9/19/16 September backcountry fishing in the Florida Keys

September is going by quick though we are still getting out on the water a fair bit.  A handful of guides have been fishing just about every day which is nice to see and that is nice to have this time of year.  The last week we had an incredible tarpon bite for several days.  We had multiple tarpon landed 3 days in a row when we were fishing for them.  It was some of the best fishing I had seen all year with fish just about every where you looked and they were also happy for the most part on the start of the incoming tide.  Today we were not fishing for them but did see a handful while we were running around.  We got into some snook and redfish today it wasn't red hot but one spot we caught plenty of fish and then picked a handful of snook in a couple other areas.  Nice size reds they were great to see!  Capt. Bill Bassett had some good fishing back there a couple days ago too reported plenty of redfish and some snook.  Capt. Jim Willcox has been back there some as well and reported some nice snook, a few reds, and nice size  jack crevelles.  Capt. John Johansen had some good snapper fishing on half day trips the last week which he said they got plenty of fish for dinner.  We also had some good trout and snapper fishing a couple days ago on  a half day, lots of nice size trout.  Capt.  Mike Venezia reported some nice size snook over the weekend he was fishing the Herman Lucerne tournament, it was a busy weekend with lots of boats in that.  Capt. Mike Bassett reported some good action on the pathch reefs the other day, some nice mangrove snappers and a few porgies and couple hogfish.  I'll be out of town for a week or so here, but October is right around the corner and that is usually the start of our fall bait run which can lead to tremendous backcountry fishing!  

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

9/10/16 September Backcountry Fishing Report Islamorada

September is here and we are officially in our 'off season' as business has slowed down and things are quiet for a little while around town.  It's a much needed break for the locals as our busy season seems to have gotten longer and longer the last several years and gives everyone a chance to catch up on things.  When I say off season though I'm really just talking about business as fishing can be good all year round here.  September however is not necessairly great for anything in particular, but you can have a shot at catching just about anything really.  I've been on vacation and just got back to fishing yesterday after a couple weeks off.  We had a great day and landed multiple tarpon in the backcountry as well as a variety of sharks, and also got a nice snook casting artificials on the shoreline.  It wasn't easy conditions as the winds had kicked up tremendously the last couple days, it was blowing 20 out of the north in the morning and then 30+ out of the east in the afternoon.  With the northerly winds in the morning, we had a small taste of the fall bait run it seemed.  I saw tons of mullet around in many of the backcountry areas, however not the craziness of them getting busted by all kinds of fish everywhere, but that will be happening soon I think perhaps in October.  Capt. Bill Bassett had also fished and reported a handful of snook, some snappers for dinner, and some sharks as well.  He also said they had some nice snappers and porgies out on the patch reefs one day last week.  Capt. Mike Bassett had a good catch of snappers too yesterday.  Capt. John Johansen had fished some half days the last week and mostly been getting into the snappers as well, plus caught a few bonefish in the muds too.  Capt. Jim Willcox had some snook and jack crevelles the other day fishing deeper in the everglades.  

What I will say about this time of year which I've said before is it's really a new adventure every day.  Nobody is fishing consistently so you really don't have that day to day knowledge of right where to be and when to be there.  It can be kind of a crap shoot and you have to just make a plan based on conditions and go for it, if things work out great and if not hopefully you are able to go to plan B and still make your day.  However the plus side is there is very little pressure on our fishery and you do have the place to yourself, which means you can likely get to the good fishing spots your captain wants to goto without worrying about someone beating you there.  It's also generally good fishing conditions with calm winds (though as reported that wasn't the case recently).  When it all comes down to it though fishing is fishing - there are no guarantees no matter how well you were doing the day before or even the hour before! 

Anyways there are plenty of guides ready to go fishing if you are in the area and wanting to bend the rod.  Drop us a line if you want to.  We are more than happy to let you know whats been happening, how the weather looks, and show you a good time!  305-664-2461

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

9/7/16 Offshore fishing report for early September 2016

If you fished down here last weekend at Bud n' Mary's Marina you might have got in on the EPIC sailfish bite!!! It was an unheard of bite of fish for this time of year, but the conditions lined up right with the current, water color, depth, and a little bit of wind. Hundreds of sailfish were "tailing" down the color change/current edge and boats were mostly sight fishing them, and some boats slow trolled some. We usually see this condition in the spring time, but for some unknown reason it just happend a few days ago in Islamorada. A lot of boats had between 4 - 10 fish a couple days in a row, and the Catch 22 and Buzz On each had a day with 21 releases!!! Sure enough the condition faded away after a couple days, but it sure was a nice suprise to see! 

 

Offshore the mahi bite has still been hit and miss. The Reel McCoy found some gaffers and schoolies yesterday, so hopefully as well work our way towards the next full moon we see another push of fish. The tuna bite has been decent most days on the humps, although a couple days they didn't cooperate. It's been a mix of blackfin tuna and skipjack tuna. There's also been plenty of big sharks feasting on them, so if you want to pull on something big consider that. 

 

On the edge of the reef and the wrecks we've seen a few mutton snapper, yellowtail snapper (when current is right direction), some mangrove snapper, cero mackerel, and a few big kingfish showing up. 

