2/26/18 February deep sea fishing report

February is flying by here in Islamroada! This is the busiest month we've had since hurricane Irma so that's been nice to see. The sailfish bite has been mediocre overall the past few weeks. A lot of boats have had 1 - 2 releases, with a couple boats having big days. The Kalex had 5 releases one day and the Catch 22 had 6. If sailfish aren't what you're after there's been plenty of action with king mackerel, a few wahoo, blackfin tuna, a few mahi, amberjack, sharks, mutton snapper, and yellowtail snapper. The Miss Islamorada Party boat has been fishing almost every day too, so make sure to call and get your name on the list. 

Way offshore a few of us have been swordfishing and catching fish most trips. The indigenous had the biggest fish recently around 250 lbs. The following day they released a small around 20 lbs. You just never know how big that fish will be when you get a bite! On the Broad Minded we caught them on all but one trip so far the past month. A few trips with one fish, one with two fish, and a four fish day the week before. We have had fish from 30 - 110 lbs recently. The Catch 22 also released a small swordfish their last trip. 

Give us a call in the office to book your next trip at 305 664 2461! If you want to stop by and eat lunch or breakfast Galley Girls Cafe is open every day at 6 am and closes at 2 pm. If you want to bring sandwiches on the boat we recommend you call the night before to place your order at the cafe at 305 664 0166.

Tight Lines 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

2/13/18 February Backcountry Fishing Report for Islamorada

February is rolling by quick and so far it seems winter time is over for us here in the Florida Keys.  It's been very warm and windy, and as of now no cold fronts in sight in the next week or so at least.  Temperatures are forecast to stay around 80 during the day and low 70s at night.  The winds look to continue to be moderate to high out of the east.  Looks like it will be an early start to our tarpon season, as there have been tons of fish already showing up.  They bite isn't red hot yet but guides have been picking a few who put the time in.  I've had pretty good fishing since I got back from my vacation in early Febraury.  For the most part I've been focusing on spanish mackerel and good size mangrove snappers for those who want action and table fare.  Then we've been tarpon fishing for part of the day or perhaps trying spots for a possible snook or two.  We had several large tarpon in the 120-150 lb range last week which was great.  Though over the weekend I had two very tough days after a string of pretty good days for a while, as the winds kicked out of the south a bit more and really turned the backcountry waters into a 'mud hole.'  One day we focused on snook as my angler requested it, and it was just very hard to find any clean water.  We ran way into the backcountry to some areas that were more in the lee of the wind, but just couldn't find much.  We caught a few trout and ended up getting a snook near home at least for him.  The following day tarpon was the prime focus and we put all our effort into that, we found fish in every channel we fished but they were not in a happy mood.  We saw hundreds even locally in islamorada but they were high rise, tail flapping, which can be indicative of them not being happy which was the case.  No bites for us, but we did catch a couple sharks, a ray, a jack, and did get a nice snook for my angler that day too.  Though yesterday we had a good day again after the couple slow ones with Bill and Elaine Levour, two long time bud n marys regulars.  We caught a couple snook, a nice redfish, a couple small tarpon, limit of big mangrove snappers, and a few mackerels and blue runners in the gulf... really everything you could ask for.  Hopefully that is the start of another hot streak!  Yesterday Capt. Mike Venezia had good fishing for baby tarpon in the bay as well.  Capt. John Johansen and Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti have had some tarpon action as of late as well, locally and in backcountry last week.  Capt. Jim Willcox had caught a few bonefish and a permit the last few days, as well as some big jacks and pompano.  Capt. Mike Bassett had some good fishing locally for spanish mackerel and pompano as well as some sharks.  Capt. Bill Bassett had some big trout several days ago deep in the everglades, nice ones up to 25 inches.  Capt. Gunner Guthrie had some good snappers yesterday as well as a big shark locally.  Capt. Chris Daly had some good action with little tarpon a couple days ago, and good mackerel fishing in the near gulf yesterday.  Business is really starting to pick up as we are getting near Valentines day, that always seems to be when season really kicks in about half way through February.  Give us a call if you are wanting to get out fishing as things are filling up quickly.  We are 100% back up and running after Hurricane Irma though some of the big resorts in town are still closed, so you'll want to make your plans ASAP if you are coming down in the next couple months.  Give us a call at 305-664-2461!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

 

2/5/18 Early February offshore fishing report

We are moving right into year 2018 and have had plenty of fish caught! The last week of January the Islamorada Fishing Club Sailfish tournament and the Cheeca Lodge Sailfish Tournament took place. The crew from the Reel McCoy charter boat teamed up with local boat My Sea Cin and managed 6 sailfish for the win in the one day IFC sailfish tournament. The Relentless took second place in the cheeca lodge sailfish tournament and the Indigenous finished in 3rd place. Great job Everyone! Those were also the last two legs of the Islamorada Gold Cup Sailfish series which the Relentless won with 29 releases over the three different tournaments. Congrats!!! The Buzz On finished in 2nd place this past weekend in the Islamorada Womens sailfish tournament. They had a tough day the first day with zero fish but had a great day the last day releasing 5 sailfish for a nice come from behind finish! Great job ladies!! 

