2/17/16 Mid February Backcountry Florida Keys Fishing Report

Spring time is getting closer and we are having a little more warm weather.  January was super cold after a warm december, and we've still had a few good cold fronts this month though has been overall warmer than last month.  The fishing has been a little up and down we've had a few very nice, calm days that have yielded some stellar fishing, and some other days when it's been blowing a gail and/or raining and making things a little more difficult.  It's not quite warm enough yet for the big boys (tarpon) and shark action has been slow too, but once the water temperatures get up in the mid 70s that will start getting much better.  As it looks now things will cool down tonight though not a ton, and then stay in the 70s for a while and we may start getting warm spring conditions.  I was out of town for a little bit and just got back a few days ago.  As I said fishing had been a little up and down though while I was gone there was a steep temperature drop followed by a couple gorgeous days of calm, cool weather.  Action on the patch reefs, in the gulf, and in the backcountry were all pretty good.  Capt. Dave Peck reported a hot hogfish bite out on the patches.  A few guys got into some permit including Capt. Gunner Guthrie and Capt. Perry Scuderi.  Capt. Bill Bassett had some good fishing in the everglades with his son catching some redfish and drum and a few snook.  Capt. Jim Willcox also had a good day fishing the bigger canals that day, he has also reported good trout fishing in the afternoons closer around flamingo in the channels.  Today I had regular customers and we had a great day in the everglades catching quite a few nice redfish, a few black drum, a nice snook, and a half dozen tripletails.  We had good mackerel action a few days ago, and yesterday the weather kept us from doing much but were able to get some snappers for dinner and sightfish a few bonnet head sharks which was fun for my young anglers Fergus.  Today Capt. Mike Bassett had a bunch of spanish mackerel and caught quite a few tripletail too, including a 14 lb monster!  What a fish one of the biggest we've seen this year back in the gulf.  Looks like the winds are going to kick up a bit so things won't have a chance to warm up drastically.  I'm not sure if we will get any more cold weather or not, though there is a good chance we will be on the tarpon come early March.  If you are wanting to get out fishing give us a call at 305-664-2461!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

2/12/16 February offshore fishing report

We've had some very nice weather here the last few days while fishing in Islamorada in February 2016. Pretty much all of the boats have been staying on the edge of the reef and most have been doing full day charters but a handful have been doing 1/2 day charters. The sailfishing hasn't been red hot, but there's been a handful around most days. The Reel McCoy won the poor girls sailfish tournament last week with 4 releases and the Cloud Nine took second with 3 releases. Most of the other days the boats that have put their time in fishing for sailfish have had 1 - 3 shots on full days, and the predator released 4 sails today.

We saw some really nice cobia caught by the boats inside the reef, a handful of fish close to 50 lbs! The king mackerel bite has been steady on the wrecks with fish raning from 5 - 20 lbs, and a couple of bigger ones over 30 lbs.

The Bn'M and Reel McCoy each had african pompano while wreck fishing this past week too. The boats anchoring down bottom fishing have caught yellowtail snapper, a couple mutton snapper, and quite a few porgy. February is one of our best months for cobia, so I'm sure we'll see some more nice fish hanging up soon. Give the marina a call when you're ready to book your trip and we'll set it up in the office. 1 800 742 7945 

Tight Lines

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

Pelagic Gear 

2/8/16 February Backcountry Fishing Report Islamorada

Well the winter weather continues we've just been hit by another hard cold front and had a couple nasty days with 30+mph winds.  Today things got nice but it was a cold morning though beautiful and sunny right now this afternoon.  Things look to stay on the chilly side with lows in the mid 50s through until the weekend.  Fishing has been pretty good still overall however.  Capt. Mike Venezia has had some decent action in the everglades with drums and snooks.  It hasn't been the red hot bite that we had on the right days in January, but more of a pick of fish and sometimes you get in a good spot that may hold several.  Though still lots of fun and Capt. Mike has been adventuring into some very creeks that not many have travelled into!  He also had a good day a week ago fishing the patches catching some dinner and they caught some nice blacktips plus a bonefish to start it off in the morning.  Capt. Jim Willcox has been plugging away deep in the everglades at redfish and snook.  Though some of the deeper areas have not been consistent as there has been some nasty water so you really have to work at it some days to find fish.  I went out with Capt. Bill Basset Saturday and it was not easy fishing either we caught a few nice reds and it was hard work.  Though that was the day of the swamp guides ball and many reported that fishing was not easy.  Though Capt. Bill reported a nice day this morning fishing the patches and catching plenty for dinner snappers, porgies, etc... as did Capt. Chris Daly.  Capt. Vic Gaspeny had a mix of snappers and got a couple keeper hogfish this morning too.  I myself last week had some good action in the gulf we caught plenty of mackerels on several different days.  Capt. Mike Bassett also had some good mackerel days alongside me.  There were also some jumbo mangrove snappers on one wreck we were catching on pinfish, nice 15-18 inch fish real drag pullers!  We had great triple tail fishing too, not a lot of large ones but lots of them and caught probably 10 or more each day we went.  One day we also caught two nice size goliath groupers up to 150 lbs, and a big old tiger shark that was over 300 lbs!  It was pretty incredible on the lighter spinning rods we use for smaller 30-80 lb tarpon.  I myself am going out of town for a week or so but as I said we look to stay in the winter mode for another week or so.  Tarpon fishing will probably have to wait until it gets consistently warm which may not happen for a few more weeks we will see, but there are plenty of other things to do as you can see.  Give us a call if you are in the area fishing is plenty good and there are lots of things to catch!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

