spanish mackerel

1/13/12 January islamorada fishing report gulf/backcountry

We’ve had a gusty east wind the last several days however we didn’t let that put a damper on the islamorada fishing charters. The last few days we’ve hit the edge of the gulf of mexico for the spanish mackerel. Yesterday fishing was red hot, today was ok we caught about a dozen or so plus a nice 8 lb kingfish (king mackerel). A good mix of mangrove snapper off a wreck out there too plus plenty of jacks and blue runners. We’ve also caught some big bruiser blacktip sharks which are lots of fun. They jump, spin, bite, do everything they can to try and get off the hook and they are a challenge! The specimen pictured here was one of the biggest caught and close to 70 lbs! January fishing islamorada is a often good in the gulf here. We even had a big 300+ lb goliath grouper try to eat one of the smaller blacktips the other day which was exciting to watch him lurking underneath thinking about it! Yesterday we also went back into the park as we had a full day and fished several run-off ditches for trout, ladyfish, etc… Some of the trout were very nice size which have not been easy to find the last several months. January fishing the florida keys continues to be productive even with the howling winds and unusually warm weather. If your looking to get out on the water this winter fishing islamorada give us a call we’ll put you on the fish!

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

: islamorada spanish mackerel

: islamorada blacktip shark

: islamorada trout

January 13, 2013 by Capt. Rick Stanczyk Backcountry Fishing Reports Fishing Reports

1/4/13 Gulf and Backcountry Fishing Islamorada Report

Well it doesn’t get any prettier than it did today on 1/4/13 while fishing islamorada! We worked some island shorelines on the high in tide in the everglades national park first things this morning. We picked several redfish, black drum, and a few sheepshead in this fashion casting shrimp. On the tide change we went looking for a snook around some other island moats. We did find one eager participant, alas we broke him off boatside. However we did end up catching some more black drum jigging the bottom, as well as some more sheepshead from around the mangrove trees! We then hit some scattered muddy waters in some ditches further towards the gulf area and got into a mess of trout, jack crevalle, ladyfish, pompano, and one juvenile permit. What a mixed bag for this islamorada fishing report! Continued cruising on out into the gulf of mexico along the crab bouys, and saw several tripletail fish. We caught some for dinner, mostly again casting shrimp on a small cork, dragging it to ’em, and WHAM! These high flying acrobats are fun on light tackle, and not bad blackened on the grill either. A gulf wreck was next on the agenda, and we caught some cobias off of it, as well as a goliath grouper that took some convincing to get to bite. Another permit was had in this area too – you never know what to except fishing the florida keys! To end the day we caught some spanish mackerel closer to home in Islamorada. And so ends another tale of wonder fishing islamorada backcountry.

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

: islamorada goliath grouper

: islamorada permit

: islamorada tripletail

: islamorada cobia

January 5, 2013 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