1/17/18 Mid January Backcountry Islamorada Fishing Report

January has brought a lot of colder weather to the keys which is definitely not unusual.  Actually I think we've had some of the coldest weather we've had here probably since the cold snap of 2010!  Though it hasn't stayed cold we've had some warmups in between, and no signs of any major fish kills due to the weather which is a good thing.  We've been up to the usual winter time stuff and it's been fairly good for the most part, even catching fish when the water temperatures have dipped down to the low 50s in some areas!  Some of the deeper creeks and canals have had a good amount of black drum in them, with snook, redfish, sheepshead, and trout mixed in.  The reds and drums really don't mind to seem the cold, the snook have been fairly good though usually better when things have warmed up slightly in the afternoons, or a day or so after it's gotten very cold.  It has been very busy back in those areas though and seems most days there are a handful of areas they are biting well, and many other areas where you are picking away, with the weekends obviously being more busy.  When it's been calmer we've been able to get out on the open water more.  There are still plenty of spanish mackerel around in the gulf, with some other fish mixed in like bluefish, big ladyfish, snappers, and more.  Tripletails had been on the buoys pretty good too out there.  The patch reef fishing has been good too with a lot of various snappers out there, including lots of lane snapper which are great to see.  The hogfish seem to be slowly making a comeback, though of course they are still out of season so no keeping them.  Snapper fishing around the islands had been good though better when it's been a little warmer.  Live pilchards have led to some bigger snappers, with the occasional snook, redfish, or baby tarpon mixed in.  Capt. Skip Nielsen has been getting on the snook and drums in the back pretty good lately.  Capt. Mike Bassett had some nice snook this past week, yesterday he said fishing was very good in the back.  Capt. Bill Bassett has had very good fishing deep in the everglades with some of the same stuff.  Capt. Mike Venezia has reported the same, mix of drum, redfish, and snook in the 'glades.  Capt. John Johansen has been fishing the patch reefs and had good luck out there.  Capt. Jim Willcox had some nice drum and snook the last week, including a big 20 lb drum today.  Capt. Dave Peck and Capt. Max Gaspeny were out fun fishing with Deborah who works in the tackle shop and she got a nice 20 lb permit a few days ago!  I had three generations of Stevens out yesterday, we stayed local for the day as they wanted sharks and dinner.  We had decent shark action despite the cold, and some mackerels, bluefish, lane snappers, porgies, and a hogfish and a cobia... not a bad mixed bag!  We are getting another cold front tonight as a matter of fact and dropping back down around 50 degrees for a couple nights.  But then next week things to be warming back up to close to 80 during the days.  If we get some stable warm weather, could be an early start to our tarpon season as often happens in February... but you never know for sure.  Busy season is right around the corner, give us a call if you'd like to get out there and go fishing!  The 'winter time' cold weather stuff will be over before you know it!  305-664-2461

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

1/15/18 Early January reef fishing report

The new year is rolling right along here in Islamorada. Business has been stready and We've had a few really busy days where almost all of the offshore boats fished. The Miss Islamorada Party boat has been getting out almost every day, and now you can buy a party boat ticket online!. The next 3 - 4 weeks is prime time to get down here to fish before we hit mid february and the crowds arrive. On the reef we had a few good days of sailfishing where most of the boats had between 3  - 7 sailfish releases, and then we had plenty of decent days where boats averaged 1 -2 sailfish. The Islamorada SAILFLY tournament took plast last week and Team Relentless brought home first place with 2 sailfish releases on fly over the two day event. In addition to sailfish there's been a decent kingfish bite and then the usual mix of other fish including blackfin tuna, barracuda, a couple wahoo, and a couple dolphin. 

 

The bottom bite was really good a few days with lots of yellowtail snapper, some mutton snapper, porgy, vermillion snapper etc. There's been grouper around too, but remember they are catch and release until May 1st. We have had a couple of strong cold fronts where water temperatures dropped which slowed down the yellowtail snapper bite, as well as a couple days with weak current that didn't help either. We've seen some amberjack, african pompano, and sharks on the wrecks as well. 

 

Way offshore I made it out on a handful of daytime swordfish trips since the new year aboard the "Broad Minded". We had 1 fish on 3 trips, 2 fish on the last trip, and one trip we didn't have a bite. The Bn'M also fished one trip but reported no bites. Most of the fish have been 50-100 lbs, but we did have one really nice one at 254 lbs! We also caught a few queen snapper deep dropping on the way in and out from the swordfish grounds. 

 

Give us a call in the marina office at 305 664 2461 when you're ready to book your next fishing trip! Remember we have lodging options available too! If you want to order sandwiches or breakfast "Galley Girls" cafe opens up at 6 a.m. The best way to order lunch for fishing the next day is to pre order the night before at 305 664 0166. 

Tight Lines

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

 

1/3/18 January Backcountry Fishing Report

Hope everyone had a safe and happy new year!  2018 is officially under way and we had a very busy christmas week here in Islamorada thankfully.   Many guides were happy to be busy once again as overall it's been very slow for many of us the last couple months.  The weather was incredible for the most part after christmas, with it being fairly warm to start with and then a mild front coming in.  Though now we have a couple major fronts coming in and temperatures will be dipping into the high 40s the next several nights in Islamorada!  Over xmas week we had some tarpon action on some of those warmer days.  Myself, Capt. John Johansen, and Capt. Skip Nielsen all had tarpon action on our trips.  It wasn't a red hot bite by any means, but if you put some time in you could get a shot or two, and there were plenty of sharks to keep busy while waiting or if you didn't get one.  The mackerel fishing out in the gulf had been very good as well and about as sure a bet as there was.  I also had some good triple tail fishing on several days when things were a little calmer.  I had George and his son Chris down who are BNM regulars, and we mixed it up with a nice snook and black drum for George, then plenty of triple tails for Chris, and capped it off with a bunch of spanish mackerel.  Also a very similar day with Marc and his son Adam the day before that.  Capt. Mike Bassett and Capt. Jim Willcox had some good mackerel fishing out there over the break.  The patch reef fishing has been good too, Capt. Max Gaspeny had a rare african pompano he caught on the patches last Saturday.  Capt. Skip Nielsen had good patch fishing today with the Kubert family.  Capt. Bill Bassett reported good action fishing in his canoe in the deep everglades with snook and tarpon before this front.  I myself had Vince and his family down fishing for two different days.  Day 1 we caught some very nice mangrove snappers in the 12 to 15 inch range, as well as a nice juvenile goliath grouper and snook.  Day 2 was a lot of black drum, a redfish, and more snook as well.  Vinces son Lucas on Day 2 really put on a clinic catching the first several fish of the day before the guys could catch up!  With this cold weather coming it'll really change the bite up, expect the tarpon thing to really be over for a while... though that is to be expected this time of year anyways.  The drum, redfish, and snook fishing should fire up though tough to say when that will be.  This is such an extreme drop in temperature it could get very slow until things slightly warm up again... but you never know until you get out there.  I should have some reports as I'm fishing tomorrow and Saturday and will likely be back there.  Hope everybody stays warm and get on down here and go fishing, it's gotta be colder in a lot of other places I know that!

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

 

12/31/17 End of the year Offshore/Reef Fishing report for Islamorada

It's hard to believe this is my last fishing report for 2017! It's been a crazy year but we're still here and ready to do some serious fishing in 2018! Christmas week was jamming with people in town fishing and staying at our motel/houseboats. The sailfish bite was very steady last week with almost all of the boats having shots each trip. The bite slowed down for a lot of the boats the last few days, but if you hit them right you can still have a great day. Yesterday the Bn'M had 6 sailfish releases and the Fearless had 4, while other boats fished all day without ever seeing one. Today the Indigenous had 3 releases, a couple boats had 2, a couple had 1 and a couple didn't have any luck. This is prime time for sailfish and we will see both good and bad days throughout the winter. You just have to be patient and give it a solid effort every trip! 

 

We've seen some a mixutre of other fish the last couple weeks including a few wahoo, a decent number of kingfish, a few blackfin tuna, grouper, and snapper. Unfortunately shallow water grouper season closes January 1st throughout April, but it was nice to see some reds and black this month. There was a couple schools of cobia found but it should only get better as we get more into winter. The Miss Islamorada party boat is back in action and had a great first week. They caught the usual bottom fish and even had 6 suprise bonefish one day! Give the marina office a call to get on the list for the party boat which leaves at 9:30 am almost every day of the week. 

 

Way offshore The swordfish bite was very good all of mid to late December. On the Broad Minded we had 30 swordfish over our last 10 trips! We let go a lot of fish in the 40 - 100 lb range, and kept some in the 100 - 230 lb range. Cindy got her her first and second ever swordfish including a nice 231 lber! A couple days ago the Bn'M and Indigenous each had 2 fish, but the bite slowed down the last couple days as we approach the full moon. The catch 22 missed a few fish their last trip and the Bn'M missed one fish today. The swordfish bite is hard to predict but if they are on your bucket list Islamorada is as good as place as any! 

 

Give the marina office a call at 305 664 2461 to set up your next Islamorada fishing trip! Remember we have a motel and houseboats for accommodations if you want to stay close to the action. "Galley Girls" cafe opens up January 1st so you'll be able to get breakfasts and lunch at the marina 7 days a week now! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

 

12/24/17 Christmas Eve December Backcountry Fishing Report

Well Christmas is here but you wouldn't have any idea of that living here in South Florida.  We're experiencing an unusually warm late december and it almost feels like summer outside.  Temperatuers the last few days have been in the 80s, going from flat calm to a little breezy the last couple days.  However about 10 days or so ago it was the exact opposite and we had some of the coldest weather of the year with a couple good fronts that dropped temperatures down into the 50s here.  Fishing was good all throughout those periods however and we got to enjoy some of the banner 'cold weather' fishing we get in the winter when it gets chilly, as well as some typical warm spring-time fishing.  The last several days huge schools of tarpon have moved into the backcountry, with lots of big fish in the 100-150 lb range.  I fished a couple days back there and we caught 3 big tarpon in 2 days, two fish around 100 lbs, and one in the 150 lb range.  Also some big mud marlin out there too!  Capt. Skip Nielsen also had similar fishing with similar sized fish as well with Deb and Rich Riolo, they also had some nice snook on their first day, and a few redfish on their second day, as well as the tarpon.  Other than that on my last couple days we also caught plenty of spanish mackerel in the gulf, and found a few triple tails one day as well.  The other day we caught plenty of snapper, and a few redfish and snook to top of our day... it was excellent fishing both days.  Last week during the cold periods where it started to warm up we had very good fishing too.  I had my dad and Capt. Dave Peck out for a fun day and we caught a ton of redfish in multiple spots which was great to see, and also quite a few black drum including a nice 25 lb fish, and several snook too including some nice 10-12 lb fish.  Capt. Jim Willcox also had great fishing last week with some nice size snook in the backcountry, and found a few good redfish and black drum as well.  Capt. Mike Bassett reported some black drum in the backcountry yesterday too, and some cero mackerel out on the patch reefs.  We also had some action on the patches last week, with hogfish, snappers, cero mackerels, and yellow bar jacks.  Capt. Bill Bassett was fun fishing a few days ago and reported a steady pick of redfish, drum, and snook in the deeper everglades creeks.  Capt. John Johansen had some tarpon action the last few days as well.  Capt. Eric Ehlers a couple days ago had a tough day in the backcountry, but ended up catching a SLAM (permit, bonefish, and tarpon) in the afternoon fishing locally around Islamorada... incredible!  Christmas came early for a lot of folks fishing the last few days.  The week after Christmas is always a busy one but we have guides ready and waiting to go.  Don't miss out try and make your plans soon!  You can reach our office today and possibly for a few hours tomorrow morning at 305-664-2461, then we will be back to normal hours on Dec 26th.

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