syxx

Well had the day off and my mom was nice enough to stay over and watch little guy today so I could take my wife Elizabeth fishing! Absolutely glass calm all day and overcast so the temperature was cool but not too cold. Water temps were still down around low 60s. We headed into the backcountry and tried some different stuff from my regular routine as of late. Was also worried about the bugs with as calm as it was, they were definitely around. It was a little slow to start, we found 1 nice black drum and a trout at the first stop. Then nothing in the next couple stops though tons of bait around on the shoreline. We ran further back and fished another shoreline hard with the trolling motor, got 1 nice drum here and lost a good fish that could've been a good snook but I think it was a shark. We will never know! After that we ran even further back and tried some gulf structure without much luck. I did mark a few fish on the bottom however so that was interesting. We tried a couple other creeks that looked really good but only found a few trout in one. Really strange with as nice as the water and conditions looked in thought there would be been some reds, snook, or something similar. We headed back and tried a spot I fished the other day to finish up. Tide was getting right there now and it was good fishing. We got a bunch of drum here, a handful of redfish, one nice snook, a sheepshead, and a few more trout. Great way to end the day and was glad my wife got to catch a bunch, also was as scenic and pretty as it gets! I have openings through the weekend if anyone wants to go. Conditions look to stay calm and then another front this weekend, not quite as intense as the last one but will cool off again. Capt. Rick Stanczyk Facebook Instagram rick@seethefloridakeys.net

Well a few days ago we got hit hard by a good cold front and the temperatures plummeted down into the 50s here in Islamorada, FL. We also had another reinforcing front back that one up, so things stayed chilly. The water in the backcountry bays dropped into the high 50s as well in some portions. Though a day after each front passed the winds laid down and gave way to some epic fishing. Today I had Pam and Lars down from Arkansas and we fished deep in the everglades. We got out early and were loaded up with some nice lively shrimp. When the water temps drop this far, usually everything is pretty keyed in on shrimp - they don't want to work too hard for that meal and expend a lot of energy. Working them very slowly on the bottom, really just letting them lay and twitching every so often, works wonders. Once we got set up and the tide started moving in, it was game on. Pam and Lars each landed well into the double digits on snook, and quite a few 'big girls' for us... fish in the 8 to 12 lb range. Multiple double headers it was a blast! We also had quite a few black drum and nice redfish too. Very good to see the reds as they've been hard to find especially in the summer time, as much of their habitat has been beat up due to algae blooms and grass die off. But in the winter they do show up in the 'winter time holes' along with their cousins the black drum, snook, and sheepshead. We also saw several small tarpon rolling about. I didn't have much hope that they would bite but knew it was a possibility. We kept throwing in their direction, and soon Pam hooked and landed a nice 25 lb tarpon! Not to be outdone, Lars got one about an hour after that. Backcountry SLAMS for both anglers, wow! We continued catching fish for several hours it was just epic, also got a few trout mixed in which we kept for dinner. I don't particularly like killing our drum, especially the redfish, due to the lack of numbers... and snook are currently out of season and also more of a gamefish for us too. On the way home we hit the gulf side to look for some triple tail. It was so calm and those fish like to lay on the surface near the crab buoys, sunning themselves and waiting for an easy meal. We saw quite a few but mostly little guys, though we caught several and got one that was big enough for dinner too at least. Just a banner day out of Islamorada in December fishing. I have the same crew again tomorrow and then several days open next week, come on down the fishing is great! Capt. Rick Stanczyk Facebook Instagram rick@seethefloridakeys.net

November is nearing it's end here and we've already had our first legit cold front of the winter! It's very early for it to be getting as cold as it did, but the weather has been crazy the last few years thats for sure. It dipped down into the mid 60s here, and looks like Sunday night it will be doing so again! We actually even have a tropical depression that is suppose to be making its way here during the day too and it's kind of made our weekend a wash. Luckily though it will just be a good bit of rain and heavier than normal winds. Fishing has been decent I myself have been doing the everglades things mostly. Before the front we were having good action with some juvenile tarpon and snook back there. Had a few days that were very good when it was nice and calm, and the water cleaned up substantially, and some other days where the wind was cranking but we were still able to pick away at some fish and had OK catches. Mid October had Colin and Stephen over from the UK, they enjoyed catching a good number of snook and they each got a medium sized tarpon and also a big lemon shark. The following day I had Jerry and his son in law Mark, they also enjoyed a good day of snook plus a couple redfish, and we got a couple of bigger 10-12 lb snook fishing deeper water as well as another lemon shark too. Had my dad and Ron Modra out for a fun day after that, we got about 8 snook and 3 juvenile tarpon... the snook were larger on average than the previous days which was cool just not as many. Had Philip and his buddy Andre for some tarpon fishing one day... we didn't have luck withe the tarpon we did hook one but lost him, though we banged up the snook pretty good landing a dozen or so. Half day with Mario and Steve who are Florida folk, we caught a few snappers for dinner and got 3 juvenile tarpon while doing that and a snook and couple sharks it was great fishing! And the last couple days after the front we had, we caught redfish, drum, and snook mostly. Those trips were with long time customer John Watson and his family, and then Bud, Anna, and Kyle whom enjoyed their first trip back in the everglades! It looks like after sunday the weather will be nicer again, it is suppose to dip down into the 60s again but then slowly warm up. Northeast winds most of the week 15mph or so, which should be ideal for most of our fall/winter fishing. I think the tarpon thing is more or less over, may have some shots at small guys when the water temps are 70 or more, but for the most part bet on doing the cooler weather options. That usually includes snook, redfish, drum, and trout in the 'glades. Mackerels should start showing up in the gulf which I haven't had any reports on yet but with this cold weather I'm sure there are some out there. Also patch reef fishing will be an option, but usually that's a little easier with less wind or at least due north wind. Capt. Rick Stanczyk Facebook Instagram rick@seethefloridakeys.net Islamorada Backcountry Charters with Capt. Rick Stanczyk This post has been promoted to an article

December has arrived and for the last month it's already been full 'winter mode' for us here in the Florida Keys. The great thing about living and fishing down here is there is great fishing all year round. The winter however is probably the most dramatic change we get as far as variety of things that we fish for. In the everglades with the colder water temperatures the fish often push out of the shallows and flats areas, and move into the deeper creeks, canals, channel run-offs, and island moats. Especially during a cold front with howling north winds and temperature drops, if you catch it right you can catch good fish almost every cast some days. We've already had 3 good cold fronts where the temperatures dropped to around 60 degrees, and now that the fish have adjusted the fishing really lit up afterwards. We've had several good days of catching redfish, snook, black drum, and sheepshead. Some nice size trout have shown up in some of the channel run-offs too, normal for the winter time. The last few times back during the right conditions, catches of up to 40 or more of these fish were the norm. When the water is cold shrimp is all you need for bait which is readily accessible at every local bait shop. When things warm up slightly the fishing is still good, we often are fishing live pilchards for snook and redfish, but the fish spread out a bit more often times. In the gulf the spanish mackerel have shown up in full force. We've been running a little past the everglades national park boundary and chumming big schools of spanish mackerel up. Most days produce double digit catches, and some days it has been so good that when you hook one fish, another one comes and tries to bite the knot! Big blacktip sharks are also feeding out in those areas, and on the falling tide it can be excellent fishing for these brutes. Further out cobia and triple tail are being found off structure such as wrecks and stone crab trap lines, and of course goliath grouper can be caught out there too. Last time out there looking for cobias, we had a pack of 10 or so pop up with fish as big as 40 lbs. A 300+ lb goliath grouper came up and tried to eat one that we hooked, luckily we were able to keep that from happening! On the ocean side patch reef fishing is very good too. We've had strong catches of porgy and hogfish - some of the best eating fish there is down here. My anglers regularly bring these fish to local resturants and have them prepared all different kinds of ways! This is a great half day option as many of these areas are only a 10 minute ride from the dock, and with the predominant north winds it is actually farily calm as the shallow ocean side is protected by the keys themselves with the wind coming from the bay/gulf side. There is also plenty of snapper, grouper, mackerel, jacks, and the occasional permit out there too. Tarpon fishing will be slow throughout the winter, though usually by February we start having better fishing for them. Of course if there is a string of warm days with southeaserly winds, tarpon can pop up any time of year. If your looking to go on the fishing trip of a lifetime, Islamorada should be on your list. You don't have to worry about any snow down here and Bud n' Mary's Marina has plenty of full time, professional guides waiting to put you on the fish! Capt. Rick Stanczyk rick@seethefloridakeys.net Bud n' Mary's Fishing Trips in Islamorada

