Backcountry Fishing Reports

First week of January 2021 Islamorada Fishing Report

Some good conditions finally after kind of a crappy week of weather to finish up 2020!  Go figure what a way to end the year with it blowing 25!  But the new year started off right things calmed down, cooled down, and we caught some good fish – take a look!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing
YouTube: Bud n’ Mary’s Marina

Mid December Islamorada Fishing Report

Well winter is here we’ve had a few real cold fronts with temperatures dipping down into the 50s.  It had just warmed up after the last one and gotten to feel almost like summer again, and boom today was back into the high 50s in the morning.  But the fish haven’t minded I’ve had some luck with some bigger specimens the last week or so.  When it’s calm it’s been more productive for those big boys, but when the wind is blowing we’ve been fishing in the more protected areas and usually getting some good action with the numbers although smaller fish.  Though I’ve been spoiled what can I say!  Here are some of the great fish we caught in the last 10 days or so.  Some big redfish on the prowl in the near gulf, as well as some large black drum after the cold fronts.  The big snook have been around on & off all summer but will get good after it gets cold as well.  Plenty of days open in January and I still have some open during christmas week believe it or not.  January is one of my favorite months of the year to fish as it’s our coldest month and if you time it right that is often when the big boys come out to play.  Of course that’s hard to do but fishing is all about taking chances!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing
YouTube: Bud n’ Mary’s Marina

12/4/2020 Early December Islamorada Fishing Report

Well we finally are getting some cold weather down here in S Florida.  It’s been so warm through November and we even had some late season tropical development, but luckily no major storms to worry about.  But now the temperatures have dropped and it feels like winter.  As of late the water tempartures had dipped down into the low 60s, and warmed back up to near 70.  With that a lot of redfish have shown up with some black drum in the mix.  Snook fishing has stayed good as it has been all year.  But we got into some bigger fish the last few trips which was good to see.  The next few months, these big size fish are possible especially after the water temperatures dip and it gets nice afterwards.  Check out some of the big black drum we found today, as well as some big snook for my dad the past few trips.  Also a ton of good size redfish today too which was cool to see.  Between now and christmas is a good time to come and it’s not too busy.  And of course January is one of my favorite months of the year too with the coldest weather we usually see here.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing
YouTube: Bud n’ Mary’s Marina

Mangrove Snapper Fishing (Making some Ceviche!)

Awesome day before Tropical Storm Eta comes in… Brandon, Astrid, and myself caught some nice mangrove snappers.  A perfect little half day option.  Then we made some great Peruvian ceviche!  Make sure to subscribe to our channel if you like what you see!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing
YouTube: Bud n’ Mary’s Marina