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.
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
12/28/12 December Backcountry Islamorada Fishing Report
Another fabulous day fishing in islamorada! The snooks were biting near flamingo as well as east cape. Large shrimp hooked through the horn on 3/8 oz jigs were getting the good bites! Caught half a dozen nice snook and lost a few nicer ones around a few islands early in the morning. The pup drum were also biting pretty good in the deeper water as well, which is normal this time of year when the water temps drop below 70. We had fun for a few hours in one spot not having to move! Later in the day we hit the deeper big canal at east cape. We worked our way through the major number of boats, caught one decent snook. Then went around the bend towards the big open lake. Here we found an area where the current was not running quite so hard, and set up for some fun islamorada backcountry fishing. Lots of redfish as well as some juvenile snook, black drum, and sheepshead here. We were fishing 1 oz weights with a 4/0 circle hook with just big chunks of shrimp, letting it sit on the bottom for the most part. I love fishing islamorada in december.
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@fishingislamorada.com
Christmas day backcountry islamorada fishing report!
Merry xmas everybody hope your having wonderful holidays! Took the old man out for his christmas present fishing today along with pal Ron Modra for some december islamorada fishing. We fished the cape area mostly, hit a few gulf spots on the slack tide and caught a cobia and nice redfish on pinfish and shrimp, respectively. When it started coming in worked are way through east cape. Caught a few black drums and redfish, and pulled off a nice snook – dang! Continued through lake inghram, saw a few big old’ crocodiles! Florida keys fishing in december can be so unpredictable with wildlife! Caught a handful more reds and trout in there, then back on to middle cape. We worked some bucktails against some downed trees and forage, and caught 1 snook and then hooked another real nice one… alas we pulled the hook on him. It was mid-day now, and tide was starting to slow. We hit a few creeks though not a whole lot going on in any of them while everglades backcountry fishing. So we decided to try a couple last spots in east cape which paid off. 3 snook out of one of them, 2 of them nice fish! One on shrimp and the other on pinfish – one had us around a large pole that we luckily got around and off. The other was deep in bushes though we coaxed him out as well. I guess this makes up for the couple we pulled hooks on! Also caught a few snappers and trout in there as well. Then back home. All in all a very fun way to spend christmas on the water! Happy to have a good islamorada flats fishing report to give!
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@fishingislamorada.com
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- east cape black drum
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- gulf of mexico redfish
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- flamingo snook fishing
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- islamorada saltwater crocodile
December Backcountry Fishing Islamorada
Hello and Merry Christmas everyone from Fishing Islamorada! Today I fished a half day in the islamorada backcountry charter boat, the seacraft! The water is still very cold, low 60s, from the recent front we had a few days ago, though things will be warming up throughou the week for some good christmas week fishing. Winds were northeast this morning, and east by this afternoon. Fished around flamingo this morning but did not have much luck, picked a few redfish. Decided to make a move fairly early further out west towards east cape, unfortunately many of the spots I wanted to hit had boats sitting at them – so I just bit the bullet and went all the way to the big canal. Not something I normally do on a half day islamorada fishing charter, but when the water is this chilly it can be a very good area to fish. We had the end of falling current at flamingo, and start of incoming at the cape which is ideal. We fished in the deeper water and just picked at fish, but got a mix of redfish, black drum, and sheepshead. Likely another 15 fish or so in total, including a couple nice black drum and sheepshead which made the day! All fish were taken on live shrimp, about the best and only bait to use when the water is that chilly during a december islamorada fishing trip. Well looks like a very busy christmas week here as usual in Islamorada, Florida Keys. I don’t have any time available except for a few afternoon half days, so if you want to get out on the water give me a call ASAP – those slots will likely fill up quick! Happy holidays, and hopefully your enjoying december florida keys fishing!
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@fishingislamorada.com
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- Islamorada Black Drum
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- Islamorada sheepshead
