Tarpon season has been in full swing here in Islamorada, Florida for the past month or so. A portion of March was flat calm and very good fishing for tarpon and the other part was very windy with some cold frontal-type weather that made that a little tougher. Though April has been good fishing all around for the silver king. Earlier in the month I was fishing the backcountry often and that has still been decent on and off, however as of late we’ve had some major issues with the red ‘lions mange’ weed that pollutes the channels and gulf area we fish. Unfortunately some days it’s so bad you can’t even fish. Luckily the last couple weeks the fishing closer to home has been very good and the mullet have been much more consistent in the mornings, so I’ve been sticking to that routine. The last week the fishing has been quite phenomenal. We’ve caught tarpon every trip the last two or so weeks. The last two days we landed 7 mostly on live mullet. Both the incoming and falling tides have shown good fishing. The sargasm weed near the bridges has had to be contended with, though you can usually find areas where it isn’t so bad and you can fish. Other than tarpon there have been some mongo snappers around the bridges if your looking for dinner. Also a mix of sharks and barracudas in the bays along with the occasional grouper. I have not been doing much else though there has been some snook in the everglades, along with some trout and snapper in the bays. Tripletail and permit could be an option in the gulf if we get some calmer weather though it’s been blowing fairly steadily the last 2 weeks. Anyways the tarpon action is red hot locally and should continue so through May and perhaps into the summer as well. Summer time usually around mid june I start fishing the everglades much more again for tarpon and the last couple years that has been very good. If your looking to get out on the water let me know, summer is a great time and I still have availability!
3/22/15 March Tarpon Fishing in Islamorada is in full swing
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
