 |
Fishing Report for Northern Miami-Dade County
Capt. Dave Kostyo
January 18, 2003
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
The news on sailfishing has been very good. As a matter of fact, down right crazy on a few days. Mix in the strong kingfish bite, and you have the makings for some fun fishing. Most of my fishing has been for tarpon and that has been just as good.
Thursday, Jan 16th I had an afternoon/evening trip. The schools of herring were scattered in Government Cut and it took some searching to catch a decent amount of bait. Running straight out from the Cut, I found the same conditions that I have found on my last few offshore trips. NO CURRENT!! It seems that I'm out there the day before or after the current is running strong to the north. As is the case with no current conditions, the fish were scattered. We had a hit on the downrigger in 130' and after pulling about 30' of drag, the hook pulled. A friend informed me of some action up at the Twin Towers and we anchored up in 90'. Ten minutes later, we released a kingfish. Shortly thereafter, we caught 2 bonito and missed a few others. Not great offshore action, however, for a family from Arizona, it was dynamite. Moving inshore to Haulover, Fred Buck from Higley, AZ caught and released a tarpon on our first drift. We got some great video footage as the fish cooperated and jumped several times at boat side. His son and daughter were getting tired, so we called it a day and headed in with 4 happy anglers.
Friday evening Jan 17th tarpon fishing at Haulover Inlet. Brrrrrrrrrr is the only way to describe the conditions. The water temperature was holding above 70 and that was a good sign. Che Ma from Davenport, FL caught and released his first tarpon. Jeremy Wong from Knoxville, MD, who fished with me last year got some more tarpon fighting experience on the last drift of the evening. He made quick work of his fish and we headed back to the warmth of the marina office to fill out the MET release forms.
Saturday morning Jan 18th was the coldest (double Brrrrrrrrrr) morning thus far this winter. Long johns and 4 other layers of clothing was required to stay comfortable. Our goal was tarpon. Starting at Haulover we soon saw numerous fish rolling. On about our 5th drift, we struck pay dirt, only the tarpon had other plans and after running 50 yards, it jumped and threw the hook. Moving down to Government Cut on the north side, the water temp was colder than at Haulover. We found lots and lots of tarpon rolling and constantly moving. Try as we might, we couldn't cross paths with them. Next, it was check out the deep water of the main ship channel. Hundreds of tarpon were rolling and moving around the area like lightning. We caught a lane snapper, red grouper, and a mutton snapper, however, the tarpon had lockjaw. Back to Haulover for one final drift with the water temp dropping like a rock. We saw nor marked any fish and had no strikes.
As soon as this cold weather runs its course and temperatures moderate, the tarpon with get back to feeding more reliably. I have some openings, so give me a call and lets go catch some tarpon.
Captain Dave
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
