Capt. Rick Stanczyk

3/22/13 Good inshore fishing Key Largo

Had another great day here inshore fishing key largo in the backcountry and everglades national park. We left out early and headed west where there have been lots of big fish showing up from the gulf of mexico. In the bays we started out targeting ladyfish and trout. Lots of fun on light spin gear, watching the acrobatic ladyfish jump and twist trying to throw the hook. We saved these girls for bait for the big boys later. We caught plenty of nice big trout too, the big spring time trout are here now and showing up in the usual spring/summer areas in the bay. Gulps or live shrimp work fine, or you can try artificial if it is your fancy! Key Largo trout fishing should continue to be a good bet. After we had our fill of this, we set up in a nearby channel for tarpon and other big fish. Lots of tarpon rolling and busting were seen, and within a few minutes we had one soar out of the water attached to the end of our big spinning rod – success! My angler fought the fish for a good 25 minutes, and we landed a nice 100 lb fish. After this we had a mystery bite, something big and powerful that just laid on the bottom but we pulled the hook. After this we caught several black tip sharks, lost a few too that spun and jumped there way off. No more tarpon bites, but the march tarpon fishing key largo should get more consistent now with the warm weather. After the tide quit, we went further into the gulf and fished for triple tail. They were swarming as they have been the last several days, we caught about a dozen in an hour. Lots of fun sight casting to triple tail that are laying behind crab buoys, they fight and jump and are a blast on 10 lb test! Another great day here of key largo charter fishing. If your interested in tarpon fishing, now is the time I have some nights available still through prime season and that is often the best time to go, so drop me a line!

3/20/13 Backcountry Fishing Key Largo in the Spring

It officially feels like spring here and today we did some spring key largo fishing. Stopped this morning to try to find some mullets as they’ve started to show up in muds in the local bays. Unfortunately got a bit of a late start, made a few throws and got a couple which proved to be enough. Later on ran into the backcountry for some march key largo fishing and it was lots of action. Trout, ladyfish, jacks, the usual cast of characters and just about every bait that hit the water was a fish. What we like to do here on some of our key largo fishing charters this time of year is save the ladyfish for live and dead bait… the bigger predators such as sharks, tarpon, goliath grouper, and even big snook and redfish love to eat them. We happened to see some tarpon rolling near by in the channel so we decided to anchor up there and give it a shot. Put a mullet and ladyfish on the bottom, and within 10 minutes the mullet rod bent down – big 80 lb tarpon goes flying, he’s on!!! We chase him down and get him boatside, but he went through the leader though a caught fish with the leader in the tip, I’ve included a picture of another tarpon caught of similar size the day before. Later we caught a blacktip also on a mullet, but no other bites and the tarpon seemed to slow down as we didn’t see them rolling, so that was the end of march key largo tarpon fishing. We proceeded into the gulf, where we caught plenty of tripletail including several nice keeper size ones. We run the crab trap lines out here, certain areas the fish congregate and you pitch live shrimp on a cork at them. Lots of fun sight fishing these critters. We did see one key largo cobia fishing on structure, but did not get him to eat before he disappeared. Well that was the day, get on down here for some good fishing… spring is here, so are the fish, it is time!

3-15-13 Offshore Key Largo Fishing Report in mid March

The past week has been a little windy while doing our key largo fishing. It hasn’t stopped us from getting out though, we’ve stayed on the edge of the reef most days, but we did venture out further one day for some shark fishing. The yellowtail snapper bite has been pretty good overall the past week, there’s also been a few cobia when the conditions are right with good visibility, there’s been plenty of barracuda action, the king mackerel bite has been spotty, but we did have one great day with our limit of fish up to 31 lbs, There’s been a couple mutton snapper in the mix and we have been releasing lots of grouper (shallow water groupers are closed for harvest until May 1st). Remember when fishing in Key Largo that the easiest way to have a good time is to do what the weather conditions are most productive for. We also did a shark fishing charter and caught and released a big bull shark around 275 lbs and then released a giant tiger shark in the 600 lb range! If you’re ready to get out on a offshore key largo fishing charter let send me an email! It’s worth the 20 minute drive south to go fishing!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

bnmcharters@gmail.com

3/14/13 Key Largo Night Tarpon Fishing Report

Well last night was my first official key largo tarpon fishing charter at night. Tarpon often feed best at or near sunrise/sunset, or after dark as they are more nocturnal feeders. We do many evening trips from 4:00 – 8:00/8:30 to try to get you on the water at ‘peak’ time. Yesterday evening was my first official key largo night fishing trip targetting them. We fished the local bridges and had several kinds of bait including crabs, pinfish, big shrimp, and cigar minnows. We had a couple bites early anchored at one of the bridges, one was surely a tarpon that we didn’t get a hookset on that ate a minnow, the other not sure of on a big shrimp but likely a tarpon as the drag screamed for a good 2-3 seconds on a BG60. We did end up catching a big nurse shark and a would-be legal size gag grouper off the bottom there. Key Largo grouper fishing is closed season until May 1. Anyhow around 7:00 the tide was slowing and we ran a little further back to the end of the channel as the falling tide would last longer there. Saw a few fish roll as we pulled up for our first drift. Didn’t hook up immediately but on drift number 3 around 7:30 we got a good bite on a crab and we were on! A nice 75 lb fish we got several nice jumps and runs out of, and had boatside within 20 minutes. Not a bad night with 3 bites considering we had breezy north winds and cool air, which is usually not a good thing when targeting tarpon, though the tides and water temperature were favorable. Anyways if your interested in tarpon fishing key largo at night then let me know, March can be a great time. This year so far the tarpon fishing has been off and on with the late cold fronts, but as you can see if the conditions are right the fish are here and you won’t know unless you go out there and try! Drop me a line and I’ll give you an honest opinion and I don’t really start heavily night fishing until April so can be ready to go short notice if you don’t want to commit! Give march key largo tarpon fishing a try!

Also today the winds were howling out of the north, 20+mph. Not an easy day to fish in the key largo backcountry fishing. We made it out though comfortably in my 20′ seacraft and hid around some islands. Caught some very nice mangrove snappers all 12+ inches, including this 17 incher which for the backcountry is a very nice snapper! Some great dinner and fun on light tackle. We tried fishing some muds but it was difficult in the wind/chop, though we did anchor for the last 30 minutes in a mud and caught a handful of big ladyfish for something different before heading in.

3/10/13 March key largo tarpon fishing

Well we still have some very chilly water in the key largo backcountry for march… 64 this morning. We fished out near the gulfs edge around some banks and got some nice size trout and a couple pompano. Had to really work around though one spot held some nice fish that rallied briefly. Later we went further back around the mainland for some key largo tarpon fishing. Put a couple cut baits on the bottom and a pinfish on top. Never had a bite off the bottom as the sharks are dormant with the chilly water… but we did hook a nice 60+ lb tarpon on a 15 lb lighter spin rod. The fish blew up on a live pinfish, we fought him for over an hour and got him boatside. The fish made the day on our march key largo fishing charter. We finished the day trying to find some hungry redfish though the water was fairly mudded up and of course still chilly, so not much luck there. But did get into a mess of ladyfish, mixed in with a few more trout and spanish mackerel – which my clients were thrilled with! The water temperatures should be reaching 70+ here soon and the tarpon are here, they will be much happier then. If your interested in doing some tarpon fishing, March can be very good especially for the evening fishing – shoot me an email and I’ll be happy to let you know when will be good according to tides… which actually this week has favorable ones into sunset!

