9/7/15 September Islamorada Backcountry Fishing Report

September is upon us and this is our slowest time of year for business here in the Florida Keys.  Memorial Day weekend just ended and that is the last hoorah for a little while to come.  The backcountry fishing as of late has been a little on the tough side for some things.  The medium to large size tarpon have really thinned in the backcountry and around town.  It is still possible to catch them though lately I myself have not seen too many.  We fished the last couple of days and spent a couple hours each day trying for them.  Yesterday we did get a nice one of 60 lbs, the day before we did not.  There have been some baby tarpon in the flamingo areas, if you are fishing on a smaller skiff it is possible to get to some of those areas.  Also with these resident tarpon, this time of year they can really be scarce one day and then swarming the next, sometimes when fishing just going to the next spot can be a 'home run!'  Unfortunately the shark fishing has been very slow too normally we catch a few sharks while we have our tarpon gear out, though I did not have even a shark bite the last two days out there.  Now if you are looking for action or some tablefare, the snapper and trout fishing was very good the last couple days.  We had our limit of nice mangrove snappers in no time, and there were a good number of trout mixed in too.  Trout have been a little scarce this summer but both days we caught plenty, and some nice size ones as well.  Mixed in have been some ladyfish and jacks as well.  That's all I have to report I've had several days off as have many of the guides around the docks.  It's just that time of year to catch up on boat maintenance and your personal life.  Though as things cool off the snook and redfish should start pushing out of the super skinny water in areas where we normally fish them in the Fall.  The fall bait run will also bring a week or two of stellar tarpon fishing in the backcountry, that usually happens in mid to late october.  Anyways if you are looking to get out on the water there are still fish to catch and plenty of guides available to go.  You may have to have some patience for some fishing, though if you are looking for just action that is definitely a can-do.  We have discounted rates on our rooms at Bud n Marys so if you are thinking of coming down for a few days they can put together a good package for you.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

8/27/15 Late August Offshore Fishing Report

We've seen some of the best catches of the summer lately here at Bud n' Mary's! Not a lot of boats have been fishing as the tourist season is winding down, but the ones that have got out have done very well! A lot of boats have been limiting out on mahi and the blackfin tuna bite is on fire too! We always recommend a full day fishing charter when going offshore fishing in Islamorada, but a few boats have been 1/2 days lately and still getting in on the mahi and tuna action. The boats that have been doing full days have been averaging 30 - 40 fish, and a lot of the mahi are decent size where they are using the gaffs to bring them aboard. I would say the mahi are averaing 5 - 15 lbs and there's been a couple nice slammer bulls over 30 lbs. The tuna have been averaging 5 - 20 lbs, and I saw a few 25 lbers hanging up as well. It looks like we have a storm down near the US virgin Islands now, but it's hard to say if it will affect us in a few days or not. Give the marina a call if you want to fish and we'll set you up. 1 800 742 7945. The crowds have thinned out so now's the perfect time to fish! We also have offseason rates for our Islamorada hotel rooms, so you can save a few bucks that way!

I also want to say congrats to Capt. Paul Ross on the Relentless for being named one of the top boats in the Altantic by Marlin Magazine in a recent article.

Tight Lines,

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

8/26/15 Late August Florida Keys Backcountry Fishing Report

We are nearing the end of August islamorada fishing season is definitely winding down here now.  Only a handful of charter boats or guides fishing every day, but there are still plenty of fish to catch - and even more for you since there is much less pressure on them!  We've just dropped our room rates to low season levels, so be sure to check them out at our islamorada accommodations page.  I was lucky enough to fish most days in the last week and fishing was really good for quite a few of them.  There were still plenty of tarpon in the backcountry channels we had some big days with multiple shots and multiple fish landed each day.  We had nice incoming tide to start the mornings, making the bait easy to catch, and tarpon more than willing to eat.  For the next week or so however the tides will be falling in the early morning which has made bait much more difficult to get the last few weeks, which is a big part of productive tarpon fishing this time of year!  Elsewhere in the florida keys backcountry I haven't received a whole lot of reports.  I know Capt. Bill Bassett had some good trout action with a big barracuda and shark, as well as a few snappers yesterday.  Capt. John Johansen was out of town though got out yesterday on the patches with some decent mangrove snappers and yellowtails.  Capt. Mike Venezia had some tarpon, shark, snapper, and trout action with his customers as well earlier this week.  There are still some good possibilities of snook and redfish in the skinny water back there, with more snook being found around the islands moats, shorelines, and creeks.  Looks like we will be getting some weather from Tropical Storm Erika near the end of the weekend.  Nobody is sure exactly what is going to happen if it is going to go north of Miami or down below the Keys, though it doesn't look to be a super strong storm if anything hopefully only a category 1-2 tops if it veers north, and supposedly weaker if it goes south.  Luckliy this is the peak of hurricane season and it's been a slow one and hopefully won't be much more to worry about from here on out!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Zack doing battle with a poon!

John got a nice tarpon pictured here!

Chris and Alix each got to catch a nice tarpon on Friday!

My wife Elizabeth Baxter and her brother John each battled tarpon on Satuday.

Doug and his father both landed nice tarpon Sunday morning.

Though this is a smaller one, Vince Sr, Vince Jr, and Frank all landed tarpon 75 to 100 lbs on Monday!

Jim landing a nice tarpon, his buddy Bob and his wife also got to battle one.

Capt. Mike Venezia's customers with a nice tarpon.

8/20/15 Deep Sea Fishing Mid August in Islamorada

The crowds have simmered down here a little bit in Islamorada, so it's a perfect time to relax and go deep sea fishing in Islamorada! We still had a few days last week and over the weekend where everyboat fished, but the last few days about 1/2 the boats have fishing each day. The last few days the mahi bite has been very good, with boats having from 20 - 40 fish. There's been a lot of nice size schoolies (where you don't have to meausre them), a decent amount of "gaffer" size fish in the 8 - 15 lb range, and a few "slammers'' making the 20+ lb mark.

There was a couple slow days on the mahi last week, where a few boats only had a few keepers and some of the boats had eight to ten keepers, so it was really nice to see such good fishing the past few days. The blackfin tuna are showing up in decent numbers too, and some nice fish over 20 lbs. A big blackfin tuna on a 15 lb spinning rod is a great fight. I think we will continue to see decent mahi fishing the next month and the blackfin tuna bite should only get better and better as we enter the Fall months.

On the reef there's still yellowtail and mangrove snapper, as well as some barracudas, jacks, and sharks. Way offshore I swordfished a couple trips, one trip we caught 2 fish, keeping a 160 lber and tagging and releasing a small one. The next trip we hooked one fish late in the day but unfortunately lost him on the leader. When the weather cooperates the Fall is a great time to target swordfish as well.

We should also been seeing some big dusky and silky sharks on the humps with the tuna, so if you want to pull on something big consider giving that a shot! Call the marina to book your next fishing trip at 305 664 2461 and we'll set you up! We also have offseason rates on our hotel rooms so don't forget to ask about that!

Tight Lines,

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

8/16/15 Mid August Backcountry Fishing Report

August is already half way over and it's been pretty warm down here in Islamorada.  Fishing in the backcountry has still been decent there are still quite a few tarpon around especially in the everglades areas.  Fishing hasn't been red hot for them every day though some captains have reported some big days back there.  The fishing and the bait catching has been best on the incoming tides as of late it seems, bringing in that little bit of cooler gulf water and making the fish a little happier.  Some days the rain has been chasing us around a good bit and that pattern seems to be continuing to hold.  We had several big days last week with the tarpon and sharks which was a lot of fun.  Steve and Michael enjoyed stellar tarpon fishing one day followed by a good day with tarpon, snook, and some nice mangrove snappers for dinner.  Though a couple days ago we had a very slow day, bait was near impossible to catch and I had a little bit of leftover bait, but the tarpon were few and far between in an area where a couple days before they had been swarming.  Today though we were able to get on them and had a few shots at tarpon and landed one nice fish plus a big snook and some big sharks for Zeb and his wife.  Capt. John Johansen has reported similar action with tarpon and sharks back in the flamingo/backcountry areas.  Capt. Bill Bassett has also had some action with sharks and a few taron, plus has had a few half days of snapper fishing.  He had some real nice gulf snappers the past few days.  Capt. Dave Morris has been doing a few lobster trips and has had some good success, plus some action on the patch reefs with hogfish and porgy still even in the heat of summer.  Capt. Gunner Gutherie had a nice tarpon the other day plus some fish for dinner.  Give us a call if you are looking to get out we are getting into our off season with business here though the fishing is anything but!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk