Florida Keys Fishing Reports

5-19-13 Offshore Fishing in the Florida Keys

Capt. Nick Stanczyk — Sun, 19 May 2013 20:47:35 +0000

We've had great weather here the past few days on our florida keys offshore fishing charters. There's been some incredible catches of mahi offshore, and some action packed reef fishing as well. The Islamorada mahi fishing in May was decent the last two days, but really good for most of the boats a few days back. It takes patience to find the fish, and then to stay in the area as you wait and look for more opportunities. Trolling has been producing some of the fish, and birds and debris have been the ticket to the rest. There was quite a few decent size fish in the 12 - 25 lb range. The Relentless had a great catch today with 30 fish, including 6 fish from 10 - 18 lbs and the rest were nice sized schoolies (3-5 lbs). On the Bn'M we had a dozen mahi from 3 - 10 lbs, and then came back to the reef and caught some lane snappers for dinner and released some barracuda and crevalle jacks for action. The Strictly Business did a 1/2 day reef fishing trip today and had a nice catch of yellowtail snapper and then a keeper black grouper and a keeper gag grouper. Yesterday the Kalex and 9 nice size mahi from 12 - 25 lbs, The Bn'M had 10 from 12 - 20 lbs and a 15 lb wahoo, The Relentless had 8 nice fish, including a 35 lb bull and a wahoo, The Reel McCoy had some schoolies and a few big fish, including a moster 46 lb bull! The Catch 22 had 7 decent fish and a couple schoolies, and the Strictly Business had 6 nice fish and a handful of schoolies. The Fearless stayed on the reef and had 25 yellowtail snapper and then fished a couple wrecks and caught some hard fighting amberjacks up to 40 lbs. Now a few days ago was one of the best days of mahi fishing we have seen in a while. The Catch 22 led the way with 18 nice from 12 - 30 lbs, The Gon Fishin V had a dozen from 12 - 20 lbs, The Relentless had a good catch too including another big Bull weighing in at 46 lbs! The funny thing was on the Bn'M we started out looking for mahi, and wound up losing a few and then gave up and headed back to the reef. Looking back I wish we had a little more patience and stuck it out, but we wound up having a great afternoon on the reef catching 25 yellowtail snapper and then 20 nice vermillion snapper. The day before that we did some daytime swordfishing on the Bn'M II and had a few strikes, hooking two fish, but unfortunately pulled the hooks on both of them. The bite seems to be picking up and I think the next few months we will see some nice broadbills. Capt. Andrew ran the Bn'M on the 16th and caught and released a nice blue marlin, which is always a nice surprise since we don't catch many of them, but you always have a shot at a billfish when you're trolling along! The weather this coming week looks great as well, so I would expect the boats to still put together some nice catches of mahi (more than likely we will start seeing a lot more schoolies soon), with a few of the nicer fish mixed in, and there should still be the occasional wahoo, blackfin tuna, and the reef should provide plenty of snapper. Call and book your next islamorada fishing trip at Bud N' Mary's Marina soon! 305- 664-2461

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

5/18/13 Florida Keys Backcountry Fishing in May

Bud N' Mary's Marina — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:13:15 +0000

Well been very busy and not much time to give updates for the islamorada may fishing report. The weather has been nice and fishing has been pretty good overall. The may florida keys tarpon fishing has slowed down a little bit the last several days as much of the mullet have thinned out and it was also a very very busy weekend with lots of boats on the water. It's been tough to find live bait plus the fish are just not as active though fish are definitely still being caught we've still been catching at least one most every trip, today we lost a fish after a few minutes but got them the last couple nights as well as some a few days ago fishing locally. The gulf has had some decent fishing we made our way out their yesterday and found lots of big bull sharks, some goliath groupers, a few cobias, and saw some permit though they were tough to get to eat. Capt. Mike Bassett had good luck fishing the deeper everglades and had a good catch of redfish and snook. One day they had 11 snook with Bob and son John. There has also been some nice size mangrove snappers around Capt. Dave Sisung has had some very nice catches of great tablefare as of late. The tarpon fishing with crabs should pick up and hopefully crabs will become more available as this is the time of year they start feeding more on them. Early mornings and later evenings can be a good bet for big tarpon in Islamorada!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

