Spring Is In The Air And The Fishing To Go With It
Capt. Dave Kostyo
March 18, 2008
Miami - Saltwater Fishing Report
Spring is in the air. Sailfishing continues to be outstanding in the 100 - 130 foot range. Kingfish are starting to make their appearance after a very disappointing winter and are being found in 100 - 115 feet. Dolphin are coming through in the 200 - 400 foot range. Finally the blackfin tuna in various sizes have made a showing in depths of 140 - 400 feet.
As for tarpon, they are in an inconsistent mode as I write this report. One evening they are easy to find and the next they are hiding. Many of the spots in the Bay are now fishless due to the lights being out. Seems like our taxpayer dollars are not being spent on keeping the lights in working order on the bridges. The lights on some of the outstanding spots have been out for months. With that being said, the size of the tarpon that we are catching are consistent with the normal size for this time of year.
Brad Coren, his uncle, Harold, and friend Neville Blake fished a 3/4 day trip for sailfish. With the live well loaded with large herring we ran south a bit to fish off the middle of Key Biscayne. Brad was looking to catch his first sailfish. We slow trolled the baits to cover some ground as there was no wind and very little current. The technique paid off after about 30 minutes. Brad was fighting his first sailfish. The fish was released after posing for some quick pictures and we went back on the slow troll. Action was very slow for a long time until right after we ate lunch. Still in the same area, we had a double come up and both fish were hooked solid. Neville's fish ran NE and Brad's second sail ran south. We chased Neville's fish first as it was the hotter of the two. Brad's fish finally gave in to having to pull lots of line and the drag pressure. It turned and started coming toward us. Meanwhile, we caught up to Neville's fish and released it. Brad picked on a very large sail that had a lot of spunk. It took a while, but the fish finally gave in and it too was released.
Mark Cannon and his two sons, Keith (12 years old) and Chris (17 years old) got a good taste of tarpon fishing. When we arrived at Government Cut, the fish were rolling everywhere and marking on the recorder. They did not want to cooperate until we were late into the dusk period. Keith hooked up first and his fish made no bones about wanting to get to the deep water of the main channel in a hurry. We beat the tarpon to the deep water and it did the normal thing of going to the bottom once it swam over the ledge. At that point as soon as we came tight on the fish, the hook pulled. We immediately ran back to set up again and marked fish. It was only a short time after marking the fish and this time Mark was hooked solid to his tarpon. We landed and released Mark's fish and went to work on trying to catch one for Keith. The fish just shut off for us and we ended the evening at 1 for 2.
Darren Rak, Scott Black, and Mike Asher fished a 1/2 day for sailfish. Once again we slow trolled baits as we drifted north with the current. Toward the end of the morning, I saw a free jumping sail just to the north and inside of us. I moved in line to intercept the fish and threw out a handful of live baits. It paid off almost immediately and we hooked up with a double. One fish charged the boat and then swam under it. The other ran toward the SE. We fought both fish for several minutes and the hook pulled on one of the sails. Now we concentrated on the other. It continually ran offshore and when we finally landed the fish for a quick picture, we were in 400 feet.
John Shupenko and his son Greg spent some quality time together while Greg was home on Spring Break. Greg was looking to do battle with his first tarpon. During the incoming tide, we made drift after drift with no results. When the tide started to turn, we ran into the Bay where we discovered that the lights were out at the first location. We ran to the next spot only to find the lights out there also except for one. We tried it for a while with no results. Back to Government and on the second drift, Greg was hooked up and fighting a nice 60 pound tarpon. We got the catch and some pictures before I picked up a large piece of rope on my port engine. while I was dealing with the rope, Greg was going round and round the boat. About the time I cleared the rope, the fish made a final jump and threw the hook. On the next drift, John hooked up and everything was going well as we started to chase the fish. As happens with tarpon, the hook apparently didn't penetrate the rock hard jaw and the hook pulled.
