1/4/13 Backcountry and Gulf Florida Keys Fishing Report

Had Sue Cocking down from the Miami Herald today on 1/4/13 for a little fishing story for the outdoors section of the Herald.  There was a last minute cancellation to her original plans and we set something up the day before.  We decided to go for a backcountry islamorada fishing trip and to showcase a variety of fish, as that is one of the special things about fishing in the florida keys.  We started out near flamingo, fishing some high-water spots near some mangroves for redfish.  We caught about a half dozen or so, as well as a few black drum and sheepshead.  We later moved to some deeper moats on the change of the tide to look for some snook.  We did hook one nice one that broke us off near the boat, and ended up catching a few more black drum and sheepshead.  Later we moved to some other channels where there had been some nice muds with a good mix of fish.  Trout, ladyfish, pompano, and a baby permit were to be had.  All fish to this point were caught on simple shrimp and jigs whilst islamorada fishing.  We started to use some tiny ladyfish pieces to catch pinfish,  and we mohawked them catching a couple dozen while bending the rod with other stuff!  We then headed out into the gulf of mexico fishing as the weather was slick calm and looked too pretty not to try.  We found several tripletail on the way out, and caught several keeping 3 for dinner.  Casting shrimp on a bare hook with tiny float was effective, and we even caught a few on light jigs as some were staying down a little deeper.  We then went gulf wreck fishing and caught several cobias up to 15 lbs, as well as another permit, and a large 100 lb goliath grouper!  Cobias were all caught on our fresh pinfish.  We then wanted to try to catch some mackerel, so we headed back towards sprigger bank and fished a few miles out from there.  On the way we came across something very unusual - several large packs of bonitas in the 8 - 12 lb range feeding on something very small.  We didn't get any bites out of them, but were able to drive right on top to confirm what they were!  As soon as we anchored and casted in our mackerel area we had fish on, we put a little chum out and caught about a dozen spanish mackerel as well as a few bluefishfish and snappers.  We then headed home, another beautiful day here and fun to be had in all areas, not just islamorada flats fishing in the backcountry!  Capt. Vic Gaspeny has reported excellent water and temperature conditions for tarpon fishing in islamorada.  They caught 9 in early morning trips as well as a 30 lb permit.

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

12/25/12 Christmas Day Florida Keys Fishing Report

Hello and happy holidays to all!  Today on 12/25/12 we had a gorgeous day here in islamorada florida keys.  The water is still fairly cool though warmed up considerably, got to about 67 degrees in the everglades today.  I went fun fishing with my dad and friend Ron Modra, we ran back to east cape and middle cape.  Fishing was fair, not a whole lot of action in any one spot, though we picked a few fish from just about everywhere.  Mostly fishing shrimp still with the cooler water december fishing islamorada.  We caught a cobia and nice red off some structure in the near gulf on the change of the tide.  When the tide started in worked some areas in east cape.  Caught a few more reds, some black drum, pulled the hook on one nice snook.  Then headed back to lake inghram for more december florida keys fishing and caught a few trout and reds in there jigging shrimp.  Saw 3 crocdiles sunning out on the banks, pretty cool small, medium, and large all next to each other within a few hundred feet!  Then back to middle cape.  Worked a few treelines and caught one snook, and pulled another nice fatty off.  This time we were casting bucktails and working them a bit faster to avoid snags.  Got a mix of jacks and ladyfish out there as well.  By now tide was high and still trickling in, we hit a few more creeks but not too much action inside any of them.  Finished the day back at east cape and got into a little rally of snooks, caught 3 more and a couple nice ones at that, plus a few trout and snappers.  A great way to end the day backcountry islamorada fishing especially after the hurt of losing a couple nice snooks!

On the other side islamorada offshore fishing december my brother Capt. Nick Stanczyk took our friend Woody Woods who is down for the xmas holidays fishing as well.  They caught 3 sails in just a couple hours early in the morning plus a nice blackfin tuna!  The Strictly Business also caught a sail, and Kalex had a nice wahoo yesterday.  The islamorada sailfish should be biting good with the winds kicking up a bit the next several days!

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

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 

12/6/12 December islamorada fishing report backcountry

Well it's december and islamorada winter fishing is happening.  Today on 12/6/12 we had a gorgeous day, the rain looked like it may have been an issue with weather pushing in from both sides, however we lucked out.  The wind also laid down almost flat most of the day.  The water in the gulf and backcountry is about as pretty as it gets for this day of december islamorada fishing.  I myself fished for fun with family/friends today for fun and Capt. Jim Willcox fished a charter in the florida keys backcountry.  Capt. Jim reported lots of bugs and noseeums around the mangroves, but they were able to fish in some more open areas and had a good bite of redfish, black drum, and some big trout.  He said almost everywhere they stopped they caught some fish which is good to see, and managed not to get eaten alive by bugs!  We tried fishing some snook spots in the trees however the bugs drove us away so we headed to the gulf.  We ended up catching not a whole lot of fish but several quality ones, including multiple nice cobia.  We did find a pile of large gulf redfish too, catching one of almost 20 lbs that had some that were 30+ lbs with it.  Unfortunately they all took off after they saw the boat, never to return!  Oh well such is life fishing the florida keys.  We also managed to catch some juvenile goliath groupers and triple tail, plus an assortment of spanish mackerel, bluefish, and plenty of jacks/blue runners.  Looks like nice weather for the next few days through the weekend, great time to go out and fishing florida keys in december!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

11/13/12 November Islamorada Fishing in the Everglades

Islamorada fishing in November has been fairly good as of late.  A little bit of everything biting in the florida keys fishing.  Today the spanish mackerels showed up good with tide going into the gulf in the AM.  Capt. Mike Bassett reported good fishing out west near sprigger bank.  Capt. Bill Bassett also reported good bites of mangrove snappers out there and also some good redfishing and a few snook later on the higher water more towards flamingo.  Capt. Jim Willcox ran deep into the everglades fishing islamorada and said fishing took some work, they had a few snook early and after blazing some trails found some redfish hole up.  Our experience was similar we had one nice snook off the bat and not much else, a few trout, jacks, ladyfish, and a black drum, so we took a ride up to shark river to check that out, and caught another nice snook on the way back.  We did see a few tarpon rolling first thing too however they did not seem to want to eat our pinfish, but interesting they are still back there after the cold we had a week or so ago.  We did find some redfish and a few more snook on the high water closer to home which was nice.  Backcountry fishing in Islamorada has such a variety of options and can be different every day which is what we love (and sometimes hate!) about this fishery!  It's a good time of year for flats fishing islamorada so give Bud n' Mary's a call and we can set you up!  Lots of neat bird life/wild life to see as well, check out the great shots from Ron Modra including the spoonbill, and Capt. Jims croc picture!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk