Since my last report, we've seen the north current off Miami continue to be strong and then die off to little or no current. While we had to good north current, the fishing was very good to outstanding. When the current died, the action has been hard to come by and persistence has paid off with getting the fish to strike.
Sailfish are available to be caught almost everyday. Finding them on no current days amounts to covering plenty of ground and getting lucky.
Cobia are making their appearance and if you're fortunate enough to find a turtle, whale shark, or manta ray, then you've improved your chances of catching a cobia dramatically. Otherwise, you will get your shots at cobia that are free swimming in the same depths where you are sail and kingfishing.
More and more dolphin are showing up. They're being found from 100' out to 1000' and everywhere in between. Some days they are good sized fish and on others you'll have to wade through lots of throw backs (less than 20" fork length) to catch a few keepers.
Kingfish started to make a good showing and for the last few days have slacked off. I expect they'll be back strong again once we get a little current going again.
Tarpon fishing has mostly been on the good side with only an occasional evening when they decide to take the night off. To fill in while you're waiting for the dusk period, trolling small jigs has been paying off handsomely with good catches of spanish mackerel and small kingfish. There have been some evenings when the shrimp have made a run and when that happens the tarpon are johnny on the spot to feast on them. If you've never experienced an evening when they're blasting shrimp off the surface, it is a sight to see and even the most seasoned of tarpon anglers will get excited. You can't predict when it's going to happen, you just have to get lucky and be out on an evening when it takes place. If you are fortunate enough to experience this event, it is one that will not soon fade from your memory.
Lenny and Carol Wroblewski experienced a day of kite fishing from the Miami Sea Buoy to the north. Our first visitors were barracuda that proceeded to make a feast of our GI's and only put on an aerial show for us as they sky rocketed to long kite baits on each kite. Next it was a 60# hammerhead shark that picked on the kite baits that Carol was tending. She fought that fish to the boat where we cut the leader as close to the fish's mouth as I dared get. Next it was a large shark that chose Lenny long kite bait. That fight lasted for about a minute before the leader parted. Next it was a skipjack tuna before we finally had a visit from a sailfish that ate and decided to spit the bait back at us.
Carlos Gonzalez and his step son Brian Roa spent two hours with me going over safety on board a boat and learning some basic boat handling. Carlos recently purchased a boat and realized that there is a lot to learn about boating. When we talked about various topics such as crossing on coming boat wakes, he'd say yes, I've done that and it wasn't fun. Yes everyone got soaked. He learned lots of new things about docking and boat handling that he is now practicing at his marina.
Josh Willingham and Mike Rabelu started the evening of tarpon fishing off with a bang. The baits were in the water about 1 minutes and Mike was fast into a very healthy and angry 90 pound tarpon. It ran straight for the deep water of the main channel with us flying to play catch up before it dropped over the ledge. We won that part of the battle and then the hard work began. When we finally released the fish both Josh and Mike were amazed at the power of the fish and where we ended up. during the rest of the trip, we saw tarpon come up and blast shrimp for 10 seconds and then disappear. We were either to the west or east of the action each time. Next time, Josh will be first up to get his turn at fighting the powerful and mighty silver king.
Randy Wong treated Edward Dubernay and Jamie Vazquez to and evening of tarpon fishing. Ivan Rodriguez also came along to help Ed and Jamie when the time came. The first action came late in the dusk period in the form of a large jack crevalle. Ivan said that it was a good warm-up for what was to come. The next drift the two young men found out what he was talking about. They shared the battle as each one tired out. With the first fish released, it was time to try for another. A few drifts later, the second fish was hooked solid. This one stayed in the shallow water of the south side and still gave both young men fits. It was released after Randy got lots of pictures. The fish played hide and seek for a while before they started feeding on shrimp floating through the area. That gave their location away and it wasn't long before we drifted through them and we saw more action. We caught and released another tarpon and had yet another that threw the hook on its second jump. A ladyfish got in on the action before we called it an evening.
Brothers Don and Vincent Puolouo and their friend Mark Perkowski were finally able to get their trip in. The first time we tried, the wind was blowing extremely hard and we postponed the trip. We started off the southern end of Key Biscayne and that's where we ended the trip. The current had died and all our drifts were straight in with an East wind. The remoras were out in force and all except two of our GI's were killed by the hungry remoras. Our first action was an exploding strike on the left long kite bait. Mark caught up to the fish and it made a very quick run away from us before reversing direction and coming back at us. He reeled frantically and caught up again and the fish changed directions and ran away from us again only to come back at us. This time the hook came out and it will remain a mystery fish. Next, we saw action with 5 - 10 pound dolphin and put several in the fish box. Then things slowed down till almost the end of the trip. While Don and Vincent were catching some shut eye up front, Mark hooked another fish on the right short kite. This on turned out to be a 20# cobia that had a friend following him. It ignored our offering on a spinning rod and swam away. It was time to head in and I started to pull in the right side kite. As I was reeling in the GI, the cobia chased the bait and ate it. By now, everyone was awake and Don did the honors with the second 20# cobia.
Steven Phillips and his 14 year old son Steven, Jr. spent some good quality time together on an evening tarpon trip. We started off with trolling 1/4 ounce Kaplan jigs and catching lots of spanish mackerel and one kingfish. We kept the spanish and released the king. We then set up to drift for tarpon. Our first drift produced a very small gag grouper that was released. The next drift we had a rod bend over sharply and never take drag. Steven, Jr. did everything right as the rod kept bending more severely as he turned the reel handle. Then the hook popped loose and all we had to show for it was a scarred leader for several inches above the hook. That was the end of our action for the evening.
Brett Cardinal, Alex Deleon, and Cameron Roche were treating their friend Mike Ready to a 3/4 day fishing trip as the first part of his bachelor party. They had other festivities planned for later that evening. Once again there was no current in the normal depths that we fish commonly known as the reef or on the edge. The reports for those who ventured out some was there were dolphin, but they were small with many throw backs. We decided to run out and get in on some action. We found the weedline of mix needle grass and Sargasso in 960 feet. At one very large grass mat, a boat that was fishing toward the middle of the area called me and said there were lots of small fish under the grass. We moved to the very south end of the mat and proceeded to catch bar jacks and throw back size dolphin. They we very finicky about feeding, however, we got them to eat live baits and jigs. Everyone caught several fish. We moved back inshore to try the area again before the end of the trip. In 140' we found a slick with just a sprinkling of grass in it. We saw a dolphin jump to the north of us and I moved back toward the slick and we finally caught a keeper size dolphin. CONGRATULATIONS Mike on your upcoming wedding.
April is right around the corner and it's the transition month with sails and kings being joined by dolphin and blackfin tuna. You can also expect to see action with some cobia, bonito (little tunny), and hammerhead sharks. The next time you hook up, you just don't know what it might be. Tarpon fishing will continue strong with many many fish over the 100 pound mark. It's also the month when the afternoon/evening trip shines. Sleep in during the morning and fish starting in the afternoon and finish the trip with tarpon fishing during the dusk and early evening. It truly is the best of both worlds fishing. Give me a call (305 965-9454) or email me nkostyo@bellsouth.net for details or to schedule your trip.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net