Florida Keys Fishing Reports

Strictly Business takes 3rd place in the Ladies Sailfish Tourney!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:03:28 +0000

Last weekend the Ladies Sailfish Tournament took place here in Islamorada. The Florida Keys sailfishing was decent and over the two day period the girls on Strictly Business with Capt. Wes released 5 sailfish to take 3rd place. It was a windy and rough weekend but quite a few boats still made it out to the Reef and had fair fishing. Nothing was really red hot, but there was a mix of a yellowtail snapper, a few mutton snapper, barracuda, king mackerel, and a handful of sailfish caught amongst the fleet. Monday brought heavy winds with rain most of the morning but there was still some action for the boats that stuck it out. Mostly snapper, king mackerel, cero mackerel, and some groupers (which have to be released because of the closed season).

2/3/12 Great fishing in the everglades despite the wind!

Bud N' Mary's Marina — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:56:31 +0000

Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished with Carlo and his brother down from Canada today on 2/3/12 for a full day islamorada fishing charter. The winds were howling, a steady 20+mph all day with gusts over 25! Luckily it is coming from the eastern quadrant which is not too bad in the everglades. We skated the edges of the banks and channels towards flamingo, arriving early at 8:00 am. Caught the end of the falling tide.. first boat there luckily. Fishing was red hot, we used primarily shrimp. Lots of redfish, a handful of slot fish mixed in with lots of puppy drum. We caught a couple nice snook early too, one with a horn hooked shrimp on a jig, the other off a pinfish on the bottom. Several black drum were in there too with one nice size one, as well as half a dozen slot trout which we kept! We fished for a few hours catching close to 50 fish, through the slack tide and the in tide. After things slowed a bit, we moved to some channels a little further west for some florida keys shark fishing. Lots of trout in there mixed in with jacks, no pompanos today. We saved some stuff for bait, and after we ran out of shrimp, moved deeper in the channel for some shark fishing. We caught probably 8 black tips, mostly little ones, and this nice 90 lb bull shark. No tarpon today though the hard winds and bit of chill in the air likely has shut them off again. Last bait of the day we hooked something big... ran us down to the mono backing on our BG 90 while I threw the anchor ball. We chased the big sea monster around for 25 minutes or so, but unfortunately while pulling on him he got the wind-on leader wrapped around his sharp toothy bill and cut us off! We then headed home, the boys are fishing offshore tomorrow and staying on one of Bud n' Mary's houseboats tonight!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@seethefloridakeys.net

February Fishing Picks Up! Sailfish and Big Kings!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:34:19 +0000

Islamorada Fishing was a little tough towards the end of January, but as soon as February rolled around fishing picked up. On the 1st of February the Poor Girls Sailfish Tournament took place. Captain Scott Stanczyk aboard the Catch 22 led Katie, Elizabeth, and Sara to a 2nd place Finish with 5 sailfish releases. The Reel McCoy and Cloud Nine both released 3 sailfish as well. It was a rough day with big seas, but it didn't stop the girls in the Florida Keys from having a good day on the water. Today the fishing was great too. The Relentless, Kalex, and Strictly Business all had limits of kingfish, with some real nice ones up to 40 lbs! The BNM went offshore in the morning to one of the humps and caught a couple of amberjacks up to 45 lbs, as well as a few small tunas and almaco jacks before coming back to the reef and releasing 4 out of 5 sailfish.

1/28/12 Good Backcountry Fishing in Flamingo

Bud N' Mary's Marina — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:40:31 +0000

Bob and Bobby Joyce from Boston went out on a full day in the backcountry with Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti a few days ago. They fished in the Flamingo area catching trout, redfish, and Blackdrum. They also caught black drum and a snook! Capt. Skip Nielsen reported a good bite of tarpon the other day in the backcountry with Cliff Fox, they caught 4 out of 6! Capt. Rick Stanczyk reported a good spanish mackerel bite on the edge of the gulf yesterday, they caught a boat load, plus mangrove snappers, trout, and pompano. They jumped a couple tarpon they couldn't get to stay on, but did catch a couple 100lb bull sharks! The tarpon may thin out again for a few days since we had a drop in temperature, but after it warms up again for a few days it should be game on!

"Bodacious" wins Florida Keys Gold Cup Sailfish Championship!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:04:58 +0000

The last two years Nick Stanczyk from the BNM joined up with local friends Taylor Walsh, Topher Wightman, Allen Wood, and Henry and Shay Danzig aboard their boat "Bodacious" to fish the Florida Keys Gold Cup Sailfish Championship. The Gold Cup is made up of 3 of the largest sailfish tournaments in the Upper Keys, and the most releases wins. After winning the Islamorada Sailfish tournament we were off to a good start in the series. The Reel McCoy won the Cheeca Lodge Sailfish tournmanet and closed the gap to only 4 fish with just the IFC captains sailfish cup remaining as the last event. Yesterday the IFC tournament took place, which is a winner take all event, and the Bodacious remained consistent and released 5 more sailfish, finishing 2nd in the IFC tourney on time. Teammates Taylor and Topher were not able to make it for the last day, so Dave Morris filled in for Taylor at the wheel and put us on the fish. The Reel McCoy released 4 sailfish to take 3rd place in the IFC, and 2nd place overall in the Gold Cup Standings. There's a couple of sailfish tournaments for the Ladies remaining in February, but the Gold Cup is over till next Demcember.

