7/10/19 July Summer Time Fishing Report for Key Largo

Summer is here and we’ve had stellar fishing in the bays of the Key Largo backcountry.  The everglades have been just loaded with redfish and snook like we haven’t seen in years!  Hurricane Irma did us one favor and that was to help clean up years of nastiness that had built up in the bays due to seagrass die off and algae blooms.  We’re seeing fish in spots that had been dead for years… truly great to see!  Tarpon fishing has been very good too.  We had a stellar year last year, this year started off red hot too.  The summer fishing isn’t quite as good as last year, but definitely still pretty good.  I’ve been getting into some good schools of permit as well out in the deeper gulf of mexico.  With my brand new Contender Bay Boat that can run 50 mph, you can get out to those deeper wrecks on the calm days and that is definitely a blast!  Permit can be out there all through the summer but July is often one of the better months.  There have been tons of tripletail in the bays of the backcountry as well which is awesome to see.  That is normally something we see in the summer, but the numbers this year are off the charts!  If you are visiting Key Largo and wanting to go fishing, it’s a great time to do it!  It’s not as busy especially as we get into August and September, so you can set up a trip short notice.  Drop me a line and I’ll shoot you straight – I really like to go when fishing is good and if I don’t think your expectations are reasonable I’ll tell you honestly.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

1/16/18 January Key Largo Fishing Report

January is going by fast and fishing has been absolutely stellar here in Key Largo.  We’ve been getting into the everglades and catching tons of the usual cast of characters.  Since IRMA, the redfish population has just exploded.  It’s not uncommon to get catches in the triple digits on days when you really target these bad boys.  So great to see as right after the storm they were kind of hard to find.  However some biologists informed me they believe the reds spawned heavily due to the storm and we are now seeing the fruits of that labor!  There has also been some big snook and black drum around with some of the cold weather we’ve had in January.  This is the best month of the year to target the behemoth snook and drums, often on the coldest days of the year!  The ideal condition is for it to get very cold and then have a nice afternoon when it calms down.  These monsters show up in the gulf and make their way into the ‘glades, and if you know where to look you can catch the fish of a life time.  As a matter of fact my dad did just catch his biggest snook ever in 60 years of fishing… close to a 30 lber!  Today I had Mary on the boat, who caught who personal best fish ever, a black drum in the 25-30 lb range too.  These things happen when the conditions get right.  Anyways February is right around the corner and that usually means the start of tarpon fishing season in key largo.  I have some days available then and plenty in March still believe it or not.  If you are wanting to come down and fish give me a shout.  I will be getting a brand new Contender 25 bay boat in March, will be a very sweet rig for fishing in the florida keys!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

8/12/18 August Key Largo Fishing Report

Well season is winding to a close and we are getting into the slower part of our summer time with business.  Fishing can still be very good though and if you are serious about fishing, it’s a great time to come.  Why is that?  Simple.  Business is slow so you get the whole place to yourself!  It’s nice to go out fishing in a place like this and only see one or two other boats all day, and maybe even none at all!  You can actually fish spots that you want without having to worry about another boat being there.  This really opens your day up and you can be in the right place at the right time several times in a day.  Key Largo and Islamorada are great places to fish but the fishing pressure is high, so in busy season you are competing with a lot of other boats and may only get to be the first boat in a spot one time in a day.  Not so in August, September, or October.  As far as what we catch, it’s all still available.  Tarpon fishing can still be good in these months, as many of our resident tarpon are here year round.  Snook fishing gets very good especially again in October and November.  Bonefish are a valid option too in the early Fall with the higher water levels.  And of course there are plenty of simple options like trout, snapper, and other rod benders.  Give me a shout if you are ready to get out on the water in the next few months.

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

3/31/18 End of March Key Largo Fishing Report

March is just about over and the fishing in Key Largo has really turned on!  The last couple days the winds have laid out and things have warmed back up nicely after the last little late cold snap we had.  The rest of the week looks to be nice, warm, and calm too so that should be great for fishing.  Tarpon fishing in Key Largo is in full swing with lots of fish showing up both on the Atlantic and Gulf sides.  The last week we’ve been running deeper into the everglades where there have been loads of fishing starting to stage up waiting to spawn.  The last two days fishing was just epic we had 6 bites yesterday and 7 today, landing multiple fish both days.  Love when the weather gets right this time of year as that is when big things happen!  April and May are usually when we consider ‘prime’ tarpon season and it looks to be just starting now.  During some of the late cold snaps in March that I mentioned, we still had some good fishing for spanish mackerel in the bay, as well as some nice mangrove snappers with the occasional redfish or snook around some of our bay islands.  Also had a nice cobia last week about a 40 lber while tarpon fishing, that was a very nice surprise!  If you are in the Key Largo area on vacation and wanting to go fishing, give me a shout.  I don’t have much available but I can recommend some quality guides to get you out on the water chasing your dream fish!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

3/15/18 Permit Fishing Report in Key Largo

Well March is rolling on and we’ve been very busy here with our key largo fishing charters!  I’ve had some luck with permit fishing in key largo the last few trips.  We hit the patch reefs on the ocean side out on the atlantic and found a few schools of them.  Not a guaranteed thing and they can be one of the most difficult fish in the ocean to catch at least here.  But we managed a smaller 12 lber one day, and got about an 18 lber yesterday!  We also had plenty of action on the patch reef catching yellow jacks, hogfish, porgies, various snappers, groupers, and more!  Winter and spring are great times of year for this fishing, and especially during a cold front.  The northerly wind keeps the florida keys to your lee side, so the ocean swells don’t pick up nearly as bad when the wind is south or east.  Shrimp and jigs do the trick for many of these fish, though for the big bad permit we float a crab out in the distance.  When that rod bows over you know you have something good because only so many fish will eat that crab on the surface.  Anyways our season has kicked off in a big way and things are busy.  I don’t have much available the next few months and I’ll be mostly focused on the tarpon grind that I love.  But summer time can still be very good for tarpon so if you want to go tarpon fishing in key largo, give me a shout and book in advance before it gets filled in.  Otherwise I’ll try to post updates on here a couple times a month but you can always read my more frequent reports on my other websites or follow me on facebook/instagram.  Tight lines!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

3/1/18 Key Largo Tarpon Fishing Report in March

Well March is here and it almost feels like it’s summer time with as warm as February has been!  Not a single cold front all month and temperatures in the 80s every day.  Though looks like we have some cold weather coming this weekend it’s suppose to drop into the low 60s for several nights.  It will be a nice change for sure and I think overall a good thing as it feels like it has gotten way to hot to early here.  The last week the tarpon fishing had been fair though the last couple days it really turned on.  We made some deep runs into the everglades the last couple days and it was well worth the two hour trip!  We caught 6 tarpon in the last 2 days.  Day 1 they were big mamas… a couple in the 110 to 120 range, and then a big bruiser that was 150 lbs+ for my angler Irv!  What a day it was just fantastic plus plenty of sharks too, and even a couple triple tail.  Today the fish were smaller but still lots of fun, a couple 50 lbers and a 90 lber.  We also missed one more tarpon that would’ve been a double header but he threw the hook as he ate the bait right away!  We finished up today with some trout and snappers in the bay to mix it up a little bit, because the tarpon bite died out by 10:00 or so.  The early bird gets the warm or so they say!  Looks like tomorrow the winds will kick out of the west, but not suppose to blow too much until later in the day, so the morning may still be good fishing.  I have the same crew again tomorrow as I had today, and they are game to make the long run again for a chance at glory.  If you are down in the key largo area in march, give me a shout I have a few open days and the tarpon season seems to be starting very early this year!

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing