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

: march florida keys tarpon

: florida keys triple tail

March 22, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

3/20/13 Spring islamorada fishing report!

Well spring is officially here today the wind died out and left a beautiful flat calm day for march backcountry fishing islamorada. We started out the morning a little late but that was ok, we searched for some mullets and found a few on the flats nearby. Made a few throws only to get a couple of them which was what we needed! We ran back into the islamorada backcountry and fished some channels for trout, ladyfish, etc… We had lots of action and saved the ladyfish for bait too which we turned out not to need but saved for another day! Plenty of tarpon seen at this point in the main channel, so after we had enough fun with that we set up there for the big stuff. Within 10 minutes we hooked a gorgeous 80 lb fish that went airborne and nuts, he ate a mullet with the tail cut off on the bottom. Got the fish boatside after 15 minutes, but before we could get a picture we broke him off unfortunately, oh well still a technical catch with the leader in the rod tip! I’ve included a picture of a similar sized fish caught the day before. Everglades tarpon fishing is going to be getting better and better from this point on I think. After this we caught a smaller blacktip shark, and then decided to run to the gulf. Hit some structure in hopes of a cobia, which one did pop up and we cast a pinfish too him… He sunk down after it but did not eat it, and we did not see him again. Ran further out and got into a mess of tripletail, they were a little spooky but we caught about a dozen or so, including our limit of nice ones for dinner! Inshore fishing islamorada in march offers many different opportunities especially on this flat calm gorgeous days. After this we headed home, tomorrow heading out for a day of fun fishing with my dad so going to run deep in the backcountry to try some new things – hopefully have a good march islamorada fishing report!

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

: march tarpon fishing

: march tripletail

March 20, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

3/14/13 Islamorada tarpon fishing and backcountry report

Well last night took my first official evening tarpon fishing trip in Islamorada. Not ideal conditions with the breezy north wind and impending cold front, though luckily the water temperatures did not drop too drastically and had time to warm during the day. Anyways had all different kinds of baits – big shrimp, cigar minnows, crabs, and pinfish. We drifted the local channels for some tarpon in islamorada. I had seen several there days before, though early in the afternoon not much activity. We stopped near one of the bridges and I saw a fish roll, we set up our anchor and drifted baits back towards the bridge. We had a couple bites, one on cigar minnow and one on shrimp. Not sure what the shrimp bite was but likely a tarpon as it pulled drag for several seconds. The cigar minnow definitely was a tarpon but didn’t get a hook set. We did end up catching a legal gag grouper and nurse shark off the bottom to keep busy. March tarpon fishing Islamorada is just like any other time, around sunset can be your best bet for good bites. We ran further back to catch the end of the falling tide in one of the channels. Again saw fish roll right as we made our first drift, a welcome sign! After a couple more drifts we finally hooked up on a live crab around 7:30. After a 20 minute battle we had a nice 75 lb fish to the boat, just in time to make our way back home on our florida keys night tarpon fishing charter!

Today we fished in the backcountry for a half day, the winds were way up 20+mph out of the north. Pretty chilly too but not brutally cold. Not many options but we ran and hid behind some of the islands and caught some nice mangrove snappers. Got our limit of nice 12+ inchers, including this nice 17 inch fish which for the backcountry is gigantic! After that we tried to find some muds in the bay for trout/ladyfish/etc… but it was tough to fish in the bay as it was so rough, we anchored down in a muddy area and did catch half a dozen big ladyfish for something different before heading home. Islamorada mangrove snapper fishing is one of the best bets for edible tablefare in the backcountry, and they can be caught almost any day even when its blowing and nasty.

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

: night tarpon fishing

: islamorada mangrove snapper

March 14, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

3-12-13 Fishing in Islamorada

March is a busy time here while fishing in Islamorada. We’ve been fishing just about every single day so far on the Bn’M and have had some great days and some decent days. March is a transitional month for sure. We get a little bit of everything, but not always a ton of one thing. We’ve had more cold weather in March than most of the winter and we have some more cold weather coming! The Shark Fishing was great our last trip offshore. We caught and released a big bull shark between 250 – 300 lbs, and then released an estimated 600 lb tiger shark! We also had some small blackfin tuna and a couple of decent size amberjack. The reef is where we have spent most of our trips however, and today we had the best bite of kingfish we have seen all year. We had our limit of fish up to 31 lbs. We also had a few snapper for dinner including a nice mutton snapper. There’s also been a bunch of barracuda around the reef, which makes for great action. There was some cobia action the past few days when the conditions were right too. We released some small fish on multiple occasions and had a few keepers up to 35 lbs. There has been a few mahi around, but not in great numbers yet. We had 4 one day but a couple of them were gaffers. We should start to see some more though as we roll into Spring while Islamorada fishing. Send me an email and I’ll get you our fishing!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

bnmcharters@gmail.com

: islamorada cobia

: islamorada kingfish

: islamorada mutton snapper

: islamorada bull shark

: tiger shark head

: tiger shark islamorada

: islamorada yellowtail

March 13, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Fishing Reports Offshore Fishing Reports

3/10/13 March islamorada tarpon fishing report

March is usually a great time of here for fishing islamorada tarpon. It’s been off to a slow start as we’ve had several cold fronts, almost every week, for the last 3 weeks. Oddly enough january had 2 weeks of 80 degree weather – go figure! However even with the mid 60 degree water temperatures we were able to find a nice tarpon today. A 60 lb fish caught on fairly light spin gear on a live pinfish! We also caught some nice islamorada trout fishing further out west near the edge of the gulf in the morning. Later in the day we caught several more along with a ton of ladyfish and a spanish mackerel. The report on redfish and snook have not been very good, some guys saw fish today but they would not eat. We tried a few spots but muddy and cold water, with no fish… But the nice everglades tarpon made our day! Tarpon fishing in March should continue to improve, we are getting a tad cooler weather again in a few days but I don’t think very cold so hopefully the water temps won’t drop and the tarpon will show up in force!

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