1/31/16 End of January Offshore fishing report

The offshore fishing in Islamorada in January 2016 came to an end today. The past ten days the sailfish bite has been mediocre. Most of the boats that put the time in for them have been had 1-3 bites per trip. Catching and releasing them can be a different story. A few days were definitely tough on the sails, but hopefully we get another push of them here in February. On February 3rd the Poor Girls Sailfish tournament takes place, so if you're a lady and want to get some friends together and book a last minute charter for a fun and relaxed tournament give the marina office a call within the next couple days and we might be able to get you on a charter boat. 

We had a couple days where the winds were lighter and the sun was out and the boats found some nice schools of cobia. Today there were fish up to 45 lbs caught. 

The snapper bite on the reef has been very good the past couple days. The Miss Islamorada party boat had 200 yellowtail snapper today! We've seen some beautiful mutton snapper on the edge of the reef and around the wrecks pushing 18 lbs too! Further outside the reef in 300 - 400' of water a couple boats have caught some tasty yelloweye snapper, vermillion snapper, and rose porgy. 

There's been a decent bite of king mackerel around the reef and wrecks too. Give the office a call at 305 664 2461 to book your next fishing adventure and let one of our captains show you a great day on the water. 

Tight Lines, 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

1/28/16 Late January Backcountry Fishing Report Islamorada

January is winding down to a close finally and we are still in the midst of the cold weather cycle.  Over the weekend temperatures will be dropping again not so severly as last time but will be getting down to 60 or so.  Today and yesterday things really warmed back up from the previous front with winds going hard out of the south, however it brought a lot of moisture and we've been getting some rain today though yesterday it stayed far to the north of us over the mainland.  The conditions this weekend should be very good with a weaker front hitting us, however I'm sure the crowds will be out to enjoy the weather as well, it's been very busy in the backcountry the last couple weeks that is for sure!  Fishing has been decent overall if you get lucky following the fronts the everglades backcountry fishing has been red hot, and on the colder not so nice days it's been a slower pick of fish.  The ideal conditions have usually been a few days after a cold front has dropped the temperatures, when things get nice again and the water temperature creeps up a few degrees.  I had Pride and his wife Cile Scanlan out who have fished Bud n Marys several times the past few years.  We got them out on a very cold morning into the backcountry immediatly following the last front.  Fishing wasn't easy though we picked away, Cile caught her first snook and Pride caught his first goliath grouper (which was funny because he had just finished asking me several questions about them literally a few minutes before he caught it!).  They also caught a few drum and a sheepshead, and quite a few catfish though we don't like to brag about those.  A couple days later we fished a morning half day and fishing was much more productive on the catching end, we went into the gulf and caught about 20 mackerels for a great morning trip.  Capt. Mike Venezia got out into the backcountry a couple days after that last cold front, and it was a totally different ball game.  The winds laid out, the sun came out, and he reported the drum bit very well and he got a few snook as well as sheepshead and a tripletail.  Capt. Jim Willcox on Tuesday reported a good day fishing way deep in the everglades.  He said the deeper canals we usually fish were loaded with boats, so he went further and deeper.  They got into some redfish, snook, and even got a baby tarpon, plus some nice trout in the afternoon.  Capt. Jeff Beeler reported yesterday a decent bite he said a they caught some drum and snook though had to work hard at it and keep moving, a few spots were decent and some didn't have much.  Anyways we look to be staying in winter time mode at least through into early next week.  If things stay warm you can usually expect a few tarpon to start showing up at some point in February, though may not get real consistent until later in March.  The gulf/mackerel fishing should stay good especially if things are on the cooler end.  The patch fishing has been OK though the water has been muddy due to the hard winds which have been changing directions often, which porgies and hogfish are not fans of though the snappers, jacks, and other species dont seem to mind as much.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk