6/2/15 Early June Offshore fishing

It's hard to believe we are already fishing in June in Islamorada. Most of the the offshore charter fleet has been running out to the gulfstream lately targeting mahi, although a couple boats have been staying closer to home and fishing on the reef, especially on 1/2 day charters. I always tell everyone fishing for mahi is like hunting. Sometimes it's super easy and you find schools of fish all day long, and other times it's hard work and you spend all day waiting for the one opportunity. Sometimes that opportunity is a school of migrating fish with birds following them, or a school of fish following a sea turtle, or fish under a piece of floating debris. When that opportunity arrises you need to make it count. With the recent full moon the fish have been a little tough to get to bite, so live bait has really helped out. There's no guarantee you will catch fish when you guy "fishing", hence the name, but the boats at Bud n' Mary's are some of the hardest working and most consistent fisherman in the area. Yesterday all the boats had good catches, today only 1/2 the boats found any numbers of fish! It changes day to day, but these reports cover the fishing over a week. Overall the past week we saw good mahi fishing. The boats have been averaging 15 - 25 fish. One boat had over 50 fish yesterday, but only 1 today! Some days you just have bad luck and you have a slow day fishing. The mahi have been averaging from 3 - 12 lbs, with a few fish from 20 - 30 lbs, and a couple bigger. There has been a few tripletail around the floating debris lately too. Last week the Predator found a floating pallet early in the morning and made their entire day on one stop by 9:30 am! They caught 3 big bulls, one going 44 lbs, and 25 other schoolie and gaffer mahi! We've also seen quite a few "football" (3 - 5 lb) blackfin tuna on the humps, as well as a few amberjacks and almaco jacks on the bottom. The swordfish bite has been fair, the Bn'M tagged and released a juvenile broadbill their last trip, and the Catch 22 caught a 120 lb swordfish one trip but their next trip was slow with no bites. Back on the reef we have been seeing lots of yellowtail snapper, a handful of mangrove snapper, as well as a few mutton snapper. I did a little "deep dropping" (bottom fishing in 400 - 800' of water) the last couple trips and we caught rose porgy, blueline tilefish, snowy gouper, and a queen snapper. Remember there's always something to catch off Islamorada, and you have to be ready for everything! Bring your family down and come fishing this summer and we'll show you a good time at Bud n' Mary's! Give us a call at 305 664 2461 to book your Islamorada Fishing Charter.

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

5/29/15 Late May Islamorada Backcountry Fishing Report

May is almost over and we are really getting into summer time here in the Florida Keys.  Fishing has been pretty good overall the last couple weeks.  Tarpon fishing has overall picked up again and most guides have been enjoying consistent fishing with a few 'big days' here and there.  A week or so ago we were lucky to have several flat calm days which lead to some good conditions for lots of things in the backcountry.  Capt. Skip Nielsen and Capt. Rick Stanczyk both reported great tarpon fishing back off cape sable in the everglades.  They both also reported some good action with snook and a few redfish around the shorelines and creeks.  Capt. Perry Scuderi has reported catching several nice permit in the last week.  Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti reported a nice permit plus a tarpon a couple evenings ago.  Capt. John Johansen has reported good shark and tarpon action in the everglades, plus tarpon around town here in the evenings.  Capt. Jim Willcox has been catching some snook and redfish back in the everglades.  Capt. Jeff Beeler reported good fly fishing for small tarpon and some snook last week, plus a few tarpon on bait as well the last few days.  Capt. Mike Venezia has some tarpon action the last few days and caught some nice mangrove snappers for dinner.  Capt. Mike Bassett reported a great day of snook fishing a few days ago.  Capt. Bill Bassett has had some good days fly fishing for tarpon in the last week, plus some bait fishing too with plenty of sharks mixed in.  Summer time is an excellent time of year to fish down here, as the weather stabilizes the water conditions can be very good for all kinds of gamefish.  We've unfortunately had some windy weather the last several days but it hasn't really dampened the fishing much.  As June continues the wind will eventually die down.  Early mornings and evenings are still an excellent time to catch tarpon.  Crab fishing on the falling tides doesn't get much better then the next month.  You also have a shot at catching a big permit doing that too!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

