Time seems to fly between fishing reports. Once again it's time to get caught up with what's been happening aboard Knot Nancy.
Offshore, the sailfishing has been OK. Some days it's been very good and others have required lots of hard work to try and make it happen. Kingfish have shown up in better numbers with fish ranging from undersized throw backs to 12 – 15 pounds. Just remember the limit is two per person with a minimum size of 24 inches from the lower jaw to the fork of the tail. Dolphin have made a fairly decent showing on days when the wind has blown from the east for several days. Throw in amberjack around the wrecks and a few mutton snapper and offshore has been well worthwhile.
Inshore, tarpon fishing has finally settled into how it should be after a very slow inconsistent start to the season. There have been some decent shrimp runs and that has been very helpful in getting the tarpon going. The fish have been in a large size range from 30 – 100 pounds.
Ray Orosco had two sailfish a kingfish and a rainbow runner during his ¾ day trip.
The next evening Ray and his uncle, Hector Cortez took the tour of most of the main tarpon locations. We started at Government Cut where Hector caught his first tarpon. That fish donated a DNA sample. Then Ray caught a large jack crevalle and undersize black grouper. Both fish were released. We moved into the Bay where Ray had one fish on for a short period of time and another that finally cut us off on an obstruction. The next move was to Haulover where Ray finally caught and released his first big tarpon of 100 pounds. He quickly followed up with a 90 pound tarpon to cap off the evening.
Curt Evenson, his son, Scott, and friend Charlie Stevens fished a half day in some bumpy sea conditions. One of the group battled motion sickness the entire time we were out. In the meantime, the other two combined for some fast and furious action with 5 kingfish.
Jack Tritten and Tom Madrid fished an afternoon/evening combo trip. They wanted to take home one dolphin for dinner. We found a small school of 5 – 9 pound fish in 650 feet after some very heavy live chumming with pilchards. We ended up keeping 5 dolphin before moving back in closer to have action with 2 kingfish. During this time we watched several rain storms develop inshore and got caught by two of them. At the appointed time, we moved inshore to finish the evening with tarpon fishing. On the first drift, Jack caught and released his first tarpon, a fish of 90 pounds. The second fish jumped off on its first jump. The third fish was caught by Tom and it was also his first tarpon. We got a DNA sample of Tom's fish.
It's time to get ready for my next trip, so check back soon and see how we did or even better yet, schedule a trip, have lots of fun fishing, and become part of the report.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters, Inc
305-965-9454
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net