1/21/16 January Backcountry Fishing in Islamorada

Well winter continues to hit us, and hit us hard!  We've had several solid cold fronts now and look to be getting another one this weekend.  Temperatures in the everglades waters have dropped down to the mid 50s on some days!  However luckily it has not really slowed the fishing down too much, if you are in the right areas and fishing for the right things.  The deeper channels, moats, and canals have been very good as of late.  Capt. Rick Stanczyk reported epic fishing for snook, redfish, and black drum the last several days he was back there.  Capt. Perry Scuderi had a great day today back there, as did Capt. Jeff Beeler.  Capt. Bill Bassett also reported great fishing even during the last front several days ago, with it blowing 30 mph out of the northwest.  Capt. Chris Daly also had a great day yesterday with snook and drum.  I have not heard any reported from the gulf as it has been rough many days so boats especially the smaller skiffs have not been out there for the mackerels, though I imagine during the times when the temperatures creep back up near 70 it should be pretty good.  The patch reefs have been very good overall too.  Once the winds have laid down and the water has cleared up the porgies and hogfish have been biting good, otherwise there has been plenty of snapper action with a variety of other things mixed in.  Capt. Skip Nielsen had a great day out there catching quite a few black grouper, even some on fly.  Look for things to get a little nasty this weekend but hopefully still fishable, but after things calm down the backcountry should light up again as early as next week.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

1/19/16 Mid January Deep Sea Fishing Report

We've had our first real cold fronts this winter the past week here in Islamorada. This morning temperature was 57 degrees. Last Friday and Saturday was the Cheeca Lodge Presidential Sailfish Tournament. The first day the weather was awful with lots of rain, a strong south wind, and even some lightning in the storms. It was a very tough bite the first day, with half the boats never catching a fish! However the second day was better with the fishing and the weather. The Wet Dream/Catch 22/Hey Papa team didn't get a sailfish bite the first day, but the second day they caught and released 6 sailfish, which tied them for 1st place, but gave them a 2nd place finish because the other boat released their last fish first. Congrats to all the winners!!! 

 

The sailfish bite has been fair overall, some days almost all the boats get in on the action with alteast a couple shots, but yesterday was very slow and no boats released a sailfish. It will always be "fishing", so don't think that anything is a guarantee. The king mackerel bite has been improving, with a few big "smokers" over 30 lbs hanging up. There's still been a couple wahoo around, but they are more of what I consider a "bonus" fish. Sure we had a great couple days on them about ten days ago, but everything lined up right with the blue water and current on the edge of the reef. Conditions and water color change on a daily basis and you need to keep that in mind. 

 

On the wrecks we've still seen a couple african pompano caught as well as some nice mutton snapper and amberjack. The boats anchoring down have been catching plenty of fish for dinner including yellowtail snapper, mangrove snapper, porgy, yellowjack, and a couple hogfish. I think once the wind settles we'll see some more cobias caught as well. I went offshore 20 miles one day and did some "deep dropping" in 650' of water. We caught a handful of gorgeous queen snapper and also ran to the hump and caught a handful of "football" blackfin tunas.

 

Give the marina office a call at 305 664 2461 to book your next Islamorada fishing adventure. 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

1/12/16 January Backcountry Fishing Report

Well we've finally got a taste of some cold weather since the start of the new year.  Cold for us means in the 60s but it is definitely chilly out on the water in the wind.  Anyways it's been good for the overall winter time fishery here.  Capt. Rick Stanczyk reported a stellar day fishing with his dad and friends back at cape sable several days ago.  They got multiple snook and black drum, with a couple big snook one up to 15 lbs, and a couple lunker black drums one was 25 lbs!  They finished the day with double digit redfish on the shorelines.  It was a gorgeous day in the backcountry.  A couple days ago with Steve Holsinger he got into double digit snook, a handful of redfish, and finished the day with 1 out of 2 small tarpon for the SLAM for Steve.  He's also reported good action on the half day trips with patch reef fishing - porgies, snappers, groupers, hogfish, and a few cero mackerel!  He was able to sneak out today and avoid the rain for the most part with long time customers Jim and Gwen Johnson, they had good action and some good eats for dinner by the end of it.  Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti also snuck out today and had decent action fishing ou front, and also bagged a bonefish for his clients!  Capt. John Johansen got a big old tarpon a few days ago after it had warmed up a little on a day where it slicked out and was flat calm.  Capt. Skip Nielsen had Cliff Fox (Fox Tackle) out fishing several days ago too and they got into a good bite of redfish and snook.  Capt. Bill Bassett has been making the run deeper into the everglades and also reported decent action with redfish and black drum, with a few snook mixed in as well.  Capt. Perry Scuderi out fun fishing a few days ago when it slicked off got a big old permit sight fishing - he was very excited on a busmans holiday!  Out in the gulf there has been some good mackerel action still.  Capt. Mike Bassett and Capt. Mike Venezia both reported some good action with the mackerels out there.  Things look to be cooling down again considerably tonight and will warm up slightly but looks like we will be getting more cold again near the end of the weekend.  This will be good for the patch reef fishing, mackerel fishing, and the deeper everglades stuff.  However not ideal for fishing for tarpon or sight fishing for things like bonefish.  But more typical winter time weather we are glad to have it after a very warm start to our winter!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

1/11/16 Offshore Fishing Report for Early January in Islamorada

It's finally starting to feel like "winter" here in Islamorada. We've had a couple cold fronts the past week and right now we have a strong north wind and the coolest temperatures so far this winter, a brisk 63 degress... I wouldn't be surprised if this front really sparks the sailfish bite. The sailfish bite has been fair since the new year, most boats have been getting between 1 - 3 shots per trip, and a couple boats have seen more. We wanted to congratulate Capt. Timmy Arce for winning the Islamorada SailFly tournament aboard the Aces High. It's a fly fishing tournament for sailfish, and with no fish caught the first day during very windy weather they were the first boat to score a release on the second day which was enough for the WIN! The Hey Papa also just fished the Key Largo Sailfish Challenge and over the 2 day tournament they released 5 sailfish which gave them a 1st place finish! Great work guys!!! 

Last week there was a big push of wahoo, and a lot of boats got in on the action. The fish ranged from 20 - 50 lbs and when catching them on light tackle they are super exciting. Most were caught on live bait on spinning gear, and a few were caught out of the kite as well. We should continue to see a few here and there throughout the winter.

There's still been a few nice blackfin tuna from 15 - 25 lbs while livebaiting as well. We don't catch the nubmers of them this time of year, but anytime you have a live bait out you have a chance. The king mackerel bite has been decent, the fish have averaged 5 - 15 lbs, and I'm sure we'll see some bigger ones soon. There's also been a few african pompano around the wrecks, which are always blast if you hook into one. 

The reef fishing for snapper has been decent, including mangrove, yellowtail, and mutton snapper. A couple days the current was into the wind which made it tough, but the boats still managed dinner most trips. There was a few big schools of cobia found inside the reef, and the cobia fishing should only get better each week. Having nice weather and sunny skies helps a lot when fishing for them, becasue we are sight fishing inside the reef in 20 - 40' of water. Most of the schools of fish follow big stingrays, and it can be boring for hours and you hunt for them, but if you are fortunate enough to find a school it can be chaotic! 

It's not my favorite time of year to swordfish, mostly because the weather doesn't cooperate a, but we did catch one fish our last trip about 75 lbs, and lost another one on the leader. We didn't get any bites the prior trip, but that's swordfishing. 

Give us a call in the marina office to book a trip at 305 664 2461 and we'll set you up with a great captain and boat. Remember when I say "offshore fishing" it refers to pretty much fishing the edge of the reef in the winter spring aboard the bigger offshore boats. 

Tight Lines, 

Capt. Nick Stanczyk 

January Islamorada Fishing Report

Well 2016 has officially begun.  Yesterday afternoon the winds finally laid down nicely and today was a gorgeous way to start the new year.  We've had nothing but crazy wind out of the southeast for a good 2 weeks almost now.  Not the typical northerly cool winds we get in winter.  We had a tremendously busy 'chrismtas week' which is always one of our busiest weeks of the year.  Luckily the fishing has been decent even though conditons have not necessarily been.  There have been a mix of things going on and with as warm as it is, there are shots at just about any type of fish.  The most consistent thing for the most part has been out in the gulf fishing for the spanish mackerel.  Further out Capt. Rick Stanczyk had been able to get during the higher winds and they were able to land lots of mackerel just about ever day.  They also got into a big tiger shark one day as well as a big lemon another day out there.  He also reported fair snook fishing back at east cape the one full day he fished and spent part of the day back there.  Today he had Ian from Fox Tackle over in the UK with his family.  They caught the spanish macks it was a little tougher (no current) but they worked and banged out a dozen plus some other things, then caught big sharks for an hour, 2 bulls and a black tip.  Capt. Skip Nielsen the last couple days in the everglades park got into the tarpon they caught 1 large 100 lb fish one day, and a couple the next day!  Capt. Vic Gaspeny reported several tarpon bites fishing an evening trip a couple nights ago too so that is a definite possibility if things stay warm.  Capt. John Johansen had some nice porgies and yellowtails on the patches yesterday afternoon when it calmed down.  Capt. Bill Bassett today fished way deep in the everglades.  They worked very hard though were able to catch some redfish and a few snook as well.  Capt. Mike Bassett has reported some mackerel in the gulf with some juvenile groupers of various species too.  Capt. Jim Willcox had some good fishing back at cape sable they caught a mix of sheepshead, black drum, redfish, and snook.  Capt. Jeff Beeler a few days ago reported a decent bite of redfish and snook as well.  Looks like near the end of this weekend we are suppose to get a dip in temperature, perhaps down into the 60s... brrrr!  We will see if it hapepns as it has yet to get below 70 here.  Anyways this should help the winter time specimens we normally fish for.  It's been too rough for anyone to do any 'patch reef fishing' though if the wind stays calm and goes north that should light up the fishing out there which is a great option for half day trips.  If you are looking to go fishing this January please give us a call at 305-664-2461 we would love to get you out on the water!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk