Tuesday (12/12) was the first day of two with Marty Hammon, his daughter, Becky Hammon, and Ruth Riley. Both women are professional basketball players who play in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). This was Ruth's first time fishing. She and Becky took to catching bait like they'd been doing it for a long time. Today we had both herring and pilchards. The spanish mackerel were present in good numbers munching on the bait as well as our sabiki rigs. With bait accomplished, we ran out to find a hard blue edge and a boiling north current starting in 110 feet. With the wind blowing ENE/E @ 15 - 17 knots, we started in 200 feet. I barely got the 2nd flatline bait out when the first line got hit and Ruth was busy catching her first fish and first dolphin. The school came to the boat with the hooked fish and Becky and Marty were soon catching and releasing dolphin also. We kept one fish for dinner and released the others. The 2nd drift I started in 240 feet and once again we had dolphin on almost immediately. Then at 120 feet we caught a large rainbow runner and another large schoolie size dolphin that was added to the fish box. On the third drift, we caught more dolphin. By this time, the seas got the best of one of the ladies and we headed in for calmer water.
Wednesday (12/13) was day two with Marty, Becky, and Ruth. The competitive spirit of Becky and Ruth kicked in while bait fishing and the challenge was on to see who could catch the most 6 baggers of herring. Needless to say, the livewell filled up quickly and out we went. We made two drifts to see if the tarpon would cooperate during the day. No luck there, so we worked our way offshore. We still had north current, however, it was not as strong as yesterday. The wind was E @ 11 - 16 knots, so toward the latter part of the day, the seas were calming down. The downrigger scored first with a kingfish. The next drift, we missed a fish on the downrigger. Before setting up the third drift, we ran back south. The kite saw all the action for the remainder of the day. First it was a double header of sailfish in 110 feet. Becky and Ruth both enjoyed pulling on their fish and got to see some great aerial action courtesy of their fish. At one point, one sail jumped over the line of the second fish and we had to do some quick scrambling over and under to keep the fish separated. After releasing the fish, the girls went back to catching some sun while Marty and I tended the kite baits. It didn't take long before Marty got to witness a kingfish sky rocket the short kite bait 3 times before chopping it in half on the 4th try. We quickly changed baits and as soon as we got them back out, the long bait took off and we added another kingfish to the box. We reset the baits again and this time, another kingfish sky rocketed the short bait 3 times before the sail came up on the bait. The line pulled down and them the long bait got hit. Marty reeled on the long bait while I pulled the kite in as the wind was dying off quickly. By now, both girls were up and taking pictures. I reeled in the short kite line and when it came tight, there was fish on it. Ruth took over and caught another kingfish that was added to the box. Meanwhile, Marty's sailfish took him from the bow to the stern and across to the windward side of the boat where we landed and released the fish. With a 3 for 3 sailfish day and 3 kingfish, we headed in as both ladies were feeling the effects of the seas.
Friday (12/15) Jack Harvey along with UM students Beth, Ty, and Evan fished a 3/4 day trip. Bait fishing once again was a snap with the herring. The seas were calm with wind from the ENE/SSE @ 2 - 12 knots. Today we had no current. All our drifts were straight in from where we set up. A flatline kingfish got us started. The next several kingfish were all caught on the downrigger. We tried slow trolling out in deeper water with no results. We were able to fly the kite for two drifts. Today, the kite also produced no hits. We made a final move to north of the Sea Buoy and picked up several more kingfish. Final count was 6 kingfish caught and 5 kept. All the action took place in 80 - 140 feet of water. Everyone got a chance to catch a fish and we avoided the rain until we were running back in.
Captain Dave
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Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
