Backcountry Fishing Reports

2/4/17 – Got out with Chase and Rhonda.  It was the swamp guides tournament, so I was a bit leary of staying out in the backcountry/everglades as there were gonna be a ton boats plus weekend warrior around.  We got out early and did hit a couple spots to catch Chase his first snook, we also got one other one, a redfish, and a black drum.  All while having about 40 boats go past us!  After that we hit the gulf and caught plenty of spanish mackerels, which was good action for Rhonda and what she wanted being a more novice fisher person.  When that was done, we caught a couple big monster bull sharks up to 300 lbs or so!  Looked for triple tails a little on the way home, but didn’t see any at all.  But all in all a great day with multiple varieties of fish.

2/6/17 – Had Steve and Jim some regulars of mine that always come this time of year.  They like to catch meat fish so we did just that.  Plenty of spanish mackerels, our limit of mangrove snappers, and some porgies as well.  The cooler was full!  We also caught a cool parrotfish, hogfish, and a few other odds in ends on the patch reefs.  Have them again tomorrow so may do a similar game plan but might spend some time looking for triple tails for them.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Got out with Bill and Elaine today some of my regulars down from New York.  We mixed it up and tried for some snook this morning.  We got in on a good spot luckily first thing, not red hot but we were able to catch 5 fish there in about an hour, and a couple were larger fish.  Bill had the hot hand and caught them all including a nice 10-11 lber!  After that we tried a couple other spots without much luck, finally we caught 1 little snook in the 3rd stop.  Then decided to go try some other things.  We went into the gulf and saw a triple tail but unfortunately didn’t get him to eat and he seemed spooked after that and didn’t pay us any attention.  We tried a couple spots for mackerel but didn’t have a whole lot of luck, we were able to catch some jacks and lane snappers, but just little guys.  The mackerels were around they would follow the jigs on occasion, but weren’t biting.  I think if we had a bit more patience and time we would’ve caught a few.  After that we made a bathroom break on one of the islands in the bay, and then caught our limit of mangrove snappers for dinner.  All in all a good day, flat calm for most of it and I think that actually made fishing a little tougher.  Out again tomorrow hopefully it’s not too busy out there on the weekend!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Got out for a full day with Dan today it was nice weather still on the chilly side but light north breeze this morning that laid out flat by the afternoon.  We had pretty high water first thing back in the everglades this morning and it was already starting to fall.  Fishing was a little tough back there I thought it would be much better with the temperatures on the upswing after getting cold a few days ago.  But it was really just a slow pick of fish but luckily enough for one guy.  After jumping around a few times early we found a few black drum, we caught about 4 and a few snappers in one spot.  After that we hit a few of the smaller creeks once the bugs died down.  Nothing in the first stop, then a little snook and decent redfish off the next spot.  After that we tried a few more areas, and nothing much but some schoolmaster snappers and a few catfish!  Eventually we caught one more nice redfish and that was about it for back there.  We made our way into the gulf to catch the end of the tide for the mackerels.  Found a couple small tripletail on the way and caught them for fun.  The mackerels bit pretty well it took a little bit to get them going, but we probably caught 8 or so including a couple on fly to finish the day up.  So all in all not red hot but enough good fish especially for one angler!  Hopefully it’ll get a little better I think i’m snook fishing tomorrow, may be tough duty but we’ll see.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Got out with my dad and Stephen one of our employees at Bud n Marys today for some fun fishing.  We dipped out early to try and get on some good spots for black drum in the everglades.  Some of these spots are fished heavily on the right days so you gotta beat the crowds to get to them sometimes.  Unfortunately today there wasn’t much happening there, we caught 1 little drum and a few catfish there and that was it.  So we worked our way back into some other smaller creeks and ended up having a pretty good day.  Stephen caught his largest snook to date on a live shrimp, it was up inside a little creek on the falling tide.  I think it was so cold that the snook didn’t fight like he normally would have, and he could’ve likely broken us off in the structure as it was thick!  A nice fish of 11 lbs or so.  After that we caught another little snook there and then moved on.  The next creek over we worked our way through, fishing most of the drains and good looking branches, and most areas produced at least a fish or two, and some we caught several in.  It was fun fishing not a red hot bite every cast, but enough to keep you interested if you had patience.  At the end of the tide we got into a short lived snook rally and caught 4 off a branch and then lost a nice big 1.  We also had a tarpon come up and follow a small snook, boil and flash on him like he was gonna eat him, and then turn away.  Pretty cool to see!  After that we caught a few more redfish and black drum to finish the day, as well as an eel which was a surprise to see way up in the creeks.  All in all a great day, I’m not booked tomorrow or Friday if anybody is looking to go, lemme know!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Got out with the Thompson crew some of my regulars down from the Connecticut area.  They’ve always been lucky enough to catch really good fishing it seems the last several years.  It cooled off a bit last night though the water was still fairly warm and lots of muddy areas still though its getting better.  Winds were kicking 15-20 mph out of the north.  We got out to the mackerel grounds early and had good action there.  Plenty of spanish mackerel on shrimp and jigs, as well as some snappers, blue runners, and even a small gag grouper.  After a couple hours of that we headed back towards the cape, not too bad of a run as we were able to go right into the sea and eventually get up near the banks for the rest of it.  The cape was very busy being the weekend which is why I didn’t want to bank on the trip back there.  We were able to sneak into a couple areas and caught a handful of snook, 5 or so, and a small goliath grouper.  Not too bad!  After that we decided to try and catch some big stuff for the last hour.  The sharks were pretty active since the water was still above 70, and we also caught a larger goliath grouper about 75 lbs, and 3 lemon sharks.   All in all a good day for sure, looks like we are getting some rain tomorrow and it’s suppose to be in the 50s the next 3 nights, so glad I am off tomorrow.  Monday/Tuesday I’m available though will likely be taking my dad fishing one of those days…  We may just have the conditions for some epic backcountry fishing for snook/reds/drum…

Capt. Rick Stanczyk