March is rolling on and we are officially in the thick of ‘tarpon season’ here in Islamorada, Florida Keys. The islamorada tarpon fishing has been fantastic the last week as we’ve had flat calm weather and lots of fish have pushed in from the gulf all the way from cape sable in the everglades, the mid-florida bay, and locally around Islamorada and throughout the rest of the Florida Keys. The weather look to stay fairly calm the next several days at least and the fish should stay happy. We’ve been catching live mullet in good numbers and the spring mullet run is a very good time to tarpon fish, it’s the most exciting form of bait fishing for tarpon there is. There is nothing quite like watching a live mullet run, jump, and panic for his life as a big 100 lb tarpon tries to devour him. We’ve had action with tarpon since the beginning of March just about every day though with the calm weather the last week is when it’s really heated up. We caught fish the last couple days on half day trips fishing close by on live bait. We were also able to mix it up with some patch reef fishing today and caught some islamorada hogfish for dinner. As we get into April and May that is usually ‘prime time’ for bait tarpon fishing in Islamorada. I’m fairly booked up though we have a second boat that will be captained by a local offshore fisherman for night trips. If your looking to get out tarpon fishing during the prime evening hours he is your man, let us know!
3/3/15 March Islamorada Fishing Report
Well March is here and so are the big tarpon in Islamorada. We had a late winter so it held off some of the normal ‘early arrivals’ that we catch in February. Though the last week or more it’s been very warm and tarpon are starting to show up in droves. The last 5 days we’ve caught at least one tarpon every day. The last two days however they really have started biting well. We had a total of 9 bites and landed 5 fish in the last 2 days. Yesterday they were eating the live mullet well, we weren’t able to stick any though were able to catch one on dead bait in the afternoon. A big slob of 150 lbs, biggest fish this year so far! Today we went 4 for 4 in the everglades, fish of 60 to 90 lbs. It should get better and better, and since it is just not starting I think our fishing later in the season should be better. The last few years fish have shown up way early and often by end of May/June we would have some ‘dry spells’ where there were not many fish or they wouldn’t bite, likely due to too many showing up too early. Anyways tarpon is what I am focusing on from now on through the Summer. Of course we sometimes break it up and fish for other things. I am booked up fairly solid through May, however we are going to be having another very good hard working young captain run a 2nd skiff for us. If your looking to get out for some good tarpon fishing the next few months, he will be available for evening trips during ‘prime time.’ Drop me a line and let’s catch you that silver king of a lifetime!
2/18/15 February Backcountry Fishing Report for Islamorada Florida
February is already half way over and we have been experiencing a late winter that’s for sure. Cold fronts have continued to hit us once or twice a week, and last weekend it was the coldest it had been here I think in years. Oddly enough another front is coming in tonight which is even suppose to be colder – lows in the 40s according to the forecast! But thankfully it hasn’t slowed down the inshore fishing actually last weekend things picked up a little if anything in the backcountry. We had a great day catching seven snook, 4 black drums, 4 big trout, and handful of other specimens on Saturday in low 60 degree water which wasn’t too shabby. I’ve had two days in the last week catching our limit of hogfish out on the patch reefs which has been incredible. The hogfish fishing this winter in Islamorada has been the best I’ve ever seen and according to many old time guides the best it may of ever been. Just about every day you catch a handful out there though many days have yielded quite a few, limits, and even a few days of high double digit numbers. Mixed in on every trip out there has been poriges, mutton snapper, small groupers, and a few other odds and ends such as cero mackerel or barracuda. The gulf fishing has stayed consistent as well with the spanish mackerel and big blacktip sharks. I have not been further out in the gulf much as there hasn’t been much action with cobia or tripletail. A couple days we’ve found some tripletail but not really worth the run to only see a few. We did catch some big goliaths one day a couple weeks ago out on a wreck plus a big shark. Anyways I’m out of town for a week now and it looks to be a good week to miss – high winds through the weekend and cold, cold weather. Tarpon fishing has been pretty much non-existent with this late cold we’ve had, and looks to stay that way for probably another week or so. I doubt I’ll miss anything with them thankfully and things may not got started with them until March. This isn’t a bad thing though as it may push the migration back a month or so which actually can help out our fishery in late May and June which is when people are really expecting to catch tarpon. So we will see. Anyways drop me a line if your looking to fish, the next 3 months are fairly booked up with anglers looking to hook up with the silver king, though I do have a handful of days and evenings open.
2/10/15 January and February Deep Sea Fishing Report for Islamorada
It’s been busy here since Christmas while deep sea fishing in Islamorada. We’ve had pretty steady fishing overall too. Some trips are a little slower than others, but you have to remember it’s always fishing! The sailfish bite has been a little hit and miss. Some days we have a few shots, and the next we never see a fish. Overall though if you put your time in, most days we’ve a shot or two, just catching the fish when you have your opportunity is key! We’ve had plenty of snapper, mostly yellowtails, but a few mangrove and big muttons. The kingfish bite has been very steady too, with fish from 5 – 25 lbs. Furthter offshore while deep dropping (deep water bottom fishing) we’ve been catching some tilefish, snowy grouper, yellowedge grouper, and queen snapper. I had one monster snowy grouper that weighed 42 lbs! I’ve been on 4 swordfish trips since the new year and caught 1 fish on 3 of them and one trip yielded 2 fish. We’ve caught a couple tuna and ambjerjack on the reef and wrecks, as well as a few sharks. There’s been a few mahi around as well, but they aren’t prime targets this time of year. We did have a nice 26 lb bull one day. We will focus on reef fishing the next couple months, and soon after that will start heading offshore in the later spring. Send me an email to bnmcharters@gmail.com if you’d like to book a charter.
Capt. Nick Stanczyk
How to fish with shrimp in Islamorada
Fishing with live shrimp in the Florida Keys is probably the most popular style of fishing in the area. Just about every bait shop throughout south florida carries live shrimp. These shrimp are caught in areas of the gulf and atlantic by trawlers who consistently net them and then truck them to local area bait shop early in the morning. It is one of the staples of our fishing industry and without them it would make the life of an islamorada fishing guide very tough! Just about everything eats shrimp so it is the go-to bait for us. Of course certain baits work better for certain things depending on a variety of conditions, however we bring live shrimp along on just about every charter. In Islamorada itself we do not have a big run of shrimp consistently, so we rely on trawlers who go out closer to the mainland and bring them down to us. In the winter time though with the right conditions (cold front coming in), they will run and you can catch shrimp in islamorada. So we will get down to the basic of buying, caring, and using shrimp for bait. Winter time we get the largest shrimp and with the cooler water temperature, everything in the backcountry just about eats them as well as on the patch reefs. Summer time is often a tougher time as the shrimp are usually very small, and you may be better off trying to catch other forms of live bait or even using artificials in some cases. [sociallocker id=”692″]
Live shrimp vs. frozen shrimp
You can always buy frozen shrimp as they are packaged and kept in freezers to sell. Though in just about every situation, live shrimp or fresh dead shrimp is going to be better. It is going to have more consistency as frozen shrimp often gets mushy and falls off the hook easily. It will also have better scent. Depending on what you are fishing for, also having a live shrimp that kicks is going to be much more appealing to a predator fish. Now if you are fishing for things such as yellowtail on the reef, frozen shrimp actually can be just as good as you are often just using a tiny bit of meat from the shrimp to hide the hook in. Though in general, live is better followed by fresh dead, then frozen.
Keeping live shrimp live
A nice thing about shrimp is they are fairly easy to keep alive for your days fishing. They usually don’t live for much more than a day or so, but of course you can put them on ice for the next day and again fresh dead in many cases is just as good as live. To keep them nice and lively, the best thing is to have a bait well that pumps fresh water in. This recirculates the water helping to keep the temperature cooler as well as brings in fresh oxygen. In the fall and winter, a simple aerator is all that is required. In summer when the water is very hot though it will help to recirculate the water to keep it cooler. If you keep them in a bucket without any form of oxygenation they will die eventually, so you can either buy a battery aerator or use oxygen pellet stones. Though air pellet stones will only last for an hour or so. If your fishing from land another option is a bucket with tiny holes drilled in it, you can leave this in the water that way fresh water is circulated, and you just pull it out when you need to put a few shrimp in your bucket you keep with you for fishing. These are sold in many tackle shops and known as a flow-troll bucket or something similar. The lesser amount of shrimp you keep in a bucket with no aeration, the longer they will live. So you can keep a few shrimp in your bucket with only water, and once they are gone pull the rest out of the bucket in the water, and that way keep them nice and lively for your fishing.
How to fish with shrimp in Islamorada
I’m often asked the best way to hook a live shrimp. Well it depends on what you are fishing for and how you are fishing. Some things to consider are whether it matters if the shrimp is actually live looking or not. Obviously if the shrimp is dead that won’t matter. Also if there are lots of fish, can they easily steal it off the hook. These methods will work with both J or circle hooks, as well as with jigs or standard hooks.
Standard tail hook shrimp rig
Our most classic go-to rig is usually a small jighead (1/4 oz is most common) with a shrimp hooked through the tail. Simply pinch off the tail and then start the hook through the tail end. Come out either through the belly of the shrimp or the back. The back is often better as it then goes through the shell which may make it stay on there better. This rig works well for jigging and the bait stays on the hook well. Just make sure that the shrimp doesn’t jig in a weird fashion, such as spinning around in circles. This will likely discourage fish from biting it. This will work for everything and is often the best for thing such as snapper, trout, mackerel, etc… If your using a regular J-hook, a Bait Saver style hook is best as it has small barbs to help keep the shrimp positioned correctly.
Horn hooked live shrimp rig
The other main way we hook shrimp is through the head. There is a ‘sweet spot’ just behind the horn on their head but in front of their heart (the big black spot). If you go through the heart the shrimp will die and you will lost the lively effect which is the point of this style. Try to get it perfectly lined up in the center, and hook from the bottom coming out the top. This is a good presentation for more picky gamefish such as snook or tarpon. The shrimp can freely flinch it’s tail which often excites a hungry gamefish. However if there are lots of ‘picker fish’ around it is much easier for them to steal shrimp off in this fashion. This works well with a jighead, or often we fish with a tiny bobber and a regular j-hook with a tiny split shot near the hook. This way you can drift the shrimp around mangrove shorelines etc… and simply watch for when the bobber goes down to indicate a strike.
Floating shrimp rig
Most of the time shrimp fishing in Islamorada you are wanting the shrimp to sink down in the water a bit. This would be using a jig or a regular hook with a split shot or sinker attached. There are exceptions when floating a shrimp may be a better choice. Snook and tarpon for instance are surface feeders so sometimes if you are wanting to throw a live shrimp floating on a cork it may work better. You can drift mangrove edges or areas of structure (bridge, etc…) in this fashion. For this rig a small bobber is usually attached maybe 3 feet up from the hook and this way the shrimp is kept floating. Now sometimes you may still attach a small split shot near the hook, or even still use a small weighted jighead, to let the bait sink down a little bit, but obviously not continuously until it hits the bottom. You’ll have to play with the presentation but it is something to consider in certain situations.
About leaders and such
Our typical leader size for the backcountry fishing with shrimp in Islamorada is 30# test. I prefer fluorocarbon as it is a bit stronger than regular mono, plus in certain areas where the water is clear it is tough for fish to see. On the patch reefs we often go down to 20# or even 15# test. For things such as snook or small tarpon we may go up to 40# as they can go through lighter leader. Give yourself a couple feet of leader at least. We fish a lot of braid and the best way to rig is usually to double the braid with a spider hitch. Then tie your leader with an albright knot to the doubled braid. Then use a simple uni, clinch, or whichever knot you prefer to tie the hook or jig to the leader. Most fishing we do you are wanting the shrimp to sink down so a jig head or split shot near the hook is preferable. It will also help you get some weight on the bait to make casting easier. In general a 1/4 oz is good for most fishing in the everglades areas and patch reefs. If the current is really hard you may require more. If your fishing a bait in a rod holder and leaving it sit, I often use a 1 oz sinker that slips and goes straight to a circle hook. Fish will hook themselves with this setup and you can cast it far, plus it is enough wait to usually hold bottom wherever you put it. Sight fishing in shallow water the rules may change depending what you are fishing for, obviously the more weight you use the louder the splash when you cast, so you may have to lead the fish more. One general rule of thumb if you see fish and cannot catch them, a better presentation is all you can usually do. That means lighter leader, smaller hook, and perhaps a livelier bait on the hook.
Chumming with shrimp
In some areas especially on shallow patch reefs, hanging a traditional chum block in the water is not always a good idea. It can bring in ‘junk fish’ such as grunts, baby snapper, chubs, etc… that just grab your bait before anything else has a chance to do it. Chopping up some of the dead, smaller shrimp into tiny pieces can work well in these instances. It can help bring in better fish without attracting the junk. Saving dead shrimp from a previous days fishing works well for this, or even buying a bag of frozen can sometimes work in this situation too. In other cases such as in the backcountry, sometimes chumming with just live shrimp can help. If your fishing around mangrove islands or shorelines, throwing a few live shrimp out can spark up snook or redfish that are hidden in the trees and entice them to bite the next bait you throw to them on a hook. Obviously you can go through your bait in a hurry, but if you are fishing a spot that looks really good it may help to throw a few live shrimp out if you are not getting a bite.
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- Live ‘horn hooked’ shrimp on jig
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- Standard tail hook shrimp with jig
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Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@fishingislamorada.com
