Got out with Floyd and his son Grant today who were down from the gulf coast. We had a half day trip of florida keys fishing scheduled so I opted to fish the patch reefs. The winds were light out of the north and dropped down to almost nothing by late morning… very nice day out there. The november patch reef fishing has been a good option as of late, with plenty of action out there and table fare if you so desire. We had shrimp for bait but also found a few pilchards though lots of small ones, but a good handful of hook baits too. Snappers were everywhere, we caught a mix of mangroves, yellowtails, and muttons, in 4 different spots. Also got a few bar jacks too. No porgy or hogfish for me yet though I’ve heard a few guys have found some hogs on some rock piles. However this year though the hogfish season is closed until May so it’s more or less not something we’ll keep for table, but they are good rod benders though. The last place we stopped we did get into a good little barracuda bite which was fun. I changed our rigs to something a little heavier and we caught about a half dozen nice 4-6 lb cudas, lots of fun on the light gear. We also had something big that ate a large free lined shrimp, I think may of been a nice grouper, but unfortunately the hook pulled after a 5 minute battle. If you want to do some reef fishing for barracuda in islamorada, it’s a great time of year and they are consistently available on some of the patch reefs. I am booked tomorrow then going out of town tuesday for the holidays. I’ll be back late Friday, so if anyone wants to go next Saturday or Sunday, I’m available! Give me a shout!
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing
