2/22/13 Fishing east cape in february islamorada

Capt. Mike Bassett reported a great day on his islamorada fishing charter in february today.  His guys were looking to catch some snook and they had some good luck.  Capt. Mike fished around the east cape/mainland area which can hold some nice size snook at all times of the year.  They fished many of the creeks and runoffs that wind into the mainland.  They caught 6 nice snook, plus several nice drum mostly blacks.  They also got about 20 trout later in the day too.  Not a bad day fishing the florida keys in february.  Capt. Rick Stanczyk and Capt. Bill Bassett had a group trip half day fishing islamorada today.  They were after some stuff for the dinner plate, they both caught limit of mangrove snappers and also several nice trout and some rod bending ladyfish in some of the local muds near islamorada.  Bigger snappers are moving back in around the islands and cuts as the water temperatures are getting back to the low to mid 70s.  Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti and Capt. John Johansen have fished a few evening trips for tarpon the last couple nights and had some action too, not hot and heavy but a couple bites and some decent size fish... if your thinking of tarpon fishing in february as long as the weather stays warm it is a good possibility, ask about doing some evening fishing there are guys who are ready and willing!  Capt. Jim Willcox also has had a couple hammerhead sharks this week shark fishing in islamorada.

2/15/13 Pre february cold front backcountry fishing report

Well looks like we have (hopefully) our last cold front of the year coming over the weekend.  Today on 2/15/13 there was lots of moisture in the air and some scattered rain, you could also feel the cooler air pushing down with the north/northeast winds in the backcountry fishing islamorada february.  We fished a bit west of flamingo and out around the cape this morning.  Picked a handful of nice 22-24 inch redfish off a few spots.  Also got a nice juvenile tarpon which was cool as my anglers wanted to catch one.  We also lost a snook at the boat and caught plenty of snappers and jacks.  Later bugs got bad in the next spot, so we went in the gulf to check it out.  Hooked one cobia on the wreck which we pulled the hook on, and caught a big sting ray fishing the gulf in islamorada.  On the way back found the tripletails floating and caught probably 8 or those, only one nice keeper though but they were lots of fun!  We ended the day with a handful of trout in some runoffs again, not a bad way to spend the day fishing islamorada in february.  Capt. Dave Sisung fished closer to Islamorada, they had a mixed bag and got a couple nice sharks too, as well as this nice redfish to end the day.  Capt. Bill Bassett found caught a few redfish polingand said they saw many more, plus caught fish for dinner including trout and mangrove snappers.  Capt. Mike Bassett reported some redfish, black drum, trout, and a snook back around mainland florida as well.  Great news on this islamorada fishing report.  This cold front should only last a couple days and hopefully a few days after that things will warm right back up.  Tarpon have been around we saw several again on the way home near Bud n' Mary's, and Capt. Vic Gaspeny did report catching some in the early morning hours before daylight.  The islamorada fishing forecast will be calling for tarpon, tarpon, tarpon as we enter the spring!

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

1/13/2013 Backcountry Fishing Islamorada in High Winds!

On 1/13/2013 the east wind continued to roar and even picked up from yesterday blowing 15-20 today.  We still did some backcountry fishing islamorada and fished the edge of gulf of mexico for a half day.  We did the same thing yesterday in the wind.  Fishing was productive both days, yesterday was a little more action than today though we still kept the red bent today with about a dozen mackerels, including one 8 lb king mackerel.  Did I mention that islamorada fly fishing for mackerel is also a blast especially for beginners at fly casting!  Also plenty of runners, jacks, and nice size mangrove snappers if your looking for something to eat!  January islamorada fishing for spanish macks is usually a good bet on a half day.  The real exciting thing the past few days was the black tip shark action.  Plenty of big 50-80 lb bruisers that are in the mood to feed with the falling tide, a cut mackerel on the bottom doesn't last 5 minutes.  We went through several rigs but caught 2 yesterday and 2 today, including this nice specimen pictured that was ~70 lbs.  Today we also caught 2 (well, maybe the same one that was really hungry!) big nurse sharks over 200 lbs!  If you want to go shark fishing in the florida keys then this is a fun way to do it this time of year!  Yesterday we fished a full day and spent the afternoon hitting the low tide run-offs in the backcountry.  With the negative tide fish often get pushed into these tight areas, but can be some nice size trout and such!  That's it for this islamorada fishing report january. 

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

12/24/12 Backcountry December Islamorada Fishing Report

Well the winds have switched around a bit and things are starting to warm up a bit here on 12/24/12.  The water temperatures in the backcountry are still pretty cold, low 60s, however should have a chance to start warming now as the wind turns to southeast.  Today we did a half day islamorada backcountry fishing trip and started around flamingo.  Caught a few reds but not real red hot for us so I ran further west, however lots of boats on the water.  I ended up running all the way to east cape which I normally don't do on a half day, but hoped with the cooler water some fish would be piled in there.  We ended up catching a handful of black drum, sheepshead, and redfish, maybe 15 in total while florida keys inshore fishing. Though one nice size black drum which made the trip!  We had low tide early at flamingo and incoming current at the cape by then.  Capt. Bob reineman reported getting into a couple dozen redfish early while working some runoffs islamorada flats fishing though once the tide quit so did the fish.  Capt. Jeff Beeler reported a slow pick of fish throughout the full day back at east and middle cape... redfish, black drum, sheeps head, snook... but did catch a few quality fish including this nice snook - and some trout on the way hom!  Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti and Capt. Jim Willcox reported mixed bags on the islamorada patch reefs including snapper, mackerel, small grouper, and porgy.  Overall not too bad of a day, the fish will hopefully get acclimated to this cooler water hopefully since it looks like more cold weather will be arriving in another week or so.  That's it for the islamorada fishing report for december!  Christmas week is here and this next week is looking slammed, if your interested in fishing make your reservations ASAP or you might miss out!  Looks to be a gorgeous week with light southeast winds.

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

11/7/12 Winter time fishing in Islamorada

Had a 3 boat trip today out of Bud n' Mary's Fishing Marina in Islamorada Florida Keys on 11/7/12.  This is a transitional time of year so the fishing varies a bit and can be a little inconsistent as temperature and winds fluctuate often.  Today myself, Capt. Perry Scuderi, and Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti fished the Kanipus party.  We fished the flamingo area, which winter fishing in islamorada is often good back there.  The wind kicked up good as yesterday it was flat calm and suppose to get cold tonight, but wasn't too bad 15 mph out of northwest.  Capt. Perry and myself started out with some nice catches of redfish, we got probably close to 30 with several nice slot size fish.  They were eating pilchards and shrimp as the pilchards have been easy to get and close by.  Capt. Vinnie reported a decent pick of various fish including redfish, snapper, trout, and a few juvenile snook where he went november fishing in the florida keys.  Later our boat was after meat so we hit some runoffs for trout which usually gets good as the water temperatures drop, we caught plenty of trout and got 5 or so keepers plus some snapper, jacks and ladyfish, mostly on pilchards again but a few on shrimp too.  Capt. Perry reported some mangrove snappers, jacks, and a few small snook as well around one of the islands back near flamingo.  We then decided to try to catch something bigger and ran out west to try for either big shark or goliath.  We put the big rod out and a few pinfish for possibly a cobia or big snook, and of course we caught a 10 lb cobia on the big rod on a dead ladyfish on the bottom.  Oh well at least we got one!  Great day on an islamorada backcountry fishing trip, the boys are bringing all their fish to lazy days for a fish fry tonight and had a great time!  The cold weather thats coming should start pushing more fish to their winter time spots, including the spanish mackerel into the edge of the gulf of mexico fishing.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk