Fishing Reports

Got out for a 3/4 day with Andrew, Jen, and Nathan.  We headed out into the backcountry, winds were northeast going more east throughout the day, blowing a good 15 to 20 mph.  We caught bait easily, one throw of the net and got a ton of pilchards.  We got into the backcountry and tried a few spots.  Last bit of falling tide and not much doing, each of the first 3 stops we made produced 1 snook each.  Finally the tide quit and we sat and as it changed, the bite picked up.  We had a good little rally, catching a good 7 or 8 snook and a redfish.  Then it slowed down again and we made a move.  Went to try some areas for some bigger fish.  Didn’t look great out there though, very muddy and the tide was already ripping.  We did manage one good snook bite that zipped off a good bit of drag but unfortunately pulled the hook.  But we did get a redfish and a tripletail while we were there so not a total loss!  After that the tide was high enough to try another area I’ve liked as of late.  We got into a crazy snook bite there, lost count but probably caught 40 or so there plus another 8 or 10 redfish.  A handful of better size snook too which was nice.  After that it was time to head on home, a tad bumpy but nothing the Contender 25 couldn’t handle we made good time cruising at 43 mph!  Back at it tomorrow.

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

Absolutely sick day with long time customer and friend Jeff G. The winds laid down after kicking up hard Southwest yesterday. I wasn’t sure what it’s be like out back sometimes that bad wind direction can turn it into an absolute mudhole. We caught bait and headed that way. Once there it didn’t look terrible, not the greatest but looked somewhat fishy. We stopped on a few spots, a medium snook and red to start, then nothing but catfish. Poked around another spot and then we got into some big girls! We got several nice size snook and lost a couple others with Jeff getting his biggest ever 37 inches and probably near 20 lbs! I dont like to hand em to weigh them though as it can kill the fish. After that we caught a nice redfish and a few other snook but nothing quite as big. After an hour things slowed down and we went and tried some shoreline stuff. Tons of smaller snook here we lost count on small 2 to 5 lbers. After the tide quite we decided to look for some big ones again as the wind really layed out flat and it looked good with the water getting a little green. Sure enough the big ones were chewing! We got a couple nice black drum in one spot, then found the nice size snooks again. They really started biting on the ride change and we got probably a half dozen in the 30 to 34 inch range, and some others a hair smaller. We also got a nice tripletail and jumped a couple small tarpon that didn’t stay buttoned. And also a juvenile Goliath grouper. Wow what a day love ’em like this and always fun with such a great customer.

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

Awesome day with Glen and Alan! We started out in hopes of some bigger fish. We had some luck and found some nicer black drums and snook, with some decent redfish mixed in. Unfortunately our nicest fish got away. Alan also got a tarpon to the boat which was cool,first cast! Later we had hooked up a double header of a big 20+ lb snook, and s 25+ lb black drum ! The snook came up shaking his head after a long 40 yard run, and chaffed the leader. Then the drum showed himself one time, and we saw a huge boil where a shark got him and that was that! Heartbreaker! We pulled hook and broke off a couple other jumbo snook, they just had our number today. But we still landed a few decent ones though. After that we found a ton of smaller snook, just about every cast for an hour! Afterwards we picked some more snook in other areas, as well as a juvenile Goliath grouper and a Cobia. Just an awesome day, hope this great fishing keeps up! It’s gonna be an awesome winter!

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

Fabulous day fishing today with my dad, wife Elizabeth, and our friend Clay. It was a little windy but not as bad as it had been, and a nice northeasterly direction in the Backcountry. We got into a great bite of black drums early on which was a lot of fun. I’d been finding a few the last week, and with the early fall conditions some more were around today. No jumbo monsters like last week, but still some very respectable fish. Always love catching them. We also got a few medium and one large size snook, and a few nice reds as well. My wife had a great battle with a big bull red that was probably 35 lbs but he got under the boat and broke her off! Later in the day we caught a bunch of smaller snook fishing some shorelines and sandbars, and finished up with a nice juvenile Goliath grouper on light tackle. Fishing has been really good and should continue with the fall bait run in effect, never know what you’ll find out there unless you go!

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

One of those days you dream about today… The wind finally let up yesterday a bit and we’ve had a true taste of fall with a slight north breeze and a slight temperature drop. Water temperatures in many parts of the bay are down to around 80 degrees as opposed to the very hot 85+ degrees of summer. I had the day off but conditions looked so good and we found some quality fish yesterday in a few areas, that I didn’t want to pass it up! My dad and our friend/marina manager Stephen went out for a morning trip. We left early and caught the last trickle of falling tide which didn’t produce much as far as fish went. Stephen missed one good bite, but then nothing but a whole lot of catfish for a little bit. The tarpon put on quite a show though first thing in the morning as the mullet run is in effect, but we didn’t really mess with them as we were looking for snook, redfish, drum, etc… Once the tide turned back in and started moving, the fish turned on. We got into some very nice snook up to 36 inches, nice fat healthy fish! We also got a good handful of quality redfish in the 8 lb range (didn’t get any pics of them). Eventually we also got into a few very large (for here) black drum, one probably being close to 25 lbs! So awesome to see as they are a rarity for us especially over 10 lbs or so, usually we only really get them on the freezing cold days but funny we found one yesterday and got a few today. On the way home we stopped at one more spot and the big jack crevelles tore us up, but we also got a couple small goliath groupers and Stephen got one last big snook to finish the day up. Back at the dock by noon for lunch.

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