Backcountry Fishing Reports

Well we just had some major weather move through over the weekend again.  A late season tropical system developed and it poured rain and blew over 30 knots Friday through Sunday… very strange weather and very similar to the tropical system we had a little over a month ago.  Strange for this time of year.  But a cold front moved in soon after and things dropped into the high 50s last night.  The bay was pretty muddy but not terrible overall and from here on out the wind is suppose to stay northeasterly until Xmas, and then maybe lay out somewhat over Xmas week to New Years but of course that is still a bit of time away so may change.  But no more cold weather forecast to get us until then as of now so I think it could be good stable conditions and good fishing!  Today I had my dad and Capt. Stephen who is now running my Contender just out fun fishing.  We tried for some big fish and were particularly interested to see if some big drums had moved in.  Not a whole lot around but we did find one spot where we managed a couple decent sized black drums, and a pretty good sized snook too!  So that was good to see.  I’m hoping in January when we perhaps get some even cold weather we’ll get a few days where some of those big fish move in quite a few spots, but that’ll remain to be seen.  But overall the backcountry bite has been decent around the recent cold fronts thus far.  If you want to get a trip booked let me know, Capt. Stephen and Capt. Trent both have some availability between now and New Years.  Though of course Xmas week books up quick so I’d recommend getting something on the calendar if you plan to be here then ASAP.

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

Well we had another front come in… this one got a bit chillier than last week with temperatures dropping to 60ish and water temps actually got down to 62 in some areas I saw and slightly warmer in the deeper parts.  I had Jim and his brother Jason good repeat customers of mine who flew in short notice to escape the colder weather they were experiencing further north!  We loaded up with live shrimp which thankfully this time of year are easier to come by with the cooler temperatures.  We ran deep into the everglades and caught the end of the falling tide which I figured would be a little slow to start out with.  That is going to be the colder part of the day as well as the fact that as of late the end of the falling tide hasn’t been too productive with the fish.  But when you go into it knowing the conditions and what’s happened recently, it gives you the confidence sometimes to wait things out as opposed to just running around and trying to find a hot bite that may not exist.  We took a few minutes to check a spot for tarpon even though it was cold because there were quite a few around the day before, but today they weren’t too be found.  We then hit the creeks to get into protected water as the winds were cranking 20-25mph.  We gave it some time in some traditional cooler-weather areas, fishing deeper water working our shrimps very slowly on the bottom over some rock beds and gravel areas.  Not much happening though.  We moved around a few times and eventually found a couple of sheepshead, a black drum, and a few ladyfish.  Now having been at it for a little over an hour, the tide was coming in so we moved to another area I had more confidence in.  We picked a couple of redfish in the first spot there… good sign!  Then the next spot we missed something else.  Then we made another move and it was around 10:30AM and boom!  All of a sudden a nice snook.  They proceeded to bite well for about 45 minutes, we caught probably 20 or so with a few decent sized ones mixed in.  Amazing how things can just turn on like that when things get right, and often on colder days you have to wait for that water temperature to warm up a hair and then it can be the best fishing you’ll ever see!  After we had our fill and things slowed down we moved a couple more times, and we got a couple more snook with one being very good size the nicest of the day.  Then another couple in another spot.  Now we had a little bit of time left and wanted to try some of our spots for the ‘big boys’ just to see if it was productive.  We were out the day before trying that and we didn’t see much, only hooking one good fish that day that got eaten by a shark right away.  But today we had better luck!  Jason got two good size reds back to back of 8 and 10 lbs or so.  Then we got a decent snook about a 34 incher which was awesome.  Then it was about time to go and we made a drift and just let our pinfish drag along as we pulled the trolling motor.  Sure enough Jim hooked a nice one that thumped real good and made a couple of runs… we were super stoked but unfortunately then the drag just started going out hard and heavy and didn’t stop… I knew what that meant – shark had eaten whatever it was!  Just like the day before when we hooked that big fish.  Anyways that was that but overall we put a banner day together even though the first couple of hours were uneventful with just a couple of fish.

Now we have some bad weather here looks like through the weekend.  Lots of rain and wind and might even turn into some kind of tropical system.  But the good news is I think it’ll be good for the fishing in the long run as those types of storms usually are they just mix everything up and get the bait stirred up, the water mixed up, and a bit of a shock to the system.  I’m really looking forward to January as that is some of my favorite fishing of the year for big snook, black drum, and redfish.  We get our coldest weather at that time and if you hit things right those big fish can really be schooled up and give you some great opportunities.  Capt. Trent and Capt. Stephen both still have a few days over christmas week available, and after this weather blows through as well.  So if you want to get out anytime this month let me know.  I’ll be fishing personally some in January still at the offseason rate so if you want to get out with me for some of our good winter time backcountry fishing let me now.  Then I imagine by February we’ll be tuned into the Tarpon when things warm up!

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

Had both boats out with myself and Capt. Stephen running the Contender Bays the last two days.  First day we fished Kenneth and his racing crew.  It was a prefrontal conditions light north wind but still very warm as it has been for much of the fall and winter in the 80s.  Had great days doing a variety of things!  My boat we hung around the backcountry islands and had a good bite of snook with some redfish mixed in and small goliath groupers.  I think we had over 20 of those in total had to work around for them a little bit but consistent enough action to keep it interesting!   After that we caught nice size snappers on our pilchards for dinner and got our limit again working around for the larger snappers makes it a bit more challenging and fun.  Steves boat had some snook and redfish early and then hit the gulf and got into some spanish mackerel and plenty of snapper out there he had 4 guys so they had there 20 snappers too.  They hooked up with a large tarpon at the end of the day too though it broke through the leader on a massive jump.

Yesterday I had Pride and Cile who are regular customers of mine though they hadn’t been down in a few years.  Today the front came in and it was in the low 60s and chilly!  Strong 25 mph north wind too but the ride into the backcountry was a breeze on the comfortable contender bay boat, we didn’t take a drop of spray!  We just fished shrimp and we picked around catching snook, redfish, and black drum.  It wasn’t as productive as the previous day, and a few spots had nothing at all.  Though we were fishing a different area where we were tucked inside out of the wind.  Though we did get into one good spot where we caught a dozen or so fish in one area, all the rest were just one or two fish and a few with nothing.  But still good day overall and great fishing with them again.  Stephen had fished my dad and his pal Ricky Walker from England.  They had similar fishing with snook and a few redfish.  They did get a nice juvenile tarpon at the end of the day though which was very cool!

Fishing should remain good this December it’s suppose to warm back up again but I’m sure it’ll get colder again here in the future at some point.  Plenty of fishing options though right now with the backcountry, gulf, and patch reefs, and as mentioned still some tarpon around when its warmer too so you never know!  Give me a shout to get out fishing we have boats ready to roll.

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

Capt. Stephen got out with some of the crew from SCB/Shallow Sport to do a little patch reef fishing.  We had a minor front come in and the temperatures dropped to the mid 60s, not super cold but definitely a change from the near 80 degree weather we’ve had.  Bait has been plentiful we’ve been getting good sized shrimp at the marina office and catchable pilchards are in quite a few areas near Islamorada and beyond.  One thing about this time of year is the bait is usually a gimme and that is often half the battle of a good day of fishing.  The guys fished the ocean side patches which are small bits of coral reef you can find on the Atlantic side in generally shallow water 10 to 30 ft.  They caught a wide variety including snappers (mangroves, yellowtails, and muttons), groupers, hogfish, mackerel, and more.  The nicer snappers take the pilchards well and so do the groupers.  The hogfish definitely prefer the shrimp for a meal.  They are great eating but unfortunately we cannot keep them this time of year any longer.  A big bull shark was also had which are fun to catch if you are looking for something big to pull on too.  Look for patch reef fishing to be a good option here in the Florida Keys through the spring.  I often recommend it more on half day trips though you can definitely make a day out of it too, or at least do it for part of the day and then try other things too.  We’ve got availability now through christmas so if you want to get out give us a shout.  After Christmas is booking up quick and next year seasonal fishing time is starting to fill up too.

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

November is here and that usually means good backcountry fishin’!  We’ve been getting into some snook lately and a few nicer size speciemens around which is always great to see.  Had my dad out today and our buddy Andy Newman and we found a big girl snook for pops which he was thrilled about.  The last few times out we’ve caught a few but they weren’t quite as big as the specimen we boated today!  Andy also got a nice tarpon on light tackle which was a cool catch.  As things cool off more in the winter with some cold fronts, we can expect to get some shots at ultra large size snook as well as big black drum.  One of my favorite times of year is January as that’s the only consistent cold weather we often get.  Right now there is plenty of baitfish around in the backcountry making that part of the day easy.  Smaller snook, redfish, trout, tarpon, and more can be found around the backcountry islands and channels.  Between now and christmas business is fairly slow too so you really get the place to yourself.  I’ve got days open myself personally as well as my team of captains.  Capt. Trent is even offering a good discounted rate right now before the holidays so give me a shout and take advantage while you can!

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