Got out with Greg, his son Greg, and friend Rich today, down from the Jersey area for a full day everglades fishing trip. The weather was cold as we had another cold front come in over the weekend, but not terribly cold as it got a week ago during the last front. The younger Greg only had on a drifit long sleeve shirt, and shorts, but never complained about the cold! I had on my long johns, long sleeves and jeans, sweatshirt, and foul weather gear, and was still chilly! But it was in the mid 50s here, and a little cooler back there, and water temperatures dipped down into the 56-60 degree range from what I saw. We made a far run and tried one of the ‘best’ spots on a cold day sometimes, luckily nobody was there. Unfortunately the fish were not there either… the tide wasn’t bad, but the water was very muddy and lots of seaweed drifting through which didn’t look or feel right. Anyways we didn’t have a bite after 20 minutes or so, and I headed back the other way. Hate when you leave early for something like that and it doesn’t work out, but at least that gave us time to get on some other spots. We got on another one I wanted to be on, not great fishing here either but we did manage a couple snook and trout at least and a bunch of catfish. We fished it hard for an hour but nothing else. We then tried some other areas, without much luck in the first stop, but did find a handful of islamorada black drums in the next stop. That was fun and the water looked pretty here, but only a few fish. After that we tried in the another area where a bunch of boats were this morning. I ran into a fellow guide I knew, and he said the bite was good right when the tide started and they had a flurry of action, but it had just died off. Not the news I wanted! Anyways we didn’t stay long there, tried another area with nothing, but then tried one more thing on the way home and found the day maker thankfully! The water looks gorgeous here, best I’ve seen in several days, and I knew the fish had to be there. We caught probably a half dozen florida keys snook, a half dozen redfish, a couple more black drums, and a few sheepshead and trout here. If you are going to find one hot spot during the day, it’s nice when it’s the last stop because it makes the whole day feel much better! Though of course I’ll take it whenever I can get it haha. Anyways when we tallied up the scorecard it was a great day, but of course I know we put a lot of time and effort in the rest of the day too. Back at it tomorrow, looks like it’ll still be breezy but northeast, and chilly but not quite as cold as it was. I doubt the water temps will change much, hopefully we are able to get on a solid bite tomorrow too!
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing
