Islandmorada fishing Help

[rocknreel]

Guys,

I'm looking to book a trip there for my 30th birthday next year. Little far away I no but i want to start making plans now. I need help booking with a good fishing resort. I'm going to do 6 days there would like to fish for 5 of them, 3 inshore 2 offshore something along those lines. If anyone could give me some help as far as a good resort or charter to book with, would be great. I want this to be a great trip so i need some advice!! thanks

[Skolmann]

Bud & Mary's Marina in Islamorada has charter boats/guides for offshore, reef, inshore and back country fishing.

[MrAC1980]

Yupp check out Budd and Mary's. Great place to stay and boats are located right there in the same facility. I would also make sure to do a couple of back county trips as well. When you speak to the captains about the trips, make sure to specify details what you're looking for.

[captmark]

Rock, what month are you talking? fishing down there varies on the offshore? Inshore are you talking Backwater, Flats for Tarpon, Permit. Inshore for Yellowtail, send me a pm if you want some details, we fish down there every winter.

[miked5713]

Hawks Cay Resort in Marathon is awesome....

[Dino]

Bud and Marys is the legendary place.. sort of the fishing nerve center of the keys.. but there are many smaller places that offer very good guides nearbye that might be worth checking! good luck ! if your going in winter definitely pencil in one day to bend the rod on the local patch reefs..any guide can take you. groupers snapper and mackeral. its lot of fun and much more relaxing than bonefishing lol two backcountry guides out of B&M's I can recommend are Vinny Biondoletti and Ted Wilson. they also have an excellent offshore fleet. have a great time !

[rocknreel]

Thank you for the help guys!!!

[Mr Maj]

A few thoughts...First Islamorada is AWESOME.

As for places to stay I would look at two:
1) Expensive version--if you are looking to spend some $$$ and/or go to a really nice place that the misses, etc (has a spa, tennis, etc) would like, I would highly reccomend the Cheecha Lodge. It is very nice, relatively expensive, great bar on the beach, etc and only a few mins from Bud & Mary's for Fishing. When I went they had a 10% discount for first time bookers which helped.
2) The Cheaper Version--Hampton Inn. I have stayed there too. It is clean, rooms are decent (spacious), has an outback steakhouse right on the property and a bar on the beach. Has a decent pool too. It isn't dirt cheap (nothing is down there) but is pretty reasonable and clean (otehr places I have hit there didn't have the latter, which for a 5-6 day trip would get a bit grungy).


On the Fishing side Bud & Mary's Marina is excellent ofr the offshore...not cheap but their business is fish and they do it well. I have been on a handful of boats. The nicest I was on was Cloud Nine (Capt Greg Ekland), beatiful boat, great capt and mates, work hard to put you on the fish. A cheaper version I've done was Man o War (Capt and Mates great, boat a bit older but still very nice). Have never done the Predator but the Capt (auggie) was the mate on Cloud Nine the first time I was ever down and is an awesome guy. If you speak to the captains directly you can often get a discount if you will use them multiple days.

Dont konw much on the back country other than it is definitely worth doing for one trip (tarpon, jacks, bonefish). The scenary is like nothing I had ever seen before.

I hope that helps.

Great birthday present to yourself.

JM

[Capt B]

We have been going down to Islamorada for a number of years - places to stay that are reasonably priced: Chesapeake Bay Resort or Hampton Inn; if you are just going down with a group of hard core fisherman - and want cheap accomodations - Bud N Mary's has apts on their property - about $125/night - not pretty - but functional. We have fished with the majority of capts down there and prefer George McElveen on the Reel McCoy - for offshore - George has won a number of tournaments down there - and is actually married to a member of the Bogan family of Brielle/Pt. Pleasant. Best food (although expensive) is Lazy Days - between Bud N Mary's and the Hampton Inn.

[rocknreel]

thank you you guys have been very helpful!!

[Capt.Ed]

I spend 2 months a year in Islamorada and have fished with dozens of guides. Capt. Ken Cohan is by far the best guide in my opinion. He fishes out of Bud and Marys, his contact info is H 305 664 8747 or c 305 393 2719. Book early he fills up quickly. Capt. Ed McEwan