Fishing Islamorada

The September Islamorada Fishing has been very good this year!  It is typically a slower time of year for business for us – really just about the slowest month of the year there is.  This year has been no different however it has been a little busier than normal which is a nice change.  I haven’t been out every day and have also been on vacation but the days I’ve fished it’s been very good!  We had a phenomenal week of tarpon fishing where tarpon showed up in just about all of the backcountry channels.  We had a couple days where we landed 4 tarpon and some others where we landed a few more.  One of the best windows of fishing I’ve had all year as it has been an overall tougher year for tarpon!  Just yesterday I got out fun fishing with my dad and friend Steven.  We ran deep into the everglades backcountry fishing for snook and redfish.  We didn’t find them in a lot of places, but one spot was loaded nicely and we came away with about 10 nice reds and 10 snook total for the day.  Another half day trip we fished we got into loads of nice size trout and a mixed bag of snappers, ladyfish, and jacks.  It was action just about every cast.  As I said early September we were out of town and I am fixing to go out of town now again for the end of the month, and having a little boat maintenance done while away.  So if you are looking to do some florida keys fishing in September I can steer you in the right direction, otherwise I’ll be back in October.  Now October is one of my favorite months of the year to fish here.  It’s still fairly slow with business so you have the backcountry to yourself often, and with the slight cooling off of the weather and water, fishing gets very good.  We also start to get the fall bait run where loads of bait fish come down the cost and tons of tarpon, snook, redfish, jacks, and other predators are hot on their tails.  This obviously can make for some pretty epic fishing conditions.  Give me a shout if you want to get hooked up!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

Fishing Islamorada in August has been a good choice the last several years.  Tarpon are usually still around and there isn’t near as much pressure on them as during high season.  Usually winds are light and conditions are good to catch the silver king.  We usually depart on our everglades tarpon fishing charters early in the dark to get back there by daybreak.  This makes catching bait much easier and usually gives you a much better hour of fishing versus leaving at a later time.  You can often sneak in on hungry packs of tarpon that will eat anything that hits the water for that first hour or so of morning time!  This year so far the numbers of fish aren’t quite what they were the last few years going into this time of year.  Fishing has been OK for tarpon this summer – we’ve been catching them most days, though often having to work hard just for a handful of shots.  The last week or so we’ve caught them every trip except one, and most days have been landing a couple.  We haven’t had the ‘ace in the hole’ where you can go to a certain spot and practically guarantee a bite which is what was often the case last year.  The fish have been moving around a lot and not staying put, so sometimes you don’t get a bite until your second or third move.  Though they have been around so usually it does come!  Other than tarpon the snook fishing in the summer is usually pretty good too.  I haven’t done much of it as of late, though when the winds die out they are usually getting very happy as the water cleans up and bait makes its way up and down the mainland shorelines and into the creeks.  We often get some larger snook off the beaches and the occasional goliath grouper or cobia.  On a recent trip we landed this huge 350 lb goliath grouper which was a treat! Sharks are always in the mix too – black tips, lemons, bulls, hammerheads – which is nice to keep the action going.  I think we will get another good push of tarpon before we get into the fall, which by the way can also be a great time to fish when the fall bait run starts to occur!  Give me a shout if you are wanting to get out there.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

July is rolling right on by and summer is here!  I’ve been busy fishing and missed updating last month.  Though the fishing is pretty good we’ve been still catching quite a few tarpon in the everglades.  I haven’t been doing many night trips any longer for tarpon as it was a busy year and I was getting a little ‘burnt out.’  So have been focusing more on the 3/4 and full day trips into the everglades.  The tarpon fishing back there hasn’t been quite as consistent as last year but we’ve been getting into them pretty good.  Bait has been up and down which really makes or breaks your fishing.  If the bait is easy you can usually count on getting a few shots.  If bait is tough you have to spend a good amount of time looking for it, it eats into your day and makes things just tougher overall.  But as of late the bait has been much easier and the fishing has been decent.  We’ve also had tremendous snook fishing which I’ve been doing a lot of.  On calmer days the shorelines have been loaded with snook, we’ve had days where we’ve landed 30, 40, or more!  Also plenty of small tarpon too.  The pilchards have been easy to catch and with a load of them you can bet on getting into some snook usually.  Also in the bays trout, snapper, and ladyfish have been keeping us busy.  This is a great option for kids or for those looking for a little something for the grill.  I’ve got some days near the end of July still open, and August can still be great fishing too especially the first couple weeks!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

May is in full swing and it is feeling like summer time.  The fishing has been up and down to be quite honest.  I’ve been mostly tarpon fishing though mixing it up a little bit more too since the bite hasn’t been predictable.  We’ve been getting good fish though but often it’s a bite or two a trip and you need to make the most of it.  I’ve fished several evenings and had luck on just about all of them.  I’ve been fishing a little later though, usually staying until a little after dark to catch the sunset/after dark bite.  Crabs have worked well for this and the falling tide usually gives you the best opportunity at catching a tarpon in the evening.  The last few days we’ve found fish in the everglades backcountry and we did catch a few tarpon back there.  Snook fishing was phenomenal last week we had probably 60 snook in 4 days of fishing.  It was nice to mix it up and do that.  Live bait is plentiful in the backcountry, chumming live pilchards and pinfish off the flats.  This should be a good option for something different for the next couple months.  I often like to tarpon fish the first couple hours of the day, then hang the chum bag and catch some livies for throwing at snook on my full day trips.  While doing that we were also able to catch some decent trout and mangrove snappers for dinner, so you can have some fun while we catch bait too.  We also have had some decent triple tails still around.  Many of them are just free floating as most of the crab traps have been pulled.  Anyways summer time is my favorite time of year to fish and so far it’s been good.  I think our tarpon fishing will be the best of the year June – August.  I can do some short notice evening trips if I have bait so don’t hesitate to ask.  We also have another captain running a boat for us so he will be available for night trips as well.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk

April is here and so are the big tarpon!  We had a lot of variation in weather throughout March including high winds that would change daily plus some late cold fronts.  This led to some inconsistent fishing with the tarpon however we still caught a decent number of fish.  Just not quite as good as the previous years.  Though that could mean good things for the rest of ‘prime time’ tarpon season which is April through July.  A later start often means fishing stays better longer this time of year as the fish aren’t already beat up and pounded on in the early part of the spring.  Anyways yes the tarpon have shown up and are in many of the usual haunts – both in the backcountry and locally around Islamorada.  In the backcountry there have been a good mix of sharks as well as the occasional cobia, goliath grouper, sawfish, and other various sea monsters!  Locally the tarpon have started to feast on live mullet which is a truly spectacular site to see.  Nothing beats watching a live mullet run for his life as a 100 lb fish is doing his best to gobble him down.  We’ve had fish in all size ranges from 30 lbs up to 130 lbs.  Last week one of the largest fish I’ve caught this year dragged us around for 2 hours and even through a set of bridge pilings!  We had to throw the rod overboard on a float to float it through the bridge, and we got it on the other side and still landed the fish.  The last few days we’ve landed multiple tarpon which is good and the bite seems to be getting a little more predictable.  Hopefully the weather will stay warm as it should and the fishing should be good the next several months for the silver king.  I do that more than anything else this time of year.  I am booked pretty heavily the next couple months but I do have some evenings available.  I am generally not doing evenings after my full day trips as I get a little too burned out and it is tough to keep up with the quality of fishing I like to provide my clients (catching enough bait, etc…).  However I will be doing some short notice when I know conditions are good and I have plenty of bait available.  Drop me a line if you are looking to get out, and don’t forget June and July are just around the corner and those are some of my favorite months of the year to fish for tarpon.  It doesn’t book up quite as fast as April and May so you can probably get something in the books a few weeks to a month out.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk