Wind and rain, then a break for a day or two and then more wind and rain. That's how we sent September out and welcomed October in. Fortunately during that day or two break, I was able to get in a couple of trips. You can definitely tell that Fall is in the air. The bait in the north Bay area is tremendous. All it takes to black out the livewell is a couple of throws of the castnet. Offshore, a variety of species is the word. Dolphin have started their migration back south. With a bit of searching, kingfish are there for the taking. Throw in a few barracuda, some sailfish, a mutton snapper, and a few skipjack tuna to round out the variety. For those who like to bottom fish, there are lane, mangrove, and yellowtail snapper to be had after dark on the reefs.
On Friday (9/28) I fished with Mike Baker and his son, Mike Jr. The goal was to catch dolphin and then after that just find some action. We loaded the livewell with pilchards and off we went with wind from the NW/NNE @ 2 - 7 knots. We found some scattered weedlines and worked them with no results. We ran out as far as 10 miles and found a very clean ocean. Starting back in toward the Government Cut area, we found a huge piece of plastic that was loaded with barjacks and tripletail. We broke the ice with numerous barjack caught on live bait, and jigs. Mike Sr found what he was looking for using
a pink/white jig and we caught and released a 5# dolphin. We dropped down to check for a possible wahoo and found no takers. Continuing our run back in, we found a very solid weedline that held lots of bait under it. No dolphin along this line either. We set up our first drift along a blue/green edge about a 1/2 mile south of the Sea Buoy. With all the bait, we were able to do some heavy chumming. When we got in to 195 feet, the dolphin found us. Both flatlines got hit and the fish were a very good
(18 - 20 pounds) size. The hooked fish had a few buddies with them and another fish was hooked up. All three dolphin made it to the fishbox. A decent north current kept us moving along as we continued to chum heavily with no further action.
Saturday (9/29) the Baker's were back for round two. Once again, filling the livewell with bait was very easy. Our strategy for today was to find some action, species didn't matter. The forecast was for the wind to pick up as the day progressed. They got it right as we had wind from the NNE/ENE @ 8 - 17 knots. We started in 100 feet where we found no current so slow trolling was in order to cover some ground. Working our way out, the first strike came in 165 feet with a barracuda. Then it was a skipjack tuna, followed by a shark, and then another skipjack tuna. By now we had found a blue/green edge with a very light north current in 190 feet. Chumming and
slow trolling continued to seem to be the way to get hits. A 12 pound dolphin crashed the action and it was put in the fishbox. Then a 12# kingfish ate the downrigger bait. We had steady action in the 185 - 195 foot range until the wind picked up as an isolated rain storm blew by us. A move back toward the north did the trick as we found an edge in 165 feet. There we found another small dolphin that we released and two more kingfish on the downrigger.
As the year flies by, it won't be long before the winter tarpon season begins. What will it be like this year? Time will only tell. Earlier in September, I attend the awards banquet for the Metropolitan South Florida Fish Tournament (MET). Tim Gipe fished with me during this event and concentrated on tarpon. His efforts paid off as he won the 20# release division and the Light General Tarpon Release Division of the MET. CONGRATULATIONS Tim!! We worked hard and have a lot of stories to tell about the experience. He's planning on fishing the tarpon division in the MET again this year and welcomes the competition.
The exciting thing about the upcoming MET (starts in December and runs into May) is that it will now be a completely release format. There are lots and lots of awards to win and entry is FREE. All you have to do is fill out a catch form and mail it in, they'll do all the rest. For more information give them a call at 305 233-5535.
If you want to get in on the tarpon fishing, now is the time to start making plans. It's never too early to book a date and you'll be glad you did as dates fill up quickly. Give me a call so you won't be left out.
See you out there.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net