Backcountry Fishing Reports

Got out for a 3/4 day with Peter, Bill, and Sam who were visiting down from up north, and Bill lives in ft. lauderdale.  It was chilly as we had another major front a couple nights ago, where it got down into the high 40s in key largo the night before…. brrr!  We braved the ride into the everglades, it was cold but the wind wasn’t too crazy.  Water temperatures were down in the low 50s, very cold for here.  There were a few boats back there already, we got on a spot that I like that can be very good some times.  It wasn’t red hot action this morning, but we did catch a few black drum, a nice redfish, a snook, and a sheepshead there.  So a nice mixed bag and slow pick of fish but at least we were catching.  The bite quit and we made a move towards another area.  There were a lot of boats here unfortunately, 6 to be exact!  We slid in and worked a spot that we could get near, and got a black drum but nothing else.  Saw a few boats catching snook.  I knew the captains and we eventually were able to slide in near them.  We were able to pick a few snook from that spot and caught probably 5 or so, including a nice 10 lb fish for Bill!  That fish made the day for sure.  After that it was time for us to go since we just had a 3/4 day, I heard the bite stayed on there for another hour or so until the tide got high and ripping in.  Anyways glad to have caught some fish in some extreme conditions!  We’ll be on a warming trend throughout the week, still suppose to be a little breezy but not too bad.  I’m booked every day except this Sunday for the next week and then going out of town after next Saturday.  If you wanna go fish on Sunday give me a shout, otherwise I’ll be back at it in early February if you are around then.  I’ll have another report tomorrow back on the grind.

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

Had a full day today with the three stevens… grandfather, father, and son!  It was blustery blowing 25 mph northeast!  Still chilly but not as cold as it’s been, though suppose to get cold again tomorrow night.  We stuck close as the guys wanted to have action, possibly something to eat, and to try and catch sharks.  Sharks aren’t always easy when the water is cold in the bay… so by sticking close we stayed near the warmer atlantic waters where I hoped they’d be more active.  We fished the bay to start, and had a little variety with good handful of spanish mackerel, blue fish, blue runners, and even a small cobia!  Almost though the cobia was a remora, they look very similar when that size and behave the same way sometimes.  He was just swimming in the chum right by the boat.  After we had enough mackerel for bait we put the shark rod out.  It wasn’t instant action but we did catch a couple sharks over the next hour, a black tip and an atlantic sharp nose.  After that we went and hit the patch reefs out on the atlantic side.  This was good fishing, and not too much rougher than it was on the bay really.  We had a lot of lane snappers, which we kept for dinner, and also some porgy and a hogfish, along with a few other random reef fish.  Good fishing!  We also got another shark on a light rod that ate a shrimp.  We tried another area for sharks after that without any luck, and then ran back to where we started.  We caught 3 more sharks in the last hour with the tide switched around now, and also a few more blue runners and bluefish.  All in all an action packed day, we kept it simple but got exactly what the guys wanted – i’ll take it!  Off the next few days until Saturday, but with the cold front water temperatures should stay low.  Fishing should stay decent as the fish seem to have adjusted to the cold at this point.

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

Got out with Greg, his son Greg, and friend Rich today, down from the Jersey area for a full day everglades fishing trip.  The weather was cold as we had another cold front come in over the weekend, but not terribly cold as it got a week ago during the last front.  The younger Greg only had on a drifit long sleeve shirt, and shorts, but never complained about the cold!  I had on my long johns, long sleeves and jeans, sweatshirt, and foul weather gear, and was still chilly!  But it was in the mid 50s here, and a little cooler back there, and water temperatures dipped down into the 56-60 degree range from what I saw.  We made a far run and tried one of the ‘best’ spots on a cold day sometimes, luckily nobody was there.  Unfortunately the fish were not there either… the tide wasn’t bad, but the water was very muddy and lots of seaweed drifting through which didn’t look or feel right.  Anyways we didn’t have a bite after 20 minutes or so, and I headed back the other way.  Hate when you leave early for something like that and it doesn’t work out, but at least that gave us time to get on some other spots.  We got on another one I wanted to be on, not great fishing here either but we did manage a couple snook and trout at least and a bunch of catfish.  We fished it hard for an hour but nothing else.  We then tried some other areas, without much luck in the first stop, but did find a handful of islamorada black drums in the next stop.  That was fun and the water looked pretty here, but only a few fish.  After that we tried in the another area where a bunch of boats were this morning.  I ran into a fellow guide I knew, and he said the bite was good right when the tide started and they had a flurry of action, but it had just died off.  Not the news I wanted!  Anyways we didn’t stay long there, tried another area with nothing, but then tried one more thing on the way home and found the day maker thankfully!  The water looks gorgeous here, best I’ve seen in several days, and I knew the fish had to be there.  We caught probably a half dozen florida keys snook, a half dozen redfish, a couple more black drums, and a few sheepshead and trout here.  If you are going to find one hot spot during the day, it’s nice when it’s the last stop because it makes the whole day feel much better!  Though of course I’ll take it whenever I can get it haha.  Anyways when we tallied up the scorecard it was a great day, but of course I know we put a lot of time and effort in the rest of the day too.  Back at it tomorrow, looks like it’ll still be breezy but northeast, and chilly but not quite as cold as it was.  I doubt the water temps will change much, hopefully we are able to get on a solid bite tomorrow too!

