Backcountry Fishing Reports

Got out for a full day with Vince, Steven, and their dad Roy.  Vince fished with me a year ago and had a good time catching nice cobia and other assorted species.  We caught pilchards and had nice live shrimp and headed into the backcountry everglades.  Snook was the primary target, yesterday we caught a handful but I saw where some boats were doing well with them so figured we’d try it today.  However a front came in and dropped water temperatures slightly as well as kicked up a northwest wind.  Today the water looked totally different compared to yesterday… very muddy and in some areas even some algae seemed to be coming in.  We worked one island moat very hard with our live baits and only caught one snapper.  We tried another island and did get a snook their as well as a juvenile goliath grouper and a monster 17 inch snapper.  After that though it quieted down.  We checked the western mainland shoreline and there was where the water had a yellow algae-like tinge, no bites in one creek that looked good other wise.  We ran back towards home and checked a few areas but I didn’t even bother to stop as I could tell it was a mud-out and wouldn’t be good.  We tried some other islands in the bay and found a good load of nice size snappers which were great as the boys wanted some table fare.  We also picked a few redfish too which was cool.  We hit another island after that and more nice size snappers, we got our limit of 15 for the 3 guys and then headed home.  Overall we made out OK but not easy by any means, never like it when a weak front comes in I usually want it to get cold fast.  But it is suppose to get colder and into the 50s so our winter time bite of nice snook, reds, and drum should turn back on.  Fishing through the 3rd then I’m open after that if anyone wants to go conditions should be favorable!

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

Got out with Tom and John today for a full day of backcountry fishing in the Florida Keys in December.  John is a regular to Bud n Marys and has fished with several guides out of there, and it was Johns first time in the backcountry saltwater fishing!  They were down from chicago where it is getting very cold.  The guys wanted some fish for dinner and sharks were a request as well as possibly snook or tarpon.  I said we might be able to do that, if not we’d give it a good try!  We caught pilchards to start our day and had some nice live shrimp too.  Bait was fairly easy which was good.  We tried some snook areas I hadn’t fished in a while.  Didn’t have much luck in the first area, we worked it hard making several moves.  We could hear snook popping our ‘freebie’ baits, but they wouldn’t bite our hooked bait.  We quit after an hour or so without any luck and tried another area.  There were 3 boats ahead of me here so that was discouraging, but christmas week can get packed in spots as just about every guide is out on the water.  We squeezed in and did hook a couple nice snook but they didn’t stay buttoned for us, one cut us off on a tree and the other pulled the hook.  But we had a couple shots, the other boats were catching a few but I dind’t want to crowd them so we left.  We tried an area for sharks and tarpon, had decent shark action and the guys each caught several blacktips.  We also did hook a nice 90 lb tarpon or so, but he unfortunately threw the hook straight away!  I’d been lucky lately not missing many bites but it was due to happen.  We then tried a spot for more snook and found a few redfish which was cool, and also caught a couple snook as well plus missed a few more fish.  We are catch and release with the redfish so we still had to get some dinner.  I didn’t have much time we high tailed it to some snapper areas, first stop was a bust.  The second stop though we hit the jackpot!  We caught our limit of nice 13-15 inch mangrove snappers in about 20 minutes.  Just incredible it usually takes you a couple hours to get that many but they were just eating every bait that hit the water.  The pilchards helped too getting the good size ones.  After that we called it a day and it was another good one with a tough start but strong finish.  Back at it tomorrow, looks like it’ll be getting slightly colder each night through the weekend, with it possibly getting into the 50s again early next week!  Should be good for our standard winter routine – snook, redfish, drum, mackerel, etc…  Will not be good for the little tarpon bite we’ve had.

