Dolphin and Sailfish Dominate The Offshore Fishing
Capt. Dave Kostyo
December 16, 2011
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
It's time once again to get current with the fishing activities aboard Knot Nancy.
Offshore has mainly been dolphin (mahi-mahi) and sailfish. Throw in some bonito, amberjack, black grouper, and mutton snapper and you have a very good mixed bag of both game fish and eating fish. The biggest drawback to the offshore scene has been the moderate to very windy conditions that just don't seem to want to settle into any pattern. If you can handle the windy conditions, then you're in for some good action.
Inshore I haven't had many calls for tarpon fishing so I don't have a very good handle on how good the action is or isn't. All of my clients for the most part want to fish for the offshore species.
The Cullinane Family spent some quality time together. Tom and Cindy along with their sons Patrick (8yrs old) and Aidan (5yrs old) fished for a half day. Tom, Cindy, and Patrick were the fishing portion of the family. Aidan is the video game champion. He beat all levels of Donkey Kong while we were fishing. In the meantime, Tom and Patrick were busy catching dolphin while Cindy was getting the action on film. We had a lull period and then once again the dolphin action started as well as blackfin tuna action. The big fish of the trip was caught by Cindy. It turned out to be about a 50# shark.
Mike and Troy Andersen and Jason Waters braved windy conditions of East @ 17 – 21 knots on their ¾ day trip. They saw action with dolphin while drifting with flatlines.
Rich Pena, Dave Olson, and Mike Reisner saw even windier conditions on their trip. The SE/SSE winds @ 15 – 24 knots gave us very lumpy seas. We found good blue water in 500 feet and almost immediately got into some hot and heavy dolphin action. The windy conditions persisted and after a half day we called it quits with plenty of dolphin in the fish box.
Rich, Dave, and Mike were back for day two offshore. This day we had winds from the WNW/N @ 9 – 20 knots. We kite fished most of the day in 110 – 200 feet and once again had plenty of action with dolphin and several sharks. There were plenty of dolphin fillets for everyone.
Tino Poo's trip was a ¾ day. He picked the calmest day we have had in quite awhile. Wind from the WNW/ESE @ 3 – 9 knots. Raul Bosque got things going with a sailfish. Then we moved on to a few dolphin, bonito, and had the pesky remoras show up.
Jeff Godel and Mike Evans had all the dolphin action they could handle during their ¾ day trip. The wind was N/NNW @ 13 – 17 knots. We found good weed lines in the 350 – 420 foot range. This got the ball rolling with dolphin in the 4 – 10 pound range. When the action slowed, we found birds and more weed lines in the 250 – 300 foot range. Whether we were slow trolling or drifting we had consistent action. After having caught plenty of fish to take home, we started releasing fish. Back at TNT Marine Center, Jeff helped with filleting the fish as Mike watched the tarpon feeding on the scraps we threw in the water.
I helped my good friend and fellow Captain, Gil Gutierrez with his trip. The wind was East @ 14 – 20 knots. We started with dolphin, moved closer in and put up the kites and a bottom rod and caught sailfish, amberjack, black grouper, and shark.
Jeff Ingram, Jonathon Wright, and Reiley not only had fun fishing offshore, but had a blast catching 3 different kinds of bait before heading out. We had to work hard for the action we got on this trip. In the end we pulled it out with sailfish, bonito, and shark.
In between the above trips, we had to cancel two trips due to winds in excess of 25 knots.
So as you can see, the action varies from good to excellent and the wind has definitely been blowing with the exception of one trip. The action will only continue to get better and better as we close out 2011 and start fresh in 2012. Now's the time to book your fishing trip so you won't miss out on any of the great fishing we experience in the Miami/Miami Beach area all winter long.
With the Holidays upon us, remember that if you have an angler in your life who has every fishing gadget you can imagine, you might want to consider giving them a gift certificate for a charter fishing trip aboard Knot Nancy. Sailfish, kingfish, dolphin, tarpon, and more will be a gift that they'll thank you for and remember for a long time.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters, Inc
305-965-9454
www.knotnancy.com
[email protected]
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