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Fishing Report for Northern Miami-Dade County
Capt. Dave Kostyo
June 7, 2003
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
Continuing on from my last tarpon report on June 3rd, we once again went tarpon fishing on the evening of June 4th. What a difference a day can make. On the 3rd, we worked hard to get one tarpon strike and one tarpon caught. The evening of the 4th was a tarpon fishermen's dream come true. We got our first bite within 3 minutes of putting out the live crabs. Jeff Arenson was in a fight with the likes of a fish that he had never even dreamed about. After a 38 minute battle, and having traveled well south of the southern range markers, the hook pulled. We ran back and set up another drift and in short order had another tarpon on. Tom Mathias released this one in short order and the third drift had us trying to hook a fish that ate the bait and ran past the bow of the boat before Jeff could get the rod out of the holder. The fourth drift had Jeff hooked up again and this time he got the release, but the hook pulled before we could get the fish up for a Kodak moment. One drift without a strike and then we were hooked up again. This beast knew exactly where it wanted to go and ran straight for the deep water of Government Cut. To sum it up, we made 7 drifts, hooked 5 fish, and released 2.
The next night, June 5th, was another eventful tarpon trip. Randy Wong was hoping to beat his best tarpon (100#) to date. Lots of fish were rolling and expectations were high. With nearly no wind, we were using floats to keep our baits out of the bottom. By our third drift, the sun was setting and the wind picked up just enough to remove the floats. Randy's outfit slammed over before we even settled into that third drift. 130 pounds of tarpon came cart wheeling out of the water in a 6' high jump and then made a sizzling run for the deep water. After a few heart stopping moments around one of the channel markers, the fish moved to the north side where it remained throughout the rest of the fight. Lots of pictures were taken and even some jumping action shots were made. By the time the fish was released, we had time for one more drift. We got the strike, but much to our surprise, a large ladyfish had eaten our crab. CONGRATULATIONS Randy on making a personal best catch.
Friday, June 6th, we fished a half day offshore. We left Haulover Inlet in search of dolphin. And we searched and we searched and we searched. At 16.5 miles, we turned south and searched some more. We heard no encouraging news from anyone on the radio. One angler said he was 26 miles out and had not seen anything. With a limited time to fish, we decided to run back in to fish on the reef and stop only if we saw something good. A flock of petrels caught my attention. We worked the area and saw and caught nothing. We found a huge ball of material used to wrap boxes to pallets. It was loaded with bait, but not a dolphin in sight. This dolphin fishing is getting to be downright disappointing. Back on the reef, and the downrigger produced a nice 8# kingfish. Next a remora, and finally a bonito. A half day goes by very quickly especially when you run offshore in search of dolphin.
The heavy rain, lightning, and thunder over the coastal area had my customer for Saturday, June 7th canceling. Tomorrow is Nancy's birthday, so there are plans for lots of things. None of which are fishing. That will have to wait till Monday.
Dolphin fishing in the Haulover area has been very disappointing so far this season. Most anglers are having to run way south to Fowey Light and then run offshore to catch a few fish. I have not heard or seen anyone who has done well fishing from the Haulover area in their search for this colorful and tasty fish. They could flood into the area any day now so keep the faith.
Captain Dave
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