6/13/11 Some big summer goliaths while florida keys fishing

Capt. Rick Stanczyk has fished the past few days in the islamorada backcountry.  Some nice snappers have been way out west in some of the close gulf areas, white holes, wrecks, etc...  Some goliaths have been out there as well we caught a nice one yesterday and had a couple others cut us off in structure.  A few other captains reported some in some other areas as well.  Today Capt. Rick also caught this nice 50 lber, along with several blacktip sharks, lemon sharks, and some BIG 150-200 lb nurse sharks.  We also jumped a couple of 50-75 lb tarpon, couldn't get the hooks to stay in, but good to see some in the backcountry with the wind laying down.  There was also some good action with ladyfish, trout, and jacks today as well.

5/7/11 Big day backcountry fishing Islamorada!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished two half days today on 5/7/11.  In the morning we went in the back and caught plenty of ladyfish, snapper, trout, and jacks.  We decided to put the big rods out for a shark or something... and the tarpon had moved back into some of my favorite areas back there!  We went 1/2 plus caught a 100 lb hammerhead and 30 lb blackstip all in about 40 minutes - great fishing!!!  This evening we also did a night tarpon trip, went 0/2 on the tarpon they eluded us, but did have a couple permit crush the crabs one of which we caught this nice 25 lber on a medium spin rod!  Going early tomorrow for tarpon at 5 am to catch the daybreak bite!

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!

3/12/11 Cold weather? No problem for these florida keys fish!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished today with his girlfriends brother John Baxter and company down from Tennessee.  They had a late start so instead of running all the way to the cape they fished half way back in the everglades.  Caught plenty of trout, ladyfish, jacks, and snappers, then went and put the big rods out.  Caught a nice lemon shark about 100 lbs or so, and not much else while there.  So they ran out a little further to another gulf spot and put 'em out again, and within a few minutes had this nice hammerhead shark on!  The water was pretty stirred up out there and no mackerels bit, so they ran back on the edge of some banks and caught some nice mangrove snappers and this nice red grouper as well!  Great action for a fairly chilly day in the middle of March!  Soon there will be great florida tarpon fishing again so be ready!

2-27-11 Backcountry mixed bag!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk had Charles Ruoff out fishing today in the backcountry.  We mixed things up a bit, first caught some nice mangrove snappers for dinner and a nice red grouper.  We actually hooked the red the day before and he cut us off, and we got the jigs back from out of his mouth!  After this we moved out further and caught some mackerels and blue runners, they weren't biting great but good enough the water was pretty clear and current into the wind didn't help.  After this we tried some tarpon spots, though didn't see any fish and no bites, though did catch a few blacktip sharks.  Ran out to closer gulf spot, but no signs of any real life so we moved back into the backcountry.  After putting the tarpon rods out again for a bit with just a shark bite, we decided to finish the day just bending the rod on small stuff.  Lots of ladyfish and jacks with a handful of trout, pompano, snappers, and this nice little baby permit in some ditches nearby!!

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

My brother also fished Thomas from the local resturant Overseas Kitchen today on the "BnM" and caught over 20 tunas and this nice amberjack!