Fishing Reports

1-17-13 Islamorada Reef Fishing

Today was kind of a weird day with weather while fishing in Islamorada. It was a pre-frontal day, with the morning starting out with a south-east wind and then no wind with quite a bit of rain, and then a north-west wind. We started out the day by catching live ballyhoo and cigar minnows for bait. The Bn’M was now ready for some Islamorada Fishing! We headed out another mile and fishing just outside the reef. We tried for a sailfish for an hour, but we never had a sailfish bite. We did catch a nice blackfin tuna though while trying. The next couple hours brought rain on and off, and we kept the baits out but didn’t have any action. Once the rain let up we decided to anchor down and do some bottom fishing. We caught plenty of nice yellowtail snapper for dinner. We also caught a nice gag grouper, which would have been a keeper, but since the season is closed he went back in the ocean. We picked off a couple cero mackerel and then made another move. About 1:30 p.m. we found a sailfish swimming over the sand bottom. I thought this might be our shot, we made a couple good casts, but the fish had no interest at all and kept on his way. We then decided to go for some more action and caught a handful of big barracudas up to 15 lbs. With the clock winding down we only had a little while left on our Islamorada offshore fishing trip. A couple boats to the south of me found a big school of cobia so we raced down there just in time for some action. Our first bite was a nice 25 lb cobia and was the fish of the day! We also caught a smaller one before wrapping up our deep sea fishing charter in the Florida Keys.

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

bnmcharters@gmail.com

: islamorada cobia

: islamorada tuna

: islamorada gag grouper

: islamorada snapper

January 18, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Fishing Reports Offshore Fishing Reports

1/13/12 January islamorada fishing report gulf/backcountry

We’ve had a gusty east wind the last several days however we didn’t let that put a damper on the islamorada fishing charters. The last few days we’ve hit the edge of the gulf of mexico for the spanish mackerel. Yesterday fishing was red hot, today was ok we caught about a dozen or so plus a nice 8 lb kingfish (king mackerel). A good mix of mangrove snapper off a wreck out there too plus plenty of jacks and blue runners. We’ve also caught some big bruiser blacktip sharks which are lots of fun. They jump, spin, bite, do everything they can to try and get off the hook and they are a challenge! The specimen pictured here was one of the biggest caught and close to 70 lbs! January fishing islamorada is a often good in the gulf here. We even had a big 300+ lb goliath grouper try to eat one of the smaller blacktips the other day which was exciting to watch him lurking underneath thinking about it! Yesterday we also went back into the park as we had a full day and fished several run-off ditches for trout, ladyfish, etc… Some of the trout were very nice size which have not been easy to find the last several months. January fishing the florida keys continues to be productive even with the howling winds and unusually warm weather. If your looking to get out on the water this winter fishing islamorada give us a call we’ll put you on the fish!

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

: islamorada spanish mackerel

: islamorada blacktip shark

: islamorada trout

January 13, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

1-11-13 Islamorada Reef Fishing in January

Islamorada Fishing has been very active the last couple of days! Today on our Deep Sea Florida Keys Fishing Charter we started out by catching some live ballyhoo. After we had our bait we threw a few out and caught a couple nice cero mackerel up to about 7 lbs. After that we went Kite fishing with the target species being sailfish. We had one bite a couple hours into the day and unfortuntely lost it. At about lunch time Dave asked if we could do something different to have some action at least, and I said we could definitely anchor down and probably catch some yellowtail snapper for dinner. As soon as we anchored we put a kite out for a mackerel and a sailfish piled on! We had the fish on for a few minutes and I thought we were going to catch it, but then we broke the fish off. It had been a long day up to that point, but the good news was that the yellowtails had made their way up to the back of the boat and were eating right behind the chum bag. Within an hour we caught our limit of 30 yellowtails, including one monster weighing 5 lbs! I told Dave we had an hour left to fish and we’d look for another sail. Well two minutes later I saw a frigate bird dive down and we raced over and threw out a couple ballyhoo. A pair of sailfish came up and we hooked a double header! Brad got a quick release on his first ever sail and then it was time to chase Dave’s down. After a 30 minute fight we had the beatiful sailfish next to the boat and took a few pics. We were using 15 lb test spinning tackle and he did a great job angling. Dave said it was one of the most exciting fish he ever caught and decided to get a release mount done by Gray’s Taxidermy. I’m sure the mount will look great on his wall and will last forever! Yesterday Reef Fishing in Islamorada we also caught and released 2 sailfish and caught a few mahi, which were a nice suprise since it’s January and not really season for them!

: islamorada sailfish

: florida keys sailfish

: Islamorada mahi

: yellowtail snapper

: cero mackerel

January 12, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Fishing Reports Offshore Fishing Reports

1-9-13 Islamorada Fishing Report in January

Now I don’t get out flats fishing in Islamorada too often, but today after finishing some maintenance on the Bn’M, I went out with our friend Capt. Dave, My Dad, and Sara in search of some Florida Keys Bonefish. Now Islamorada definitely used to be one of the best places in the world to catch bonefish, but the last 10 years they have because quite difficult to catch. You need patience and have to be willing to invest lots of time in search of the fish. We had a couple hours of day light left when we set up, and with the windy condition we set the anchor out and waited for them to come to us. It didn’t take long to get a bite. After fishing about 20 minutes my Dad released the first bonefish in Islamorada. It was a decent fish, around 5 lbs. It was the first bonefish I’ve seen caught in a while, and they are without question one of the friskiest and best fighting fish around. We caught a few small sharks the next hour and were gonna call it a day. But right before we headed home Sara hooked up. After a short battle she caught and released another bonefish, not a big one, maybe a few pounds, but a bone is a bone. After that we pulled the anchor and headed home. It was nice to get out for a couple hours and relax with some friends and family. I really prefer offshore Islamorada Fishing, but it was a nice change of scenery for sure.

: Islamorada Bonefish

: bonefish in islamorada

: bonefishing islamorada

January 10, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk 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