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

Got out with John and his son Andrew today.  They are down from Wisconsin for the badgers/canes orange bowl game!  They wanted to try and mix things up as they had read my recent reports and I’ve been doing that a lot lately.  It’s nice some times to try different things especially when some things aren’t always red hot.  We hit the mackerel grounds first and it was a little bumpy getting their with the 20mph north wind, but we made it OK.  The spanish mackerel were chewing we must’ve caught over 2 dozen in little over an hour.  We then hit the tarpon channels and the tarpon were definitely there!  I knew though with the northerly wind they might not be real happy again.  We had plenty of shark action and definitely had tarpon around us, but they didn’t want to play.  Once the tide quit the wind also laid down a good bit.  We decided to go look for tripletails on the buoys.  That was productive we saw several of them and the boys each caught 1 and had several other shots but we had some pulled hooks and miscues, but fun doing it which is what counts.  We then tried a snook spot back around the mainland and didn’t get any snook, but we did get a very nice 6 or 7 lb redfish for Andrew!  The wind now kicked back more to the east and picked up a little bit again.  We steamed back to the tarpon grounds to try that again with the tide falling now.  Didn’t see quite as many fish but we did see a few and anchored up in that area.  Unfortunately though no bites again but we did get more sharks, and Andrew got a big 90-100 lb black tip which really put on a show!  All in all another great day though with good variety and plenty of action.  Back at it tomorrow I’ll likely do a similar game plan as it’s been working for me.  Wind is suppose to be lighter at 10 mph, and tomorrow night we will be getting back down into the mid 60s so the tarpon thing will likely be over for a while after tomorrow.  Then it’ll get slightly colder each night for the next several nights through the weekend.  Should be good for our drum/red/snook fishing in the ‘glades and I’m sure the mackerels won’t mind either.

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

Got out with Richard and Luke Cromwell today, return customers of mine that hadn’t been down in the last couple years.  Was good to see them and get out fishing for sure.  Fishing was pretty good we did a bit of everything.  Tried snook in the morning without much success in the first couple stops, but eventually found a few.  Lost one big 10+ lber next to the boat he cut us off I sword it was a shark or something, but we at least got a real good look at him!  We then found some nice sea trout and a few jacks fishing the shorelines, no more snook or redfish though which we were hoping for.  Since it was so calm and nice I figured we’d mix it up and try the gulf.  Lots of triple tail out there we caught several, mostly little guys but one keeper.  We did find a monster 12+ lb fish that we baited and got boatside.  I took a nice video but we unfortunately pulled the hook on him!  Heartbreaker would’ve loved a picture of that, but it’s part of the fishing game and we got the fight and memories anyways.  After that we gave the tarpon a try again.  They were still out there and it looked like slightly better conditions.  The water was a tad warmer, the wind was lighter and more easterly today.  We gave it a hard go and had some shark action, and did get a nice 20 lb cobia that we released. The tarpon were being tough though.  After about 1.5 hours and 4 moves though, we finally got lucky and hooked a nice 90 lber!  Luke fought him well and we got him boatside for some nice pictures.  Persistence paid off!  This time of year it’s no guarantee with them but if it’s warm and the conditions are right, it can definitely happen.  After that we tried one more spot for a possible snook or redfish, but no luck and we headed home.  Just a great day the boys were thrilled with the variety and several nice quality fish, even if we didn’t get them all in the boat!

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

Got out with Mark and his twin sons Steven and Tyler for a days fishing.  I had the last few days off over the holidays but loaded up on bait yesterday afternoon to be ready for this busy week coming up.  We had a mild front come in last night and it slightly chilled things down, not terribly, but I knew it might affect the good tarpon fishing we had the previous few days.  It can be a very fickle thing this time of year.  The water tempeatures were down to about 71, and they were around 74 a few days ago, and we had a northerly breeze in the morning.  The tarpon were around though we saw a ton of fish.  We gave it a good effort but did not have a bit, but we did get quite a few sharks and bluefish.  We also tried a spot for snook real quick at the start but no luck with that.  The tide took forever to start moving out which also didn’t help our tarpon cause.  Anyways we decided to mix it up after that and had great fun with the spanish mackerel.  I think we caught about 2 dozen in an hour.  We also found a few triple tails later on that were good for something different.  Sight casting on the buoys for triple tail is a lot of fun.  We decided to try the tarpon again in the afternoon, seeing as the water had warmed up a bit more and the wind was a little more easterly.  We saw plenty of fish again, but unfortunately no bites they were just not happy.  The shark bite was good though we caught plenty more blacktips then called it a day.  Back at it tomorrow might try some other stuff but will likely give the tarpon a shot at some point.

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