Capt. Stephen got out on New Years Day for some January fishing in Islamorada. It was chilly as we had some cold weather move on in which is normal for this time of year. It’s one of the few months you can bet on getting some cold fronts and it can present some great backcountry opportunities. As with a lot in life it’s all about timing and you can catch it when the water temperatures has dropped too dramatically and it can be tough fishing. But if you are there when things stabilize and get right you can have some of the best fishing of your life! Often during the day you can see this happening as sometimes you won’t have a sniff for several hours in the morning if it’s gotten cold, but then by late morning after the waters been baking in the sun, the fish can turn on and pull you out of the boat. The cold also has a tendency to bring out some larger size fish… That’s a great time to catch large black drum, snook, and redfish which you don’t often see other times of year, especially the black drum. So Capt. Steve and my dad and good friend Ron Modra got out for a days fishing. We had some cold weather move in a few days ago and today seemed the right day as the winds calmed down somewhat. They found cobia in several spots in the near gulf, catching a double header in there first stop! Cobia are a great fight on light tackle and lots of fun! Later on the next stop they hooked a 50 lber that they had on for 20 minutes, but unfortunately a shark ate it… Then later they got into some larger size black drum, catching a few including one massive 30 lber. These guys pull very hard and the large ones are lots of fun and a unique catch here. After that they even hooked a few more big boys but unfortunately pulled the hook on one, and the other got them wrapped up in some tree limbs… but they figured either very large snook or possibly drum again too.
We will hopefully have a little bit more cold weather this month and this may present more opportunities at these large fish. The big snook of course can be around any time of year but those drum in particular love the cold of January. Cobia often stick around through the spring into March/April, and we start to get plenty of tarpon then too. If you want to get out on the water give me a shout, Stephen or myself have plenty of days this next month and can try and accommodate as best we can with the conditions.
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing
YouTube: Bud n’ Mary’s Marina
