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.

December 18, 2012 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Fishing Reports Offshore Fishing Reports

12/6/12 December Islamorada Fishing Report

December islamorada fishing is off to a great start! Went out for fun today with my dad and friends, Capt. Dave Peck and Capt Vic. Gaspeny. We were looking for ‘big mo’, of the big florida keys redfish that occasionally are out in the gulf this time of year. We ended up finding a small pack of ’em, only snapped a picture of this one which doesn’t give it justice but was close to 20 lbs. There were several others with him, a big gold/red ball, and some over 30 lbs likely! They all disappeared though once they saw the boat, never to return unfortunately. The water and weather was gorgeous today, had a nice falling tide all day which is ideal for backcountry fishing islamorada. Especially in the gulf of mexico! We ended up catching several cobias as well, some of them nice fish and keeper size. They are lots of fun on light tackle rods. We also got a few small goliath groupers and a red grouper, plus plenty of jacks, blue runners, triple tail, and some spanish mackerel. The groupers, cobia, and big red were all caught on pinfish! All in all not a ton of fish, but some real quality ones – which I always appreciate! Great day fishing in the florida keys! The bugs were horrendous out at cape sable so we did not stay long there, though we did try this morning for a little while looking for some snook. Well stay tuned for more news concerning fishing the florida keys in december! Most of the fishing will be moving to deeper creeks/canals in the back, as the waters cool in the shallows. Islamorada flats fishing will slow down a bit, but there is always something else to do here when fishing!

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

December 7, 2012 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

11/28/12 Fishing Islamorada Backcountry For Snook and Redfish in November!

I was out in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for a week or so and just got back in town a few days ago back to the lovely islamorada florida keys. I fished for fun the last couple of days to get some picture/video footage, see what was out there, and just have a good time! We went fishing islamorada backcountry and ran deep into the everglades near cape sable on 11/28/12. Hit a couple of spots for cobia/redfish in the gulf on the way, as the day before we did catch a cobia and several nice size redfish (still waiting on pictures). November islamorada fishing is often great for cobia and larger redfish in the deeper water and gulf of mexico as the water has cooled down. We did get a cobia this day and one decent sized redfish though not huge by any means, as well as a big sting ray that got us excited as it did scream out some drag right away. Once the tide had turned and was coming in, ran to some of the canals in the back. We idled into one of them and started hitting some runoffs. Redfish fishing is often good through the winter in these areas and the fish will stack up in the deeper canals, however today the bite was not redhot. We slowly picked at them, catching 15-20 or so, along with a mix of jacks, ladyfish, snapper, and sea trout. A good mix for any backcountry fishing guide in the florida keys! We decided to run back to east cape canal instead of venturing further into the shallow areas of the deeper creeks to look for some snook. We did catch one nice one on the shoreline along with a nice redfish on pinfish, however those were the only two fish we found on the area of shoreline we fished but were well worth it! Hit a couple spots in lake inghram and caught another 3 snook out of there, 2 being very nice sized fish again as well. Snook fishing Islamorada can be good in the winter time after a cold front, however the fish seemed to have thinned out again from the last front we had. We hit east cape canal after that and stayed late as the water color, current level, and everything seemed ideal, however did not have much luck in there surprisingly. All in all a great day, any day you catch snook like these is excellent! The day before on 11/27/12 I also fun fished. We started the morning fishing spanish mackerel on the edge of the gulf of mexico. The bite was fair we caught enough to keep us entertained, as well as got some cool underwater footage of a big goliath grouper on a wreck. We then hit a spot further out in the gulf and got a cobia as well as 3 nice size big redfish. Tried for a snook near the cape, did hook a nice one but he cut us off unfortunately, and ended the day catching about 2 dozen puppy redfish fishing flamingo. A great two days fishing, and very glad to be back here in the 80 degree weather!

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

November 29, 2012 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

Florida Keys Fishing in November

Got a few nice snook fishing in Islamorada yesterday with my dad. Went deep into the ‘glades, backcountry fishing in the everglades was a little tough, we caught the very last of the falling tide. Put some pinfish out and on the tide change did get a nice snook first thing in the AM. Hit a few more spots though with not much going on aside from some jacks, ladyfish, and a few big trout. We decided to take a run up to shark river to check that out since I hadn’t been before. Came back on the higher water and the florida keys redfish were not found in their usual holed up spots. Hit a few more shallow water spots but to no avail. Did get another nice snook on the way home fishing islamorada. We did manage to get into a good red bite closer to home, catching 20 or so off some trees as well as another 3 snook. Got to play with my new Go Pro camera as well so hopefully will be adding some video soon! November florida keys fishing report has had a mixed variety of fish, today we got into the spanish mackerels and big mangrove snappers good in the gulf early, plus some snook and reds in the afternoon! Great way to spend the day here on an islamorada fishing charter!

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