bull shark – Islamorada Shark Fishing

4/7/14 Big Bull Shark!

Now is prime time to go monster shark fishing in Islamorada! We left on the Bn’M II yesterday morning and the plan was to go vertical jigging, and then head to the hump to try for a big shark. When we hit the first spot we found some AJ’s, but the sharks had found them too! We managed to catch a handful of who ones, but the sharks got a few of them too!

I thought about shark fishing in the first spot, but I really felt confident with heading to the hump where the sharks school up this time of year. It can be a feeding frenzy on the spawning amberjack. We sent down a live jack on one rod, and put a dead bait near the surface. Before we got the live jack down we had a bite! Colin got in the chair and went to work. After about 20 minutes we got a visual on the beast!

We could tell it was a nice size shark. Once we got him closer up on the leader we identified it as a very large bull shark! Well over 300 lbs!

After taking a few pics we cut the leader and the big fish swam away. It was Colin’s first bull shark, and it was a darn nice one!

We made a few more drifts over the hump, and each time we had a bite. I think we used up all our luck though, because we lost one more shark after a 15 minute fight, and the other few bites got our bait off the hook. It was a fun day though, and I am looking forward to the rest of April, as well as Shark fishing May! Send me an email if you want to try to catch JAWS! bnmcharters@gmail.com

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

3-25-13 Big Pulls by Bulls off the edge of the Reef!

It was a tough decision what to do today aboard the Bn’M while fishing off Islamorada. There was a band of bad weather with rain, lightning, and wind in it, all slowly moving through early in the morning. We were patient though and after waiting at the dock a couple hours we snuck out for some fishing. After catching a little bit of live bait we went to a wreck and caught a king mackerel and a bonito pretty quickly. I knew that March Shark fishing in the florida keys had been pretty good lately so I decided to send down the fresh mackerel for bait. After about 10 minutes we get a bite and the fight is on. The fish didn’t come up for about 15 minutes, so I assumed it was a bull shark, but then all of a sudden a big 250 – 300 lb goliath grouper popped up! We took some pictures and then vented the big fish for a successful release. After that we sent down the bonito. We didn’t get a bite right for about 20 minutes, and I considered giving up, but then all of a sudden the shimano 50 started screaming. We fought this fish for about 20 minutes and up swam a healthy 150 lb bull shark! We got some good pictures and then released the shark to fight another day as well. We also had a young 8 year old on the boat and in the midst of his grandpa fighting the bull shark he caught and released a small brown shark. Let me know when you want to go shark fishing in Islamorada! Send me an email!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

bnmcharters@gmail.com

3-16-13 Bull Shark for the Michigan Men!

I had a group of guys out on the Bn’M today all from Michigan. They said they wanted to catch fish and if there was any chance at a shark that would make their. I told them Shark Fishing in Islamorada is some of the best! The first item on the agenda was dinner though. We started out the day looking a mahi or tuna, but we didn’t have any luck. We switched gears and decided to do some bottom fishing and caught a bucket full of lane snapper, porgy, and triggerfish, all great tasting white meat fish! We also caught a small atlantic sharpnose shark about 3′ long. The guys loved it even though it was small. After that we caught some barracuda, which make great shark bait, but we let them go since I had a plan in the back of my head. After that we headed to a wreck just outside the reef a few miles and caught a couple king mackerel. I knew if there was some king mackerel around there was a good shot at a bull shark. We rigged up the standup 50 rod and sent down a butterflied king mackerel. It didn’t take long to get a bite, but unfortunately he ate all but the head and we didn’t hook it. I was dissapointed but we didn’t give up. We had one more king to try so we sent it down and kept drifting. After about 10 minutes the rod double over and we were hooked up. The guys are took turns fighting the shark, and after about 40 minutes we had a 200 lb bull shark next to the boat. The guys were exhausted and excited. We took a few quick pictures and then released the shark to fight another day. March Shark fishing in the Florida Keys can be great, and we have the same group of guys in mid April so a tiger shark will be next on the list! Send me an email to set up a shark fishing trip!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

bnmcharters@gmail.com

3-11-13 First Tiger Shark of the Season!

Shark Fishing in Islamorada in March has turned on! I had EJ, his two sons Jamie and Jonathon, as well as their long time friend Rick out aboard the Bn’M on a Florida Keys Shark Fishing Charter. The wind was blowing 15 – 20 knots, make it 4 -6′ seas, but we chugged out to one of the “humps” offshore and made a day of it. We started out catching half a dozen small blackfin tuna for dinner, as well as bait if needed. After that we caught a couple amberjack in the 30 – 35 lb range. We definitely had the bait we needed for a big Tiger Shark now! We made our first drift and the deep rod gets a bite. Jamie fights the shark for 20 minutes and it winds up being an est. 275 lb bull shark! We take a few pictures and release shark. The next drift we hook a monster shark! He made a big run but then we lost him a few minutes later. After that we decided to make one more drift. We put the baits out and within 5 minutes the shallow rod starts screaming drag! Jamie gets in the chair again and goes to town on this beast. He did a great job on the drag and added pressure when needed. It took just over an hour to subdue the beast, but we got some great pictures and some video of a big Islamorada Tiger Shark! We released the est. 600 lb shark after the pictures to fight another day. Everybody was happy and Jamie was exhausted. We headed for the dock after that and will back after the sharks tomorrow! Send me an email if interested in a shark fishing trip!

Capt Nick Stanczyk

bnmcharters@gmail.com

January islamorada shark fishing

Had Frank and Mina, two regulars, out today in the backcountry fishing islamorada. We stuck in the channels back there as it was blowing hard 20mph out of the south. There aren’t many options in these types of conditions, but one that is good is islamorada backcountry shark fishing. We caught plenty of ladyfish, trout, jacks, and pompano – all fun rod benders and goot eating too if your into that. We saved the ladies for bait, one of my favorites for big sharks, sawfish, tarpon, or goliath groupers. We were able to stake up in an area where we kept having action on the light tackle while putting a cut ladyfish on the bottom for sharks, killing two birds with one stone. We even chummed a little, cutting many of the ladyfish to get things going. The sharks fishing in flamingo wasn’t too active as january is a tougher time to catch them in the backcountry, but with the warm south wind the water temps were not too bad. We had a few small blacktips bite that weren’t able to find the hook, but we ended up catching this nice 90 lb bull shark. We headed in after that as we only had a half day, but goes to show you there are always some fun options even when the wind is howling when you go florida keys shark fishing in january.

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