It's more tarpon action with an offshore trip thrown in. We had a few days just after the full moon when the tarpon played a bit of hide and seek, but the 3rd day after the full moon that changed and they're back to giving many people lots of thrills and angling excitement.
Tom Duffin, and father and son, Nelson and Tommy Mendoza caught 2 of 4 tarpon to 80 pounds on the south side at Government Cut. Nelson and Tommy did a tag team effort on the 80 pound fish. This was the first time fighting a tarpon for both of them. Tom Duffin caught and released the next fish. The other two shots resulted in thrown hooks when the tarpon make their first jump.
Brothers Tim and Dan Nickolaus caught 1 tarpon at Government Cut before we went into the Bay where we were 3 for 6 in about an hours worth of fishing. The tarpon at the Cut was 70 pounds and quickly made its way to the deep water of the main channel. The water in the main channel was very rough as a result of an outgoing tide against an ENE/E wind of 19 - 22 knots. The calm water of the Bay gave us 5 more shots. We were able to convince 2 of the fish to come to boatside and be released. Those fish were 35 & 80 pounds respectively.
The full moon.
The next evening, Darrin & Lori Barritt along with their friend Jason Marsh got some first hand experience with several tarpon. We started outside and had to wait and wait and watch lots of fish roll around. While we waited, we caught a few bluerunners and a small red grouper. Finally a tarpon came along and Darrin caught and released his first tarpon. When the tide changed, we went into the Bay and the action improved quickly. The landing and releasing of these beautiful silver kings was another story. We had a hit about every 10 minutes. The first three fish just did not want to cooperate. They gave us a good first run, then jumped, and promptly gave us back our hook. Finally, the fourth fish had a good hook up. We had to chase it and Jason got the catch.
Ralph Broeckel had the experience of fishing the best of both worlds. That's an afternoon/evening trip to fish offshore and finish up with some tarpon fishing. Offshore we got into a school of dolphin that hung around long enough for Ralph to enjoy seeing the fish swimming around the boat, eat our baits, and catch a handful of fish. We had more action on the downrigger with snake size kingfish and had numerous chopped baits and cut offs. Moving inshore, we immediately saw lots of fish rolling. Out went the baits and within a minute or two, we were hooked up with Ralph's first tarpon. He did a great job of fighting the fish and got the leader to touch the rod tip before he was exhausted. I finished catching the fish and he got some great pictures before releasing the fish. Ralph has terminal cancer and was weakened by the treatment he is currently going through. We made two more drifts before we called it an evening.
Anthony Caridi and his girlfriend Ella Rabayeva fished their first tarpon trip. Anthony is a die hard fishing fanatic who wanted to catch his first tarpon. After putting out the baits, it took only 2 minutes before he got his chance. The 80 pound fish was very cooperative except for the picture taking part. A few drifts later, we were hooked up again and this time there was no camera shyness on the part of the tarpon. The wind was from the E/ESE at 12 - 20 knots and the motion soon had Ella not feeling very well. She hung in their throughout the entire trip. By the end of the trip we had shots at 7 fish. They all at live shrimp and all were hooked on the south side of the south jetty at Government Cut.
That's a lot of tarpon action and it'll continue on through the end of June. I have a variety of trips coming up, so check back in about a week to see how we did. If you want to be a part of the report and get in on the action first hand, then give me a call at 305 965-9454 or email me nkostyo@bellsouth.net to schedule your trip.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters, Inc.
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net