishing trip. I got to dust my big rods off as I haven't used them much as of late. We started out early catching some small stuff for bait, but got into a plethora of fish. Lots of ladyfish, jacks, and trout. Even a few spanish mackerel, bluefish, and pompano mixed in with them. Trout fishing in Islamorada should pick up in the bays and muds as the water warms and we enter our spring time islamorada fishing period. We put one shark rod out whilst catching bait and got lots of action on that, caught 4 small to medium size blacktips. After we were loaded up on ladyfish we made our way back towards another spot. Martin wanted to catch a goliath and it was a little too rough for the gulf wrecks so I tried closer in around some protected areas. We had a pack of cobias swim up on us about 20 minutes after we got there, caught 1 and had another one eat a bait and spit it. Another 20 minutes later and both big rods doubled over - double header! Martin fought one while I through our anchor ball and gave chase, all the while our other rod/fish is going the opposite way behind us. Eventually the fish behind us tired a bit and I had Martin switch to that... low and behold that was the goliath he was looking for a nice 150 lb fish! A great islamorada golaith grouper! We got pictures of him than moved back to the other fish which was absolutely massive. Finally got him to stop and started leadering him up, I could tell what it was from the big dead weight and big slashing movements - mud marlin! We got him near the surface with bill sticking out of the water, but unfortunately on the monofilament he cut us off before we could get a real good look/picture. We gave it another 45 minutes there but no other action, and decided to try a spot for some redfish which worked out nice. Caught about 10 mostly slot reds to end the day, perfect end to another great day of february fishing in Islamorada.
February fishing Islamorada is well under way here now on 2/2/13. The water temperatures in the backcountry are still pretty chilly in the mid 60s this morning, but we are starting back on a warming trend. A good possibility once the temps get back in the mid-70s the tarpon will show up and bite good. This is the time of year they do begin to show, often back in the backcountry channels and around the cape area. Also Capt. Ken Cohan reported some 'sea monster' action a.k.a. mud marlin last week here fishing florida keys in february when the water temp was in the low 70s right after the full moon, time to bring the big guns! As for today, Capt. John Johansen fished a full day and started out front on the patches. They braved the rough water as the winds were more northeast and not due north, but it paid off... Not much going on with the regular suspects, but they did get a nice 20 lb permit! They later went into the backcountry and the trout bite was good when the water warmed up with the lower water levels. Capt. Clyde Upchurch reported the same, keys backcountry fishing did not get going till later in the day... but eventually they did get some nice big trout. Again as things continue to warm up we should be getting into much more of our spring time fisheries, which is just about everything you can catch here in fishing in the florida keys. Call and book your 2013 tarpon trips now as many desirable dates are filling up fast. 305-664-2461
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!
Thursday, April 4, 2013 at 08:54PM 
