We are now having a very busy hurricane season. The major networks seem to want to cover the storms starting when they are thousands of miles away. They show seven day forecasts that turn out to be just that, forecasts. Even the three day forecasts turn out to change in a day or two. There is just to much information being passed along to the general public and in reality, all it is doing is scaring a whole lot of people and getting the rest all worked up. Yes we need information, however, unless you are very lacks about hurricane preparation, then you already have your supplies and a plan for your family, house, boat, car, etc. Hurricane warnings are issued with at least 24 hours of notice. How much longer does one need to prepare. Every time a storm approaches, plywood goes flying out of the lumber stores. I often wonder what happens to that plywood afterwards. Does it just get thrown away, because when the next storm comes close, plywood becomes a big demand item again. It would seem that after a few threats of storms, that most everyone would have all the plywood they need.
Enough said about hurricanes and tropical storms. Fishing prior to and several days after a storm passes through can be outstanding. The trouble is that the networks have everyone so worked up that they can't take advantage of the good fishing. I'm not talking about tropical storm force winds. We get worse wind conditions with summer time afternoon thunderstorms and with cold fronts during the winter. The three trips listed below had wind conditions in the 9 - 17 knot range. Perfect for kite fishing if you choose.
Greg Socherman, Kevin Corona, and Scott Bronante got in a half day of fishing the day before TS Fay arrived. The trip was cut short when the first band from the storm barreled down on us and had heavy rain, strong wind, and lots of lightning strikes. Before that happened, the downrigger produced a 20# kingfish and the bottom rod added a 25# amberjack. Both fish made it to the smoker and by now has been enjoyed by everyone. Every time one of the anglers (I won't mention him by name) touched a rod, he reeled in a remora. Just to prove it wasn't a fluke, he did it 3 times.
John & Kevin King and Brian & Keith Peacock fished after TS Fay on the first day when the weather settled down to almost calm. The current was pushing very hard to the north and the beautiful blue water was in as shallow as 105 feet. We started off the Twins and had to run back south once before the half day trip came to an end. Every time we came close to the color change, we had action. When we ran out to deeper water, the bottom rod got hit by something that got use back in some structure. The fish pulled so hard that the angler could not even turn the handle on the reel. Everyone got in on some action and having fun and not catching any particular species of fish was the goal of the trip. When the morning came to an end we had seen action with bonito, kingfish, barracuda, and the mystery bottom fish.
Camilo Vasquez, Olga Rodriguez, and Jose Puerta had the honor of taking the first trip with my new Yamaha engines. With Hurricane Gustav churning to our south, the wind was starting to pick up all morning long. Off of the Twins, there was a hard blue/green edge in 120 feet. Working the blue side paid off very quickly in the form of a sailfish that hit the downrigger bait. Camilo did a fantastic job of fighting the fish in some rough sea conditions. Video and pictures were taken and the fish was released. Back to the edge and the next fish was a barracuda that Jose caught and released. We had another sailfish come up and take a look at our baits, chase them around for a while, decided not to eat and disappeared. Shortly there after, a shark cooperated and Olga fought and released that fish. By then, the motion of the ocean had gotten to be more than one of the anglers could take any longer and we called it a half day. Once back at TNT Marine Center and on solid ground, they recovered quickly.
Besides the usual kingfish, bonito, barracuda, and AJ's that are around this time of year, the mutton snapper are making a strong showing. Sailfish are also cooperating when we have a good strong north current and there are still dolphin offshore.
Hurricane Ike is making its way toward Cuba. The Keys are keeping a close watch on its progress. Here in Miami, the wind today is in the 8 - 15 knot range. So lets keep up with the storms progress and in the mean time, lets get out and do some fishing to take advantage of the great weather we're having. Send me an email nkostyo@bellsouth.net or call me 305 965-9454 and lets set a date and go catch some fish.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters, Inc.
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