5-15-13 Islamorada Fishing in Mid May

Capt. Nick Stanczyk — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:55:58 +0000

There's been some great catches of fish the past few days while fishing in Islamorada in Mid May. Almost all of the boats have been having decent catches, and then each day there has been a couple spectacular ones mixed in. There's been some mahi at a reasonable distance the last few days, and today the pretty work caught about 10 mahi in the morning, and then decided to hit the reef for a couple hours after that. We can't always do that, but early in the season (April and May), sometimes allows us too if the mahi aren't at extreme distances, (further out in the gulf stream). Anyhow, on the reef they caught a handful of yellowtail snapper and then a pair of black grouper, including a big 28 lber! On the Bn'M we stayed on the reef since the winds were blowing and we didn't want to get too beat up, and we managed to catch our limit of 30 yelllowtail snappers, a 10 lb black grouper, and then went out a few miles and caught a handful of nice vermillion snapper. Before it was over though we found some frigate birds and knocked off 4 nice mahis, including this beatiful 35 lb bull. The Fearless had around 15 mahi and then stopped on the way home and caught a handful of yellowtail snapper to mix things up, and the Reel McCoy had a handful of mahi today and released a sailfish, and they were all nicer fish. Some of the boats found big schoolies of smaller fish, "Schoolies", while others founds less numbers, but bigger size. Yesterday the Reel McCoy had a great catch of Mahi, including 11 fish from 12 - 35 lbs, and then some schoolies to go along with them. The Relentless had a 40 lb bull and 7 or 8 other fish and the Pretty work had a handful of mahi, all nice size up to 20 lbs. The Catch 22 caught around 20 mahi, schoolies, and then on the way home hooked a mystery fish. It was rough weather, and high seas, but the angler toughed it out and caught an unusual catch for Islamorada! It was a 70 lb yellowfin tuna! It's the first one we've seen caught here in a few years, but it goes to show you that you never know what you will catch while Islamorada Fishing! Yesterday the Gold Digger also had a limit of yellowtail snapper and a keeper black and gag grouper on a morning 1/2 day charter. The Gon Fishin had 20 mahi as well, including a few gaffers in the 10 - 15 lb range. I'd expect to see some more mahi the next few days, as well as grouper and snapper. The sailfish have really thinned out, but there's always a chance at one! There has been a few permit around lately as well, but they haven't been swarming. Here's a nice one caught and released aboard the Relentless a few days ago!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

5-12-13 Islamorada Fishing Report

Capt. Nick Stanczyk — Sun, 12 May 2013 21:32:38 +0000

It's been a busy few days here at Bud n' Mary's Marina in Islamorada, FL. Most of the florida keys offshore charter boats have been getting out on full day trips, and a few on 1/2 day fishing trips. Today the fishing was decent overall. A couple boats had really nice catches of fish, including the Pretty work with 25 mahi, 20 which were schoolies and then 5 nicer ones in the 15 - 25 lb range, the Gon Fishin V had 25 schoolies, as well as the Man O War which did a 1/2 day morning reef trip and had 40 yellowtail snapper, a big mutton snapper, a nice black grouper, and then was suprised by 3 decent mahi (most of the mahi are further offshore). Most of the other boats had anywhere from 5 to 20 mahi, mostly schoolies (3-5 lbs), but there was a couple other 20 lb fish hanging up. The other boats that stayed on the reef this morning, including the Bn'M with 30 yellowtails, and the Redfish with 20 yellowtails and a few cero mackerel. Yesterday the mahi fishing was definitely a little better for most of the boats. Some boats got on them real early and had great catches, including the Reel McCoy with fish up to 30 lbs, and the Catch 22 with fish up to 25 lbs. Aboard the Bn'M we started off slow, not finding anything for the first few hours, but we were patient and didn't give up, and by the end of the day we caught about 10 mahi, including 4 decent fish up to 20 lbs. The Gold Digger caught a couple decent mahi in the 15 lb range this morning, as well as a handful of schoolies, but when the mahi bite got slow they decided to come fish the reef for a couple hours and caught 20 yellowtail snapper. That's the nice thing about a full day fishing charter, you have time for more options when it comes to the fishing! Tomorrow looks like a beautiful day to go fishing in Islamorada, and the few days after that look a little windy, but I'm sure most of the boats will still be getting out. Don't forget to tun into the new reality show on the Weather Channel, Reel Rivals, at 9 p.m. on Tuesday!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