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

Got out for a full day today in the everglades backcountry and we did a mixed bag trip.  Tonight we have a cold front coming in and it is suppose to drop back into the 50s for a couple nights.  Today though it was not too cold, water temps were still in the high 60s after the last front they’ve slowly been warming.  We caught a handful of black drums and a snook back in the everglades.  Not a red hot bite and there were a lot of boats back there due to it being the weekend.  Anyways glad we got a few and then we tried some other areas.  Fished one island pretty hard for snook, but no bites there unfortunately.  We had both pilchards and shrimp which we tried, as in this area it was a little bit warmer.  After that we tried a snapper area and had good luck there, catching a half dozen nice 12-14 inch snappers.  Also got a nice redfish here which we released as we don’t like killing the few redfish that are around and live in those areas.  On the way home we tried another snapper area that wasn’t as productive, lots of fish there but they didn’t want to eat the larger pilchards, and small guys picked away our shrimps.  But we did manage a couple more snappers at least.  We tried a patch reef on the way home and caught a bunch of lane snapper out there, nothing real big but good action and kept a few for dinner to supplement what we had in the box.  So all in all not a bad day with a handful of quality fish, and plenty for dinner.  Off tomorrow and back at it Monday and Tuesday, then not much until next Saturday again.  But this week could be good fishing as it will cool off again and shouldn’t be too busy back there being mid-week….  I like the looks of it!

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

Got out for a day of fun fishing with my wife Elizabeth Baxter today.  It was slick calm and there was a slight chance of rain, but most of it went by early in the morning.  It stayed overcast all day and looked like a real ‘fishy’ day!  The creeks I knew would be very buggy with no wind and a warming trend.  We tried a few areas near the mouths of some creeks, and the bugs definitely were coming out but not too bad there in the open areas anyhow.  Fishing was a little slow to start, we managed one nice black drum in the first stop and a trout.  Nothing in the next stop.  And then we worked a whole shoreline for about an hour and only got one other black drum there.  It looked really good too I was surprised!  After that we continued further back into the everglades up the southwestern coast of the mainland.  We tried a few pieces of structure in the gulf, no luck there but did mark a few fish on my garmin bottom machine which got me excited but never had a bite.  We tried a few other creeks up here since it was getting later in the day and figured the bugs wouldn’t be as bad.  They were still around, but not the nasty noseeums these were small flies that didn’t really bother you too much so they were bearable.  Anyhow we didn’t get anything in these two creeks in the first couple stops.  We did find a few trout inside one at a different spot though.  No snook, redfish, or drum though!  We worked our way back towards the area we were fishing earlier, and got on a good spot that can produce when it is colder temperatures.  Surprisingly nobody was there though as soon as we pulled up another boat was steaming to get over there but we were first luckily.  The other day I fished here and we caught a bunch of trout and a handful of drums.  Today the tide was down more and the conditions just looked more ‘right.’  We caught quite a few black drum here, 3 redfish, 1 snook, a sheepshead, and probably 10 trout or so.  Really good fishing for sure!  I was hoping we might get a big lunker black drum, but not to be today.  Anyways we called it a day after that, I was glad we got to see the everglades on such a gorgeous day.  My wife doesn’t get to go back there nearly as much as I do so just being there is good enough for her.  But was definitely glad we got to finish up with a bunch of fish too!  Just goes to show you some times you can work hard all day and not produce much, and then you get in the right spot at the right time, and can make your whole day of fish in under an hour sometimes.  But some times that is tough when you are competing with other boats and such as most of them want to be in those same spots too!

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