Backcountry Fishing Reports

4/6/13 Islamorada hogfish fishing on the patch reefs!

Well today we had a breezy north 15 mph wind in Islamorada, Florida Keys. This seemed to have slowed the tarpon down for a day or so hopefully tomorrow it will pick back up. I had anglers from the other day that had already caught some big tarpon in islamorada so we decided to mix it up and do something different. We fished the patch reefs which are often good when it is cold and with northerly winds as it stays calmer out there. We hit some rocks fishing jigs and shrimp. The islamorada hogfish fishing was good we caught about half a dozen fish off one spot, with 5 of them being keepers! We also caught some porgies, yellowtails, mangrove snappers, and a couple small groupers. Though lots of fun on light tackle regardless with the groupers! One trick to the florida keys hogfish fishing is chumming with bits of shrimp, this really can get them going and to find you out there. Tomorrow it’s back to tarpon fishing in the morning, hopefully the warmer incoming tide early in the morning will have the fish happier – we shall see!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@fishingislamorada.com

April hogfish islamorada

April 7, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

4/4/13 Great april tarpon fishing in Islamorada

The april islamorada tarpon fishing was excellent today! Incoming tide in the backcountry and this evening around the local bridges. We caught plenty of live mullet first thing. The day bites came on bottom rigged baits, we caught 4/4 before 10:00 am. After that my anglers had enough, and we finished up catching trout, ladyfish, and some mangrove snappers for dinner. Always good options on a backcountry fishing charter in islamorada. This evening we had bait left over and fished the local bridges where we had some tarpon action the night before. We weren’t able to land any the night before but had 2 solid bites and 1 miss a mullet. Tonight was different we landed 4 out of 9 solid strikes which was great fishing. Most the bites came on life mullet on the top, very exciting to watch the fish blow up a live mullet on top, just as fun as catching them! If your looking to go on an islamorada fishing charter give us a call. A total of 8 out of 13 tarpon today is very good fishing! Islamorada tarpon fishing.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@fishingislamorada.com

April 5, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

3/29/13 Islamorada backcountry fishing report

We’ve been extremely busy here in Islamorada, Florida Keys. One of the busiest spring times I can remember! Unfortunately this last week we had another late cold front dropping the temperatures extremely low. Some parts of the everglades national park the water was in the high 50s, and even florida bay was in the low 60s – not ideal for this time of year or any time! The hot ticket for my anglers has been fishing the islamorada patch reefs. The last several days we’ve done that and the fishing has been pretty good. Lots of good eating fish too! We’ve caught some nice mangrove snappers, porgies, and hogfish which are all delicious! There has also been a mix of smaller yellowtails, mutton snappers, various groupers, blue runners, grunts, chubs, and even a few small sharks. A few days ago one of my anglers was after sharks, but with the water temperatures being what they were I did not think much of our chances. However we fished near the ocean side with the incoming tide from the atlantic and that kept things quite a bit warmer than in the bayside. We didn’t catch anything we consider ‘trophies’ here, but he was thrilled to catch a few very large nurse sharks, big sting rays, and large bonnet head sharks. The april tarpon fishing in islamorada should pick up too. The last several nights have obviously been pretty slow with the cold water. We saw plenty of fish last night, though never could get one to eat. I fished 3 different spots and all held fish that we could see rolling consistently. The cold front has since passed and the waters should have a chance to warm up, once they reach ~70 again everything should get better slowly. If your thinking of doing a backcountry islamorada fishing charter give me a call!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@fishingislamorada.com

: march mangrove snapper

: islamorada hogfish

March 29, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

3/24/13 Good fishing despite high/nasty winds march islamorada!

Today the winds howled out of the southwest 25 mph, not a favorable march florida keys fishing condition! We didn’t let it get the best of us though as we made our way into the islamorada backcountry fishing. We took a little longer running but were able to stay on the edges of the banks and in my comfortable 20′ seacraft the ride was not an issue, just a little minor spray here and there. We fished the edge of the gulf which you could not do in a little skiff and the fishing was good! Lots of big trout, ladyfish, and some mangrove snappers. We got our limit of trout and kept the ladyfish for bait. After a couple long drifts we decided to go try for bigger stuff so we ran to some deeper channels close by. Unfortunately the water did not look very pretty, but we found an area deep inside that had some bluish color and looked a better than the mouths of the channels where we normally fish. So i anchored us up for some shark fishing in islamorada in march. We had action fairly quick, mostly black noses and blacktips. After a few of those, all of a sudden we had a rod slam down and a big 100 lb tarpon went flying! We chased him down and kept him on, getting the fish boatside in about 25 minutes. Fantastic catch! Eventually the weed and grass got too bad to fish after this, so we went to another channel to fish. The action wasn’t quite as hot and heavy, had a few more shark bites and caught a couple, then called it a day and went home! Also pictured here is a 400+ lb islamorada goliath grouper caught by young 10 year old Sam and his brother last week with me! Big beasts like these are often caught in the spring and early summer here in Islamorada, so be sure to ask about it if you want to catch big fish!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@fishingislamorada.com

: march florida keys tarpon

: florida keys goliath grouper

March 25, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

3/22/13 March Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing

Had Sam out today luckily after a last-minute cancellation. He wanted to try to catch a tarpon in islamorada and I told him I thought we had a decent shot at getting one today. The fish have been around though not biting great yet, however we had the wind switch around today to southeast from north yesterday which is a good thing – nice and warm weather! We started the morning early out at 7 AM, found some birds bombing and looked for mullet for a bit but they were very finicky so just continued our run in the back. We stopped in the bays near the edge of the gulf and got into the trout and ladyfish pretty good which we saved the ladyfish for bait. Islamorada trout fishing should be pretty good through the spring with lots of fish in the bays moving out from their winter holes, and these were nice size keeper fish too. Around 9:30 we had our fill of bait and such, so we went in search of tarpon. Set up in a channel with the start of the incoming tide, and within 10 minutes we hooked a nice 100 lber! Plenty of jumps and leaps, chased him down and leadered him up after a 25 minute battle. Good job Sam! The march tarpon fishing in islamorada i think will continue to get better and hopefully we will have a strong show of fish through season with the later start this year. We caught several black tip sharks after this, and had one myestery fish likely a big ‘mud marlin’ that we pulled the hook on. Anyways after the tide quit we went into the gulf for the last hour and caught about a dozen triple tail which was fun. The triple tail have been pretty thick in the gulf and even with it being a bit choppy it was a good bet for something different. If you want to catch islamorada triple tail then make sure to ask they are an option!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@fishingislamorada.com