cobia

Winter time fishing Islamorada is off to a good start. It started blowing good out of the northwest today after being flat calm yesterday. Cold front moving in, however this should light up the spanish mackerel, and push some trout and redfish in the ditches and deeper creeks they like when its cold. Had John and Jay today, we started the morning fishing for redfish in florida keys. It was pretty good with the higher water, caught 30 or so in a couple hours, only moving twice and leaving them biting. Several nice fish in the 18-22 inch range too we caught a couple for dinner. After this we went looking for trout for more table fare. Some trout had moved into a few nearby channels that they often do when its colder, nice to see them their early as trout is not being closed this november/december in our area. Pilchards were the trick for bigger trout, bouncing them slowly on the grassy bottom. November fishing florida keys is often best with live pilchards, they are usually plentiful as the northeasterly winds push them onto the ocean side flats and can be easily found most mornings by the birds bombing them. After we had our fair share of trout fishing, the boys wanted to try for something bigger. We had a couple ladyfish and jacks for bait as well as pinfish, so I ran out to a hole for some sharks or possibly big goliath. We put a ladyfish on the bottom and some pinfish out for a possible cobia. Backcountry fishing in Islamorada can produce a number of amazing fish you may not think possible to catch, but you don’t know unless you try! We ended up getting a bit on the big bottom rod and the line scoped up to the surface. At first I thought it was a blacktip shark, but it turned out to be about a 10 lb cobia! Of course he ate the wrong bait, but it was fun to catch him none the less, and of course release since he didn’t make the cut. No shark or goliath bites to add to this islamorada fishing report and we headed home to meet up with the rest of their crew who also fished today. They brought plenty of fish to lazy days for dinner and will be back for sure next year!

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

The muddy water, dead grass, and general downturn from hurricane sandy cleared up dramatically today in the gulf of mexico during our november islamorada fishing trip on 11/4/12. Started out west near sprigger bank, caught some nice mangrove snappers and bluefish on pilchards. After a long while a few spanish mackerels showed up, we caught half a dozen nice ones and broke a few others off. This is a great option when backcountry fishing florida keys on a half day in the winter time, a few more weeks and another cold front and they should be going strong. I love gulf of mexico fishing and it’s a good time of year for cobia when the waters near low 70 degrees. That’s what we looked for later, ran further out to some deeper gulf wrecks. Saw some permit in islamorada on them when we pulled up but they bolted quick, anchored down and had one swim back up but he got spooked by the boat as he swam right into it. Had another lay up on the surface, fins out of the water. He had a chunk out of his back was likely almost a shark appetizer! He did not want to eat though did drop down to look at a big shrimp. So we put some islamorada cobia fishing baits out, some humming pinfish. Ended up getting 4 nice cobias, Carols caught one casthing a pilchard too on a trout rod/jig – this was a battle! Also got a small goliath grouper, and a much larger 100 lber on a chunk of mackerel. Then got a 250 lb bull shark as well on a jack cut in half, nice action on the big rods! The tide quit soon after this, and not much was going on with the incoming water, so we split. Ran the crab lines looking for triple tail, saw a handful, had one eat and spit, and then caught one. It was a great end to a november florida keys fishing trip. This should be a great week of fishing and as long as the winds stay down, we have good tide and the water has cleared up nicely out there… fish on!

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