The good news is that legal size dolphin have finally shown up in good numbers in our area. We've been waiting and not so patiently for the dolphin run to begin. Be prepared to burn some fuel in your search. The best action has been in the 13 - 25 mile out range in scattered weed, under birds, around floating debris if you're lucky enough to find any, or by just blind trolling.
Meanwhile, back in closer, it's been a mixed bag of bonito, kingfish, some blackfin tuna, and sailfish. We're in the summer time mode and that means fish early or fish late after the afternoon thunderstorms. The fish have mainly been hitting on the downrigger and/or bottom rod fished in deeper water. The sailfish are still hitting flatline baits so don't neglect putting out a few lines on the surface.
Inshore at Government Cut, the tarpon action has still remained consistent. Live crabs are seeing the vast majority of the action and it's been coming after dark.
Roko Izarra and Gabriel Bonsorte fished a half day before the thunderstorms rolled in. We had action at all three levels with the downrigger and bottom rod seeing the majority of hits. Kingfish, bonito, dolphin, and amberjack comprised our catch.
Jay Gamez tangled with some tarpon for the first time. Government Cut was the place and live crabs gave us all the action. We were 2 for 2 on large tarpon that took us for a tour of the area.
Paul Leader, Armando Deferia and his son Nicholas saw some hot tarpon action. Within 3 minutes of putting out the first baits, Armando was hooked up to a very angry tarpon that ran immediately for the deep water of the main channel. Paul had the video camera going and Armando had his hands full fighting the fish. Consistent pressure and some good angling finally subdued the fish and it was released. We reset our baits and before the lines can tight, we had another fish on. This time Nicholas was on the rod along with some help from his Dad. Paul's video camera was not getting any down time. The father and son combo finally got the best of the second fish and it too was released. When the tide changed, we went into the Bay and Armando got to experience what I refer to as gorilla tarpon fishing. The fish just did not want to give up and Armando was just as stubborn. We all got soaked by the tarpon when it splashed us all as it exploded away from the boat. The evening came to an end going 3 for 3.
Peter Pillone and Steve Harrington had their turn at tarpon fishing. The first fish hooked up solid. It took us for a nice long ride before we released it. More action on the south side never materialized and we ran over to the north side. We found the spot and had hits on three consecutive drifts. The tarpon, however, had other ideas about staying hooked up and letting us fight them. The evening ended at 1 for 4.
Steve Daitch along with co-workers Kenny Robbins, Rick Murphy, and John Ambrose flew in to go tarpon fishing. Things started off correctly with a large fish that took us into the main channel and then in to about the east end turning basin before it was finally photographed and released. Our next hit resulted in the tarpon throwing the hook on its first jump. Out third hit had us chasing a very hot fish toward the shallow water and then south. Every time we stated to gain line on the fish, it kept changing directions on us. It finally won its freedom when it found an underwater obstruction and frayed the line, resulting in the line parting. We went into the Bay and for the first time in many many trips, we had no action. Final for the evening was 1 for 3.
Roko Izarra and Gabriel Bonsorte came back for another half day of fishing. They wanted to learn more about fishing the area. The action started a bit on the slow side, however, it seemed to pick up momentum as the morning progressed. By the end of the trip, we'd seen action with shark, several bonito, kingfish, and sailfish. All the action came mainly on the downrigger and bottom rod in the 205 - 220 foot range.
That gets me caught up for now. I have more trips scheduled, so check back and see how the action is going. If you want to be a part of the action and the fishing report, give me a call at 305 965-9454 or email me at nkostyo@bellsouth.net to schedule a trip.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters, Inc.
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net