Backcountry Fishing Reports

Got out with Jim, Jim, James, and Bob for a full day trip.  Nice thing about the new boat you can do 4 when necessary.  I don’t really advertise it as it’s just a little more work than I like and can make the fishing a little more difficult with more bodies in the way and stuff to be done constantly.  But off season I take ’em!  Luckily fishing has been good enough to support it as well.  We headed out into the backcountry, caught some bait on the way.  It was pretty windy and a little rainy in Islamorada, but once we got tucked away in the everglades it was nice until we left for home.  We were on fish all day, fished four spots and just hung tight as we steadily caught fish all day long.  It kind of got better and better.  Lost count on snook but I imagine 60 or so, and a good dozen redfish of nice quality size.  The boys had a great time!  I’ll be back at it tomorrow, then I dont’ have much going on during the week.  But Monday looks fairly nice, and by wednesday it’s suppose to get very calm for a few days through Friday… The big fish will hopefully come out to play those days.  We may go fun fishing/filming Wednesday, but if you are looking for ideal days to fish, Thursday and Friday could be it at least from what it looks like right now.

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

Got out for a 3/4 day with Andrew, Jen, and Nathan.  We headed out into the backcountry, winds were northeast going more east throughout the day, blowing a good 15 to 20 mph.  We caught bait easily, one throw of the net and got a ton of pilchards.  We got into the backcountry and tried a few spots.  Last bit of falling tide and not much doing, each of the first 3 stops we made produced 1 snook each.  Finally the tide quit and we sat and as it changed, the bite picked up.  We had a good little rally, catching a good 7 or 8 snook and a redfish.  Then it slowed down again and we made a move.  Went to try some areas for some bigger fish.  Didn’t look great out there though, very muddy and the tide was already ripping.  We did manage one good snook bite that zipped off a good bit of drag but unfortunately pulled the hook.  But we did get a redfish and a tripletail while we were there so not a total loss!  After that the tide was high enough to try another area I’ve liked as of late.  We got into a crazy snook bite there, lost count but probably caught 40 or so there plus another 8 or 10 redfish.  A handful of better size snook too which was nice.  After that it was time to head on home, a tad bumpy but nothing the Contender 25 couldn’t handle we made good time cruising at 43 mph!  Back at it tomorrow.

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

Absolutely sick day with long time customer and friend Jeff G. The winds laid down after kicking up hard Southwest yesterday. I wasn’t sure what it’s be like out back sometimes that bad wind direction can turn it into an absolute mudhole. We caught bait and headed that way. Once there it didn’t look terrible, not the greatest but looked somewhat fishy. We stopped on a few spots, a medium snook and red to start, then nothing but catfish. Poked around another spot and then we got into some big girls! We got several nice size snook and lost a couple others with Jeff getting his biggest ever 37 inches and probably near 20 lbs! I dont like to hand em to weigh them though as it can kill the fish. After that we caught a nice redfish and a few other snook but nothing quite as big. After an hour things slowed down and we went and tried some shoreline stuff. Tons of smaller snook here we lost count on small 2 to 5 lbers. After the tide quite we decided to look for some big ones again as the wind really layed out flat and it looked good with the water getting a little green. Sure enough the big ones were chewing! We got a couple nice black drum in one spot, then found the nice size snooks again. They really started biting on the ride change and we got probably a half dozen in the 30 to 34 inch range, and some others a hair smaller. We also got a nice tripletail and jumped a couple small tarpon that didn’t stay buttoned. And also a juvenile Goliath grouper. Wow what a day love ’em like this and always fun with such a great customer.

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

Awesome day with Glen and Alan! We started out in hopes of some bigger fish. We had some luck and found some nicer black drums and snook, with some decent redfish mixed in. Unfortunately our nicest fish got away. Alan also got a tarpon to the boat which was cool,first cast! Later we had hooked up a double header of a big 20+ lb snook, and s 25+ lb black drum ! The snook came up shaking his head after a long 40 yard run, and chaffed the leader. Then the drum showed himself one time, and we saw a huge boil where a shark got him and that was that! Heartbreaker! We pulled hook and broke off a couple other jumbo snook, they just had our number today. But we still landed a few decent ones though. After that we found a ton of smaller snook, just about every cast for an hour! Afterwards we picked some more snook in other areas, as well as a juvenile Goliath grouper and a Cobia. Just an awesome day, hope this great fishing keeps up! It’s gonna be an awesome winter!

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

Fabulous day fishing today with my dad, wife Elizabeth, and our friend Clay. It was a little windy but not as bad as it had been, and a nice northeasterly direction in the Backcountry. We got into a great bite of black drums early on which was a lot of fun. I’d been finding a few the last week, and with the early fall conditions some more were around today. No jumbo monsters like last week, but still some very respectable fish. Always love catching them. We also got a few medium and one large size snook, and a few nice reds as well. My wife had a great battle with a big bull red that was probably 35 lbs but he got under the boat and broke her off! Later in the day we caught a bunch of smaller snook fishing some shorelines and sandbars, and finished up with a nice juvenile Goliath grouper on light tackle. Fishing has been really good and should continue with the fall bait run in effect, never know what you’ll find out there unless you go!

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