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Fishing Report for Northern Miami-Dade County
Capt. Dave Kostyo
February 25, 2004
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
The Boat Show has ended for another year and now it was time to look forward to the Spring Classic at Bass Pro Shops. The Classic took place this past weekend, but prior to it, we got in several more trips both daytime and evening.
Tuesday (2/17) evening we experienced the slowest night of tarpon fishing so far this season. The fish seemed to have vacated the Haulover area at least for this evening. You constantly hear about various types of Slams for different types of fish both inshore and offshore. This evening, we started a new kind of Slam. It's called the tarpon didn't bite this evening Slam. The qualifications for this Slam are:
1.) Tarpon didn't bite were you are fishing.
2.) You catch a squid, ladyfish, and bluefish.
Thursday (2/19) afternoon/evening we struggled with a south current off Government Cut. A kingfish and bonito cooperated with us and just prior to going in to tarpon fish, we had a sailfish chase our bait to the surface. The unfortunate thing was that the birds beat the sailfish to the bait and that ended the offshore portion of the trip. Tarpon fishing at Government Cut on the north side was dead. Moving over to the south side, the shrimp were running and the tarpon were blasting them off the surface. In 2 drifts, we caught 2 out of 3 fish and then the action stopped.
Friday (2/20) morning, we were still fighting south current and slow fishing. A couple of kingfish made our morning. That evening, I was at Bass Pro Shops with Shakespeare.
Saturday (2/21) morning, had me at Bass Pro Shops and then tarpon fishing in the evening. Maurice Piergrossi from N Miami Beach caught his first two tarpon. His son Nick had the bad luck of having very weak hits from his 2 tarpon that resulted in a thrown hook on the first jump from each fish. You'll get 'em next time Nick.
Sunday (2/22) morning it was back once again at Bass Pro Shops. I gave a seminar at 10 am on sailfish/tarpon on an afternoon/evening trip. I call it my best of both worlds trip.
Monday (2/23) morning we were searching for dolphin. Al Trudeau and his friend Tom were taking a break from the cold New Hampshire weather and Tom was looking for his first dolphin. Ten miles out from the north end of Key Biscayne, we found several lines of sargassum. Trolling with yellow/green dolphin juniors produced Tom's first dolphin, a boat side release of a dolphin caught by Al, and a third fish that jumped and released itself after striking the junior. While offshore, we also added two tripletail to the fish box. Back in at the Cuban Hole area, we caught a bonito, and had a massive school of jack crevalle pass by our boat. We caught two and the 3/4 day trip came to an end.
Tuesday (2/24) morning, Al and Tom were back for another 3/4 day trip. The light winds from yesterday had been replaced with south wind @ 19-24 mph. After loading the well with herring and pilchards, we worked our way out to the Cuban Hole through the 4-6 foot seas. The action started almost instantly. It was steady throughout the entire morning. The kings were doing a great job of stripping the bait off the single hook rig being used. Adding a treble stinger did the trick. We caught our limit of kingfish and had several bonito crash the party giving both Tom and Al a good workout. All of the action took place to the north of the Hole in the 85-115 foot range.
Tuesday (2/24) evening we started tarpon fishing at Government Cut on the south side. On the first drift, we had a double strike with one fish pulling the hook almost immediately and the other being caught and released. Numerous drifts after dark produced nothing. Boats on the north side were having no better luck, so we ran back up to Haulover Inlet. The south wind gave of a great drift north along the beach. Both rods started to twitch as if they were being struck by bottom critters. Then they both did the severe bend and we had a double hook up. Jim Lefevre landed and released both fish. Several drifts later we had another shot that resulted in a thrown hook. Our evening ended with a 3 for 5 total. All caught using live shrimp.
Captain Dave
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