5/5/11 Busy in the backcountry!

Braganini brothers,long time Bud & Mary's folks, today with Capt Jim Willcox caught Tarpon, 4 tripletails,many trout & doubleheader redfish way far away from the crowds!!!  Also Capt. Rick Stanczyk made it out there today.  Had my regulars Rick Coyne and Steve Tyson for 2 days and 2 nights.  Had several big bull sharks, hammerhead shark, cobia, mackerels, jacks, lost possibly a big tarpon to a huge tiger or hammerhead shark???  Reeled a permit to the boat that ran off and also got eaten by bull sharks.  Very exciting day.  The other day we caught big goliath and had a mud marlin on we pulled off.  Also caught several tarpon on our two evening trips.  Have a few pics but forgot the camera o nthe boat, sorry on the lack of updates fishing full days and nights all week has left me a little drained.

4/25/11 Great night fishing tarpon islamorada action!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk brought his father, Capt. Richard Stanczyk Sr., and girlfriend Elizabeth Baxter out for an evening tarpon trip on 4/25/11.  Elizabeth hadn't yet caught a large tarpon so we were out to put her on one!  We caught some mullet out of a huge ball of bait nearby, big tarpon and purpoises were busting on them which was really exciting to watch!  Unfortunately this made fishing nearby pretty tough so we ran down the road to one of Richard Sr's old favorite spots.  We had one good bite on a mullet though we missed him just before sunset.  We made another drift and ran back towards home to a local channel close by to Bud n' Mary's.  We had a bite within 5 minutes on our first drift and Elizabeth caught her first tarpon - a nice 50 lb fish that didn't jump we thought might have been a permit.  We made another drift and hooked a larger fish, a nice 90 lber that we were able to keep the light on and see some cool jumps out of!  After this we headed home.  Fishing was good from sunset on, with the tide running late into the evening. 

4/18/11 How fishing can change overnight!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk had part of the big english group for their last day of backcountry fishing in the florida keys.  They ran far out in the middle of nowhere again where their were tarpon and permit everywhere yesterday.  Today was a different story, the fish all disappeared!  They tried two spots, did catch some nice jacks and on the fly as well.  Also caught a big bull shark they fowl hooked.  The winds started to pick up and they headed back towards Islamorada to tarpon fish for their last hour.  After making a few ocean side drifts, they headed back into a bayside channel.  After some lobster pot complications, they reset for their final drift, and one cork went under.  Rick yelled, "Reel!"  Came tight on a big 120 lb tarpon, which did make a few nice jumps.  We caught him and then headed home - a good end to a tough day of fishing!!!  Capt. Bill Bassett caught another one on fly today as well with some other members of this group!

4/17/11 BIG day gulf side!

Capt. Jim Willcox and Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished another day with our english gents from the U.K. for their 4th day here fishing in Islamorada.  The winds laid down to flat come so we had an opportunity to run far from home and fish the middle of nowhere.  Tarpon and permit were laid up everywhere as it was slick calm.  Capt. Jim caught 2 tarpon and Capt. Rick caught 1.  Capt. Rick also had a couple cobias swim up and we caught those as well.  We ran a little further out later on, unfortunately Capt. Rick had gotten eaten off by tarpon and permits and ran out of crabs.  They fished with the big rods and caught 4 big bull sharks up to 400 lbs!!!  Also caught two goliath groupers, one which was close to 350 lbs!  Capt. Jim caught 3 permit and was able to safely release them away from the bull sharks, and also caught a couple big bulls.  Both also caught some big jacks and a few spanish mackerels as well.  Great day for these brits on their florida fishing vacation!!! 

 

4/14/11 Florida Keys Tarpon Charters today!

Our regular brits from the U.K. came for their 3rd trip in 6 months with a large group of 8 guys.  They have 4 guides booked for 5 days and today was the first day of fishing!  They stay right at Bud n' Mary's and love the atmosphere, the captains, and of course the fishing!  Capt. Rick Stanczyk, Capt. Bill Bassett, Capt. Jeff Beeler, and Capt. Dave Sisung fished them for some Islamorada tarpon today and all had success!  Everybody caught a tarpon, Capt. Dave caught 2, and Capt. Bill caught one on fly!  Capt. Rick also caught several blacktip sharks, and some huge nurse sharks one which was almost 300 lbs!  Great action today and more to come I'm sure over the next 4 days!!!  We are hoping to mix up some of the fishing so look for some different things happening! The tarpon were everywhere we stopped today, so get your bookings in now while the fishing is still hot!!!