Islamorada

Offshore fishing in Islamorada Summer 2014

Hey Everyone,

Been a while since I gave an updated report about fishing in Islamorada, but here’s a few pics from the last couple months. It has been a much better year for daytime swordfish than last year. They still aren’t guaranteed by any means, but we caught 1 or 2 broadbill swordfish on 15 of our last 20 trips. Most the fish have been from 50 – 120 lbs, but we did have a couple over 200 this summer as well. The mahi are finally slowing down a little the past week here in August, but June and July were two of the most consistent months for mahi we’ve ever seen! There was plenty of keeper size fish from 3 – 8 lbs, and we had a couple big bulls this year. A 57 lber was our biggest on the Bn’M II, and my personal best here my entire life! A 42 lber bull was my second biggest of the season. The blackfin tuna were a little hit and miss this summer, but the last week they have been showing up in good numbers on the humps. I currently have my 36′ Jersey Devil Sportfish Boat for sale. The next few months we should see more good swordfishing when the weather cooperates, and the blackfin tunas and sharks on the humps should be entertaining as well.

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

5/5/14 May Deep Sea Fishing in Islamorada

We’ve been busy so far this May while deep sea fishing in Islamorada. The last half of April was very busy too, and the fishing has been similar the last few weeks. The mahi bite has been on the slow side compared to what it usually is, but that’s why they call it fishing. There has still been some fish around, but it just takes patience to find them. On the hump there’s been some big sharks still, as well as some amberjacks and a few blackfin tunas. We’ve also caught a couple wahoo while trolling, and some tilefish and deep water grouper while deep dropping. I caught a couple swordfish my last trip, as well as 1 the trip before that. They were from 50 – 105 lbs. On the reef the Shallow water grouper season just opened on May 1st, so it’s nice now that we get to keep some black and gag grouper for dinner! May is one of my favorite months to fish in Islamorada, so if you want to get out on the Bn’M II, send me an email to bnmcharters@gmail.com , and I’d be happy to get you out! The mahi and blackfin tuna bite should get better and better, as well as the daytime swordfishing!

Tight Lines,

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

3/25/14 Offshore fishing in Islamorada on the Bn’M II

It’s been a busy month here while offshore fishing in Islamorada. March is a transitional month and there’s been a little bit of everything. We have caught grouper, wahoo, mackerel, mahi, tiger shark, hammerhead shark, yellowtail snapper, mutton snapper, golden tilefish, blueline tilefish, blackfin tun, amberjack, barracuda, swordfish, etc! Some days have been slower than others, but hey, that’s why they call it fishing. The slower days make you really appreciate the good days. We are still fishing on the reef quite a bit, but the next few weeks we will really focus on going “offshore” further, out into the gulf stream looking for more pelagic species. One of the most exciting things lately has been vertical jigging with tormenter tackle for big amberjacks, some over 50 lbs on spinning jigging outfits! Send me an email when you’re ready to go give it a shot! bnmcharters@gmail.com

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

golden tilefish

tiger shark bnm ii

amberjack

hammerhead bnm ii

1/8/14 January Fishing in Islamorada

We’ve had some great fishing trips here the past few weeks in Islamorada. Some days with windy weather, so I was definitely glad to be on my 36′ Jersey Devil, Bn’M II. The last couple days I fished however I helped shoot a tv show for SFTV, and we managed to release 6 sailfish over the two days and keep 4 blackfin tuna all around 10 lbs. We are “reef fishing” this time of year, a lot of kite fishing with live bait as well as some bottom fishing. We consider it the same thing as “Deep Sea” and “offshore”. In addition to the sailfish being the trophy fish, we’ve caught a handful of real nice mutton snapper, with some pushing 12 lbs. There’s also been some king mackerel in the mix. We caught a big bull shark last week as well as a juvenile hammerhead shark, both which were released. The next month we should have should action with sailfish, mackerel, wahoo, shark, and snapper. The cobias should start moving through in big numbers any day. Send me an email at bnmcharters@gmail.com when you’re ready to get out there!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

 

 

10-5-13 early October fishing in Islamorada Florida Keys

It’s that time of year here now where we catch a little bit of everything. We are starting to focus more on reef fishing compared to the summer and early fall months where we head further offshore. The last few days in Islamorada we have caught a lot of different species of fish. One day on the hump we caught a bunch of blackfin tuna and skipjack tuna, as well as a big dusky shark. Then we came back to the reef and caught a few snappers, king mackerels, cero mackerels, and yellowjacks. The next day we went to the hump but the tuna’s didn’t cooperate as well as expected, but we did catch a couple and turned one into a nice hammerhead shark which we released. We also caught some nice snapper while bottom fishing on the way in to the reef. Back near the reef we fished a couple wrecks and caught a bunch of yellowjack and then released a lot of bonitos and rainbow runners. Yesterday we went out swordfishing, and we missed one sword bite, but did find some dolphin (mahi mahi) on the way home and caught 8 or 10 and kept 6 of them. The next few weeks we should start seeing a lot of more king mackerel, black grouper, sailfish, and snapper while fishing the reef and wrecks.

Capt. Nick Stanczyk