Ed Carr, Steve Craig, Tom Haelsig, and Charles Vitale came down to Miami to do nothing but fish. They booked two days and wanted to have a great time. The first trip was a sailfish/swordfish combo. We did this trip on board my good friend Captain Gil Gutierrez's boat. We started between Fowey and the Monument and before we could get all the baits out flying from the kites properly, we had a sailfish on. With that fish released, our next action came in the form of a sky rocketing kingfish (??) that turned out to be a wahoo!! The next hit was an unknown fish that dumped a lot of line. Everyone was guessing and when we finally saw it, Gill had it right from the beginning. It was a hard fought battle and there was a lot of good humored ribbing going on for Tom to hurry up and get the fish in so we could get the baits back out. When we finally got the answer to the mystery fish we were both happy and sad. Happy because it was a large blackfin tuna and sad because it got sharked and we only got the head. The baits went back out and it wasn't long before we hooked up another sailfish. After releasing the second sail, it was time to start offshore to set up for swordfish. Conditions offshore got bigger as we approached the area for swords. Out went the baits and the wait began. We made a move and waited some more. the end result was no hits no runs and no errors. We paid our dues on the way in with some rough sea conditions.
The next day, Ed, Steve, Tom, and Charles were back for day two. We caught bait and ran south of the Monument. Everyone was psyched to get the kite out and continue where we left off yesterday. There was only one thing that changed. There was no wind so even helium wouldn't help. Out went 4 flatlines a we slow trolled between 70 - 210 feet. On our second pass heading offshore in 130 feet, the short flat on the left got hit and we caught a wahoo. With no further action, we headed off a bit further to look for dolphin. We found them and they were very picky eaters until we put on the 1/4 ounce chartreuse/white jigs. We caught a few more before the school moved on. We then started trolling the jigs and found schools of small blackfin tuna and bonito busting the surface. Trolling the jigs through the schools resulted in lots of action including 4 times when all 4 anglers were hooked up at the same time. We worked our way down a weedline and caught 2 more dolphin including a bull of 10 pounds. The action was fast and furious and kept everyone busy and looking for more schools of busting fish. The next stop was to run in and get some soy sauce for some sushi. Two tunas were cleaned and marinated in the sauce while we were waiting for the tarpon action to start. The tarpon were playing hard to get on this evening and we called it an evening at about 11 pm to run back to TNT Marine Center and finish cleaning the remaining blackfin tunas, wahoo, and dolphin.
Jeff Godel, his son, Jamie, and friend Kevin Douglas got in some kite fishing action. When Jamie saw the first kingfish skyrocket the gog, he was hooked. He fought the next king all the way to the boat before it released itself. Next it was an arctic bonito and finally we got a sailfish to give us a small show before spitting the bait back at us. A few days later, Jeff gave me a call and told me that I had done in 1 trip what he had been trying to accomplish in 25 years. That was to get his son interested and hooked on fishing. It gave me a great feeling to know that I was able to get this father and son to spend quality time together fishing. It's time to say it again. FAMILY FISHING IS FUN!!!
Steven Rosenstein and his family spent some quality time together looking to catch their first tarpon. Noah was to be the angler. Things started slow and continued that way until the last drift of the evening. We finally got the strike we were looking for and Noah had his hands full with an 80 pound tarpon. The fished started offshore and then moved into the deep water of the main ship channel. He turned the rod over to his Dad after a long time and Steven fought the fish till he tired. Noah took the rod back and continued the fight as we moved further out the channel. Tiring again, Johnathan took up the fight while Emily took pictures and Mom gave encouragement and showed concern for the rocky sea conditions. Before the fish finally submitted to the continuous pressure, we had to dodge one container ship that was heading out to sea. Pictures were taken and the fish was released. Everyone was amazed at the size and power of the fish.
That brings me up to date. As you can see the action has been good and it will only get better as Spring continues to come on. Now's the time to give me a call and book your trip to experience the thrill of catching the fish that the offshore and inshore waters offer in Miami. It truly is a fishing adventure.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
[email protected]
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