Backcountry Fishing Reports

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

Got out today after the cold front came in yesterday.  The temperatures dropped dramatically and it was in the low 60s this morning, brrr!  I don’t remember the last time it got this cold in October it’s been a long time.  We prepared for some ‘winter time’ fishing and got some shrimp and caught a handful of pilchards.  The everglades creeks were our destination.  We tried a few areas first where I had good fishing a few days ago.  However today there wasn’t much there.  We tried 3 spots in the area, and all we got was a few catfish!  Conditions looked reasonably good in one of the spots too.  After that we bailed and headed back towards another spot we passed by.  Here we found some fish!  It wasn’t a red hot bite, but we got a few snook to start with, one about every 5 minutes.  Then we got a few reds, including a double header red and black drum.  We proceeded to ‘pick away’ at the fish for another hour or so.  I think all in all we probably caught about 15 fish here.  Things dried up and we tried some other smaller creek areas which are normally good in the winter.  However it was tough fishing in there, we caught one more little snook and a sheepshead in one spot, and then nothing else anywhere.  We probably hit about 7 or 8 different spots in there too… just power fishing for 5-10 minutes a spot and moving.  Hopefully things get a little easier soon.  Seems that’s been par for the course – you can get lucky and find one good spot a day, but if somebody beats you there you might have a tough day!  Anyways glad we made it happen.  Back at it tomorrow.

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

Got out with Steve and Mario for some fishing this morning.  We just did an easy little half day trip.  The boys wanted some fish for dinner and then whatever else was a bonus.  We had a cold front coming in, and the forecast was calling for rain.  Luckily though the rain wasn’t too bad we got a little drizzle early on the ride out, and that was it.  Bait was difficult with the 20 knot wind, we did see a little bit but I wasn’t able to capitalize as I didnt’ have my net loaded at the time.  It was so muddy that we weren’t able to see them after that.  Luckily I had some leftover cut bait from several days ago so we just went and used that.  Snappers weren’t very easy though we managed to pick away at them and got enough for them for a good meal.  Though we had plenty of action with other things!  Mario landed a couple juvenile tarpon, and jumped off a couple more!  I even got one myself as the guys didn’t mind if I fished with them, and since the snappers were tough I’d figured I’d give them a hand.  We also got a nice small snook, a lemon shark, a nurse shark, and got cut off by a few other bigger sharks.  I think we also even had a small goliath grouper get us caught up in the trees.  The islands were just alive with fish it was cool to see.  Not sure if they’ll stick around with the temperature dropping, but it’s not getting terribly cold so they might stick around.  Hopefully they do this would be a nice thing to have for the few weeks coming up!

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