 

Way offshore I had 2 swordfish bites my last trip and we landed one about 95 lbs. These next few months are prime time for swordfish and we have a number of boats that can get you out there to try your luck. Give the marina office a call at 305 664 2461 if you'd like to book a fishing trip of any type! 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

This fishing report brought to you by YETI 

8/26/16 August backcountry islamorada fishing report

August florida keys backcountry fishing has still been fairly good even though we are getting into the dregs of summer.  The weather is definitely hot but most days we've had a bit of a breeze so it makes it much more bearable.  Rain has been around the last several days but it hasn't really been stopping us from getting out, and most of the time you can run around and avoid it as much of it is in isolated areas that dry up quickly as it moves out.  We do have some tropical systems out in the atlantic though the current one we are watching looks to have dissipated a lot as it's entering the outer Bahamas, so we likely will only get some rain and heavier winds from it near the end of the weekend and early next week.  In all honesty our Florida Bay can likely use the fresh water and some good winds and cloud cover will help cool the bay a little bit, which is around ~90 degrees right now!

As for the fishing there are all kinds of things on the table.  I myself have tarpon fished the last several days.  The august islamorada tarpon fishing is still a good option.  We did catch nice tarpon the last 3 days though it has only been a bite or two a day and really having to grind it out.  We actually did see a fair number of fish out there recently, however they are just being very finicky and not biting well.  So you have to invest some time and moving around to really have a shot and it doesn't leave you with much time to do other things (which I often like to do this time of year in addition to tarpon).  Most of the fish were larger (for this time of year) in the 70 to 90 lb range, and yesterdays was about 50 lbs.  We also had a day close to a week ago catching 3 which was a banner day, though the next day we went out and they dissappeared we never had a bite though were able to catch a variety of sharks to keep us entertained.  That's how it goes though this time of year can be spotty!  Capt. Bill Bassett also had a couple nice tarpon several days ago fishing in the backcountry.  Capt. Mike Bassett has also caught some smaller tarpon on his last couple trips fishing more for snook though he said the little tarpon were mixed in many of those areas.  

Capt. Jim Willcox was fliming a show (The Hot Bite) and they caught some larger specimens in the backcountry.  A large goliath grouper as well as a larger 'mud marlin' made for some exciting footage.  Capt. Mike Venezia also had a couple larger mud marlins on his last couple trips.  There have been plenty of sharks in the mix too including blacktips and lemons among others.  Both Capt. Jim and Capt. Mike also reported some nice tripletails out in the gulf and near shore of the everglades.  They aren't all on the buoys though, many are free floating and you can still see them on the surface and sight cast to them with bait.  Lots of fun and nice size fish - great for dinner!

Everglades snook fishing has still been fair as well.  The hot bite we had in the early summer when they were spawning is over with, though if you put time in you can usually catch several fish and many of them especially on the shorelines and creek mouths are larger fish.  Capt. Jim Willcox, Capt. Jeff Beeler, and Capt. Gunner Guthrie had reported some nice fish using artificials and jerkbaits on the shorelines.  I myself have been using bait most days doing that, and it is has been working OK too.  We aren't catching too many more than they are with artificials however, as the fish are just spread out and you seem to catch one here, one there, not really big bunches in any one spot most of the time.  A few red fish are in the mix too.

In the Bays there has been a mix of trout, snappers, ladyfish, and other critters.  This is the usual option on half day trips.  Capt. Clyde Upchurch has some nice trou the other day as did Capt. Perry Scuderi.  Using artificials or small shrimp is the ticket for this fishing, though if you can find some small pilchards they work great too and you can often get some of the larger snappers this way.  Capt. Bill Bassett did that the other day, though he said getting the larger legal snappers was tough but they managed half a dozen on a half day.  This is a great option for family fun fishing trips in islamorada.

September is just around the corner and that is the slowest month for business here in Islamorada.  Fishing can still be good however and plenty of guides are available.  The possibility of a storm is always there though even though we haven't had a major hurricane in over 10 years.  But if you are wanting to go fishing give us a call we can set something up short notice - no problem at all.  With the lack of fishing pressure and usually good, calm conditions, fishing can be very good and you have the place to yourself!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

8/24/16 Mid August Deep Sea fishing report for Islamorada

The winds were calm here the past week in Islamorada. The week before we had lots of wind though. We had some great catches of mahi the past couple weeks, especially when the wind was blowing. It definitely got a little tougher for a few days once the wind let up. On the best days a few of the boats had 30 - 40 fish, but most boats were averaging 10 - 20 fish per trip. Of course there was a couple days when they were scarce and some boats didn't find them. There has been fish of all sizes, we've seen a couple Bulls brought in pushing 40 lbs but a lot of fish in the 6 - 15 lb range. I think we will continue to see some good catches the next month here, and you won't have to deal with the summer time crowds. 

 

On the humps there's been a mix of blackfin tuna and skipjack tuna, as well as a few sharks. Multiple boats have been doing some deep water bottom fishing which has produced a little bit of everything lately including queen snapper, snowy grouper, tilefish, and barrelfish. The gimme Jimmy also caught a 125 lb blue marlin while trolling one day! 

 

On the reef there's been a steady bite of yellowtail and mangrove snapper when conditions are right. The Buzz on also had some big king mackerel, with one smoker going 40 lbs! The Miss Islamorada Party boat even caught and released a sailfish one day while they were moving to another bottom spot! 

 

Way offshore the swordfish bite has been on and off from day to day, but if you don't mind swinging for the fence it may pay off. The relentless and catch 22 each had a swordfish on their last trips, and on the Broad Minded we had three fish on two different trips but also had a few trips with zero fish. The biggest fish went 219 lbs and the smallest was 40 lbs. The next few months are the some of the best times to try for swordfish so keep that in mind. Give the office a call at 305 664 2461 to book you're next fishing adventure! 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk