The last part of June and the beginning of July has seen excellent fishing both offshore and inshore. If you fish the waters in the 100 - 250 foot range its been bonito, kingfish, amberjack, and an occasional blackfin tuna or sailfish. Move further out in the 800 - 1000 foot range and the dolphin fishing has been very rewarding. The key to finding the dolphin in our area has been to find birds, both terns and frigates. The schools have been fast moving and going south for the most part.
Inshore, the tarpon have remained very consistent. Throw in a permit now and then and you have the makings for an excellent evening of fishing. If you're out on an evening when you have the first of the out going tide after it gets dark, there have been shrimp runs and the tarpon are feeding good and it won't be long before they'll find your bait.
Peter Hare and his son David took their first saltwater fishing trip off Miami. They didn't know what to expect and they just wanted some rod bending action. They got just that in the form of bonito and a dolphin. Within minutes of putting out the first baits, the action started and was consistent throughout the morning. When we reeled one bonito up to the boat, it usually had a few friends following and ready to eat our live bait. The dolphin was a welcome relief after several bonito since it didn't fight as hard. At the end of the morning, both father and son were very tired with sore arms, sore backs, and big smiles on their faces.
Stan Feltman and his 14 year old son, Jason wanted to pull on some tarpon. They got to do just that. It didn't take long to get the first tarpon to eat our crab offering. The tide was going out with a decent ENE/E wind and the fish made its way to the main channel very quickly. Jason did an outstanding job of staying with the fish as we rocked and rolled offshore with the out going tide. His persistence paid off and he released his first tarpon after a long hard fight. When the tide changed and started in, it was Stan's turn to do battle with a tarpon. His fish also moved to the main channel very quickly, except this time the Cut was very calm as the fish made its way inward. Just when Stan thought the fight was going to end, the fish made a very strong run right back to the bottom of the channel 45 feet down. He kept the pressure up and once again the fish went back down. Each time the tarpon showed signs of weakening. After we got all the pictures, I released the big tarpon and we headed in going 2 for 3.
Each year, Captain Dave Sutton puts on an event called the American Veterans Fish-Off. Numerous guides in the area donate their time to say thanks to our Veterans by taking them fishing for a half day. The fishing is followed by a luncheon and the event is growing larger and larger each year. I have to thank the following business and persons for making it possible for me to participate in this event. TNT Marine Center, where I dock my boat, donated the fuel so I could make the run from North Miami to Homestead Bay Front Park where the event originates from. Thank you John and Donna Tomlinson and Mike and Marilyn Thomas for this generous donation. You run a first class operation and I know I'm located at the best marina in all of South Florida. Thank you also goes to Brian Jinks who made a donate in memory of his father who was a veteran. And finally to Mike Gintoli (Mike on the Greenline) for kicking in some extra bait that morning. On board my boat for this event was Darrin Barritt and his wife Lori. Darrin was in the Air Force for 10 years and is now an instructor pilot for F-15 and F-16 fighter jets with the Missouri Air National Guard. Sue Cocking from the Miami Herald and professional photographer Sam Rootjanapunt (Sam Root) rounded out the crew. We ran out through Caesar's Creek and fished the area north of Pacific Light up to Triumph Reef. Darrin spotted a flock of terns that were over a school of dolphin. The action was instant when I put the first bait in the water. Everyone got in on the action and Sam got some outstanding shots of jumping dolphin. Things then settled down and we had action on the bottom rod but failed to hook up until the very last drift. That's when Darrin got to do battle with an amberjack that while not large in size, put up one heck of a battle. After a few quick pictures it was released and immediately headed straight back down to deeper water. If you're reading this report on a website other than mine, you can go to http://www.knotnancy.com/report.html to see the outstanding shots that Sam got of jumping dolphin. For pictures that Sam took during the entire event, check out the following link http://www.saltyshores.com/vetfishoff2008.html Also, be sure and check out his website at http://www.saltyshores.com/
Mark and Carol Little along with their two children James and Emily experienced a family tarpon fishing trip together. The action started quick and continued till just after dark. During that time, we had 3 shots at tarpon. The first one was on and everything was going well for about the first 5 minutes of the fight. Then for no apparent reason, the hook pulled. The next fish was hooked up solid and was on for three jumps before it bit through the leader. The third fish went ballistic from the start and after 3 tremendous jumps it threw the hook. It was a real frustrating evening on my part, however, everyone had smiles with just seeing and feeling the power of a tarpon.
The next evening, Mike Little treated Scott Bakos and Chris Baxter to an evening of tarpon fishing. Also along was Mike's brother Mark. The first action of the evening had Scott hooked up with a fish that just wasn't acting like a tarpon. Scott kept the pressure up and it didn't take to long to confirm my suspicion about it not being a tarpon. Scott caught and released a very nice size permit. After it got dark and the tide changed and started running out strongly, the shrimp made a run and tarpon were there to feast on them. That's when Chris hooked up solidly to a tarpon. His fish cooperated by staying on the south side and not running to the main channel. After releasing the tarpon, the very next drift had us hooked up again and this time it was Scott's turn again. The fish had us making a mad rush for the deep water of the main channel and that's where the majority of the battle took place. Back and forth it went with Scott gaining the advantage only to have the tarpon run off all the line Scott had gained. This went on for a while with Scott gaining just a bit more each time. The fish finally allowed us to take a picture or two before I released it to fight again on another day. Final count on this evening was 1 permit and 2 for 2 on tarpon to 90 pounds.
John Perkins and Brad Coren had been waiting for me to let them know that legal sized dolphin had finally shown up in our area. We had a trip scheduled earlier, however, we postponed it a week due to windy conditions. Also along on the trip was John's brother, Kree and Brad's uncle, Harold. You couldn't have asked for a better day weather wise. It started out a bit on the windy side but it soon calmed down to almost no wind. We found 2 frigate birds beating the surface along a weedline in about 800 feet. The action started immediately and the fish hung around for quite a while. When it stopped, we were well on our way to a good catch. We ran south looking for more bird action and saw none. I swung offshore some and Harold and I spotted some likely looking slicks. As I approached the first one, we spotted one tern that was acting like they do when they're over fish. Then we saw fish busting the surface. We were back in the action again and this school also hung around. When the action stopped this time, we called it quits for dolphin fishing as we had our limit of dolphin. We made one drift in the 110 - 200 foot range before heading back in to clean the fish.
Eileen Clark, her brother Stephen Berish and his 15 year old son Matt had a few goals in mind. First, they wanted a few dolphin to take home for dinner. Next it was to catch a kingfish as neither Stephen or Matt had caught one. We ran out looking for dolphin first. After finding two frigate birds working close to the surface, we broke the ice with two dolphin. The birds kept moving south and several of us kept moving south with them. It was get up ahead of the birds, put out the baits and wait for the dolphin to find them. We kept picking off a few until we had half a dozen. With dinner accomplished, it was time to head back in and try for the kingfish. We started our drift in 200 feet and when we reached 140, the action started. A flatline hooked up with a bonito that Stephen fought. The downrigger got hit also and Eileen caught a very nice size kingfish. The next drift saw action with another bonito and a small kingfish on the bottom rod. The final action was once again on the bottom rod and was a nice size mutton snapper. Final count for a half day of fishing was 6 dolphin, 2 bonito, 2 kingfish, and 1 mutton snapper with all the action taking place in the 110 - 140 foot range.
Phil Griswold, his son Richard, and Richard's girlfriend Angelica Sunday had two goals in mind. First was to have Angelica catch her first fish and second to take home some fish for a fish fry. Offshore we ran looking for birds. We found a flock of terns working the surface at about 11 miles out and the first goal was accomplished with Angelica catching her first fish. We also caught another dolphin before the school moved off. On this day, the schools didn't want to hang around to long. The next set of birds had us putting a couple more fish in the box. We kept an eye on a storm cloud that was well offshore from us and watched a water spout fill the clouds up. It got darker and the rain got heavier, however, it never pushed in completely toward us. The action got scarce until we were heading back in and found more frigate birds and terns working over a scattered weedline. By know, we were off Key Biscayne. The fish in this school were very picky eaters. Their stomachs were full and we watched them swim by us and ignore our offerings both live and jigs. Like yesterday, it was get up ahead of the birds as they moved south, put out the baits and hope that we'd find a fish or two that wanted to eat. This was the ticket as we would get one or two each time. We had enough dolphin for the fish fry so it was time to head in to try for something different. After setting up a drift starting in 160 feet, it didn't take very long before the action started. Phil grabbed the first rod and fought a bonito. As it got close to the boat, another bait got hit and Richard was hooked up. Then it was Phil again and then Richard again. Angelica finally wanted to try it and along with Richard's help, caught her first bonito. The bottom rod got hit by a toothy critter that could only put slash marks in the bait. Then finally in 100 feet, the bottom rod got hit immediately after the bait hit bottom and Richard caught the last fish of the trip. It too turned out to be a bonito. Final count was 12 dolphin and 7 bonito.
There it is, we're now caught up again with the action aboard Knot Nancy. It only takes a phone call to 305 965-9454 or an email nkostyo@bellsouth.net to set up a trip and get in on the action.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters, Inc.
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
