redfish

Christmas day backcountry islamorada fishing report!

Merry xmas everybody hope your having wonderful holidays! Took the old man out for his christmas present fishing today along with pal Ron Modra for some december islamorada fishing. We fished the cape area mostly, hit a few gulf spots on the slack tide and caught a cobia and nice redfish on pinfish and shrimp, respectively. When it started coming in worked are way through east cape. Caught a few black drums and redfish, and pulled off a nice snook – dang! Continued through lake inghram, saw a few big old’ crocodiles! Florida keys fishing in december can be so unpredictable with wildlife! Caught a handful more reds and trout in there, then back on to middle cape. We worked some bucktails against some downed trees and forage, and caught 1 snook and then hooked another real nice one… alas we pulled the hook on him. It was mid-day now, and tide was starting to slow. We hit a few creeks though not a whole lot going on in any of them while everglades backcountry fishing. So we decided to try a couple last spots in east cape which paid off. 3 snook out of one of them, 2 of them nice fish! One on shrimp and the other on pinfish – one had us around a large pole that we luckily got around and off. The other was deep in bushes though we coaxed him out as well. I guess this makes up for the couple we pulled hooks on! Also caught a few snappers and trout in there as well. Then back home. All in all a very fun way to spend christmas on the water! Happy to have a good islamorada flats fishing report to give!

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

: east cape black drum

: gulf of mexico redfish

: flamingo snook fishing

: islamorada saltwater crocodile

December 25, 2012 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

December Backcountry Fishing Islamorada

Hello and Merry Christmas everyone from Fishing Islamorada! Today I fished a half day in the islamorada backcountry charter boat, the seacraft! The water is still very cold, low 60s, from the recent front we had a few days ago, though things will be warming up throughou the week for some good christmas week fishing. Winds were northeast this morning, and east by this afternoon. Fished around flamingo this morning but did not have much luck, picked a few redfish. Decided to make a move fairly early further out west towards east cape, unfortunately many of the spots I wanted to hit had boats sitting at them – so I just bit the bullet and went all the way to the big canal. Not something I normally do on a half day islamorada fishing charter, but when the water is this chilly it can be a very good area to fish. We had the end of falling current at flamingo, and start of incoming at the cape which is ideal. We fished in the deeper water and just picked at fish, but got a mix of redfish, black drum, and sheepshead. Likely another 15 fish or so in total, including a couple nice black drum and sheepshead which made the day! All fish were taken on live shrimp, about the best and only bait to use when the water is that chilly during a december islamorada fishing trip. Well looks like a very busy christmas week here as usual in Islamorada, Florida Keys. I don’t have any time available except for a few afternoon half days, so if you want to get out on the water give me a call ASAP – those slots will likely fill up quick! Happy holidays, and hopefully your enjoying december florida keys fishing!

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

: Islamorada Black Drum

: Islamorada sheepshead

December 24, 2012 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

12/6/12 December Islamorada Fishing Report

December islamorada fishing is off to a great start! Went out for fun today with my dad and friends, Capt. Dave Peck and Capt Vic. Gaspeny. We were looking for ‘big mo’, of the big florida keys redfish that occasionally are out in the gulf this time of year. We ended up finding a small pack of ’em, only snapped a picture of this one which doesn’t give it justice but was close to 20 lbs. There were several others with him, a big gold/red ball, and some over 30 lbs likely! They all disappeared though once they saw the boat, never to return unfortunately. The water and weather was gorgeous today, had a nice falling tide all day which is ideal for backcountry fishing islamorada. Especially in the gulf of mexico! We ended up catching several cobias as well, some of them nice fish and keeper size. They are lots of fun on light tackle rods. We also got a few small goliath groupers and a red grouper, plus plenty of jacks, blue runners, triple tail, and some spanish mackerel. The groupers, cobia, and big red were all caught on pinfish! All in all not a ton of fish, but some real quality ones – which I always appreciate! Great day fishing in the florida keys! The bugs were horrendous out at cape sable so we did not stay long there, though we did try this morning for a little while looking for some snook. Well stay tuned for more news concerning fishing the florida keys in december! Most of the fishing will be moving to deeper creeks/canals in the back, as the waters cool in the shallows. Islamorada flats fishing will slow down a bit, but there is always something else to do here when fishing!

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

December 7, 2012 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

11/28/12 Fishing Islamorada Backcountry For Snook and Redfish in November!

I was out in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for a week or so and just got back in town a few days ago back to the lovely islamorada florida keys. I fished for fun the last couple of days to get some picture/video footage, see what was out there, and just have a good time! We went fishing islamorada backcountry and ran deep into the everglades near cape sable on 11/28/12. Hit a couple of spots for cobia/redfish in the gulf on the way, as the day before we did catch a cobia and several nice size redfish (still waiting on pictures). November islamorada fishing is often great for cobia and larger redfish in the deeper water and gulf of mexico as the water has cooled down. We did get a cobia this day and one decent sized redfish though not huge by any means, as well as a big sting ray that got us excited as it did scream out some drag right away. Once the tide had turned and was coming in, ran to some of the canals in the back. We idled into one of them and started hitting some runoffs. Redfish fishing is often good through the winter in these areas and the fish will stack up in the deeper canals, however today the bite was not redhot. We slowly picked at them, catching 15-20 or so, along with a mix of jacks, ladyfish, snapper, and sea trout. A good mix for any backcountry fishing guide in the florida keys! We decided to run back to east cape canal instead of venturing further into the shallow areas of the deeper creeks to look for some snook. We did catch one nice one on the shoreline along with a nice redfish on pinfish, however those were the only two fish we found on the area of shoreline we fished but were well worth it! Hit a couple spots in lake inghram and caught another 3 snook out of there, 2 being very nice sized fish again as well. Snook fishing Islamorada can be good in the winter time after a cold front, however the fish seemed to have thinned out again from the last front we had. We hit east cape canal after that and stayed late as the water color, current level, and everything seemed ideal, however did not have much luck in there surprisingly. All in all a great day, any day you catch snook like these is excellent! The day before on 11/27/12 I also fun fished. We started the morning fishing spanish mackerel on the edge of the gulf of mexico. The bite was fair we caught enough to keep us entertained, as well as got some cool underwater footage of a big goliath grouper on a wreck. We then hit a spot further out in the gulf and got a cobia as well as 3 nice size big redfish. Tried for a snook near the cape, did hook a nice one but he cut us off unfortunately, and ended the day catching about 2 dozen puppy redfish fishing flamingo. A great two days fishing, and very glad to be back here in the 80 degree weather!

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

November 29, 2012 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

Florida Keys Fishing in November

Got a few nice snook fishing in Islamorada yesterday with my dad. Went deep into the ‘glades, backcountry fishing in the everglades was a little tough, we caught the very last of the falling tide. Put some pinfish out and on the tide change did get a nice snook first thing in the AM. Hit a few more spots though with not much going on aside from some jacks, ladyfish, and a few big trout. We decided to take a run up to shark river to check that out since I hadn’t been before. Came back on the higher water and the florida keys redfish were not found in their usual holed up spots. Hit a few more shallow water spots but to no avail. Did get another nice snook on the way home fishing islamorada. We did manage to get into a good red bite closer to home, catching 20 or so off some trees as well as another 3 snook. Got to play with my new Go Pro camera as well so hopefully will be adding some video soon! November florida keys fishing report has had a mixed variety of fish, today we got into the spanish mackerels and big mangrove snappers good in the gulf early, plus some snook and reds in the afternoon! Great way to spend the day here on an islamorada fishing charter!

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