February Action Aboard Knot Nancy
Capt. Dave Kostyo
February 22, 2009
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
February has flown by very quickly with lots of fishing action. Recently, kingfish have finally made the showing that we've all been waiting for. Sailfish action continues to be strong as long as we have north current. Throw in some dolphin, a few bonito, and action with blackfin tuna and it's well worth spending time in the 100 - 200 foot range fishing with kites, flatlines, downrigger, and bottom rods.
Now for the news on tarpon fishing. With only a very few exceptions, the action has been outstanding. The action at Haulover is making its normal late February slow down. Government Cut is seeing its action picking up. In the Bay, the cold fronts get the shrimp running and the action around the bridges has been outstanding. The good thing about Government Cut is that there are places to hide from any wind that comes from any direction from north to east to south. This makes it possible to fish the area no matter how hard the wind is blowing, so don't let wind speed discourage you from going.
Here's a quick summary of the trips I've done.
Jose Perez, Erica Perez, and Brian Jinks caught dolphin in the 10 -15 pound class as well as one of a double header sailfish. Erica caught her first sailfish and did an outstanding job of fighting the fish.
Nick Luders, Dan Fedders, Darrell Neuberger, and Court Campbell went 3 for 3 on tarpon at Haulover.
The next day, the same group caught bonito, kingfish, blackfin tuna, red grouper, and missed a sailfish at the end of the day.
Marco Guarisco and Lorenzo Ruggeri saw action with tarpon at Haulover Inlet. After having fished world wide for tarpon with no success, Marco finally realized his dream and caught his first tarpon. That evening we went 2 for 4 on tarpon to 80 pounds as well as a small grouper and a bluerunner.
With the wind howling from the N/NNE at 18 - 20 knots, Matt Santamauro, Matty Santamauro, and Joe Lorusso took advantage of good tides for the Bay and finished the evening going 5 for 6. The fish were in the 40 - 90 pound class.
Ken Tapman, Micah Tapman, Rich Collins, and Robert Collins caught a slow evening of tarpon fishing. It started off great with a tarpon in the Bay. The action shut off and we moved outside where we worked hard to get one more shot. This time the fish gave us back our hook after a few jumps.
Brad Coren and Harold Coren shared the rod on a beastly 130 pound tarpon at Haulover. The fish had its normal don't give up attitude and both anglers were utterly amazed at the power and stamina of the big fish. A bit later in the evening we caught a 60 pound fish that was a bit more cooperative. The final fish of the evening was another beast. This time the tarpon dumped so much line off the reel that it found an obstruction on the bottom and cut us off. Both anglers breathed a sigh of relief when this happened as the first fish pretty much had exhausted both of them.
Tino Poo, Louise Poo, and Allan Herman did some wreck fish. We re-anchored 3 times on two different wrecks and found no current. Persistence paid off when the kingfish moved in and we ended on a high note with kingfish, AJ's, and bonito.
Gene Walsh, Tom Zappulla, Carl Peroni, and Joe Capuano started the evening going 0 for 3 on tarpon in the Bay. When the action turned off, we moved outside and redeemed ourselves. It was steady action for the remainder of the trip. The interesting thing about the action was that each fish got progressively larger. When the final tally was counted, it was anglers 5 and fish 1. The size range was 15 - 90 pounds.
The Little Family (Mike, Ann, Ashley, and Will) are the perfect example of an outdoors family. They all participate in hunting and fishing and they are very competitive. We started in the Bay and Ashley had her tarpon just beginning to come toward us when the hook pulled. Will was up next and he caught and released his fish. The brother and sister competitiveness started with Will giving Ashley a hard time. Ashley didn't stand for it for a moment and gave it right back to Will. We had two more feeble bites before the action turned off. Time to head outside and try there. Ashley had to wait a few drifts before she got her chance at redemption. The wait was over and she was hooked up solid to a not to happy tarpon that took us for a very long ride. We got the fish up to the leader many times, however, it just didn't want to give us an opportunity for some good pictures. It kept using the run under the boat tactic as it continued to move south. The chilly weather soon became very warm for Ashley as she broke out in a sweat while she was determined to get the fish up for a picture. Meanwhile, both Dad and Mom were beaming with pride as they watched their daughter continue the battle. Ashley won when here Dad got some good pictures and the fish won as it was released after giving us an outstanding battle.
We're now up to date with reports. As you can see, the majority of my fishing has been for tarpon. There is still time to get out and catch one of these beautiful silver beauty's. The experience is awesome and one that won't soon be forgotten. March - June will see consistent action for them. Who knows, you might get the chance to tangle will a real big brute and experience the pleasure and pain like Brad and Harold did. No matter what size, it's a thrill!!
Call me, 305 965-9454 or send me an email [email protected] to book your trip and get the experience started.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters, Inc.
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
[email protected]
Miami Fishing Forecast:
Tarpon action will remain consistent and steady with the fish getting larger and larger.
Kingfish have finally made a good showing and with March right around the corner, we'll start seeing smoker size fish toward the end of March and on into April.
April is the transition month with both the winter and summer time fish here at the same time. Sailfish, kingfish, dolphin, blackfin tuna, and tarpon are all possible on the same day with an afternoon/evening trip.
Target Species:
Tarpon, sailfish, dolphin, kingfish
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