3/29/13 Florida Keys Backcountry Fishing Report

Well the backcountry fishing in Islamorada has been on the slow side the past several days.  We had another extreme late cold front and the nightly lows were in the low 50s, bringing some of the water temperatures in the everglades down to the high 50s making things very sluggish back there.  Even the local islamorada bay waters were down in the low 60s though are now climbing back up.  The islamorada patch reef fishing has been the hot ticket the last several days.  We had action with a variety of fish out there including lots of mangrove snappers, yellowtails, porgies, grunts, and blue runners.  We caught occasional nice hogfish, some various smaller groupers, and even a few small sharks and such.  Some guides that did fish in the backcountry that in the afternoon a few fish did bite.  Capt. Bill Bassett was able to find a handful of mackerels and snappers mixed in with lots of jacks and such.  Capt. Jack Backus did get a nice trout bite in the backcountry yesterday afternoon as well.  Capt. Mark Hlis was able to find some redfish poling in the afternoon too.  Today lots of guides were fishing the patch reefs and most had good action and a good mix of fish for dinner.  I had Andrew and son Alex Lee, they caught a mess of fish including some nice mangrove snappers, a couple hogfish, a few porgies, yellowtails, and a few small bonnet head and reef sharks.  The tarpon fishing the last few nights was very slow as the water temperatures were still below 70, that should be improving the next few nights and we do have some ideal tidal situations the next several nights, if the water warms up enough the next few days the tarpon fishing will likely improve tremendously.  Last night we saw plenty of fish rolling in 3 different spots we fished though none wanted to take a bait, live or dead.  April islamorada tarpon fishing is usually much more consistent and fish are here, so make your plans now as guides are booking up fast and this is one of the busiest spring seasons we have ever had!

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

3/24/13 Florida Keys Spring Fishing for Monsters!

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!

3'10/13 Islamorada tarpon fishing in March

There have been a few march islamorada tarpon around though the cool waters have been keeping the backcountry fishing a little on the tough side.  Today we managed to find a handful of nice size trout and a few pompano in the morning.  After that we ran back towards the mainland to try for some bigger stuff... never had a bite on the bottom baits, but Alex did catch a nice 60 lb tarpon on fairly light spin gear on a live pinfish.  A great hour long battle with several spectacular jumps.  Later in the day we looked for some redfish but could not find much that was willing to bite, so we finished the day off catching a boatload of ladyfish, a few more trout, and a spanish mackerel.  Fishing the everglades for tarpon should be picking up, we are getting a little more cool weather unfortunately though it is not going to get very cold and the warming winds we have the next couple days should bring the water temperatures back to a favorable degree.  Capt. John Johansen also reported a couple tarpon bites and caught a nice fish closer to the flamingo area.  The shark fishing in flamingo should also pick up when the water gets back to the low 70s.

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

3/6/13 March Islamorada Backcountry Fishing Report

Things have warmed a little bit here again the last few days of fishing islamorada in march.  Water temperatures are still on the chilly side but totally fishable, however it is suppose to get a little colder again the next couple of nights though which will likely keep us in 'winter mode' backcountry fishing islamorada through the weekend.  Today Capt. Rick Stanczyk and Capt. John Johansen had good mixed bag action.  They both fished the patches in the morning and had a mix bag of snapper, grouper, hogfish, porgies, and some other various things.  Capt. Rick had this nice legal size red grouper on light spin tackle which we had to release, as well as a large sheepshead which is very unusual to see on the ocean side!  Later on snappers were caught on the bayside, and Capt. Rick also caught a cobia while snapper fishing blown in likely from the westerly winds in the gulf.  Further back Capt. Jim Willcox and Capt. Mike Bassett had some action at the east cape florida keys snook fishing, pictured is a nice snook caught with Capt. Jim.  Capt. Mike reported a handful of nice size redfish and black drum with a mix of trout.  Capt. Bill Bassett had steady action with nice mangrove snappers and lots of big trout around the flamingo area.  Also Capt. Dave Sisung reported action with some sharks and a couple of big 'mud marlin' fishing the backcountry channels.  Florida keys fishing in march will start to focus on tarpon quite a bit once water temperatures reach 75 or so, and fishing in the gulf can also be very good.  There were reportes of some laid up tarpon in the backcountry today so hopefully this next cool spell will be brief!  Until our next march islamorada fishing report!

2/25/13 Backcountry fishing in the Florida Keys Report

Had a good day today in the backcountry florida keys fishing.  We ran out to some channels in search of some big fish in the backcountry and gulf waters.  Had a few hours of falling tide this morning, we started out catching a variety of ladyfish, trout, and some nice pompano.  Saving the ladyfish for live and dead bait.  Saw a handful of tarpon in islamorada rolling so we put some baits out.  Caught a couple blacktips and did have a tarpon bust a live ladyfish however he missed it and didn't come back for seconds!  After the tide quit and we had enough bait we hit some shallow runoffs for some trout where the tide was still trickling out.  Caught a handful and made a few throws with the net in hopes of mullet, however only came up with one.  We went out a little further towards the gulf and set up for some february shark fishing in islamorada with hopes of getting lucky and maybe snagging a tarpon.  Lots of action with smaller blacktips, and hooked a monster 'mud marlin.'  He had a nice companion following along with him, a 45 lb cobia!  We hooked him up and took a break with the sea monster and focused on the cobia... after a 25 minute battle on light spin tackle he was ours!  We then went back to the big rod and fought him for another 30 minutes and finally got a good look at him before he rolled over and cut us off.  Ran back to our spot with an hour or so left to fish and within a few minutes hooked up this nice 100 lb hammerhead shark!  After that saw a few more tarpon busting and a couple rolling around, however not our day for them, but all in all still a fantastic day fishing islamorada in february!  Capt. John Johansen and Capt. Bill Bassett both reported good rod bending action with ladyfish, trout, etc... and also had lots of action with the blacktip sharks in the backcountry.  Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti reported several hook ups the day before fishing some rock piles on the ocean side when it was flat calm for permit.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk