10/29/17 October Backcountry Fishin' Report

October is nearing it's end here and we've already had our first legit cold front of the winter!  It's very early for it to be getting as cold as it did, but the weather has been crazy the last few years thats for sure.  It dipped down into the mid 60s here, and looks like Sunday night it will be doing so again!  We actually even have a tropical depression that is suppose to be making its way here during the day too and it's kind of made our weekend a wash.  Luckily though it will just be a good bit of rain and heavier than normal winds.  Fishing has been decent I myself have been doing the everglades things mostly.  Before the front we were having good action with some juvenile tarpon and snook back there.  Had a few days that were very good when it was nice and calm, and the water cleaned up substantially, and some other days where the wind was cranking but we were still able to pick away at some fish and had OK catches.  Mid October had Colin and Stephen over from the UK, they enjoyed catching a good number of snook and they each got a medium sized tarpon and also a big lemon shark.  The following day I had Jerry and his son in law Mark, they also enjoyed a good day of snook plus a couple redfish, and we got a couple of bigger 10-12 lb snook fishing deeper water as well as another lemon shark too.  Had my dad and Ron Modra out for a fun day after that, we got about 8 snook and 3 juvenile tarpon... the snook were larger on average than the previous days which was cool just not as many.  Had Philip and his buddy Andre for some tarpon fishing one day... we didn't have luck withe the tarpon we did hook one but lost him, though we banged up the snook pretty good landing a dozen or so.  Half day with Mario and Steve who are Florida folk, we caught a few snappers for dinner and got 3 juvenile tarpon while doing that and a snook and couple sharks it was great fishing!  And the last couple days after the front we had, we caught redfish, drum, and snook mostly.  Those trips were with long time customer John Watson and his family, and then Bud, Anna, and Kyle whom enjoyed their first trip back in the everglades!

As for some other guides I know Capt. Jeff Beeler had some bonefish the morning before the front a few days ago, just stake up fishing in the wind.  Capt. John Johansen had some snook yesterday and also had some tarpon and snook with me last week on one day where we had the same customers.  Capt. Bill Bassett has had some snappers around the islands and gotten the little tarpon going there too a couple of days.  Capt. Mike Bassett had some good snook fishing in the backcountry last week and some nice mangrove snappers for dinner too.  Capt. Perry Scuderi had a nice tarpon last week fishing locally around town.  Capt. Jim Willcox last week was doing well fishing mostly artificials deep in the everglades, getting into snook, redfish, trout, and jacks back there.

It looks like after sunday the weather will be nicer again, it is suppose to dip down into the 60s again but then slowly warm up.  Northeast winds most of the week 15mph or so, which should be ideal for most of our fall/winter fishing.  I think the tarpon thing is more or less over, may have some shots at small guys when the water temps are 70 or more, but for the most part bet on doing the cooler weather options.  That usually includes snook, redfish, drum, and trout in the 'glades.  Mackerels should start showing up in the gulf which I haven't had any reports on yet but with this cold weather I'm sure there are some out there.  Also patch reef fishing will be an option, but usually that's a little easier with less wind or at least due north wind.  Give us a call if you'd like to set up a trip, the upper keys are totally ready for you to come down and we have rooms and plenty of captains available at Bud n' Mary's.  305-664-2461

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

10/28/17 Late October Islamorada Fishing Report

The marina is looking better everyday since Hurricane IRMA. We've got most of our rooms and the ocean front house available to stay in, and should have our houseboats ready to stay on in December. We've had a handful of boats fishing most days both on the reef and offshore. The "offshore" fishing for mahi has been suprisingly good most days with "schoolies" and some "gaffers". There was a couple days where the boats didn't find them, but that is expected as we get into the late fall since it's the tail end of the season for them. There's also been some blackfin tuna on the humps, and the sharks seemed to thin out a little bit since the boats are actually getting some tuna to the boat. I think the next month we will see some catches of dolphin and probably more blackfin tuna. Dolphin aren't a given this late in the season though.

More and more boats will focus on reef fishing as we get later in the year. Some of the boats have already had action packed days the last couple of weeks. We've seen a couple sailfish caught the past couple days, as well as quite a few kingfish, bonito, barracuda, snapper, cero mackerel and a couple grouper. We just had our first cold front of the season and we have another coming tomorrow, which should only make the reef fishing better.

Way offshore I have been swordfishing but it's been the toughest fall I have seen in 11 years. We haven't had a bite our last 4 trips in a row, but I'm hoping when they show back up they are thick! We have done some deep dropping on the way in and out catching barrelfish and blackbelly rosefish. 

Give the Marina Office a call at 305 664 2461 when you're ready to book your fishing trip or accommodations at Bud N' Mary's and we'll set you up! 

Tight Lines 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

10/17/17 Offshore/reef fishing report post Hurricane IRMA

Well this is my first offshore fishing report since Hurricane IRMA hit the Florida Keys on September 10th, 2017. We've been working hard to get things cleaned up and back to normal, and although we aren't 100% there yet we have been doing some fishing in Islamorada! Boats have fishing the reef as well as going offshore the past couple weeks. The last week we saw some nice catches of mahi, some boats having as many as 30 - 40 fish! We are at the tail end of the season for mahi but I'm sure we will see some the next few weeks.  

 

The blackfin tuna bite has been pretty good but the sharks have been so thick it's been hard to get the tuna past them! Hopefully the sharks thin out a little so we can put a few more tuna in the box. Back on the reef there's been yellowtail snapper, mutton snapper, grouper, kingfish, cobia, and a couple sailfish. A lot of boats will start fishing the reef and wrecks this time of year and throughout the winter. The Miss Islamorada Party Boat has been fishing Friday - Sunday and reported some nice snapper and even a surprise bonefish! 

 

Further offshore I made it out on a handful of daytime swordfish trips the last 10 days. We had two trips with two fish, two trips with zero fish, and one trip with one fish. We had one nice "pumpkin" swordfish that weighed in at 213 lbs! The fall is as good as anytime to try for a swordfish so if it's on the bucket list keep that in mind for the next couple months! We also landed a mako shark on a recent trip offshore, so that was a nice suprise. On the way in and out we did a little deep drop bottom fishing and caught a few barrelfish and blackbelly rosefish for the dinner table too. 

Some of the big hotels are closed for the next 3 - 6 months in Islamorada due to Hurricane Irma, but remember we have some lodging options right here at Bud n' Mary's Marina and there are plenty of other small resorts with rooms. Give us a call at the marina office at 305 664 2461 to set up a fishing trip or hotel stay. 

Tight Lines

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

 

10/13/17 October Post Irma Backcountry Fishing Report

Hurricane Irma has come and gone.  We've been hard at work trying to get the marina back up and running and we've made great progress!  Internet is still shaky in most areas here so it's been hard to update the blog/website but please check Bud n Marys Facebook for more up to date reports and the phones lines are working in our office you can reach us at 305-664-2461.  The marina is back open 7 days a week, and someone is in the office from 8 AM to 6 PM.  Charters have already resumed running since October 1st, and the the marina even has some lodging available, and the party boat is running when she has enough people which is usually on the weekends but call to check!  Things aren't quite 100% but we hope to be back there in another month or so.  Several large hotels in the Islamorada area are down for renovations for the time being but most things on the bayside did just fine.  We've been hearing different things but hopefully those larger hotels will be back somewhat operational by years end, please check with our office and we can refer you to other places that do have availability in the meantime.

Today I fished with Capt. Bill Bassett and we had a good day in the backcountry.  We caught pilchards locally and loaded our livewells, we also brought some live shrimp.  We got into some bay tarpon early on, missing a couple and landing a nice 30 lber.  Capt. Bill had several snook and a nice redfish, plus a large bull shark.  We then got into a good snook bite and it was game on for a good 30 minutes or so, landing several double headers.  We also got two nice slot size redfish.  After that things quieted down for both of us so we tried some other things.  Not much luck with mackerel or trout in the bay, but we both were able to get several nice mangrove snappers for dinner to finish our day and send the boys home with some dinner.  Over the last couple weeks a handful of other guides have fished.  Capt. Mike Bassett reported a couple good days with some snook and small tarpon.  Capt. John Johansen reported some good jack crevelle action fishing around the bridges and got some nice snappers for dinner on sunday.  

Anyways the fish are biting and things are slowly getting back to normal here in Islamorada.  Please give us a call if you are wanting to get out fishing!  Fall is here and that is a great time of year to fish and the Keys could really use the business right now!  305-664-2461

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

  

  

8/28/17 Late August Deep sea fishing report

August fishing is almost over here in Islamorada, Florida Keys. We had some wind for a few days over a week ago, but the past week was much nicer. A few days were cloudy with passing rain storms, but it didn't stop the fleet from catching a bunch of fish! It was really a great season on mahi this summer, and it's still been good as of late. Sure there have been a few slow days but overall most boats have had 15 - 30 fish on full day trips. The fish have ranged from 4 - 15 lbs on average, but theres still been some nice bulls and cows in the 20 - 30 lb range. If you want the best shot at catching them a FULL DAY is what you really need to do. For example, One boat fished back to back days last week. The first day they had 30 mahi before lunch but the next day they only had 2. Yes when the bite is on and the fish are close you can score on a half day, but it's a gamble going offshore on a short 4 hour trip. 

 

The humps turned back on and we've seen a lot of blackfin tuna the past few days. It was a little quiet before that, but it's looking like we may have a great fall season on blackfin again. We haven't had the live bait around like normal, but we've been getting them on artificials and some on the dead bait. A couple of our deep drop bottom fish will close at the end of August, including blueline tilefish and snowy grouper, but we saw a lot of nice fish caught while the season was open. The Gimme Jimmy had a 39 lb snowy yesterday and a giant 35 lb golden tilefish! Also a nice barrelfish. 

 

On the reef the yellowtail snapper bite has been decent most days with some mangrove snapper still in the mix. We should start seeing some kingfish show up the next few weeks as well. Way offshore a few of us have been daytime swordfishing. The bite was good a week ago, with fish each trip, but then it slowed down and there was a couple days without any action at all. The good news was yesterday we went 3 for 4 on swordfish, so hopefully they are here to stay for a while! We tagged and released two of the juveniles and kept one for dinner. Long time marina customers and friends aboard the peanut got one swordfish each day last weekend including a nice fish at 157 lbs! 

 

The traffic has dissapeared in Islamorada for the most part, so come on down and avoid the crowds the next couple months. It's nice when there's only a handful of boats fishing offshore compared to 50! Give us a call at 305 664 2461 when you're ready to book you're next deep sea fishing charter! Remember we have offseason room rates at the marina for our hotel rooms, house, and houseboats! 

Tight Lines

Capt. Nick Stanczyk