November is here and it’s starting to cool off and feel somewhat fall like here in the Keys.  We had some great fishing the last couple months which are considered our ‘off season.’  It was still fairly busy and we had no storms here, just a scare in early september that didn’t amount to much for us.  It’s starting to really cool off up north and we are getting a taste of it this week, with temperatures finally getting into the 60s here by this weekend.  It’s a welcome change as the last few weeks it had been very hot feeling like dead of summer again!  Expect fishing to be good as the fish love it when it cools off.  It’s the only time things really change up for us when the water temperatures dive.  While it’s not always good during an extreme cold front, it definitely is if you catch it right.  That is usually after it gets cold and things start to warm up again.  The fish can really go crazy feeding.  I always recommend being out there for the day as sometimes not much goes on the first hour or two, but once the sun is out and things warm up a hair the fish can go crazy feeding.  As for fishing lately, I’ve had great fishing for snook and redfish most days in the backcountry.  We’ve had shots at very nice size fish when the weather and conditons are right (usually calmer), and when it’s been blowing we’ve been fishing in more protected areas usually still getting into decent numbers of fish although often smaller.  The nice thing about the backcountry you can tuck away and have good fishing even when it’s blowing 30 mph.  We got out in the gulf last week fishing during our filming for the latest YouTube show, found some very big spanish mackerel on some bait balls.  It was lots of fun casting into them and we got some great footage.  That show will drop in a few days so keep an eye out.  Elsewhere Capt. Jim Willcox has had some good fishing for snook and redfish in the backcountry.  Capt. Charles Hertel was still getting some tarpon around the local bridges and channels since it had been warm still.  Capt. Perry Scuderi had a nice bonefish a few days ago with a long time client.  Capt. Bill Bassett and Capt. John Johansen had good action on the patches a few days with some porgies, snappers, and a few hogfish.  Capt. Mike Bassett had some good snook action in the backcountry, 3 days of fishing with the same clients and all were productive.  Fishing is good and November and early December are still great time to come down and fish.  It’s still not quite so busy, so captains are available short notice if you want to hold off and see what the weather does, though of course if you want to fish with a particular captain you may not have that luxury.  We still are offering off season rates on our hotel rooms through the end of the month.  So give us a shout 305-664-2461!  Also here is the last YouTube episode we did featuring our own Capt. Jim Willcox fishing in the backcountry.

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