Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Fishing Islamorada

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

March 10, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

March Fishing in Islamorada

Well it’s been a busy couple of weeks here while fishing in Islamorada. We’ve had some red hot action as well as a few slower days, but still always manage to catch some fish and have a great time! Today we did a half day fishing charter in the morning and dinner was the first thing on mind. We anchored in two spots until we had a enough yellowtail snapper for dinner; we stopped at a dozen fish. After that I went to the tower and searched inside the reef for cobia, and sure enough after 30 minutes found a nice school. Most of the fish were undersize, so we released a handful, but right at the end we pulled a keeper in the boat. From there we went for some more action for the ladies and caught and released a few barracuda. Yesterday we sailfished all morning, but it was slow for us. About mid day we changed up our plan and wound up limiting out on lane snapper, caught a couple bonito and small amberjack, and then also caught a couple barracuda. That the great thing when Islamorada fishing, there’s always something to catch for fun! The day before that we managed 1 sailfish release, a limit of king mackerel, a 4′ silky shark release, and a few lane snapper and trigger fish for dinner. The couple days before that we caught some yellowtail snapper each trip as well as a few mutton snapper, including a couple nice fish in the 8 – 10 lb range. We also released a handful of black and gag grouper. We will start headed offshore to the humps here with more regularity soon, but for now we are still focusing on the edge of the reef. Let me know if you’d like to get out on a islamorada offshore fishing trip!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

bnmcharters@gmail.com

: bnm sailfish

: islamorada reef fish

: islamorada barracuda

March 6, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Fishing Reports Offshore Fishing Reports

Big cobia in the backcountry/gulf

Last week while fishing islamorada we caught several nice fish. We started the morning fishing the backcountry channels for variety and bait – trout, ladyfish, pompano, jacks, mackerel, etc… It’s amazing the mix of fish you can get in some of these areas and at the start of the spring fishing is really good. Islamorada trout fishing gets very good later in the spring, and lots of big spawning fish move into the bays. You can get tablefare to eat as well as stuff to use for bait for bigger species. We mainly keep the spanish mackerel and ladyfish for such fishing. Later on february fishing the florida keys we set up at one of the channels mouths where lots of big fish venture in from the gulf. We caught the start of the incoming tide. We had one tarpon bust a ladyfish which we had fished live on the surface, unfortunately he missed the hook and bait altogether. We hooked a gigantic ‘sea monster’ of some sort which we battled for over an hour… we noticed a brown stain staying close to whatever it was we had on, and I knew right what it was! A few casts later we had hooked the 2nd fish while my angler still battle the first beast. I traded rods with him for a while, and after 25 minutes he boated a 45 lb cobia! Cobia fishing in Islamorada is best in the spring when fishing the gulf areas. A fantastic catch especially on 15 lb braid with 30 lb leader only. After that we went back to the other rod which was still bent over with something big on the other end. We finally got that up to and it was a gigantic mud marlin. After some high-fives we went back to put the big rods out some more, and within 5 minutes hooked a big shark. This time it was a florida keys hammerhead shark! I love catching these guys as we don’t catch them every day and people love to see them – they are truly an interesting shark and people always get a kick out of catching them! We also had caught several smaller black tip sharks on this day. Unfortunately right now we are experiencing a late cold front which will slow down the march islamorada fishing for some of the bigger species such as sharks, tarpon, etc… However I’m thinking by next weekend the water temperatures will have had a chance to warm back to low/mid 70s, and the big tarpon and others are ‘around’ and will start biting again. It’s a great time to go fishing so make some plans soon. I myself am booked just about every day in March, however I do have some evening trips available – drop me a line if your interested in getting out for some big tarpon around sunset. Islamorada tarpon fishing in march can be very good as the fish are not so ‘beat up’ from the tons of anglers fishing for them.

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

: february islamorada cobia

: islamorada hammerhead shark

: february islamorada tarpon

March 3, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

2/23/12 Looking for goliath grouper fishing islamorada in february!

I had Martin Williamson today from across the pond on 2/23/13. He fished with me a few years ago and we had an excellent day then catching tarpon, hammerhead shark, several other sharks, plus some other rod benders. Today Martin was after an islamorada goliath grouper fishing trip. Winds were a bit too high to get out into the gulf to hit the wrecks for them, so tried some other protected areas. First things in the morning with the low water we hit some channel run-offs to stock up on bait – lots of big ladyfish plus a mess of sea trout, jacks, and even some pompano, mackerel, and bluefish mixed in. This was going to be tough to leave! We put big rod out for fun and caught 4 blacktip sharks as well, saw a couple tarpon roll in the distance but not much activity from them. Tarpon fishihng in Islamorada in February is a definite possibility – but they can be very hit or miss! After we were loaded on ladies, we ventured to the next spot which is a hole that sometimes holds goliaths as well as other big fish. We anchored up, tide against the wind but got the boat positioned right. Had a big pack of cobias come right up under the boat… quickly reeled in our pinfish on top and hooked one! Martin dropped a bait to another though unfortunately we missed the hookset, but he caught the other one on the surface bait – good job! Not a huge fish but a first for him. A bit later both big rods went off with the ladyfish on the bottom, a double header! Both at first appeared to be large sawfish as they dogged us and didn’t stop despite the heavy pressure we both were putting on them. Sawfish in Islamorada have made a terrific comeback. I gave chase to Martin’s fish leaving the other in the rod holder going the opposite direction! Eventually the fish behind us kind of rolled over and I told Martin to switch to that one as it was acting more like a big grouper now, thumping quite a bit. Sure enough it was, hooray another first for Martin a 150 lb goliath grouper! We then focused on the other rod which was still bowed over. We leadered up the behemoth on the mono filament line… all of a sudden his bill broke the surface and slashed violently! We got him up one more time like that but this time he cut us off, but we were happy to get a look at the beast. My first sawfish of the year, and yet another first for Martin. After this we fished for a bit under an hour back at the hole, alas not much other action. Decided to hit a high-tide spot for some reds on the way home which worked out nicely. Martin caught about 10 or so mostly nice slot size redfish, something else he hadn’t caught yet! A fine end to a fabulous day february fishing the florida keys. This was another special trip for Martin and a great birthday present for himself!

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