The Reel McCoy wins the Cheeca Lodge Presidential Sailfish Tournament!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:10:55 +0000

Last weekend over January 21st and 22nd 2012 the Cheeca Lodge Sailfish tournament took place in Islamorada. The sailfishing had been a little on the slow side over the past couple weeks, but Capt. George went to work on the first day of the tournament and released 6 sails to get into first place. The second day they got off to a great start and released 7 more fish within the first two hours to give them 13 releases for the tournament. The took 1st place with 13 releases and the 2nd and 3rd place boats each had 8 releases. During the past week the king mackerel bite has been the most consistent. Most of the fish have been in the 5 - 10 lb range with a few over 20 lbs. The yellowtail snapper have been biting fair at best with the cooler water temps, but there's also been a few big mutton snapper up to 15 lbs! There was only a few sails caught on Monday and Tuesday between all the boats, but today there was a little better bite. The Relentless had 5 releases and the BNM had 2 releases. The Fearless had a nice catch of king mackerel and snapper as well.

1/20/12 Monster Black Drum in the Everglades!

Bud N' Mary's Marina — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:26:35 +0000

Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished John again for his last day here on 1/20/12. Did another full day back in the 'glades for some more january islamorada fishing. The water temperatures had warmed up considerably, however there was another mass of cold air all the way up from north florida that made it a chilly ride back there. The fish didn't seem to mind though, we fished some deep canals and run-offs. Lots of black drum with a few ladyfish and jacks mixed in at first. Shrimps on jigs were working as they usually do on our florida keys fishing charters, but the best bet was a shrimp on the bottom with a 1 oz lead and circle hook. As the tied slowed the fishing got a little better, and before we left we had slow heavy bite on the bottom rod. John picked it up and wound tight as the rod bent over and drag started slowly peeling off. Didn't know if we were gonna stop the fish, finally turned him and he started thumping very hard. Came up to the surface half a dozen times, creating some major turbulance as he went back down. Finally boated him after 10 minutes, big old black drum, close to 30 lbs! After that we headed further back up the cape to check out some new scenery, fished a few other creeks and caught some more reds, sheepshead, and a few big trout with the high incoming tide. Also one nice red drum out of a drain! Once tied died we ran back home, wind had kicked around out of the east and was pretty snotty, but not too bad of a wind direction for back there. Beautiful day here for this islamorada fishing guide! Capt. Mike Bassett reported a similar bite of black drums and reds, they also lost a big snook in the mangroves and caught a couple smaller ones. Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti reported lots of black drum, and Capt. Jim Willcox reported a good bite of reds and some nice trout to end his day.

1/17/12 More january snook fishing in Islamorada!

Bud N' Mary's Marina — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:50:20 +0000

Capt. Rick Stanczyk fished with John down from DC area today on 1/17/12 for a little birthday getaway january islamorada fishing trip. We left out at daybreak loaded with shrimp and a few pinfish, though will come to find the pins were not really needed. Water temps still chilly in the backcountry from another front we had a few days ago, winds have kicked around from the east at 15 mph, but very nice on the back side. First stop John grabs a rod with a jig and casts it out baitless while I turn around to get shrimp out of the well. He starts jigging and before you know it a big old snook SLAMS it! Ultra light tackle, we fought him for over 10 minutes, luckily John is a skilled angler and knows when/how to apply the right pressure. We finally get him to the boat, nice 15 lb florida keys snook! He insists I make a few casts too, and I hook a nice snook after that as well, not quite as big but just as fun! We caught about 10 in all, along with lots of sheepshead and jacks. After the tide quits and starts falling, we jump around a bit and hit a few trees and drains along the shorelines. Pick away catching a few reds and black drum, several trout in one area, and of course more sheepshead. By noon we make our way to some channels a little closer to home. Loaded up with big trout and bluefish. Several trout get eaten by some of the big blues, pretty cool to see! We catch several nice slot trout and keep three for dinner, then head home! Fantastic day fishing in islamorada! John has two more full days booked, so will try some different stuff at least for one of them.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
305-747-6903
rick@seethefloridakeys.net

1/14/12 1/15/12 Fishing the Everglades in January after cold front!

Bud N' Mary's Marina — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:14:36 +0000

Capt. Jim Willcox ran back to the cape yesterday on 1/14/12 after another front came through Islamorada and chilled things down. Many guys struggled on half day islamorada fishing charters as the wind mixed the bay up pretty bad and the cold weather the night before shut some fish down. In the deeper canals and creeks they caught several redfish, black drum, and sheepshead. Saw some crocodiles as well as had some bull sharks eating the drums! Today Capt. Rick Stanczyk had similar fishing with Andy and his sons Conrad and Derek. We caught several black drum and a few sheepshead. The bite wasn't red hot we kept hopping from spot to spot, picking a few fish from each and moving on. We ran back to some run-offs around noon time and caught plenty more reds to finish the day out strong. The crocs were thick in one of the run-off creeks in the cape canal, we saw 4 of them, one we idled right up to and he didn't moved, but posed nicely for a picture! Hopefully after the weekend now there won't be near as much boat traffic back there, and better fishing in the everglades! I also saw that the party boat, Miss Islamorada Capt. Ben Loy, had loads of kingfish from the afternoon today! Remember no matter what the conditions florida keys fishing in january, there's always something you can do to bend the rod!

Mid January 2012 Islamorada Reef Fishing Report!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 23:10:09 +0000

The Sailfish have thinned out the past week. There's been a couple caught each of the last few days, but the boats have been having to put in a lot of time for a couple of shots. The king mackerel bite picked back with many boats limiting out with fish from 5 - 20 lbs. Each day there has also been a few blackfin tuna hanging up, including a few nice ones close to 20 lbs. The yellowtail snapper have been biting decent as well too, with some just legal fish up shallow and some nicer ones out a little deeper on the reef. On the shallow patches there has been lots of nice cero mackerel too. Our grouper season closed on Jan. 1st for the next 4 months and we've been releasing some nice size grouper the last few days.