Backcountry Fishing Reports

Brrrrr it was a chilly one today with the coldest day of the year here!  It dropped down into the 50s and the water temperatures plummeted down finally today.  Yesterday they didn’t get quite as cold as I thought but today it was in the high 50s as well in the backcountry while the air there was in the 40s first thing this morning.  It was a bone chilling ride over but not too bad the wind did die out some from yesterday and got nice in the afternoon.  We bundled up and it was OK.  I had my dad and Stephen Byrd, marina manager, out for some fun fishing today.  We got on a good bite of black drum early, and once it warmed up a little later the snook started to show up too!  We also picked a few sheepshead which was nice I haven’t caught many of them lately.  Everything was very lethargic and the fish were all freezing cold to the touch!  Working shrimp on the bottom with a jig head did the trick… very slow movement just twitching it up and down.  We slammed ’em good and I think caught over 30 fish in just one spot.  After that we tried another area without much luck, we tried drifting and casting and working a large ground to scout it out but only had a couple bites we missed.  After that we ran further and found a good number of boats on a lot of spots.  We squeezed in though and got on another good snook bite, this time some larger fish!  Also got a nice redfish here.  After that we tried some other stuff on the way home, in an area where I hadn’t had much luck since IRMA.  I’ve been in there quite a few times and it’s normally very good fishing in the fall/winter, but just hadn’t been lately.  Today though we did find some fish in there so that was great to see.  Mostly black drum, though did get one more snook and a few trout too, and that was out of two different spots.  It stayed cold all day and still needed 3 layers for the ride home!  Looks to stay chilly for a few more days though it should be nice as the winds let up.  The weekend it is finally suppose to get back into the upper 70s, but the water will likely stay fairly chilly so it’ll feel colder on the boat.  I’m fishing through Friday so check back for more reports, and if you want to get out this weekend or next week I’m open hit me up!

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

Well Pat called me yesterday wanting to get out fishing today.  He’d been following my islamorada fishing reports for some time and had the chance to go.  I told him no problem.  A severe cold front made its way in last night and to be honest it can make the fishing incredible, or it can make it very tough.  It really depends how hard it blows, how much sediment gets stirred up in the water, how cold it gets, and how the tide plays into all of that.  You honestly don’t really know unless you go.  Anyways we went for it I had a good feeling.  We were loaded with live shrimp for bait and headed back into the everglades.  The ride was a little sport with 30 mph winds, but really not too bad just in a few spots did we get a little wet when we had to go side to the waves, but the majority of the ride was smooth sailing against the shallow banks.  We got on the backcountry keys fish right away with a nice red and then jumped a good snook off.  We proceeded to catch a vartiety of fish including black drum, snook, one other redfish, and Pat got a nice juvenile tarpon!   The fish came in flurries, and patience was key we had to leave the baits sit and just twitch them once in a while.  No fast movement.  I think we caught close to 3 dozen fish it was pretty darn good!  As the tide fell the water muddied up more and the bite seemed to slow down.  So we tried some other areas and didn’t have a whole lot of luck back there, I think we caught one more black drum and that was it.  We made our way home and that ride was much nicer as the winds had laid down to 15-20, and it was north still so it was behind us more.  We had a nice chat with an everglades park ranger who stopped us on the way back, of course all my safety gear was in order!  A great day in the backcountry and was a pleasure to get out fishing.  Hopefully they bite for us tomorrow I’m taking my dad and then another trip on Tuesday.  But I have openings this upcoming weekend if anyone wants to go!

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

Got out for a fun fishing trip with my pal Capt. Bill Bassett.  We wanted to explore some areas we hadn’t been in a while, and fish a few things neither of us had been too before.  It’s funny that living down here there are still areas that we haven’t fished with decades of fishing experience between us, but the Keys and Everglades are that vast and you get dialed in to your routine areas so it happens.  Anyways pilchards were nice and easy we found a load on the ocean side.  We stopped to try a secret snook spot out on the Atlantic side, and we did find a few and boated one nice one and lost another!  That was cool to see and those spots come in handy once in a while when we are fishing close to home.  We jetted back into the bay towards the flamingo area of the everglades.  We fished some islands that we hadn’t been to in a while.  Ones that are tough to get in that I usually don’t take my boat in as it can get very skinny on the wrong tides.  Though today I think I could’ve made it and I may try when we have higher water.  Anyways we worked around and found a good load of nice snook there as well as one redfish.  It was fun catching them in an area I don’t fish often as I said.  After that we tried another island that neither of us had fished in a while.  Years ago it was very good though in recent times it hasn’t produced much.  Unfortunately it didn’t produce much today but maybe one day it’ll get good again.  After that we hit another island neither of us had ever been too.  It looked pretty with nice flowing water.  We found loads of baby barracudas and mangrove snappers, as well as some lemon sharks swimming around.  It looked very lively, but no snook or reds which were were hoping for.  After that we called it a morning and headed home.  We found another load of pilchards in the bay on the way home and decided to fill the well so we could put bait in our pens.  With the impending cold front tomorrow night, we may not need them for a while as when the water temperatures get into the 60s and below, most fish are eating shrimp better than anything especially in the backcountry.  But it’ll be nice to have them when things warm back up.  Looks to stay cold for at least 4 days though, and the water may take a few days after that to get back to the 70 degree range.  But I think we are in store for a great week of fishing once things stabilize.  I’ll be out Monday and Tuesday so will hopefully have good reports.  I am available Sunday if anyone wants to go as of now, though had a party possibly interested.

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

Fun little half day with Robert and Bradley. They were visiting Florida from up in the NY area and drove down from Hollywood to meet me this AM. I had bait penned up from a few days ago, nice live pilchards, and plenty of shrimp. We headed back towards Flamingo where I’ve been having some luck with snook as of late. Took a little bit to get them going somewhat but after working at it we began picking away at them. I think we landed 7 or so and lost another 3 or 4, pretty good fishing! Snook are all catch and release now, which I prefer to do most of the time anyways. After that we hit some snapper holes and got our limit quickly again. Not quite as large of snappers as the other day but still very respectable. We made our way home after that and cleaned fish for the boys for lunch. Looks like we have a real cold front coming in Saturday which overall should be good for much of our Backcountry fishing. However it may make that day particular not very fishable as the winds are gonna crank and looks like good chances of rain too. Looks to stay in the high 50s for several days, so it’ll be legit cold for here. Might be time for the drums and reds to fire up… be ready when it gets nice. I have Sunday open if anyone wants to give that a whirl it could be very good.

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

Got out with Tim and his daughter Bridgette today for a full day of december backcountry fishing in islamorada.  We had pilchards stashed away from yesterday plus some nice jumbo live shrimp that were delivered in the AM.  We headed out and tried some of the areas where I’d had luck for snooks, reds, and snappers a few days ago.  Tides were a little different today, same direction but the level was much higher.  We didn’t do much the first stop where I had done well the other day, and then struck out in another spot after that.  I was a little worried and was about to bail, but then I hit one more area that looked promising.  We got zinged by a large mangrove snapper right away on our pilchard, so I anchored the boat and we got to fishin’.  Soon we were catching several nice size snappers, and a few snook showed up too.  We had very good fishing for a little window, then it slowed down.  I continued working the edge, pitching baits near the mangroves, and we stayed in the fish for a couple hours.  We easily got our limit of mangrove snappers, up to 17 inches nice big ones.  I think we also caught about 8 snook and lost another half dozen I’d say.  Phenomenal fishing!  After we ran out of the live pilchards we headed out to the gulf in search of spanish mackerel.  It was hot and calm, but I found an area where the water looked good.  We anchored up on some potholes, and started to chum with our frozen chum block and a little bit of shrimp.  Soon we had fish behind the boat, we casted jigs tipped with shrimp and caught blue runners, spanish mackerel, lane snappers, and big ladyfish.  All you could want for the next hour!  Many of the mackerel are nicer size right now too, still being the early arrivals.  We finished there a little later, and kept some ladyfish and mackerels for bait for some larger quarry.  We tried some areas for sharks and possibly tarpon since it was warm enough, but didn’t see much for tarpon.  We never really had a shark bite either, I was surprised as the water was in the high 70s, plenty warm for them.  But oh well that’s how it goes, and we still had a banner day regardless.  On the way home we saw a bald eagle which was cool and had some manatees waiting for us at the dock!

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