 |
Fishing Report for Northern Miami-Dade County
Capt. Dave Kostyo
August 15, 2005
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
To say the air temperatures have been HOT would be an understatement. It has been down right brutal on some days. The gentle breeze from the E/SE has helped some, however after a dolphin attack, the best bet is to get the boat moving and create your own wind. Make sure you have plenty of liquid
refreshment on board and start replacing the lost fluid from your body even if you don't feel thirsty.
Fishing in on the reef has been hit and miss. This is the time of year when trolling spoons down deep on either a planer or downrigger will out produce live baiting on most days. I've stuck with the live bait in the Haulover area with very limited results. The water has been a pea soup green on the days when I've been out and there has been minimal current. Meanwhile offshore, the search for dolphin has been just that, a search. The good news, however, is that when you find them, they've been very good sized
fish. We've only had to throw back about a dozen fish and the rest have been up to 15 pounds.
Wednesday (8/10), Oscar Marrero and Ray Cruz wanted some dolphin action. We started finding good weedlines in 700' and more each 1 to 1.5 miles out from there. Then the lines became groups of large patches of grass. We worked from patch to patch with the live bait with no results and continued to work
offshore. At 17 miles, we came across about a half dozen more large patches and a 5 gallon bucket. When we reached the north most patch, we got our reward. A school of good size dolphin in the 8 - 15 pound class moved in on our baits and the action began. The fish stayed with us for at least a half
hour. Oscar and Ray were constantly hooked up using live bait and with 1 ounce T& M pilchard jigs as well as the 1/4 ounce Kaplan jig. We all needed a
break when the fish moved on. It was 10:30 in the morning and their visions of dolphin fillets had turned into a reality. We moved offshore a bit more
and found nothing. It was time to turn back inshore and work some of the other weedlines we had seen on the way out. Once again when we got back to 17 miles, we found more large patches a bit further to the south and put out the live baits. Ray spotted some commotion on several patches to our north. We saw a free jumping sailfish and then several large boils in the water. We moved quickly to the area, where another very large school of dolphin surrounded
the boat. Ray used live bait and Oscar used jigs. We started catching and releasing fish as fast as we got lines in the water. These fish were smaller and we kept a few in the 22 to 24 inch class. Each time the school left us, we went back to the same patch and there they were. We did this three times before the 3/4 day trip was over and it was time to head back to Spinnaker Marina a clean fish. At this last location, we easily released a minimum of 20 fish and I'm being very conserative. Now, here is the good
part. All morning long, both Oscar and Ray kept replenishing their sunscreen. If you look closely at the attached picture, you'll see that it is the Banana Boat brand. So for all of you who are superstitious about bananas on board being bad luck, I say I'll take this kind of bad luck any day.
Thursday (8/11), what a difference 24 hours makes. We paid our dues today in our dolphin search. Out to 20 miles, we found only scattered weed. Moving south and angling back in, we found large patches of grass and worked them all. Even the birds were doing no better. To sum up the day quickly, we caught and released two undersized dolphin and one bar jack. For those who say that this was a delayed banana thing, I say you're looking for excuses.
Friday (8/12), Jay Hardel from Atlanta, Georgia and his sons Derek and Andrew wanted to experience a half day of fishing on a charter. The goal was to catch a few eating fish. We started with a drift and some slow trolling straight out from Haulover with kingfish being the target. There was no action. We headed offshore with word that there was a weedline at 13 miles with birds working it. As we were running out, flying fish were taking off and this was a treat for everyone as they'd never seen them
before. Jay always seemed to be looking in the wrong direction when one took off on its flight. There was also a lot more bird activity than yesterday and this gave me a good feeling. At 10 miles, I spotted the
telltale signs of birds working over fish and ran to the area. Out went the live baits and we had almost instant action. All three anglers were hooked
up in less than 30 seconds and there were more fish swimming around the boat. I looked off to the left and then I spotted the large piece of 2 X 4 floating in the water. Out went the Mark's Marker so we could find the board again once we drifted away from it. Having never seen action and fish of this size before, everyone was amazed every time a dolphin made a huge jump trying to shake the hook. Somewhere along the line, a video and digital camera came out and pictures were taken. When the fish stopped
biting, we found the marker by the board and picked up a few more fish. After a quick clean up and drinking plenty of water, we started our search
again. The breeze felt good and this is when Jay saw his first flying fish. We found a nice rip with no fish. Then another weedline with birds on it that also had no fish. Heading back in, we found a 5 gallon bucket with the usual assortment of triggerfish, filefish, and barjacks, but no dolphin. We took more pictures and then headed in to clean fish. Jay and his sons decided that the 3 largest fish were more than enough for them, so the
remaining 5 fish were filleted and given to several of the employees at Spinnaker Marina. Everyone sends their THANKS to you all for your kind generosity.
Captain Dave
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
