7/19/16 Backcountry Fishing in July

July has been rolling on by and fishing in the backcountry has been pretty good overall.  The last couple weeks the wind has been blowing which is abnormal though at least it has been keeping things cooled off a bit.  It hasn't been blowing crazy hard, though a solid 15 mph most days with a couple of them a bit harder.  Luckily in the backcountry it isn't as big of a deal as you can skirt around in the shallower water to keep out of the chop and rough stuff.  Fishing has been holding up there has been a good bite of trout and snapper in the bay which has bene great for action or for table fare.  Live or cut bait works wonders, or if you want to take the challenge level up working artificials is fun for them too.  Capt. Sid Bryant, Capt. Mike Venezia, Capt. Jeff Beeler, and others have reported a good bite like this in the bay.  The snook fishing in the deeper everglades/mainland areas has gotten a little tougher than it was a couple weeks ago, but still been having some good days for sure.  The flat calm weather and lighter winds led to very ideal conditions both inside the creeks and on the outside shorelines.  However with the wind blowing many areas get 'mudded up' where you can pick away at fish, but its much tougher to find those spots where you can really catch snook every cast for a period of time.  However if you look around you can still find the areas where cleaner water is and likely better fishing, but may have to run a lot further and spend time looking.  It's still a worthwhile bet but can require more patience and skill to get the bait in the right spot if fishing is on the tougher side.  Capt. Jim Willcox and Capt Bill Bassett have still been doing this.  The tarpon fishing has still been decent too.  There have been some fish in some of the backcountry channels and they've huddled down and don't mind the wind so much, plus some sharks mixed in there too.  Some of the typical summer time areas, open water off the beaches, have not been as good with the big swells due ot the wind but still finding them in other areas.  Capt. Rick Stanczyk, Capt. John Johansen, Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti, and Capt. Perry Scuderi, among others have landed some nice tarpon as of late.  Also there has been some good bonefishing in some muds locally, Capt. Clyde Upchurch had some very good days catching multiple bonefish on jigs and shrimp close to home.  Fishing should still be good through the summer time, last year we had very good fishing all the way through into August.  If you are wanting to get out especially around lobster mini season we have guides available, and you can get away from the crowds in the backcountry!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

July 8, 2016 Deep Sea Fishing Report

We've had some great weather here in Islamorada in early July. The past couple days were some of the best days on dolphin we've seen this summer as well! All the boats that fished full days had anywhere from 10 - 25 fish, and there was a lot of nice size ones! A handful of boats had between 4 and 6 slammers in the 20 - 30 lb range, and many boats had "gaffers" in the 8 - 18 lb range. Hopefully the dolphin bite remains strong, because we all know we were due for it! There was also the usual "schoolies" around. 

 

On the humps there's still been plenty of blackfin tuna, mostly footballs in the 3 - 8 lb range, but a couple boats still caught some bigger ones on the live bait in the 15 - 25 lb range. There's also been a couple sailfish releases the past week, which goes to show you that you never know when you'll have a shot a billfish. 

 

A couple boats have been deep dropping and there's been a few snowy grouper caught, a couple queen snapper, some blueline tilefish, and the Hey Papa had an usual catch with a 48 lb wreckfish! Back on the reef the mangrove snapper bite is picking up, and July is usually one of the best months for them as they spawn. 

Way offshore I've been doing some daytime swordfishing and we had some great fishing the past week. We caught fish on 4 of our last 5 trips, inlcuding a monster weighing in at 423 lbs!!! The other fish were between 40- 160 lbs. 

Give the marina office a call at 305 664 2461 when you're ready to book your next Islamorada Fishing Adventure and we'll set you up with a great boat! We've also got hotel rooms and houseboats for you to stay in on your Fishing getaway! 