5/27/15 Islamorada Deep Sea Fishing Report and Memorial Day Classic Results

We had a couple calm days at the end of last week, but since Saturday it was pretty windy here fishing in Islamorada. All the boats still fished, some stayed on the reef and some headed offshore. The mahi bite was very consistent for all the boats that put in a full day trip offshore. The boats have averaged 15 - 30 fish, most in the 3 - 12 lb range, but we saw some nice bulls up to 38 lbs as well. Fishing for mahi is like hunting, you troll around and look for birds working and floating debris, and you have to be ready at all times. It might be slow for hours, with no action, but then all of a sudden you find the right school and for 30 minutes it's non stop action. The tuna bite on the hump slowed down a little, but we still saw a handful caught each day. There was a few wahoo caught the past week while trolling, including one really nice one that weighed 44 lbs on the Redfish. Down deep there was a few amberjacks and sharks around too.

38 lb Bull Dolphin (mahi) on the Gon Fishin V

Predator with a rack full of mahi including a nice 30 lb bull

Man O War with some "gaffer" mahi and a few wahoo

Gimme Jimmy with a 35 lb Bull

44 lb wahoo on the Redfish

WAHOOOOO on the Catch 22

Back on the reef the boats have been doing very well on yellowtail snapper. There's also been quite a few mutton snapper, with some real nice fish over 10 lbs, and a handful of black groupers caught. We should start seeing more and more mangrove (gray) snappers the next few weeks as well. The Fearless did a trip out to the Gulf of Mexico and he reports sharks, goliath grouper, and a pair of cobia.

I made it out on one daytime swordfishing trip last week while it was still calm, we hooked two fish, and managed to tag and release one of them. The summer is some of the most consistent fishing for broadbills, both because of the weather and the fish migrations.

And now for our Memorial Day Classic Fishing Tournament presented by Pelagic. Every team signed up for the Bluewater Division, which consisted of Mahi, Tuna, Amberjack, and Wahoo. You were allowed to weigh in your biggest fish of each species, and the combined point totals determined the winners. If you weighed in 3 species you got the "Pelagic Triple Crown" bonus of 10 points, and if you weighed in all 4 you got a bonus of 15 points. It was a rough day off Islamorada, with 18 - 20 knot winds, but we had boats from 24' - 54' participate. The key to winning is to target multiple speices, and make the bites count. The Buzz On finished in 3rd place with 32 points, they weighed in mahi, tuna, and amberjack. The Cloud Nine finished in 2nd place with 65 points, they weighed in a 17 lb tuna (biggest tuna in the tournament), a mahi and an amberjack. Luck was on our side as we pulled off a 1st place finish on the Catch 22 with 93 points. We were the only boat to catch all 4 species, inlcuding biggest wahoo with a 17 lber, and biggest amberjack with a 44 lber. Biggest mahi went to the Miller Time with a 26 lber. It was a fun event and we look forward to hosting it again next year. The tournament is just for fun so bring your family and have a good time!

Team Catch 22 with the First Place catch in the Memorial Day Classic

Cloud Nine with their 2nd place catch in the tournament

Buzz On with the 3rd place catch, they also released a sailfish

Tight Lines,

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

5/22/15 May Backcountry Fishing Report for Islamorada

May continues to roll on, hard to beleive it's almost over!  Well the winds have finally laid down the last few days and we are having more typical summer time 'light breezes'.  Tarpon fishing continues to be the priority for many anglers.  As of late the evenings have been a little more consistent than the day trips with tarpon starting to feed on the crabs very well, especially on the falling tides.  Capt. Jeff Beeler, Capt. Bill Bassett, Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti, Capt. John Johansen, and others have reported some good evening trips lately for tarpon.  The day time bite has been a little tougher though there have been some good windows of fishing if you hit the right spot at the right time.  Capt. Rick Stancyzk and Capt. Skip Nielsen have had some good fishing out in the everglades for tarpon both landing mutliple fish the other day.  Today Capt. Jeff Beeler had some good action around the bridges reporting multiple fish on mullet.  Capt. Rick also reported some good snook fishing a few days ago with some live pilchards he caught.  Capt. Jim Willcox reported good action fishing with ladyfish, trout, jacks, snappers, and sharks out on the gulf side today.  Capt. Jeff Beeler had some good action on fly way back in the everglades with baby tarpon and snook the last few days.  The winds may pick back up a little bit over the weekend and there are slight chances of rain, though looks to be an easterly direction which shouldn't be too bad.  Capt. Bill Bassett reported 1 out of 3 tarpon on fly today too, he says the fly fishing is getting better as the weather stablizes and fish are moving.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

5/21/15 May offshore fishing in Islamorada

We finally got a break in the weather here the last couple days with the winds letting up. May can be a windy month, but I know everyone appreciated the slick calm conditions yesterday, and today and tomorrow look very calm too! We've had some exciting fish stories the past week here fishing at Bud n' Mary's. Last Saturday was the 3rd Annual Gotta Luv Them Charity Dolphin Tournament. It's a combined weight of your biggest 3 fish. We were fortunate to take 2nd place on the Bn'M with a pair of nice bulls at 23 and 24 lbs, as well as an 11 lber for our third fish. The Gimme Jimmy took 3rd place just a few pounds behind. It was a fun event even with the windy conditions last week, and even better that it was for a good cause to help kids go to college.

A pair of nice Bull Dolpin (mahi) that put the Bn'M in 2nd place

A great catch of Mahi on the Gimme Jimmy, with their biggest 3 giving them 3rd place

The dolphin (mahi) fishing was pretty good for most the boats last weekend but early in the week a lot of boats had slower fishing. Some boats had just a handful of fish on the all day charters, while others had from 10 - 20 fish. The wind direction definitely plays a role in how they bite and how active they are, but yesterday when it slicked off the fish got a lot happier and pretty much all the boats did well with schoolies and gaffers. There was a couple slammers up to 35 lbs on the dock too. The humps have still have holding the "football" size blackfin tuna, which always make for a good fight and a tasty meal. Down deep the amberjacks and sharks have still been around. Now the Keys aren't know for great marlin fishing, but the Catch 22 and Buzz On both released white marlin the past week, which goes to show you that it can happen any day!

Great catch of mahi as well as a white marlin release on the Catch 22

Croft on the Buzz On throws his hands in the air with excitement when they caught this white marlin

It was slow in the morning but Capt. Travis didn't give up and put this couple on a dozen mahi which was plenty for a few dinners

Back on the Reef the boats have been doing very well on yellowtail snapper. There's been both the average size fish 13 - 15", and a few boats have got on the "flag" yellowtails with fish in the 20 - 22" range. The mangrove snapper are also moving out to the reef to spawn and that should be good action the next couple months. The grouper bite has been good a few days and a little slow a few days. A lot of boats have got bites, but the difference is the people who are ready for the bite and make them count are catching a few fish, and the ones that don't have any luck on their side are coming up empty handed or stuck in the bottom. The Reel McCoy had a couple good days on grouper when they limited out, as well as plenty of snapper. The permit have been on a couple wrecks on the reef still and there's been some average fish in the 10 - 20 lb range, but a couple boats have caught some real whoppers over 35 lbs, including a giant estimated over 40 lbs while shooting an episode of Extreme Fishing Adventures.

Reel McCoy with a great reef catch, including a surprise cobia

Giant permit caught and released on the Gimme Jimmy with Guest and Tv host Capt. Jimmy Nelson

I've been swordfishing a few times the past week on the Bn'M and the Catch 22 fished a couple days as well. The Catch 22 fished Everett from Texas as it was his dream to see a swordfish. The first day was rough and yielded no bites. The second day started slow for them, missing one fish early in the day. They didn't give up though, and at 4:30 in the afternoon Everett got himself a 262 lb broadbill Swordfish! I fished that day as well, and we hooked 2 swords but unfortunately pulled the hooks on them. The next day though we put in a long day and right at the end at 4 p.m. we hooked and landed a 90 lber. I also fished yesterday, which was ideal weather conditions, and we went 2 for 3 on swordfish, including Leon's biggest to date, with a 230 lber! The next few months should give you a fair shot if you want to try "big game fishing", but if you want action I would stick to the standard fishing charters.

Everett's bucket list fish, a 262 lb swordy on Catch 22

Leon and Capt. Nick Stanczyk show off a 230 lb swordfish

A 90 lb sword at the end of the day on the Bn'M

Don't forget we are hosting the first annual Pelagic Islamorada Memorial Day Classic next Monday, May 25th. If you have a charter booked you can enter for $450 for a team of 4 anglers, or if you have your own boat you can fish on that too. There's 2 divisions, both an offshore and a reef division. It's a family fun event, so get everyone involved and have a good time! We still have a couple boats availalbe, so give the office a call at 305 664 2461 to book a charter and enter the fun!

Tight Lines,

Capt. Nick Stanczyk