The winter weather has definitely arrived in South Florida. A cold front comes through, we have windy weather, the seas build, then they subside and the wind dies off, we have a day or two of calm weather and then the cycle begins again. This weather pattern brings good sailfishing offshore. Throw in some kingfish action along with a few dolphin (mahi-mahi) and that makes for some good fishing action.
Move inshore and the shrimp get stirred up by the wind and cooler temperatures. This in turn gets the winter tarpon fishing going like gang busters. Whether you fish for tarpon in the Bay or the ocean inlets, the tarpon have been hungry and feeding.
Nick Luders, Darrell Nueberger, Dan Fedders, and Court Campbell combined to catch 13 dolphin for a fish fry. The fish were caught in 105 - 115 feet from the Miami Seabuoy north to 87th Street. The water was a nice blue color with north current. The kite baits got most of the hits and when the hooked fish were brought to boat side, we used spinning outfits to pitch baits to any fish that were following the hooked fish.
Steve Pockett and his 11 year old son Jordan fished the day before going on a weeks cruise out of the Port of Miami. The bait fishing was so good with sabiki rigs that both anglers almost didn't want to leave the action. Once offshore, the downrigger outfit was the first to see action in 115 feet. Jordan caught his first kingfish after what he called a hard battle. A good current kept pushing us north and when we reached the area toward the north end of the Anchorage, the heavy chumming with live pilchards paid off. A flatline hooked up with a sailfish and Jordan forgot all about the hard battle with the kingfish. The sail dumped 3/4's of the line off the spinning outfit as we gave chase. It put on a wonderful aerial show both close and away from the boat. Just when Jordan thought he had the fish whipped, it took off on another short run that had him moaning. He has a lot of experience back home in Canada catch some very nice size fish so he was up to the task at hand with no problem. His technique was excellent and it soon showed as the fish began to tire. After a 20 minute battle, the sailfish came along side and got its picture taken before being released. The baits were set out again and it wasn't long before the flatline got hit again. This time Steve got to see his sailfish jump one time before we got the hook back. Even circle hooks get thrown by sailfish. We had two more hits resulting in a chopped bait and one that got robbed off the hook. The heavy chumming brought fish into our area and all thanks to both Steve and Jordan catching so many baits with the sabiki rigs.
Tony Torreano and co-worker Tom Ward caught kingfish and sailfish in the north end of the Anchorage. The action came in the 120 - 130 foot depth range on the kite and flatlines. They also got to experience the sight of three sailfish chasing and eating our live chum offerings and not being able to find the ones on our hooks.
Brothers Court and Herb Conover experienced their first tarpon trip. It was to be a night of ones. By that I mean that each location we tried with the exception of Government yielded 1 tarpon. The Bay was the first place we saw action. At the first spot we jumped a high flying silver king. The next spot, we caught and released a 40 pound fish. The next had us fighting a 50 pound fish that was released. Back to the first location and no action. We moved to Haulover and fished the tarpon hole. First drift and we caught a 30 pounder. Making the same drift again saw no action. We moved down the beach and made a different drift and that gave us a 40 pound fish. Tried the same drift again and had no action. Another move to a different area and this time the 60 pound fish found us. Our total for the evening was 4 for 6 on tarpon in the 30 - 60 pound class. Both Court and Herb agreed that tarpon are indeed a thrilling fish to catch and they immensely enjoyed the experience.
Now is the time to book your trip whether it's offshore for the sails, kings, and dolphin or inshore for tarpon. If you live up north and are getting tired of the snow and cold cold temperatures, it's time for a break and a trip to the Miami area. It's warm and the fishing action is definitely turned on. Give me a call at 305 965-9454 or email me nkostyo@bellsouth.net to schedule your fishing adventure in Miami.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