The kingfish have showed up in good numbers the past week on the reef and wrecks. Most fish in the 5 - 15 lb range and a handful of big "smokers" over 30 lbs! There's been a few blackfin tuna caught on the livebait and we saw a handful of mahi with the southeast wind. Bottom fishing has been decent on yellowtail snapper with a few mutton snapper still around. The Dauntless put his client of a big goliath grouper one trip as well! 

Way offshore we have had a few good days on swordfish. Yesterday we caught 3 swordfish aboard the Broad Minded, the trip before we had 4 and the trip before we had 2. We have released a lot of fish and the biggest fish was around 100 lbs. The catch 22 fished one trip but didn't have any action. We did a little deep dropping a couple trips and the bite wasn't great but we did manage a queen snapper. 

It looks like it's going to be a busy spring at Bud n' Mary's Marina so give us a call in the office at 305 664 2461 and set up your fishing trips soon!! Remember we have lodging options available and "Galley Girls" cafe is open for your breakfast and lunch. Remember to pre order your sandwiches the night before or stop in and fill out an order ticket. Galley Girls cafe can be reached at 305 664 0166. 

Tight Lines

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

1/27/18 Late January backcountry fishing report

January is almost over and an early spring could be around the corner.  Hard to say though but often times Febraury warms up and we start to get an early tarpon migration.  It's been fairly cold for most of this month, not unusual, but a lot of very cold weather the likes of which we havne't seen since 2010.  Luckily it didn't stay cold throughout though and caused no major fish kills here.  Fishing has been good we've been getting a lot of drum, snook, trout, and a few redfish out back.  I had a few epic days earlier in the week when it was very calm, but water still cold being post frontal.  We had two days in a row catching monster snook in the 15-20 lb range, with one fish close to 25 lbs!  It was super exciting and not something we get to see every day here, so always appreciate days like that.  We also had some nice black drums and other fish mixed in.  Wednesday we had some decent mackerel fishing in the gulf, and my angler Jim got a nice big tarpon of 85 lbs or so, and jumped one other one off too!  Plus plenty of shark action it was like a spring day for sure even though the water was still on the chilly side.  Those calm, warming days you never know what will happen though they are often very good.  The last few days though it's gotten crazy windy again.  I cancelled the previous days, but today I got out with it blowing 35 out of the east.  We had very good fishing though, slow to start but the last hour of the day was red hot.  We had a few black drums and trout early on and had a big tarpon on for a second.  The last hour though we had snook on every cast and jumped another small tarpon.  Just incredible.  Not any big boys today but mostly little guys, with a few in the 4 to 6 lb range.  Yesterday Capt. Jim Willcox and Capt. Ted Wilson had a slow pick of snook and drums in the backcountry despite the 35 mph winds that day.  Capt. Bill Bassett and Capt. Skip Nielsen have reported very good fishing deep into the everglades where many do not venture.  Capt. John Johansen had some black drums out in the gulf on Thursday.  Capt. Mike Venezia had some snook, drum, trout, and snapper action in the backcountry several days ago before the crazy winds, as did Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti.  Looks to be windy tomorrow, nicer monday, then kicking up again for a few days before getting nicer again by friday.  Up and down with the winds, typical for that transitional time between cold and warm here in the Florida Keys.  I'll be out of town myself skiing so hopefully there will be a few fish to catch when I get back.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

1/23/18 Deep sea fishing report for mid January

We had some cold weather for a few days last week here in Islamorada. Temperatures were 50 degrees in the morning, which feels much colder when running on a boat over the water! However, we didn't let it stop the boats from getting out fishing! Temperatures are back to normal the last few days so all us Floridians are happy again. Sailfish have been a main target on the reef and the bite has been pretty decent. The boats have been averaging 2 - 5 shots per day, with a few boats getting even more bites on a couple trips. Capt. Jim Hendrix (who worked with Capt Paul on the Relentless for 12 of the last 14 years) moved his new charter boat "DAUNTLESS" into the marina, and on one of his first charters they released 5 out of 7 sailfish. We wish him the best of luck! 

 

Other fish we have seen while live baiting on the reef and wrecks have included a few blackfin tuna, a couple mahi, king mackerel, amberjack, barracuda, and african pompano. We should see a few wahoo around the full moon next week, especially if the winds are calm. Fingers crossed for that! Bottom fishing has still been the most consistent way to catch dinner and we've seen plenty of yellowtail snapper with a few mutton snapper in the mix. The Miss Islamorada party boat has been fishing almost every day, so if you want an affordable way to get out  on the water for the day and catch a few fish for dinner check them out! Remember you can buy a party boat ticket online! 

Way offshore the weather cooperated enough a few days to get some daytime swordfishing in. It wasn't calm by any means but still fishable. We fished 3 trips the past week and on the first trip we lost giant swordfish estimated between 400-500 lbs and landed a 75 lber. The next day we had a pair of nice fish at 130 lbs and 151 lbs. The last day we fished we tagged and released two juvenile broadbill swordfish. We had a couple queen snapper and barrelfish one of the trips as well. 

Give the marina office a call at 305 664 2461 when you're ready to book your next Islamorada Deep Sea fishing trip and we'll set you up on a great boat! 

Tight Lines

Capt. Nick Stanczyk