5/9/13 May Backcountry Fishing Report in Islamorada

Bud N' Mary's Marina — Thu, 09 May 2013 23:59:04 +0000

Well the backcountry islamorada fishing in may has been pretty productive with shots at all kinds of different fish. Capt. Jim Willcox had some good fishing in the gulf several days ago with a variety of fish. They got into cobia, permit, and tripletail, among other things. The tripletail fishing should be good until the stone crab traps are pulled soon, then they won't have much to hang on for structure. Calm days this time of year with the falling tide can yield good fishing for permit on the wrecks. May inshore fishing islamorada has still been yielding a good catch of tarpon. Capt. Rick Stanczyk had 4 out of 6 big tarpon in the backcountry yesterday, plus some nice redfish, a snook, a permit, sharks, and a few other things. Capt. Bill Bassett caught 3 tarpon yesterday plus several hammerhead sharks. Capt. Ben Ekblom caught multiple tarpon as well, plus this fish that was estimated over 200 lbs! Today fishing was a little tougher with a breezy north chilly wind in the morning. That didn't stop Capt. Skip Nielsen who ran deeper into the glades and got 4 tarpon and 4 nice snook. This evening I saw Capt. Bill Bassett fighting a tarpon on our way home from catching bait too. Earlier in the day he reported catching a nice permit sight fishing the local flats of islamorada. The tarpon in islamorada will start feeding more and more on crabs as the mullet start to thin out in the next few weeks, early mornings and later evenings can be a very productive time drifting with crabs for tarpon!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

5-8-13 Offshore fishing in Islamorada in May

Capt. Nick Stanczyk — Thu, 09 May 2013 01:26:17 +0000

Well it was an exciting day here in Islamorada yesterday. The new reality show "Reel Rivals" premiered on the weather channel, and is going to air on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. So tune in to watch some of our captains doing what they love to do, FISH! There's been some great deep sea fishing stories here the past few days as well. The dolphin (mahi) bite has been decent. Some boats are finding some nice fish, but quite a few boats are finding some, but they are finicky and haven't been eating all that great. Today was the toughest day on the dolphin, although the Catch 22 had a great day catching 9 nice sized fish up to 25 lbs. Six of the fish were all together, so if it wasn't for that pack it would have been a different story. Most of the other boats had a handful of dolphin, including schoolies and a few other nice ones here and there. The Kalex had an incredible catch today releasing a sailfish, keeping 5 cobia, a couple blackfin tuna, and a few mahi. The Man O War also had a great catch while reef fishing in the afternoon, including 3 cobia, a sailfish (released), a permit release, and some vermillion snapper. The past five days has been really good overall for yellowtailing. The slick calm conditions today made it a little tougher, but the snapper spawn this time of year on the reef, so if you want lots of action and some great eating fish, this might be right up your alley. The grouper bite remains to be decent as well the last few days, The strictly business has had some real nice gag groupers up to 18 lbs. The Redfish also had a great catch a couple days ago with a few mutton snapper, a gag grouper, lots of yellowtail snapper, and a surprise blackfin tuna. I think when the wind picks back up a little the mahi bite should get better for all the boats, (not sporadic). When all the boats do well we wil consider it great fishing! The daytime swordfish bite has finally picked up here as well. The Catch 22 caught about an 80 lber a few days ago as well as a handful of mahi. Yesterday the Bn'M tag and released a broadbill swordfish, and today the Bn'M ll caught about a 50 lb swordfish and unfortunatly lost a giant one after two hours estimated at 500 lbs! The next few days I think the mahi bite will get back to where it was since there should be some easterly wind, and the snapper and grouper fishing should also remain decent.

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

5/6/13 May islamorada tarpon fishing report

Bud N' Mary's Marina — Tue, 07 May 2013 01:12:08 +0000

Well been very very busy so tough to keep up with the islamorada tarpon fishing reports in may! The last few days have been pretty tough for the may florida keys tarpon fishing. We've had some hard wind from the west and northwest which the fish don't really like, plus last night it got pretty chilly for this time of year, reportedly even down to 57 in parts of miami - unheard of in may! Anyways it's been a struggle for the most part the last couple days, though a handful of fish have been caught mostly fishing mullets live and dead. This morning we got lucky and got 4 out of 5 nice tarpon, and got lucky and got one at the end of our evening trip tonight. The winds did swing more out of the north today though were much lighter. Yesterday we only had one bite all day but got him too, however had a rough day before with only jumping one fish off all day plus the no bites that evening. Capt. Skip Nielsen did report catching 4 tarpon the day before when it was blowing hard out of the northwest. Capt. Jim Willcox, Capt. Jeff Beeler, and Capt. Bill Bassett have reported some decent redfish and snook fishing in the everglades. Also Capt. Ben Ekblom reported some snook and redfish at the cape.

The next few days still call for a westerly wind, however fairly light so hopefully it won't have too much of a negative effect on the fishing, especially for tarpon fishing with mullet in may!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

5-3-13 Offshore fishing in Islamorada in early May

Capt. Nick Stanczyk — Fri, 03 May 2013 21:57:01 +0000

There's been some great catches the past few days here fishing in the Florida Keys. On May 1st the shallow water grouper season finally opened and a handful of the boats got in on the action! The Kalex limited out the first two days on black grouper, the Strictly Business and Fearless also had a couple black and gag grouper. These groupers have been caught while islamorada reef fishing on our private offshore charters. There has also been quite a few of yellowtail snapper and the permit have been a little on the difficult side the Reel McCoy and Man O War have both released a couple over the last few days. The amberjack continue to be thick on the "humps", and if you want a back breaking fight and are up for a challenge, you might want to consider messing with one of them. Most of the boats the past few days however have been focusing on dolphin (mahi) fishing in Islamorada. The mahi bite has been fair overall, the majority of boats are putting some good catches together by the end of the day if they are patient and dedicate the day to it, but they aren't swarming by any means. Some of the boats have been catching a handful of bigger fish in the 15 - 25 lb range, and then some smaller schoolies. Most of the boats have been averaging 5 - 20 fish lately through out the day. Today the Predator reported a very quite morning, but then within an hour caught 6 nice dolphin (mahi) from 12 - 20 lbs and saw a few more, before calling it a day. The Pretty Work caught another monster bull yesterday, weighing a 45.6 lber! They didn't see a ton of fish, but the few they caugth were all nice size. The Bn'M has had a group from South Carolina the past two days, and they have caught over 30 mahi combined in two days, including 11 decent fish from 14 - 20 lbs. The Relentless has had similar catches of mahi as well. The wind direction looks a little funny tomorrow being from the North west, but hopefully it won't have to much of an adverse affect on our fishing. The daytime swordfishing bite seems to be picking up a little too on the back side of this moon. We caught two fish our last trip, including tackle shop Sara's personal best with a 176 lber! The Gon Fishin has had some mahi as well the past couple days and managed a sailfish release yesterday. The Kalex had handful of "football" blackfin tuna today as well as some mahi. The sailfish have been sparce but there's always a shot at one. Don't forget to tune into the new tv show - Reel Rivals that airs on May 7th at 9 p.m. on the weather channel, it's shot right out of Bud n' Mary's Marina.

