Capt. Rick Stanczyk's Fishing Islamorada

7/24/13 Summer time fishing in islamorada stays hot!!!

The backcountry fishing especially around flamingo has been stellar the last few weeks. It has been ‘the place to be.’ We’ve been catching tarpon just about every day. The key is getting good fresh live mullet which we’ve been finding in the mornings. It’s necessary to leave early and spend time catching these guys… once the sun is up high they get much tougher. You only need a handful and the tarpon are eagerly awaiting them. Many of these fish have been what we call smaller ‘residents’ – in the 20 – 60 lb range. But still a heck of a lot of fun, and we’ve been still getting shots at some 60-90 lbers once in a while too. In the mix is plenty of blacktip sharks along with a few lemons and bulls. Of course a vicious hammerhead made his way into the mix as well. The past few days we’ve caught multiple tarpon every day with many more ‘jumped off’ and a plethora of sharks. The snook fishing has been good the last 3 days we’ve hooked double digit snook and boated almost as many. Again lots of smaller fish though a handful of nice 5-10 lb fish in the mix. Live shrimp have been fairly large so they work well, plus pinfish are a favorite bait of mine either suspended or put on the bottom with a weight. Mangrove snappers have been around too as well as a few juvenile goliath groupers. The snappers make good dinner. Thats mostly what I’ve been up to lately there may be some other good fisheries but I’ve been having a lot of fun with two of my favorite species – the snook and tarpon!

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

July 24, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

7/15/13 Backcountry Fishing Islamorada in July

Well just get back from a mini-vacation. The tarpon fishing before I left was off the hook. We had caught 8 out of 14 in 2 days, plus several more the days we fished in the backcountry. All these fish were on fresh dead mullet. There has also been a good mix of trout and snappers in the bays. Some sharks, goliath groupers, and a few cobias here and there have been on some of the near wrecks. It’s been a little too rough for permit fishing the gulf which is unusual this time of year but conditions are conditions. Snook have been around the mainland cape area as well as a few around flamingo, eating big shrimps on jigs or pinfish drifted back. Tarpon is still a good point of focus this time of year and I have some night trips coming up. That can be very good there is much less pressure on the fish and they are often happy to feed! Today we caught this massive kingfish in the gulf while tarpon fishing, we also caught several goliath groupers, gag groupers, black tip sharks, and a big bull shark. Plus plenty of snappers, some ladyfish, and a few trout in the bays. Fun day fishing in the florida keys in july!

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

July 15, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

7-13-13 Islamorada Fishing Report

It’s been a mixed bag of fish while offshore fishing in islamorada lately. The mahi bite has been hit and miss the last couple of weeks, with some good days and then some slow days. Usually this time of year it’s consistent but it’s been a little on the difficult side as a whole. The hump has been providing action with tunas though, including both blackfins and skipjacks. On the bottom we caught a nice 30 lb amberjack too the other day. The Reef Fishing has definitely been the best actoin lately, with lots of yellowtail snapper, a few mutton and mangrove snapper, and some bull sharks. We’ve been out a handful of days for broadbill swordfish, and our last trip we caught 2 fish. The trips prior we lost a few, so it was good to get back on the board. The swordfishing should only get better and better as we get into the Fall.

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

July 14, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Fishing Reports Offshore Fishing Reports

6/28/13 Tarpon Fishing Islamorada End of June

Well tarpon fishing in islamorada in june is still the staple of my fishing business. We haven’t had the big numbers of fish or catches as we did in April, however we are still getting them consistently. Way back in the everglades during the day a good mix of tarpon, sharks, big mud marlin, goliath groupers, and even cobias have been being caught most every day. Last week the start of the falling tide in the local Islamorada area yielded me a tarpon every day that I fished it, now the falling tide isn’t starting until closer to our evening trip times. However the last 2 nights I fished evening trips we caught 2 out of 3 tarpon, and last night we got 2 out of 4 tarpon. There has even been a few mud marlin caught here close by which is incredible as well as some different sharks. Evening tarpon fishing Islamorada can still be very good this time of year especially fishing live crabs, but I recommend planning around the falling tides which I can help you out with. Early July is still pretty slammed busy for me I have a couple dates open the 2nd week, and then end of July after the 15th I have plenty of open time. Email or call me now to lock something in for sume good summer fishing in Islamorada! Tarpon, sharks, goliath groupers, and big mud marlin are all possible plus shots at several other backcountry species including permit or snook can be had too.

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

June 28, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

6-26-13 Islamorada Deep Sea Fishing Report

I’ve been slammed with islamorada deep sea fishing charters the past couple of weeks and wanted to give you an honest report of what’s really been biting out there! On the reef there’s been lots of yellowtail snapper, as well as a few big mutton snapper mixed in. Offshore the mahi mahi bite has been decent to good overall. Some days are a little better than others, but we’ve been averaging about 20 fish a trip, a couple big fish (20-30 lbs) and the rest will be schoolies and a few gaffers. On the hump we have been doing very well on blackfin tuna, not a lot of big ones, but plenty of footballs in the 4-5 lb range. The daytime swordfish bite has been a little hit and miss, but we did catch 2 swords last week, both over 100 lbs, and we released a mako shark close to 200 lbs. Let me know when you’re ready to get out fishing off Islamorada and we’ll set you up.

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

bnmcharters@gmail.com