July 2013

7/29/13 Tarpon fishing in Flamingo holds steady through end of July!

We’ve still been bagging the tarpon pretty good back around flamingo and the rest of the backcountry.  Been catching fish every day and most trips multiple tarpon.  Still many 30 – 60 lbers.  We even had a double header two trips in a row with the same customers – on a full day trip and an evening trip.  The fresh mullet has been the ticket which I’ve been getting with ease most days.  There has still been some good snook fishing around many islands and creeks.  Casting big shrimp or soaking pinfish has done the trick for them.  We got into some big goliaths in the gulf the other day, groupers that is.  Along with some big bull sharks.  We also had some good action with a few decent sized sea trout on the edge of the gulf, mostly on shrimp though some on artificial GULPs as well.  If you want to go fishing this August, I can probably fit it in my schedule as it is getting to be off season.  Tarpon are still a very good possibility if your looking for them shoot me an email!

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

7/24/13 Summer time fishing in islamorada stays hot!!!

The backcountry fishing especially around flamingo has been stellar the last few weeks.  It has been ‘the place to be.’  We’ve been catching tarpon just about every day.  The key is getting good fresh live mullet which we’ve been finding in the mornings.  It’s necessary to leave early and spend time catching these guys… once the sun is up high they get much tougher.  You only need a handful and the tarpon are eagerly awaiting them.  Many of these fish have been what we call smaller ‘residents’ – in the 20 – 60 lb range.  But still a heck of a lot of fun, and we’ve been still getting shots at some 60-90 lbers once in a while too.  In the mix is plenty of blacktip sharks along with a few lemons and bulls.  Of course a vicious hammerhead made his way into the mix as well.  The past few days we’ve caught multiple tarpon every day with many more ‘jumped off’ and a plethora of sharks.  The snook fishing has been good the last 3 days we’ve hooked double digit snook and boated almost as many.  Again lots of smaller fish though a handful of nice 5-10 lb fish in the mix.  Live shrimp have been fairly large so they work well, plus pinfish are a favorite bait of mine either suspended or put on the bottom with a weight.  Mangrove snappers have been around too as well as a few juvenile goliath groupers.  The snappers make good dinner.  Thats mostly what I’ve been up to lately there may be some other good fisheries but I’ve been having a lot of fun with two of my favorite species – the snook and tarpon!

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

7/15/13 Backcountry Fishing Islamorada in July

Well just get back from a mini-vacation.  The tarpon fishing before I left was off the hook.  We had caught 8 out of 14 in 2 days, plus several more the days we fished in the backcountry.  All these fish were on fresh dead mullet.  There has also been a good mix of trout and snappers in the bays.  Some sharks, goliath groupers, and a few cobias here and there have been on some of the near wrecks.  It’s been a little too rough for permit fishing the gulf which is unusual this time of year but conditions are conditions.  Snook have been around the mainland cape area as well as a few around flamingo, eating big shrimps on jigs or pinfish drifted back.  Tarpon is still a good point of focus this time of year and I have some night trips coming up.  That can be very good there is much less pressure on the fish and they are often happy to feed!  Today we caught this massive kingfish in the gulf while tarpon fishing, we also caught several goliath groupers, gag groupers, black tip sharks, and a big bull shark.  Plus plenty of snappers, some ladyfish, and a few trout in the bays.  Fun day fishing in the florida keys in july!

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

7-13-13 Islamorada Fishing Report

It’s been a mixed bag of fish while offshore fishing in islamorada lately. The mahi bite has been hit and miss the last couple of weeks, with some good days and then some slow days. Usually this time of year it’s consistent but it’s been a little on the difficult side as a whole. The hump has been providing action with tunas though, including both blackfins and skipjacks. On the bottom we caught a nice 30 lb amberjack too the other day. The Reef Fishing has definitely been the best actoin lately, with lots of yellowtail snapper, a few mutton and mangrove snapper, and some bull sharks. We’ve been out a handful of days for broadbill swordfish, and our last trip we caught 2 fish. The trips prior we lost a few, so it was good to get back on the board. The swordfishing should only get better and better as we get into the Fall.

Capt. Nick Stanczyk