Backcountry Fishing Reports

Got out with Bruce, Dan, and Alan today, return customers who come down from Miami to visit the Keys. The weather was gorgeous with light northeasterly winds. They originally wanted to do a half day, but wanted to target snook. Most of the areas where we snook fish in the everglades are an hour run, so unless you get lucky and hit ’em good in your first or second stop, it can be tough to do with only a couple hours of fishing time. Plus with the way fishing has been lately with all the nasty water around and temperature fluctuations, where the bite is has been changing day by day so more time lets you work more areas, fish different tides, etc… Today also was almost one of those days where we jokingly say it’s too pretty to do that kind of fishing… as when it gets calm and warm in the ‘snook areas’ especially in the winter, it can often be very buggy and tougher fishing. Often times your ‘open water’ areas can be more productive on days like this. Anyways we did manage to get in on a decent bite first thing on the last of the falling tide and the bugs weren’t too bad, not red hot but I think we managed to catch 7 or 8 snook and probably missed another half dozen. This was an area that few days ago there wasn’t much of anything as the tide was incoming those days and bringing lots of muddy ugly water in. Once the tide turned we backtracked and fished some areas where I’d had luck the last few days. Unfortunately today there wasn’t much going on there, I was actually a bit surprised. We worked a couple areas with the trolling motor without a sniff aside from a few catfish, then tried anchoring in another spot that had been real good when the water was colder, but nothing at all there today aside from a few catfish. No drum or redfish today either – they definitely prefer the cooler water temperatures and it has risen up from a few days ago. After that we tried one other creek that I had caught a few redfish in yesterday. We did manage to get another snook there, and then had another good bite I thought was a snook but ended up being a very large hardhead catfish! Anyways I was glad we were able to catch a few fish and enjoy a beautiful day in everglades national park.

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

Another great day on the H20 with Ron and his son Mark. They swordfished yesterday with my brother Nick Stanczyk and got one to the boat. Today we mixed it up a bit in the backcountry. Hit the Everglades to start and boy was it buggy! With the lighter winds and warming trend the noseums were thick. We didn’t get a whole lot at our first stop except bug bites so we tried another area. This was a little more open and the bugs relented. We got into a decent snook bite and landed quite a few fish. We then moved around a bit and Ron got a nice slot size snook! Mark got a couple more smaller ones too. After that we tried elsewhere and Mark got a couple of redfish which was cool. We then ran and tried the gulf… Lots of nasty brown water out there. Looked for tripletails but no luck with that. We finally found some cleaner water near a mackerel hole I like. We chummed for a while without much luck but then a few fish started biting. We got a few mackerels including one nice large one, a couple big ladyfish, a bluefish, and a good handful of jacks and blue runners. We didn’t have the best tide, usually prefer it falling, but you have to work with what you got! All in all a good mixed bag day… the boys were very happy with two good fishing trips in the keys. Hopefully the mackerels will show up a bit better later this month. I think with a little more cold and cleaner water they will.

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

Another fabulous day out on the water here in Islamorada, Florida Keys. Got out for some ‘fun fishing’ with my dad, Richard Stanczyk Sr. and his friend and neighbor Peter. Temperatures stayed cool last night in the low 60s in the keys and the winds calmed down somewhat to 10-15 mph northeast and got even calmer by the afternoon. The water temperatures in the backcountry dipped further, getting down around 64 in some of the areas we fished first thing in the morning. Sometimes though that is a recipe for good fishing and today that was the case! We were able to get our hands on some good live shrimp which is usually all you need when the water is as cold as it was. The water had cleaned up a bit more from yesterday so we found fish in a few more areas. Started off slow but as things warmed up and the tide got moving, the bite picked up. We picked away at a handful of black drums early on. Saw quite a few juvenile tarpon rolling around but they weren’t too interested in our offerings, but that didn’t surprise me with as chilly as it was. After an hour or so of that we got into a good school of redfish and snook! It was fast and furious for a little while and we landed probably 8 snook and half a dozen reds. That slowed down and the catfish showed up so we decided to move. I tried some shoreline areas as it was a little later and things got even warmer. We didn’t have a whole lot of luck with that, but we did manage a nice snook at least. After that we just looked around a bit and enjoyed the beautiful morning and all the wild bird life. We tried a couple more shorelines on the way home and caught a few more catfish. We were just about to give up and then all of a sudden Peter got a snook, and then my dad hooked a larger one. His ended up being the snook of the day, a nice 8 lber or so.

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

Stellar day for Jon Patten Colin Joy and Reef Patten in the everglades! Last night a reinforcing cold front came in and dropped our temperatures down again into the low 60s in Islamorada, and yesterday winds were kicking 30 mph out of the NW. This morning though the winds subsided and it was a manageable 15 mph today, which made for a fairly nice ride out all things considered. Unfortunately the shrimp boats didn’t make it out yesterday due to the winds which rarely happens, so we had to make due with some dead and frozen bait. Luckily the fish didn’t seem to mind! We found a mix of black drum, redfish, and snook in several different spots in the backcountry. A few nice size ones too including a good 20 lb black drum and an 8 lb snook! There was a good bit of dirty water though due to the howling winds yesterday, but finding the areas where it was clean made all the difference. The water temperatures dropped down into the high 60s, so the fish are still a little in that transitional shock mode, but patience definitely paid off when fishing our baits. By late morning it was absolutely beautiful back there and you could feel the sun warming things up nicely. Looks like the forecast for the foreseeable future is very good with light 10-15mph northeasterly wind. Going out for fun tomorrow and then these guys want to try again possibly on Wednesday, but if you are looking to get out there fishing this week looks to be a good one.  Get on down here for some october fishing in islamorada!

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

Got out with Bud, Kyle, and Anna today for a full day.  We headed out into the backcountry with a bunch of shrimp.  I skipped pilchards this morning as a buddy gave me a handful, and the water temps are still chilly so shrimp usually work just as well if not better.  Also wanted to get back to the fishing grounds early as I figured it might be busy back there.  On that part I was right… we must’ve had 20 boats fishing in the canals.  I guess they knew the weather was gonna be crummy over the weekend so they came out today.  Unfortunately boats were on every spot I wanted to stop at… so we just started trying some other areas.  No luck the first two spots.  Then a boat left off a spot I know had been good lately, so we ran in there quickly.  We caught a redfish right away, then proceeded to catch a decent number more as well as plenty of black drum and a few snook.  I was surprised as after seeing the other boat leave I thought it wouldn’t be too good.  After we finished there we worked our way back towards the other way we had came.  Found a few snook on one spot I hadn’t fished in a while so that was nice and also got a black drum there.  Then nothing in a couple more spots.  Then the last stop of the day, Anna got a nice snook on a shrimp to finish the day.  We saw some crocodolies, white pelicans, and spoonbills out there as well.  It was the perfect trip for this crew and everything they wanted to do while fishing in the everglades.  Looks like we might get some rain tomorrow and nasty wind sunday as another front is coming in.  Hoping I can sneak out tomorrow at least, then suppose to fish monday.  I think it’ll be good early next week as things cool off further, and the weekend crowd will be gone.

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