3-7-13 Key Largo Offshore Fishing Report

Well it’s been pretty chilly while March offshore fishing in Key Largo the past couple of days. This week has felt more like a January week to be honest with you. The fishing trips lately have been decent, but the days have been decided by only a couple of bites! Sometimes its like that while Key Largo Fishing, you can be a hero or a zero by catching or missing the couple quality bites you get on a fishing trip. Bait was tough this morning, but after trying our 4th spot we had enough live bait to go put the kites up. After about 30 minutes we got a bite. Fortunately we hooked and landed the sailfish. I got some underwater video of the fish boatside and he swam off healthy. We tried for another hour after that but no more kite bites, so then we went and decided to catch some dinner fish. We “chicken rigged” about 15 lane snappers and after that finished off the day by releasing 7 or 8 barracuda. Yesterday we caught a few mahi and lost a few, as well as missing a pack of sailfish. Sometimes they can make you look foolish, and this group of fish got the best of us. In the afternoon we anchored down for some bottom fishing and caught a big margate, a nice yellowtail snapper, and then released about 6 black grouper, including a couple that would have been keepers if they were in season (shallow water grouper season is closed until May 1st). Before the temperatures dropped drastically the bottom fishing was good on the reef, we were catching plenty of yellowtail as well as a few mutton snapper. We also have been catching some cobia inside the reef following sting rays, about 1/2 the fish have been keepers and the rest have been throw backs. We had one monster a couple weeks ago that weighed 57 lbs! Offshore we also went deep dropping in 500′ of water, where it’s legal to keep certain deep water groupers, and we caught a nice 15 lb snowy grouper. Back on the reef we have also been having lots of fun with barracuda. We’ll probably stick it out on the reef the next few weeks for most our our key largo fishing charters, but hopefully we’ll hit up the humps for a couple days as well. So when you’re ready to go on your fishing trip shoot me an email and I’d love to get you out, it’s worth the 20 minute drive south!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

bnmcharters@gmail.com

Key Largo Cobia Fishing

Caught this massive 45 lb cobia last week in the key largo backcountry while fishing for large sharks, tarpon, and other beasts. If your looking to target cobia, march is a great time as well as April in the gulf of mexico… many of these fish swarm on the wrecks and are much fun! We had one tarpon bite this day too however unfortunately we did not hook him. Key largo tarpon fishing in march should improve as the weather stabilizes and water temperatures rise. We are in the middle of a cold front as of now which will likely slow the tarpon fishing down the next several days as well as other big fish. However things like spanish mackerel in the gulf are possible, or redfish/snook/trout in the everglades. Key largo spanish mackerel fishing could light right back up, I haven’t been doing it much lately but may be giving it a try this week. We also caught a big hammerhead shark on this mentioned trip, as well as several smaller blacktip sharks, and a big 300 lb ‘mud marlin.’ You never know what you might get on a key largo fishing charter. On this trip to we had plenty of rod bending action for trout, ladyfish, pompano, jacks, mackerel, and blue fish. You see the ladyfish and such are good for bait for bigger things, and the trout and others are great table fare if you want to have a local restaurant cook your meal at the days end! I’m looking forward to some march key largo fishing!

2/24/13 Key Largo Trout and Snapper Fishing

Had a half day today on 2/24/13 and did some key largo snapper fishing as well as key largo trout fishing. We hit some islands early with some live shrimp looking for mangrove snapper. We found a ton though had to weed through some small ones but managed to pick out some nice 12 inchers for dinner. Also off the edge of the bank that dropped into the moat, we picked three huge trout out as well as a redfish – unusual in the crystal clear water that is found in the area. The trout were all 24-25 inches, nice size for down here! Anything is possible on a key largo fishing charter which is what makes fishing down here so fun! After we had enough fun with this, we went in search of muds in the bay. These muds, often found in the spring and summer though can be around at any time, hold a variety of fish as well. The usual suspects are ladyfish, trout, jack crevalle, pompano, and occasionally you also get some blacktip sharks and tarpon in there too. Today we found more trout, not quite as big but several keeper size which we all released as well as some ladyfish. One thing I often like to do is hit these muds and keep the ladyfish for bait, then do some key largo tarpon fishing by fishing some of those live and dead on the bottom around the local channels and bridges. Didn’t try this today but definitely will become part of the half day routine as we enter the spring and tarpon season! If your thinking of doing some february key largo fishing get in touch, I may possibly have some late afternoon trips still available!

2/23/12 Key largo goliath grouper fishing!

We were after a key largo goliath grouper fishing today. Fished near the edge of the gulf as it was too rough to get out there deeper to the wrecks. Lots of action early whilst catching baitfish. A mix of trout, ladyfish, and jacks were just about every cast. Even a few spanish mackerel, bluefish, and pompano making their presence known! Key Largo shark fishing was on our minds too as we caught 4 medium sized blacktip sharks while doing all this. After we were loaded up.. goliath time! We hit the hole that I was thinking about… all of a sudden a bunch of cobias surrounded us! I reeled in the surface pinfish and one ate it, my angler also pitched too one and he ate as well – doubled up! Unfortunately his spit the bait/hook, but he reeled the other one in nicely. A little bit later after chunking some ladyfish and waiting with the big rods both doubled over hard! We gave chase leaving one fish behind with rod in holder. Decided to switch the fish we were working on as the one behind did roll over, and my angler started fighting him. After a few minutes there he was – big 150 lb goliath grouper on spin tackle.. nice catch! Grouper fishing in Key Largo is fun for these big boys! We then switched back to the other big fish which appeared to be a big ol’ sawfish. Fought him a bit more and I leadered him up carefully – all on monofilament 100lb! Got hit bill out of the water twice as he thrashed violently, 2nd time though he cut us off but at least we saw him and got a technical release! After that we hit a high water spot for some redfish which proved productive… 10 or so reds mostly keeper size though all were released.

2-20-13 February Offshore Fishing in Key Largo

It’s been a busy week here in the Florida Keys, and the Offshore Key Largo Fishing Charters have been a good bet for action! I’ll start with today and work my way backwards to tell you about our latest Fishing Trips in Key Largo. We’ve been fishing 20 miles south of Key Largo, and there’s been a little bit of everything on the edge of the reef. Today we went to a wreck first thing in the morning and caught a pair of decent size amberjack to 30 lbs, as well as releasing a 100 lb sandbar shark. We then came back to the edge of the reef and put the live baits out. We caught a few king mackerel to 8 lbs, as well as a pair of keeper mutton snapper and a couple of nice 2 lb yellowtail snapper. At theend of that we hooked a big bottom fish, which turned out to be a 15 lb black grouper that we released after a quick pic (shallow water grouper season opens up again on May 1st). After that we found a sailfish swimming inside the reef, but he refused to eat a bait so we let him be. We finished up the day by catching and releasing a handful of barracuda up to about 15 lbs. Yesterday we did two 1/2 day fishing charters in Key Largo and the morning sailfish was the target species. It was quite for the first hour but then we hooked what we were after. After a 30 minute fight we had a nice 50 lb key largo sailfish boat side and took a couple pictures and then released him to fight another day. We also caught a king mackerel, little tunny, and a jack. In the afternoon we had a Key Largo Family Fishing Trip with a father and 2 sons, 8 and 11 years old. Action was the goal to keep the kids entertained so that’s what we did. We started out by catching everyone a barracuda, and then moved to some bottom fishing for dinner! We caught a handful of yellowtail snapper, mangrove snapper, a couple spanish mackerel, and a 5 lb margate for dinner. We also let go 5 groupers and a few other reef dwellers. The day before that we also did 2 half day charters and caught snapper, mackerel, released grouper, and released barracuda. On the 16th we released 2 sailfish in the morning, and then caught a 15 lb blackfin tuna, as well as a few king mackerel to 20 lbs, and then finished off the day with 15 snapper for dinner, and released another nice big black grouper. Fishing in Key Largo in February gives us a few different options but the reef is still the best bet for a good day. Let us know if you want to get out on a trip!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

bnmcharters@gmail.com