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

4-29-13 Deep Sea Fishing in Islamorada

Capt. Nick Stanczyk — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:46:02 +0000

The Islamorada offshore charter boats have been hard at it the past few days out of Bud n' Mary's Marina. It's been pretty windy, making for some sporty conditions, but if you can hang in with the high seas you can catch fish out there! About half of the boats have been going "offshore" in search of mahi (dolphinfish) , and the other half have been staying on the reef for some bottom fishing as well as some live baiting. There has been some incredible catches of mahi by a handful of boats the past few days. Not every boat is finding them, so it's not a free for all by any means, but the boats that have been getting in the right area at the right time have been doing great. Here's a couple pictures of some recent catches by the Reel McCoy, which included some "schoolies" (mahi in the 3 - 5 lb range), as well as some "gaffers" and "slammers" up to 38 lbs. The sailfish bite has been slow, but the Strictly Business did manage to release a nice one yesterday. There's been some permit in the 10 - 25 lb range on wrecks lately too., although they haven't been great every day, the Man o War and Relentless both released a couple fish. The yellowtail snapper bite has been the best we have seen all year as well! Most of the boats have been limiting out, including the Miss Islamorada Party boat, which limited out two days in a row with 190 fish and then 240 fish! Most of these fish have been averaging 1 lb, and are good fighters for their size and even better eating! The Kalex had a great catch of "flag" yellowtails yesterday, including fish up to 5 lbs! The amberjack bite is still great with some big fish up to 60 lbs being put on the dock. There's been a straggler cobia here and there as well on the reef as well as a few cero mackerel. This has been the most big "slammer" dolphin (mahi) we have seen in April in a long time, so we are hoping this summer is going to be a good one for them. The Pretty Work had a big 48 lb bull a couple days ago, and the Redfish had a 37 lber yesterday. We managed to find that "magical" piece of debris aboard the Bn'M yesterday, and pretty much made our entire day right there. It's always nice to have a little bit of luck on your side, and on this "lucky log" (debris holds bait which in turn holds fish), we caught over 30 mahi to 25 lbs, and then 7 wahoo up to 18 lbs. The middle of next week looks like the winds are going to drop out some, which will make the seas calmer and more enjoyable, but hopefully it doesn't impact the fishing in a negative way. I imagine the snapper bite will remain the best bet for action the next couple of weeks, and don't forget on May 1st we can keep shallow water grouper! So watch out for some pics! As we approach offshore fishing in Islamorada in May I think we should see more and more mahi, which means more of the boats will find the big schools instead of just some of them.

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

4/28/13 Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing in April

Bud N' Mary's Marina — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 22:03:35 +0000

Well the wind was howling the last couple days but the islamorada april tarpon fishing has still been very good. Lots of fish in the local channels and around the bridges if you have the bait you don't have to run very far. Yesterday the bite was very good lots of boats reported multiple fish to the boat. Today it was a little harder to get them going but was still overall decent the wind was heavier and a lot more boats in the hot spots as word gets around quick! A half day tarpon fishing charter is a good bet now but a full day can be even better. Today Capt. Rick Stanczyk had 4 nice tarpon to the boat out of 6 or so bites all on fresh mullet. Capt. Skip Nielsen had 3 fish to the boat though missed several other bites on the live mullets. Live mullet fishing takes a lot of skill on the angler side of things as they must be ready to reel and set the hook, and tarpon always seem to strike at that moment when you look away to grab a drink, lunch, etc.... Capt. Mike Bassett reported 1 big tarpon out of 3 and also caught a nice big snook in the backcountry and lost a few others, plus some nice trout. Capt. Bill Bassett had 3 nice tarpon today out of 5 bites. Capt. Ben Ekblom sent pictures of this nice tarpon his anglers caught today as well. As you can see tarpon fishing charters have been what we do most backcountry fishing the florida keys this time of year and the bite is good!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk