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Fishing Report for Northern Miami-Dade County
Capt. Dave Kostyo
February 3, 2005
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
Saturday (1/29) was a day for only the die hard sailfish angler. Winds from the east were at 22 - 23 knots for the better part of the morning. This gave us solid 6 - 8 foot seas with enough 10 footers coming through to keep you on your toes. By late afternoon, the wind came down to 15 knots and the seas seemed like a calm 4 - 6 foot. The best way to describe the sailfish action was FANTASTIC. Goggle eyes on the kite gave us all our action. Our total was 3 for 6. Throw in 2 dolphin, 3 bonito, and 1 kingfish and we had a well rounded day.
Sunday (1/30) was an about face of the previous days wind. SSE to SSW at 9 - 13 knots gave us some nice calm sea conditions. We fished some shallow water artificial reef structure with light tackle. Live shrimp on long shank hooks free lined and with a split shot produced several spanish mackerel, mangrove snapper, groupers, blue runners, amberjack, and triggerfish.
Monday (1/31) evening Ken and Cathy Fitch and their two delightful children Anna May and Conner experienced their very first charter fishing trip. Tarpon was our target and they did not disappoint us. On our first drift at Haulover, Ken caught and released his first tarpon. Two drifts later, Cathy caught her first tarpon also. After that, the fish shut off for the next several drifts. Conner suggested that I had picked the wrong shrimp for the job. I changed the bait to a larger more feisty one and it got ate by something that didn't hook up. The wind switched from the NNE to the North and the tide changed to an incoming, so it was time to try directly in the mouth of the Inlet. The moved paid off with two strikes on three drifts. The first threw the hook on its first jump. The last drift of the evening we got a solid hook up on an 80# tarpon that Ken made quick work of. By this time all the playing in the pool, sun, and 1/2 a Dramamine finally caught up to Anna May and Conner and they couldn't keep their eyes open any longer. Final tally for the evening was 3 for 4 tarpon in the 40 - 80 pound class.
Wednesday (2/2) evening it was back for another round of tarpon fishing. The Haulover area was the place. Jim Lefevre from Stuart, Florida is definitely a tarpon addict. His special guest this evening was Sue Cocking, the Miami Herald Outdoors Writer. Within 2 minutes of putting out the baits, we had our first fish hooked up solid. The 40# tarpon posed for a few pictures and was released. Several drifts later, we had a feisty ladyfish eat our shrimp. The conditions were right to fish the outgoing tide in the Inlet. Three drifts produced 1 fish caught and released, 1 fish that jumped off, and 1 fish that never bent a rod but jumped and threw the hook. The next stop was in the Bay where we had just enough of the right conditions to produce a 50 # fish that we caught and released. Our final stop of the evening was the south side of the south jetty at Government Cut. I didn't like how we were drifting so we reset for the final drift of the evening. Several minutes later, we were rewarded with a 20# tarpon that came to the boat quickly and then decided that something was wrong. It made several jumps including one on the opposite of the boat from Jim.
As you can see, the tarpon action is hot. Schedule your trip by giving me a call at 305 620-5896 or by email at [email protected] so you too can experience the great action of the silver king.
Captain Dave
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