Bob and Aretina Rogers, from Richmond, VA., have been fishing at Bud N’ Mary’s with capt. Vic Gaspeny for the last 10 years. They wanted to express their appreciation for Vic and all the great people at Bud N’ Mary’s. They have treasured a lifetime of memorable fishing experiences in Islamorada since 1998. Here are a few pictures from their last visit. Great catches including bonefish, tarpon, and permit!
Capt. George McElveen won the last days daily for biggest dolphin. A nice 40 lber was the biggest fish that day!
Bob and Aretina Rogers, from Richmond, VA., have been fishing at Bud N’ Mary’s with capt. Vic Gaspeny for the last 10 years. They wanted to express their appreciation for Vic and all the great people at Bud N’ Mary’s. They have treasured a lifetime of memorable fishing experiences in Islamorada since 1998. Here are a few pictures from their last visit. Great catches including bonefish, tarpon, and permit!
Capt. George McElveen won the last days daily for biggest dolphin. A nice 40 lber was the biggest fish that day!
Bob and Aretina Rogers, from Richmond, VA., have been fishing at Bud N’ Mary’s with capt. Vic Gaspeny for the last 10 years. They wanted to express their appreciation for Vic and all the great people at Bud N’ Mary’s. They have treasured a lifetime of memorable fishing experiences in Islamorada since 1998. Here are a few pictures from their last visit. Great catches including bonefish, tarpon, and permit!
Capt. George McElveen won the last days daily for biggest dolphin. A nice 40 lber was the biggest fish that day!
Bob and Aretina Rogers, from Richmond, VA., have been fishing at Bud N’ Mary’s with capt. Vic Gaspeny for the last 10 years. They wanted to express their appreciation for Vic and all the great people at Bud N’ Mary’s. They have treasured a lifetime of memorable fishing experiences in Islamorada since 1998. Here are a few pictures from their last visit. Great catches including bonefish, tarpon, and permit!
Very busy right now, running every day, sometimes two trips a day. But, I just had to post this pic. The biggest Dolphin caught by a charterboat this year in Key West. 58 pounds on our certified A and B Marina scale. Capt. Steve pictured with the alien-headed beast… Yes, caught on board the Mr. Z!!
I have been waiting to post this for over a month. The big slammer dolphin are here and chewing finally! I had been seeing slammers the last few trips but they were in no mood to play. Now that the winds are getting back to normal they are turning on. There have also been quite a few respectable size wahoo caught and the black fin and skip jacks are pretty easy targets.
Inshore the
Sword Play in the Keys
In early November, I was once again fortunate enough to visit the nearest thing to a fishing Valhalla that can be found anywhere in the wide world of salt water angling, Bud N’ Mary’s Marina located in Islamorada in middle of the Florida Keys. John Brunelle, good friend and fishing buddy (president and owner of Prosystems in Plainfield, CT- http://www.prosystemsllc.com ) and I had been discussing a trip to this world famous fishing destination for some time.
Then, a late afternoon call from good friend, Capt. Richard Stanczyk, who is the owner and operator of Bud N’ Mary’s came in. He informed me that, “The sails and swords are really biting hard!” Richard related that, during the later part of the previous week, Capt. Vic Gaspeny had caught his 99th and 100th daytime swordfish on the same daytrip! He now holds the world’s record for the most swords caught in one day (during the daytime- which makes this feat all the more incredible), a total of 7 fish up to 310 lb.
It took all of 30 seconds to call John with that report, and it was instantly decided that a quick, four day, late fall road trip to Islamorada, the ‘Sport Fishing Capital of the World,’ was needed to ensure a state of continued, mental well-being. Islamorada is a world class fishing destination and the place where you can fulfill all of your fishing fantasies when there’s nothing else happening up in the Northeast in regards to angling action.
