Backcountry Fishing Reports

Got out the last couple days for some fishing.  Yesterday I had my dad and our friends Andy Newman and Barry Gregg.  We went after some bigguns early, they weren’t super cooperative but managed a handful of nice fish.  Sometimes thats the way it goes you can spend hours trying to catch one good size trophy fish, and forgo catching tons of smaller ones for more action.  But when I take my dad, we’ve caught enough numbers in our day that we don’t mind the occasional strike out to get something glorious when it works out!  Dad got a monster red to start the day, a near 30 lb redfish.  Nothing much after that for a couple hours, then got into some smaller snook and I managed one decent 13 lber.  After that we ran out in the gulf looking for fish out there but didn’t see a whole lot.  Came back inshore, and we got a nice big 25 lb black drum!  Finished the day up with some smaller fish for action – snook and reds mostly.

Today I had Tommy, Kevin, and Nick who were visiting from Illinois and filming for their YouTube fishing show, McGrath fishing.  The wind had picked up a fair bit blowing northwest.  Not a favorite wind condition and we had a high falling tide to start the day.  Current was ripping in a lot of areas, but we got tucked away and picked away at snook and reds.  As the tide fell out and current slow down, the bite got better and better.  We kept moving around, and by the day’s end I think we boated well over 50 fish.  Nothing super huge but wasn’t the day for it.  But the guys got some great footage for their show.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got out with a long time friend Charlie Kluck and his buddy Herman down from North Dakota.  We had a slick out with the weather and looked like a gorgeous day.  Stuck on the outside as I figured the bugs would be bad early. We picked away catching a few redfish, trout, jack, mackerel, croaker, and stuff jigging along with shrimp.  We got in a good area and got a couple big black drum too which was awesome… big nasties about 22 and 25 lbs each!  After that we found a few more black drum and some snook in an area.  Then we got a nice redfish.  Worked our way into the creeks after that and tore up the smaller snook and a few decent reds along with a couple small goliath grouper, and had a tarpon on for a minute.  All in all just a fantastic day!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got out with Jim today just by himself again for our last day, gwen stayed at home.  We focused on trying to get some trophy fish, in hopes of some big ones but giving up possible numbers.  Picked away on some spots early.  A nice redfish, a couple nice juvenile goliath groupers, a few black drums including jims personal best about a 20 lber.  After that things slowed up a little we hit a few spots without much luck, but then finished up with a few more juvenile goliath groupers.  All in all not too shabby, back at it tomorrow but I think we’re going to be more in the numbers game but may try a few spots for some big ones.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Fun day with my dad, bean, and Vic Gaspeny.  We went after the big dogs…  good condition for it with the wind slicking out and colder water temps.  Found ’em good where we left them yesterday.  Big reds and some nice black drums, no snook here though.  Found some more reds in another area, and then one nice snook off another spot.  A few more nice black drums and one more smaller snook.  Then some more reds and drums to finish up the day.  Got some beauties up to 38 inches or so on the red dogs!  Glad to see those fish around.  Off for the weekend then back at it Monday!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Long time customers Jim & Gwen. Crazy fog early and warmed up considerably from the coldest day we’ve had in 10 years! Felt like a crushing situation. Snooks, reds, and drums early on though nothing huge. Tried some spots in hopes of big ones but lots of mud. Lots of smaller snook later on, then we nailed a home run with quite a few big black drum, couple large snook, and Jim’s biggest Red about a 15 lber! Calm days coming up should be some good fishing.  YouTube video will be up in a few days so check out the channel and make sure to subscribe!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing