hammerhead shark – Islamorada Shark Fishing

3/25/14 Monster Shark Season has begun in Islamorada!

Well Monster shark season is here folks! I did two shark fishing charters the past week and we were successful on both of them! We fished on the Bn’M II. Just catching bait was a blast. We had amberjack on vertical jigging outfits from 10 – 50 lbs!

The first trip we caught a big tiger shark about 450 lbs. The next trip we had a 15 year old kid from Minnesota who said he wanted a shark. And boy did he get a shark. Two actually, and his dad got one to finish up. We caught amberjack in the morning, and then ran to the shark grounds. We fished one bait on a buoy, and one deep line. We put the baits out and within 5 minutes we hooked up!

Young Charles got in the fighting chair and after a 15 minute fight had an 8′ hammerhead, about 200 lbs boatside! We took a few pics and released the shark to fight another day.

We then made a couple more drifts with no action. We didn’t give up though. I wanted Charles to get that monster! We put on some fresh bait and sent the baits back out. Within 10 minutes we had a bite. A big bite. Charles got harnessed up in the chair. The Shark smoked the reel, pulling drag at will. He then raced to the surface, and headed west. I knew it was a big one. Then the shark went deep. Charles fought the beast for an hour. Then we had a visual.

It was a monster tiger shark. Over 500 lbs! We got the fish next to the boat and took some pics before releasing it to fight another day.

Dad wanted a shot too, so I said lets make one more drift, but I don’t know if we would get lucky again. Well we were letting out the baits and the deep line got a bite. Mark went to work in the chair. After a 30 minute fight he had a 400 lb dusky shark under the boat on the leader. We didn’t get any good pics of it because the hook pulled on the leader, but he still got to see it and experience the brute strength of a giant shark! April is my favorite month for big sharks, so send me an email at bnmcharters@gmail.com when you want to try your luck at a monster shark!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

10-3-13 October Deep Sea Shark Fishing Report

Well the Fall sharks are here! The humps and reef have both been producing some hard fighting sharks. All of our shark fishing in the Florida Keys is catch and release, and we typically use circle hooks to ensure the safest hook placement in the corner of the mouth. On the 2nd we went offshore to start the day and caught a bunch of tuna. The tuna would make good table fare as well as shark bait. After getting what we wanted we put out a live skipjack tuna on the 80 wide reel. It didn’t take too long till we had a bite. After a quick drip back we set the drag. Vinnie worked the rod and after a 2o minute fight had an 8′ long, 250 – 300 lb dusky shark along side the boat.

We took a few pictures and then sent the shark back on his way. It was the biggest fish Vinnie had ever caught! We then came back to the reef and were having plenty of action with small fish and then decided to try for some bull sharks. We had 3 bites in one hour of fishing, but unfortunately they all got away. The next day I headed back out to the hump and saw a couple of hammerheads swimming down the waves. We rigged up a butterflied skipjack tuna and sent the bait out. After a few minutes a shark had found it, and after a 25 minute battle we had a 7′ hammerhead shark next to the boat.

We took a few pics and then released him to fight another day. The hammerheads are definitely one of the strongest fighting sharks around, and also one of my favorite since their head shape. We should have some more sharks around all this month, so if you want to catch something big in Islamorada, Send me an email and fishing for sharks might be the right choice!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

bnmcharters@gmail.com

4-18-13 Week of the Tiger SHARKS off Islamorada!

It’s been a red hot shark bite off Islamorada the past 10 days. I have done three florida keys shark trips and have had great luck and success on each adventure! Yesterday on the 17th we started out the day by catching a few amberjack in the 25 – 40 lb range. These fish alone fight really hard, but we just wanted them for bait for the monster sharks we were going to chase afterwards. After catching our bait we ran out a little further offshore, and started drifting. On the very first drift we hooked about a 400 lb tiger shark. Jon was fighting that fish in the chair for about 20 minutes when all of a sudden an 8 foot 250 lb hammerhead shark swam up to the boat. We hooked on another bait and threw it in the water. In mere seconds the hammerhead gobbled up the bait and we had a double header of big sharks on! Jon released his tiger after about a 45 minute fight, and then his 12 year old son Reef got in the chair with his hammerhead shark. After about 30 minutes he released the hammerhead! The day was still early so we set back up and drifted again. This time we missed a shark bite. We continued to drift and sure enough we had two rods out and they both got slammed! Jon caught and released about a 200 lb brown shark and Reef was hooked up to a giant. After an hour he had an estimated 700 lb tiger shark boat side! What a day of Islamorada Shark Fishing! We finished up the day by catching a couple more amberjacks. A few days before that we had a couple down and Ray always wanted to catch a shark. We did the usual routine and caught a few amberjack first for bait and then started shark fishing. After an hour of fishing we hooked up and Ray caught and released the biggest fish of his life! An estimated 500 lb tiger shark! His wife was in the chair next, and I told them I wasn’t sure if we would have another shot, but sure enough the lady luck worked and within 45 minutes she was hooked up! After about a 40 minute fight she brought a 500 lb tiger shark boat side for a few pics before being released as well. I had one other shark trip a few days before that with a couple guys down from New York. We managed a tiger shark release for each of them, about 400 and 500 lbs, as well as a handful of amberjack. April Shark fishing in Islamorada is some of the most exciting stuff we have to offer here! There’s no guarantee you’ll catch a monster, but you have a really good shot with us aboard the Bn’M! Email me if interested in a shark charter!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

bnmcharters@gmail.com

islslamorada hammerhead shark — islamorada hammerhead shark

4-6-13 Nice Hammerhead Shark aboard the Bn’M!

We had a group of guys out on the 6th of April for a little bit of Shark fishing in Islamorada. April is without a doubt one of the best months in the Florida Keys to have a shot and catching and releasing a big shark. Now there’s never a guarantee when going fishing, but if you try hard and put your time in you will be rewarded more times than not. We did some reef fishing in the morning and had some action with some small fish, but they all wanted something big, so big is what we went after the last couple hours. We had some fresh bonitos from earlier in the day day so we sent one down around wreck. It didn’t take long to get a bite, and I’m not sure what it was, but unfortunately we lost the fish after about 5 minutes. We re rigged and sent down a fresh bait. We didn’t have any bites so we tried one more drift. Again we didn’t have any more luck, but then all of a sudden a nice 8′ hammerhead swam behind the boat. He piled on the bait as we were winding it up. The fish made 3 good runs and then pulled good for about 30 minutes. After that we were able to get the leader and take a couple pictures in the water before releasing the nice hammerhead. Everyone was happy and it was a great way to end a day of Florida Keys Shark Fishing in April! send me an email if you’re ready to try for a big shark!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk

bnmcharters@gmail.com