While we had to had to spend a little time aboard a non-stop Delta flight heading toward Fort Lauderdale International Airport to get to south Florida, that really wasn’t such a bad trade off. The temperature upon departure from Bradley International was a chilly 28 degrees was contrasted by a balmy 78 degrees upon our arrival in Fort Lauderdale.
After picking up a rental chariot, from the conveniently located facilities within the FLL terminal, the first stop in our pilgrimage to this Mecca of Fishing. The two hour drive down to Islamorada, which is located roughly 90 miles south of Miami, via the Florida Turnpike and scenic Route 1, was more-or-less uneventful, with the exception of the ‘dodge-um’ style of driving behaviors that are typically found on the Sunshine State’s highways. Richard had set us up with lodging on the ‘Lucky Lady,’ a houseboat that features modern amenities and a view that offers front row seats for some of the most scenic sunrises and sunsets to be found in the Keys.
After a great meal at the Lori-Lei we headed back to the houseboat where John was given a few pointers on how to catch a tarpon. Heading over to a nearby bridge, he was coached on where to toss his offerings and, before one could count to 30, a mercurial hued torpedo came blasting out of the water engaging in a myriad of aerial acrobatics before breaking off. That didn’t matter much as he was awed by the sheer power and fighting abilities that this species possess. He later landed a second ‘Silver King’ completing his matriculation in that art form of Key’s fishing.
With the wind having blown nearly continuously for four days with no letup in sight, it initially appeared that all our time down in this paradise might be spent ashore. However, early on Tuesday morning, it finally abated and, during the late afternoon, we headed out towards Alligator Light with Capt. Nick Stanczyk and Jimmy (the mate) to ‘bait up’ for the following day’s trip. Trolling small feathered jigs, we managed to put over two dozen bonito and blue runners in the bait cooler.
Wednesday morning, Richard , Nick, Jimmy, John, and I headed off to do a little daytime sword fishing on the B N’ M, a 35 ft Crusader express. After running for two hours, we began drifting along the ‘Heart of the Stream a good distance from the marina,. Over the course of the day we managed one hookup out of five ‘bites’ but, what a bite it was! I ended up on the short end of an 80-lb class stick for 3 1/2 hours before we brought a 324 lb. broadbill up to the boat, 4 1/2 miles from where it jumped all over the day’s entree.
We’d hooked up at 10:15 AM and landed it at 1:45 PM which, believe me, is a long time to do the tango with any fish! While I’ve landed a few big fish every now and then of my own accord,, this swordfish came as close to kicking my butt as anything that has ever nibbled on my offerings. Broadbill battles are highlighted by the tremendous power and stamina of these glorious fish possess as they never give an inch. Several times, this fish was brought up to within 200 ft. of the surface before it screamed off down into the abyss in the depths of the 1,200- to 1,500 feet of water (actually, too many times to count) that we were fishing in.
Endgame brought about little excitement, but all’s well that ends well as the fish was stuck, gaffed and then dragged into the cockpit. We reset the baits, had a couple of quick ‘taps,’ but nothing came tight before we headed back to the dock at 3:30 PM for a photo session.
If you ever want to catch a swordfish, either during the day or night, there’s no doubt that is the place to do it. Richard has an unmatched streak going in regards to catching the swords during the daylight hours. While I’ve caught swords before drifting at night both in the Keys and in the Northeast, the capture of this magnificent fish during the day was just an unreal experience and truly one of the highlights of my angling career.
The Florida Keys (especially Islamorada) are truly a special place to visit as the sun is almost always shining, the near-tropical breezes are blowing, and the people are always friendly. While the fishing is about as good as it gets anywhere in the wide world of salt water angling, it’s the memories and friendships made there that are things that will be remembered over one’s lifetime. It also must be noted that, without John’s generosity, good natured ways, and camaraderie, this trip wouldn’t have been half as much fun for me.
If a perfect description of just how an enjoyable fishing trip were to be written up in a column for a specific species of fish that you hoped to catch while in the Keys, then there can be no better than what I’ve related above.