Tight Lines, 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

7/6/16 July Backcountry Fishing Report

We are getting into July here and fishing in the backcountry has been pretty good overall.  The calm summer time weather usually leads to very pretty water, which means happy fish most of the time.  At the start of the month we still had some flat clam days with some unbeleivable backcountry fishing for snook.  It was red hot almost anywhere you went around the mainland areas, plus plenty of juvenile tarpon in the mix as well.  Capt. Jim Willcox, Capt. Jeff Beeler, Capt. Bill Bassett, and others had been enjoying that fishery back there.  I had the Thompson crew out several days ago and we had plenty of action catching lots of snook, a couple reds, a few small tarpon, and baby goliath grouper.  The last few days the fishing got quite a bit tougher as the southerly winds kicked up.  This unfortunately muds up much of the shorelines we like to fish on the flamingo side of the mainland which many of those fish don't really like.  The snook were still around though you had to work a lot harder for them, though today further back the water was a little prettier as the wind affects it differently and fishing was still decent back there.  Capt. Willcox and Capt. Gunner Guthrie had good fishing back there as well today.  Capt. John Johansen has had tarpon action most days as well fishing the channels and beaches along with sharks.  Capt. Jeff Beeler and Capt. Mike Venezia had good action fishing for trout, snappers, and such on half days today, we also caught some trout and snappers while catching our snook bait.  Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti had a nice tarpon and a permit on his evening tarpon trip last night.  Evening tarpon trips are still available if you are looking to go.  Fishing should get better and better back in the everglades as the winds subside again, though it was still decen the last few days.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

6/30/16 end of June Offshore Fishing Report

Today was the last day fishing in Islamorada in June 2016 and a couple boats finished the month up with good catches! The past ten days the mahi bite was mediocre overall, but it definitely improved for most of the fleet the last couple days. The boats have been averaging 5 - 20 mahi per trip, and most of the fish have ranged from 3 - 20 lbs, with a few from 20 - 35 lbs. There has also been some big schools of undersize mahi, reffered to as "shakers" , since we shake them off at the boat. Late this afternoon the Indigenous charter boat caught a big 47.2 lb bull, which is one of the biggest dolphin on the dock this summer!!! Hopefully the bite continues to improve and remain a little more consistent. 

The blackfin tuna bite has still been good, mostly with "footballs" in the 3 - 10 lb range, but a few boats caught some fish in the 15 - 30 lb range with live pilchards while live chumming at the humps. There's also been a couple amberjack around the humps. We've seen some tripletail on debris as well. Some boats have been deep dropping and catching barrelfish, snowy grouper, and tilefish. 

On the reef we've seen lots of yellowtail snapper, a couple grouper, a few mutton snapper, and the Kalex had a an african pompano the other day which was a nice suprise. 

Way offshore the swordfish bite has been decent most days, yielding 1 - 3 bites. A couple days were slower for the boats with no bites, but if you got a bite and made it count, then you had a great day. The biggest fish was a 343 lber caught by Barry, and there was some tagged and released and a couple in the 100 - 260 lb range. 

Give the marina a call at 305 664 2461 if you want to get in on the fishing action for July! We should see mahi and blackfin tuna the rest of the summer. Also check out our new apparel store when visiting Bud n' Mary's Marina. It's right next to the dive shop and we have all sorts of Pelagic gear, yeti products, and more! 

Tight Lines, 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

6/21/16 June Islamorada Fishing Report

We've had a lot of hot weather here in June though the last few days the wind kicked up and today we've had a bit of a deluge of rain.  Fishing in the backcountry has been pretty good overall.  The calm days while getting a little steamy are generally very good for fishing.  The water cleans up nicely and the bait shows up well in many areas, leading to more catchable fish.  A week ago we had very good fishing for snook on several days using live pilchards.  While catching pilchards there were also plenty of trout, snappers, and other things to catch as well.  Capt. Bill Bassett had also reported a good snook bite as well plus some small goliath groupers, redfish, and various other species.  Capt. John Johansen has reported steady tarpon fishing in the backcountry.  We've had pretty good tarpon fishing as well though some days it's been tougher than others.  The big thing often is catching the bait, which has not been very consistent.  Certain tides/times it is very easy, other times it is not catchable which can lead to you struggling through the day.  Capt. Mike Venezia reported some nice snook in the backcountry as well as some tripletails.  Capt. Jim Willcox has been getting into the deeper creeks reporting a handful of drums, reds, and snook.  Capt. Mike Basset and Capt. Sid Bryant have reported a good bite of trout and snappers out in the bays in the backcountry.  Capt. Skip Nielsen has had some good days as well doing a mix up of backcountry snook, some tarpon, as well as stuff for dinner on several days.  Anyways summer time can definitely still be good fishing even though the weather is a little hotter.  We always recommend wearing light clothing, long sleevs are preferrable due to bugs etc...  Give us a call and we can put you on some fish!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk