Offshore Fishing Reports

1-6-13 Islamorada Reef Fishing Report

It’s been a warm week here in while deep sea fishing in Islamorada. The air temperatures have around 80 degrees. On our offshore Islamorada fishing charters the past few days we have been staying on the edge of the reef. Today we started out the day trying for a sailfish. We put up 2 kites with 2 baits on each one. We caught a few bonito right away, and patiently waited for a sail bite. Finally after a couple hours we had an Islamorada Sailfish in the spread. He grabbed the left short kite bait but blew it out very fast. He followed the bait around for a few seconds and we tried to pitch him a fresh live one on a spinning rod, but it was too late. He knew we were up to no good and left us alone. In the afternoon we fished around a wreck a had lots of action with King Mackerel. We kept a few and lost a few around the boat. An unexpected dolphin (mahi) swam by and we caught her for dinner too. We also released a few small amberjack. After that we caught and released a few barracuda before heading home. The day before I took 2 half day Islamorada reef fishing trips. In the morning we anchored down and caught our limit of yellowtail snapper. They aren’t huge, averaging about 1 lb, but they are extremely tasty and fun to catch. We then went to a wreck for a half an hour and caught a few king mackerel to 15 lbs. In the afternoon we caught 10 more yellowtails for dinner and then went out to the deeper water. Unfortunately Lisa got a little sea sick so we went back in to shallower water and caught a couple barracudas before heading home a little early. The day before that we caught a few big amberjack to 48 lbs as well as releasing 1 of 2 sailfish. Book your Islamorada Fishing Trip Today!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk – bnmcharters@gmail.com

: Islamorada Reef Fish

: Islamorada Sailfish

January 7, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Fishing Reports Offshore Fishing Reports

1-3-12 Islamorada Fishing in January

We ventured out fishing the last couple days on Islamorada Fishing Charters and had lots of action on both the 2nd and the 3rd of January. Yesterday we focused on sailfishing in the morning, but before that a boat called us in on a big school of cobia and we boated a nice 35 lber. We then started looking for the sailfish. The sails were up inside the reef in 35′ to 50′ of water chasing big schools of ballyhoo, also known as showering. We then will sight fish and run to the “showers” and cast at the fish when we see them. We saw probably a dozen fishing “showering” but could only manage 3 bites. Fortunately we caught and released 2 of the bites we had. After that we decided to try some wreck fishing in Islamorada and caught a nice king mackerel about 15 lbs right away. I then decided to send down a big bait in hopes for a goliath grouper. It didn’t take long to get a bite, but after a 15 minute battle we had the big fish next to the boat, but it wasn’t a goliath, it was a 7′ bull shark! Somewhere around 250 lbs! After that we went and released a couple barracuda for fun. Today we took an Islamorada reef fishing trip and started out the day by catching live bait, including ballyhoo and cigar minnows. From there we anchored down on a deep reef and caught 3 king mackerel around 7 or 8 lbs. After that we caught some big crevalle jacks from 10 to 15 lbs on a wreck. We also had a kite out and had a hammer head shark come up chasing the blue runner, and after a 30 second chase the shark had the bait. We had the 5′ hammerhead hooked on 20 lb test and after a 20 minute fight we had the shark next to the boat and removed the hooks. Next we decided to catch something else to pull hard so we found a pair of amberjacks at 20 lbs and 40 lbs. We kept them for dinner and then made our way back to the edge of the reef. Within 15 minutes we found a pair of sailfish swimming over the sand bottom and managed to get one bite. The fish came up jumping and we caught and released the 30 lb sailfish after a 5 minute fight. But our day wasn’t over yet. As we were moving up the reef we found a big stingray with a school of cobia following him! Which is how we catch them this time of year. We caught 2 cobia off him but both were undersize, and then we decided to call it a day and head in from our day of fishing in Islamorada.

January 3, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Fishing Reports Offshore Fishing Reports

12-29-12 Islamorada Reef Fishing in Late December

I’ve been fishing in Islamorada aboard the Bn’M everyday since Christmas. Fishing hasn’t been easy, but we’ve been putting together some great catches the past couple of days. While winter time fishing the Florida Keys we usually stay near the reef, about 4 miles from shore. Today we started out with a pair of nice “smoker” king mackerel, both around 20 lbs. We were near a wreck so I decided to send down a big bait to try for something big. Within 2 minutes we were hooked up to a monster! Unfortunately the fight was short lived, we wound up breaking the 80 lb braided line! We re rigged and sent down another bait. Within 1 minute we were hooked up again! After about a 5 minute tug of war, Nick caught his first goliath grouper. It was a big one too, around 200 lbs! We took a quick picture and then released him to fight another day. We mixed up the strategy in the afternoon and caught 4 black groupers, keeping 2 of them, as well as a handful of yellowtail snapper. We then started our way back towards home, but while on the way we came across a hungry sailfish. The sail was chasing ballyhoo in 40′ of water, so we threw out a live ballyhoo and wound up catching and releasing a sailfish while working our way closer to home. We also caught a big barracuda and one more king mackerel. Yesterday we focused on sailfishing in Islamorada, and managed to catch and release 2 sailfish, as well as lost a couple. The biggest surprise though was a 32 lb wahoo which ate a kite bait. We didn’t have any wire leader, so we were really lucky to catch the fish on 40 lb. monofilament and a 6/0 circle hook. The day before we tried for sails too, and saw a couple but couldn’t get them to eat. We wound up catching a few snapper for dinner, a bunch of jacks, and then a couple barracuda. The next month should still be good sailfishing, so book your Islamorada January Fishing Trip soon!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

bnmcharters@gmail.com

December 29, 2012 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Offshore Fishing Reports

December Offshore Fishing Report

We just had our second cold front of the winter season hit us today while fishing in December in Islamorada. It should just help our reef fishing continue to get better and better. Islamorada Sailfishing Charters are extremely popular from November through March. Sailfish are without question one of the most exciting game-fish we catch in the Florida Keys. We use light tackle (12- 20 lb test), and fish the edge of the Reef with live bait. Sailfish are thought to be the fastest fish in the ocean, reaching speeds of 67 mph. They fight great, are extremely acrobatic, and we catch and release all of them. The last few trips most of the fish have been up shallow, just inside the Reef in 30′-40′ of water. They’ve been chasing big schools of ballyhoo (also known as “showering” because of all the water splashing around. I was unable to run the last Islamorada Reef Fishing Trip on the Bn’M, but the good thing is we always have other great Captains ready to go. On the 19th Capt. Hunter ran the boat and put Jim and his group on 4 sailfish releases! They lost a 5th one close to the boat. They also anchored down and caught about 10 yellowtail snapper, the perfect amount to take to a local restaurant and have your own fresh catch cooked up.

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

December 21, 2012 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Fishing Reports Offshore Fishing Reports

December Sailfish Action

We did a 1/2 day Islamorada fishing charter today aboard the Bn’M. We had Paul and his brother out to celebrate Paul’s birthday. A full day fishing trip always gives you more time and options, but in the winter time we have lots of successful 1/2 day trips since we are only fishing the Reef (4 – 5 miles out). We caught live bait right off the bait and then I asked them what they want to focus on. They both said sailfish, so that made that decision easy! It was really quite the first two hours but then the bait started to “shower” and the Islamorada sailfish moved up on top of the reef chasing big schools of ballyhoo. We saw about half a dozen fish and managed to get 2 bites, and fortunately caught and released both sailfish! It was Paul’s first sailfish so Congrats! Quite often the sailfish will become finicky and not bite the hook baits, but we out smarted two of them and called it a day soon after catching the fish.