We've had a lot of wind the last couple days and it's expected to continue through the weekend from 10/12/12. Yesterday it was a hard northwest wind of 20 mph and we made our way back to islamorada backcountry fishing cape sable hoping the northerlyeasterly wind would hold there and keep the waters semi-clean. Unfortunately it swung around from the northwest which it has a way of doing back there this time of year october fishing in the florida keys, and the water in the gulf was a mess plus big swells making the ride a little bouncy but nothing my seacraft couldn't handle. Luckily the water where we fished was semi-protected, we fished some points on the low water as it was just starting in and picked a few nice reds and a snook on pinfish, also our friend Bob Mclure who fished with us hooked and lose a very nice snook on light tackle casting shrimp. Bob was a major league pitcher for 20 years in the MLB, pitching for many teams including the Brewers in the 1982 world series. Great to have him join us on this october islamorada fishing report. He has still coached for many teams in the last couple decades, including our own Miami Marlins! We tried a few other mouths and points however the high water seemed to have the fish scattered further in for our october fishing in islamorada. So went deep into some of the creeks to some very shallow stuff, luckily the in tide and high water I had no problem getting my larger boat around. We found some neat spots, picking half a dozen reds or so in 4 spots, plus a few more snook and a black drum, all in 2 foot of water or less. Redfish in Islamorada is going to be great this winter! Later we headed back towards home and fished east cape. Got into several nice snook here catching another 5 or so, plus losing several on trees and downed debris, plus some more nice reds and a small goliath. Islamorada snook fishing is great in the fall! We also found a few more nice spots with reds in deeper water, and had one tarpon eat and spit a pinfish. Also lost a snook who jumped into a tree that was likely close to 20 lbs! Very fun day didn't get in till almost 5:00! Capt. Rick Stanczyk Fishing Islamorada

Islamorada fishing in July and August has been action packed, but it has been hot! Most of the time leaving early has helped, as often mid-day things kind of slow down due to the heat. We've had a little bit of everything going on in the everglades backcountry fishing. There has been a good bite of redfish and a handful of snook, mostly found in the shallows this time of year site fishing. However, you can often stake up and fish channel run-offs on the end of the falling tide and blind cast to catch these fish, or get up around the islands on the in tide and find them feeding as the flats get covered up. Pinfish are a good live bait to try, as well as cut ladyfish or mullet, or shrimp on jigs will work too. Eric pictured below caught this nice 12 lb red blind casting GULPs with me a few days ago! Trout, ladyfish, mangrove snapper, and jacks have been plentiful in the bays, and are a good bet for taking home some good dinner fish as well as using for bait for larger prey. We had some folks out yesterday and it was almost a bite every cast, and some good slot size trout as well as legal mangrove snappers. Shrimp or GULP artificials are a good bet here, often it's tough to get decent size live shrimp but the fake stuff will work. We had been still catching some of the giant 'sea monsters' a.k.a. sawfish while fishing for sharks, tarpon, goliaths, etc... though they are mostly gone now until the spring again. The goliath grouper bite in the gulf has been good, as well as some tarpon deep in the everglades and around the local islamorada bridges in the early morning and evenings. We had some good evening tarpon trips recently, with several mutli-fish trips and fish up to 120 lbs. Yesterday we got into some nice permit out in the gulf, catching about 8 in total which was lots of fun! Also caught 15 the day after! Into August some of this fishing will hopefully hold up, and it's a good time of year to come as there are many less boats on the water! Capt. Rick Stanczyk rick@seethefloridakeys.net