Got out with Jody and Tom down from St Louis for a full day today. They left St Louis in the single digits to escape to sunny warm florida for a few days. Unfortunately the cold weather followed them, but luckily it was still much warmer then back home. The last few nights have been super cold (for us) getting down to around 50 degrees in the Keys, and around 40 back in the everglades mainland areas where we like to fish this time of year. We didn’t leave too early as with the cold sometimes it pays to wait for it to warm up slightly, especially when it is extremely cold like this. Water temperatures were in the low 50s when we got there, brrr! It was busy back there too there were probably 20 boats around throughout the day. We got on a good spot early on and while it wasn’t a red hot bite, we steadily picked away for a couple hours to start the day. Redfish, black drum, and sheepshead were had. Every so often the fish would rally and we would catch a few, then it would slow down with nothing for 20 or 30 minutes, then they’d start again. For what our conditions were and with it being so busy, I’d definitely take it! We found a few more reds on another spot, then tried somewhere without much luck at all for a while. Then before it was time to go we hit a good cold water snook area. Though today the snook were not there but we did get a trout and another black drum. I’m sure in a few more days the snook will show up in force, but probably need that water temperature to rise a few more degrees… low 60s is usually the magic number for that to happen when it rises up from the 50s. Maybe by monday or tuesday I’m thinking… Good news is I’m not booked for a little bit now, so if you want to go give me a shout. Like I said early next week looks to be good conditions with a warming trend after a hard cold snap. Those are usually the days you dream about. Give me a shout!
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing
