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Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 142
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 31, 2007 - 3:16 pm: | |
It's hard to believe, however, another year has come and gone. Say goodbye to 2007 and hello to 2008. The year was another great one for me and I had the opportunity to meet and fish with many new people as well as people who fish with me on a regular basis. The year had its ups and downs just like fishing everywhere in the world has. The tarpon season started slow and finished extremely strong. Sailfish were steady well into May. There were lots of big dolphin in our area this past year and the wahoo didn't disappoint. The kingfish were steady and cooperative. The blackfin tuna made a strong showing. And finally, swordfishing was hot and cold at night, however, the daytime version of swordfishing has exploded with many large fish being caught.
We sent 2007 off with the Gold Family. Sandy and his son, Rob along with Rob's sons Josh and Adam. Lots of chumming and the downrigger produced the largest wahoo caught this year aboard Knot Nancy. We found the fish in 80' straight out from Government Cut. Rob was closest to the rod when it popped out of the downrigger clip and did a great job of fighting the fish. The fish had us guessing as it made several tremendous runs and of course we were all wrong about what it was. The fish weighed in at 40 pounds and was Rob's first wahoo.
The O'Neil Family had the last trip of 2007. Terry and his son Tom and Tom's two sons Shane and Dillan. Both boys got the opportunity to each pull on a kingfish before the motion of the ocean got to one of the family members. No, I'm not going to say who it was. He hung in there as long as he could. Both fish were released and one was caught on a flatline and the other on the downrigger.
So goodbye 2007 and hello 2008. It promises to be another banner year of fishing off the South Florida coast. A strong cold front is scheduled to come through on New Years day and it should push more sailfish and kingfish down into our area. The shrimp should start running hard and this will definitely get the tarpon to going. All we need now are some anglers who want to tangle with the fish that the South Florida area has to offer. Call me and book your trips now before the dates fill in. When you folks up North need a break from the cold frigid temperatures and all the snow, make sure you allow time for a trip or two to take advantage of the great weather and fishing we have in Miami during the winter.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 141
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 07, 2007 - 7:36 pm: | |
Sailfishing continues to improve as we get more and more into the winter season. Throw in some kingfish action along with a few dolphin and you have the makings for a good fishing trip. The weather has been very cooperative even when the fronts have come through our area.
Court Conover treated his brother, Herb to a day of saltwater fishing. This was to be Herb's first saltwater fishing trip. The goal was for him to catch his first sailfish. We had plenty enough wind to fly the kite as well as put out flatlines, downrigger, and deep bait. We found blue water and a very light north current. Both Herb and Court caught on very quickly on how to tend the kite baits. It paid off when first Court hooked up and added another sailfish to his total count of releases. A short time later it was Herb's turn and what a thrill it was for him. The fish charged the boat and swam upwind while Herb wound frantically to catch up to it. It made several jumps and then greyhounded toward the boat before shooting off the bow and then downwind of the boat again. While the fish was doing all it antics, we were untangling lines that it picked up and Herb had to move very quickly across the boat, up to the bow, and then back to the stern on the downwind side. The fish made another circle of the boat before finally speeding off from the bow. To say Herb was amazed would be to put it lightly. He did a great job of fighting the fish and the sail finally succumbed to the pressure so we could take a quick picture and send it on its way.
Action like this will only continue to improve as we get further into the season from now through April. Now's the time to book your trip and get in on the action.
For those who are coming down to sunny South Florida for the Orange Bowl, make sure you reserve some time to get in a fishing trip. Sailfish during the day and tarpon during the evening. Call me for details on a combo trip where you can catch both species on the same day during the same trip.
Need I remind everyone that the Holidays are right around the corner? As of this report, they're only 18 days left till Christmas and the Hanukkah Holiday is already in progress. Don't forget that if you're looking for a gift for that hard to please angler in your life, give some thought to giving them a fishing trip Gift Certificate. Give me a call for details or to order one.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 140
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 25, 2007 - 8:52 am: | |
For the past several days we have been experiencing some tough fishing conditions. By tough, I mean no current and green water out as far as 300 feet. Even those who have been running well offshore and dolphin fishing or deep dropping for swordfish have been having little to no success. The conditions have spread the fish out through a wide range of depths. Despite these tough conditions, there are still some sailfish, kingfish, and a few dolphin being caught. The sails have been found in as little as 40 feet and out as far as 320 feet and various depths in between. The same goes for the kingfish but over a range of 40 - 180 feet with most of the fish being found while using a downrigger or fishing on the bottom. This is Mother Natures' way of keeping everyone in line and not have anyone get to confident about always being able to catch anything they want. The conditions will eventually change and we'll get the good blue water and north current back in to the depths we like it in.
Friday (11/23) Jeff Godel along with his students Luke, Blake, and Travis fished a 3/4 day trip. We started by catching a good supply of pilchards in the Bay. Next, we added a healthy number of herring at Government Cut before heading out. The conditions we found were really bad. No current, green water, and wind from various directions ranging from W/SSE @ 0 - 7 knots had us slow trolling for most of the trip. We did try drifting and when we stopped in 125 feet, we stayed in 125'. We didn't move in, out, north, or south. Somehow we caught a kingfish on the downrigger (70' down) while sitting stationary as we attempted to drift. Also, the bottom rod had a herring cut in half behind the hook. We tried slow trolling bait on the downrigger over wrecks that have produced very well for me in the past. No action there either. We slow trolled from 110 feet out to 455 feet and back in to 110 feet while live chumming along the way. On our way out, we caught and released a small shark (220 feet). On the way in, we stepped up the live chumming and still couldn't raise a fish either on the surface or downrigger. The word up and down the line was pretty much the same for everyone. A sail here and there caught early, a kingfish or two, a few jacks, a couple of small dolphin. To say the trip was a tough one would be an under statement. What would tomorrow bring? We'd have to wait and see.
Saturday (11/24) we were greeted with light sprinkles as we left TNT Marine Center that continued until we got about half way to Government Cut. Carlos Ochoa and his son Anthony wanted to catch their first sailfish. We loaded up on herring at Government and ran south to start off the middle of Key Biscayne. Before we got out to start fishing, Anthony wasn't feeling to good, so I slow trolled rather than subject him to drifting. We had blue/green water and little current. The wind was E/ESE @ 9 - 12 knots. Just minutes after starting, in 140 feet, a flatline got hit and Carlos was fighting his first sailfish. He picked on a small one that ran and jumped just as good as its bigger friends. We released that fish and Anthony was feeling better until we started slow trolling again. We crossed over a wreck in 150 feet and when we got to 160, the downrigger produced a very small undersized kingfish that Anthony released. Things slowed down for a while after that. I tried drifting stern to so as to give the most comfortable drift. We started in 200 and when we got in to 118 feet, I started to reel in to reset another drift. A 5 pound dolphin inhaled the herring I was reeling in and it was destined to be dinner that evening. Anthony had hung in there as long as he could, so we decided to call it at a half day. For our last drift, I set up in 320 feet. The seas were a bit larger with some nice swells coming through. Live chumming attracted several terns who kept trying to catch out flatline baits. At 240 feet, I changed out all the baits for fresher ones. At 200 feet, one of the flatline rods started twitching and something picked up the bait. Carlos dropped back to the fish and then set the circle hook like he had been doing it all along. The fish came up shortly there after and we had our second sailfish on. This one was much bigger and ran much further and jumped twice as much as his smaller friend. About 20 minutes later, Anthony snapped a few pictures before we released the fish and then breathed a sigh of relief as we headed back in for calmer water.
It is hard to believe how quickly this year has passed by. Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is right around the corner. Speaking of the Holidays, don't forget that if you're looking for a gift for that hard to please angler in your life, give some thought to giving them a fishing trip Gift Certificate. Give me a call for details or to order one.
Sailfishing season has started and it won't be long before the winter tarpon season kicks in. Now is the time to book your trips so you'll get the dates you want. If you'd like to have a really good shot at catching both a sailfish and tarpon in the same day, you might want to consider an afternoon/evening combo trip. We start later in the day so you can sleep in and finish after dark so you'll get your best shot at catching some tarpon.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 139
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 18, 2007 - 7:28 am: | |
Saturday (11/10) was a half day with Jean-Max, Vince, and Sebastian. Wind was from the N/NNW @ 10 - 18 knots. We bought bait from Lester's Live Bait at Haulover Inlet and started off the Twin Towers in 120 feet. The water was an ugly green with no current. When we reached 220 feet with no action, I decided to run offshore to find blue water. In 850 feet, we not only found the blue water and north current, we also found some great weed lines and large weed patches. Slow trolling along side the weed lines and patches with 2 flatlines had us hooked up with dolphin within a few minutes. Jean-Max and Sebastian did the honors. Out went the lines again and shortly we were hooked up again. This time, Vince got in on the action. Lines out again and I spotted a single tern working the surface by a larger patch. We reeled in, ran over to the bird, put out one line and immediately hooked up and had a school of dolphin up at the boat. The action was fast and furious for everyone. When the school finally moved on, it was time to straighten up a bit and head in. Everyone was all smiles as we headed back to TNT Marine Center. Final count was 13 fish caught, 12 kept (5 - 9 pounds), 1 released (undersized), and at least 8 missed hook ups or thrown hooks.
Tuesday (11/10) I helped my good friend Captain Gil Gutierrez with his charter while he is waiting for his new boat to be built. Bob Riendeau and Marissa Hogan were down from Connecticut on vacation. We caught bait at Government Cut and then headed offshore with the wind from the N/E @ 8 - 12 knots. We stopped just south of the Sea Buoy to slow troll baits for a few minutes in amongst some birds. With no hits and the water not looking great, we headed out in search of the blue/green edge. Gil spotted several birds working the surface very hard. They moved off quickly once we got into the area. We set up a drift and as we approached the edge in 365 feet, the kite produced a dolphin. Bob landed that fish and before he could hardly turn around, the bow flatline got hit. The fish moved off slowly at first and then picked up speed before jumping and showing itself. The sailfish then proceeded to put on a fabulous aerial show before dumping half the line off the reel. As we regained lost line, the sail decided to sound and fight deep. We worked it back up where it once again went to the air, dumped lots of line, and sounded again. This time it stayed down for only a short time. It finally gave in to the pressure that Bob was constantly putting on it and Gil was able to leader and bill the fish. Two quick pictures, remove the hook, and off the fish went to give another angler in the future the pleasure that Bob had just experienced by catching his first sailfish. By this time, Marissa had hung in there as long as she could and we headed back in for calmer water. CONGRATULATIONS Bob on your first sailfish and dolphin.
Friday (11/16) saw a cold front pass through our area. It brought with it so very heavy wind until late in the afternoon. With that in mind, Ed Kim and his friend Bob Kim (no relation) decided to try some very early season tarpon fishing to see if they might be in the winter time spots. The wind was NNW/NNE @ 11 - 17 knots. The plan was to start at Government Cut and work our way back to Haulover Inlet. Several drifts on the north side at Government had us only seeing some large marks on the recorder that could have been tarpon. On the south side, we saw lots of bait that showered when we turned on a side light. Next, we tried two Bay spots that normally would produce at least 1 strike. We did get a strike from a seatrout that was released. Finally we made one long drift down most of the tarpon hole at Haulover with no action.
Saturday (11/17) Ed and Bob were back for an offshore trip. We found pilchards in the Bay after some searching and several throws with the castnet. We added herring to the baitwell at Government and worked our way out to 400 feet. The wind was ENE/E @ 11 - 15 knots, the water was blue and the seas were a solid 4 - 6 on top of 5 - 6 foot swells. With the flat and downrigger lines out, I was about to launch the kite when the bow flatline took off and Ed was hooked up solid to a sailfish in 350. The fish ran straight offshore jumping and putting on a good aerial show. It then appeared that the line went slack. Ed started reeling frantically as the fish had changed directions and was headed back toward shore. He got caught up to the fish and moved quickly to the rear of the boat. He went back and forth across the stern several times and then the fish started a circling pattern before deciding to run south and offshore again. This time we caught up with the sail and got the leader well into the rod before it put on a burst of speed and ran out away from us again. With the catch made, it was time to try and get a picture of Ed's first sail. The fish, however, had other things in mind. As we started moving toward the fish again, it changed directions once again and ran straight back and under the boat before changing directions again and going back toward the engines. Ed stuck the rod in the water and moved with lightning speed back toward the engines to try and clear the line. Despite all his effort, the fish beat him and cut us off. We got the catch, but Ed will have to remember the mental picture till his next sail. We set back up and then the waiting began. We waited and waited and then waited some more. We chummed and chummed and chummed some more. We moved back south and out to 500 feet and waited and chummed some more. The bow flatline started to twitch a little and we had to change out a bait that got chopped in half behind the hook. When we reached 404 feet, the short kite bait got robbed and then the long kite bait took off. It was Bob's turn and he hooked and landed a 6 pound dolphin that had no friends following him. Two new kite baits were put out and shortly, the short bait got cut off by an unseen toothy critter. That was our final action until we were running in and came upon a flock of birds. We slow trolled a single bait for a few minutes and as the bait was being reeled in, a silver flash grabbed it. The hooked missed its mark and the leader had one small tooth mark just above the knot.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 138
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 5:09 pm: | |
Tropical storm Noel and the first good cold front of the season have combined to finally give us some outstanding fishing in South Florida. While the Marine Forecast was say seas of 8 - 10 feet with small craft warnings over this past weekend, the truth of the matter was that in the green water it was 2 feet with an occasional 3 footer. When you got out to the blue water, it was about 2 foot. The blue/green edge varied along the coast from 100 feet out to just over 300 feet. The windy and cooler weather pushed plenty of sailfish and dolphin into our area.
On Sunday (11/4), I had the pleasure of fishing with John Burrows and his 12 year old grandson Luke. It was Luke's birthday and one of his presents was a fishing trip. We spent a bit of time catching pilchards in the Bay and then added a few herring to the livewell before heading offshore. Luke wanted to catch a dolphin and there were quite a few coming through along the blue/green edge. The north wind @ 12 - 19 knots along with a south current gave us some very pleasant seas conditions of 2 foot. We put out a few flatlines and in about 10 minutes, Luke got his wish and caught his first dolphin. We watched a few sailfish being caught around us and our persistence paid off when a flatline got hit and Luke got his second wish of a sailfish. The fish battled hard and Luke hung in there and battled back just a little harder. It was a see saw battle for a while with neither the fish or Luke gaining much ground. Slowly, Luke started to win and the tired sailfish came along side for a few quick pictures before being released. The look of joy and success on Luke's face along with the pride of his Grandfather will be something I will long remember. I'm sure I'll be telling that story many times in the future. I've said it before and I'll say it again, "FAMILY FISHING IS FUN". Happy Birthday Luke and congratulations on catching your first dolphin and sailfish.
If you want to make memories like this with your family, give me a call and lets set a date. The experience is something that will be remembered and talked about many times in the future.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 137
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, October 18, 2007 - 2:33 pm: | |
The windy and rainy weather has continued for almost the first half of October with a day or two decent weather during this period. Mother Nature has finally given us a break and the past two days have been gorgeous. The blue water and good north current continues to be out in much deeper water. This has made for some slow fishing in on the reef. The bright spot has been that we are getting decent dolphin catches out in the blue water as they migrate back south. The fish are being found over a very wide range with the best catches coming inside of 600 feet when you find weedlines and floating debris.
Lets get caught up with the few trips I've been able to get out on thus far this month. As you'll see, the dates cover a good deal of time and most everything in between has been windy and rainy which resulted in cancelled or postponed trips.
Thursday (10/4) was the best day weather wise in a while. The wind was NNE/E @ 3 - 7 knots. The bluer water started at around 700 feet and didn't turn hard blue until about 1000 feet. Dolphin was the targeted species and running and gunning was the technique. We found numerous weak weedlines and patches that we worked with no results. As we continued our search, Glenn Young spotted a large piece of bamboo. He got the first cast to it with his fly rod before we threw out the live baits. He got the hit, however, he didn't hook up. Then we saw the school of fish and the live baits turned the trick. Richard Labauve and Tom Mathias both hooked up and Glenn stuck with the fly outfit. After landing his first fish, I gave Richard a rod with a pink/white jig tied by Geoff Ehrlichman. The dolphin fought each other to be the first one to eat the jig. When the action stopped, we had 8 fish in the box. We continued to use the run and gun technique and fish anything that would possibly hold dolphin. After a while I spotted a blue plastic barrel. Glenn once again drew the fish to us and the livies did their trick again. This time Glenn hooked up solid with his fly outfit and brought the fish boat side. The jig and live baits gave us more action and this time we added 6 more fish to the box. We had no further action that day either offshore or in on the reef where the water was an ugly green with no current.
Wednesday (10/17) Paul Smith was on vacation and looked forward to a day fishing. The wind calmed down the evening before and we were greeted with wind from the WNW/SSE @ 2 - 7 knots. We loaded the livewell with pilchards and started the day by slow trolling in the 100 - 180 foot range. We worked a wreck off the Twin Towers and the area from south of the Sea Buoy to the middle of the Anchorage. Our efforts produced no hits and no fish. It was time to run out a bit and try something else. We found blue water and fairly large weed patches that held no fish. There were lots of slicks, some with weeds and some without. Still no fish. We ran south and found more large patches. These patches were loaded with bait, but no fish. We heard about a major weedline in 500 feet south of Government Cut and ran back in to check it out. It was the best weedline I've seen in the past two years of dolphin fishing. It had everything that dolphin fisherman dream about. The weed was lined up beautifully, it was loaded with debris from boards, bamboo, barrels, ropes, and buoys. We trolled south down the line and never came to the end of it and despite how good it appeared to be, we still found no fish. I turned around and started back north. This time I slow trolled live baits. We finally broke the ice and caught a schoolie size dolphin. We continued on and it was time to start wrapping things up. As I was stowing the downrigger, the two flatlines and downrigger line got hit and we had a tripe header hook up. The dolphin proceeded to sew the lines together as we frantically did our best to un-sew them. In the process, we had one fish jump off and kept two hooked up. I saw another fish swim by and got it hooked up and we were back to three fish on. The first was a 10 pound bull. The second and third were schoolie size cows of 5 - 6 pounds. Talk about your last minute fish. Just goes to show that it isn't over till you pull the last bait out of the water. Four fish turned into fillets that filled two 1 gal Zip lock bags and plenty of fish for several dinners for Paul.
Now that the weather has returned to a more normal pattern, we'll be able to get out and do some more fishing. Give me a call to book a trip.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 136
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, October 03, 2007 - 5:21 am: | |
Wind and rain, then a break for a day or two and then more wind and rain. That's how we sent September out and welcomed October in. Fortunately during that day or two break, I was able to get in a couple of rips. You can definitely tell that Fall is in the air. The bait in the north Bay area is tremendous. All it takes to black out the livewell is a couple of throws of the castnet. Offshore, a variety of species is the word. Dolphin have started their migration back south. With a bit of searching, kingfish are there for the taking. Throw in a few barracuda, some sailfish, a mutton snapper, and a few skipjack tuna to round out the variety. For those who like to bottom fish, there are lane, mangrove, and yellowtail snapper to be had after dark on the reefs.
On Friday (9/28) I fished with Mike Baker and his son, Mike Jr. The goal was to catch dolphin and then after that just find some action. We loaded the livewell with pilchards and off we went with wind from the NW/NNE @ 2 - 7 knots. We found some scattered weedlines and worked them with no results. We ran out as far as 10 miles and found a very clean ocean. Starting back in toward the Government Cut area, we found a huge piece of plastic that was loaded with barjacks and tripletail. We broke the ice with numerous barjack caught on live bait, and jigs. Mike Sr found what he was looking for using
a pink/white jig and we caught and released a 5# dolphin. We dropped down to check for a possible wahoo and found no takers. Continuing our run back in, we found a very solid weedline that held lots of bait under it. No dolphin along this line either. We set up our first drift along a blue/green edge about a 1/2 mile south of the Sea Buoy. With all the bait, we were able to do some heavy chumming. When we got in to 195 feet, the dolphin found us. Both flatlines got hit and the fish were a very good
(18 - 20 pounds) size. The hooked fish had a few buddies with them and another fish was hooked up. All three dolphin made it to the fishbox. A decent north current kept us moving along as we continued to chum heavily with no further action.
Saturday (9/29) the Baker's were back for round two. Once again, filling the livewell with bait was very easy. Our strategy for today was to find some action, species didn't matter. The forecast was for the wind to pick up as the day progressed. They got it right as we had wind from the NNE/ENE @ 8 - 17 knots. We started in 100 feet where we found no current so slow trolling was in order to cover some ground. Working our way out, the first strike came in 165 feet with a barracuda. Then it was a skipjack tuna, followed by a shark, and then another skipjack tuna. By now we had found a blue/green edge with a very light north current in 190 feet. Chumming and
slow trolling continued to seem to be the way to get hits. A 12 pound dolphin crashed the action and it was put in the fishbox. Then a 12# kingfish ate the downrigger bait. We had steady action in the 185 - 195 foot range until the wind picked up as an isolated rain storm blew by us. A move back toward the north did the trick as we found an edge in 165 feet. There we found another small dolphin that we released and two more kingfish on the downrigger.
As the year flies by, it won't be long before the winter tarpon season begins. What will it be like this year? Time will only tell. Earlier in September, I attend the awards banquet for the Metropolitan South Florida Fish Tournament (MET). Tim Gipe fished with me during this event and concentrated on tarpon. His efforts paid off as he won the 20# release division and the Light General Tarpon Release Division of the MET. CONGRATULATIONS Tim!! We worked hard and have a lot of stories to tell about the experience. He's planning on fishing the tarpon division in the MET again this year and welcomes the competition.
The exciting thing about the upcoming MET (starts in December and runs into May) is that it will now be a completely release format. There are lots and lots of awards to win and entry is FREE. All you have to do is fill out a catch form and mail it in, they'll do all the rest. For more information give them a call at 305 233-5535.
If you want to get in on the tarpon fishing, now is the time to start making plans. It's never too early to book a date and you'll be glad you did as dates fill up quickly. Give me a call so you won't be left out.
See you out there.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 135
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 05, 2007 - 7:27 pm: | |
Before I get started with the current fishing report, let me answer some of the questions that many of my friends and clients have been asking me about the new home that Nancy and I have purchased. YES, we closed on the home in late August. YES, we've both been very busy with doing the things that are necessary to make a new home livable. NO, we are not selling our current home and finally, NO I am not retiring from charter fishing in Miami. We have our long range goals set and are working toward it. With that said, let's get on to the fishing report.
Despite the very hot weather, the fishing has been very good for a variety of species. Some of them are probably not the glamour fish that anglers are looking for, however, they bend a rod, pull line, and can be a challenge to get boatside for a release. The key to getting in on the action is fishing early and covering the water column. Most all of the action has been in the 110 - 200 foot range. On some days the flatlines get the hits. On other days it's the downrigger and yet others it's the deep bottom rod. Put out all three types of rods while drifting and let the fish decide which level the action is going to take place at. The species we've been catching are bonito, kingfish, barracuda, amberjack, mutton snapper, sailfish, and spinner sharks.
Dave and his friends Kevin, Rodney, and Buck picked a gorgeous weather day for their fishing trip. The seas were calm with a wind from the E/SE at only 3 knots. We caught herring and pilchards at two different locations before heading out. We started with some slow trolling that produced action on the downrigger and flatlines in the form of two nice size kingfish. Setting up a drift to put the bottom rod down gave us more action with kingfish and bonito. A pesky remora got in on the action and a sailfish gave us a one jump thrill before throwing the hook. Despite the calm seas, the father and son team of the group experienced motion sickness and added to the chum line. They took a lot of ribbing from their two friends, however, each time one of them would chum, we'd have action from some species of fish.
John and Kevin King along with Tricia Aponte and Jules Mosiello did some anchor fishing on several wrecks between Key Biscayne and Haulover. Once again we had some very nice weather conditions with the wind from the NNW/S @ 0 - 9 knots and a north current. We had to work a bit for the herring we caught and the pilchards were almost non-existent when compared to the day before. We had action at every wreck that we anchored on. On the rod with braided line, we needed 1 pound of lead to hold bottom. On the rod with mono line, we needed 2 pounds of lead. Both rods saw plenty of action and everyone got to fight several fish. We had a few fish that out did us despite our best effort to get them headed up toward the surface. Putting out a surface rod saw action with a skyrocketing kingfish and a bonito. By the end of the trip, we had done battle with several barracuda and bonito, 3 amberjack, 2 mutton snapper, 1 large bluerunner, and a spinner shark.
Shorty and his friend Richard experienced some arm pulling, back breaking action on their half day trip. Most anglers would complain about pulling on bonitos all morning long. Not these two anglers. They couldn't get enough of it. Once we got the fish located, (120 - 150 feet) it was only a matter of minutes before several fish were hooked up. The bonito were schooled up like dolphin and all you had to do was pitch out a bait and hold on. At the end of the morning, I think their arms were about 6 inches longer.
Marshall and Robin Rosenberg treated their sons Marshall, Jr and Michael to several hours of fast and furious action on the patches. Cut squid was the bait and we had a south current. As soon as I put out the chum block, a variety of fish showed up. We used several different rigs and they all produced fish that included mangrove, lane, and yellowtail snapper, triggerfish, red grouper, bluerunners, goggle eyes, shark, common grunt, and blue striped grunt. Dad had a blast helping and encouraging his sons with every fish they caught and Mom got to sit back, watch, and enjoy the thrills her sons were having. How many fish we caught and released I couldn't say and it wasn't important to the boys anyways. The main thing was that they had constant action, they didn't want to stop, and the smiles on their faces was fantastic. Family fishing is great fun. If you haven't tried it you should.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
CaptainIDS (Captainids)
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Username: Captainids
Post Number: 19
Registered: 9-2007
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 05, 2007 - 10:03 am: | |
Are you a Licensed Coast Guard Captain?
This is for you
http://www.captainids.com/ |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 134
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 2:51 pm: | |
Lets do a quick report on what's been happening for the past several trips. Action in the 110 - 160 foot range has been very good for a variety of species. They include kingfish, bonito, amberjack, mutton snapper, barracuda, and the pesky triggerfish. The area that we've been fishing in has been from the Twin Towers south to the Cuban Hole. The key has been to find some north current and blue water. If you can't find those conditions, then I've been concentrating my efforts around one or two of the many artificial reefs throughout that area. The most productive methods have been drifting or slow trolling with the downrigger and drifting with a deep bait fished just off the bottom. We have had some hits on the flatlines, but way many more using the other two methods.
I've heard mixed reports from those who have been running offshore for dolphin. If you get lucky and find working birds (terns and frigates), then you find some fish. Floating debris has been very hit and miss as far as holding schools of fish. Just remember that any floating debris is worth getting something down deep to see if a wahoo is home.
As far as bait goes, we've been finding mostly herring inside of Haulover Inlet as well as just to the south of the Inlet along the beach. Also, the bent range marker has been producing both herring and bluerunners. On the calm wind mornings, it's easy to spot the schools of herring milling around on the surface.
I've done 4 trips since August 10th. They've included Paul and Heidi Nute, their friends Damian and Kitty, on another trip it was Georgie from TNT Marine Center, and yet another with Jean-Max Garoute along with Vince and Sebastian. All of the trips produced numerous fish of the various species I mentioned in the first paragraph of this report.
The long hot summer continues, but the fish are cooperating and putting smiles on the faces of those who are willing to get out in the heat.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 133
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 3:36 pm: | |
The summer heat is upon us and it seems like it's getting hotter each day. Don't forget to use plenty of sun block and drink lots of fluids throughout the day. If you want to beat the heat then night fishing is the best way to do that.
During the day there are dolphin to be caught if you are willing to put in the time and do the running to find them. In on the reef, the kingfish are being found out in deeper water and deep in the water column. There are some bonito being found and also the occasional blackfin tuna. How good the action will be depends on whether or not there is current on the day you'll be fishing.
For lots of fun with your pee wee or young junior angler, the inshore patches and artificial reef areas are loaded with lots of fish of various species. The action is fast and furious and will certainly keep the young ones total attend.
In the Bay after dark, there are plenty of small tarpon to be caught and released. These fish are in the 10 - 20 pound range and they are even more acrobatic than their larger brothers and sisters. Scale your tackle down a bit and you'll have all the fight you can handle.
On Sunday (7/22) Greg Shill treated his son Jake and Jake's friends Matt Kirby and Ken Heinrich to a half day of fishing. We picked up pilchards from Mike on the Greenline and then we caught a few dozen herring to top off our baitwell. We found good blue water with no current between the Sea Buoy and the Cuban Hole. Our first action came on the deep rod with a kingfish.
Then the deep rod produced again. This time it took the tag team effort of Matt and Jake to whip a 27 pound blackfin tuna. A move further to the south got the action going again in the form of a triple hook up. It started with the downrigger, then a flatline, and the third fish ate the deep bait. The downrigger and flatline hook ups gave us two large bonito and the deep rod
was a kingfish. On the way back to TNT Marine Center, we came upon several schools of large jack crevalle feeding outside of Haulover Inlet. Slow trolling a large feisty herring only took about 1 minute before a nice 10 pound jack had a snack and Greg had lots of fun pulling the fish to the boat for a quick picture and release.
Thursday (7/26) was an afternoon/evening trip. We loaded our livewell with herring at one of the ocean locations where the bait has been very reliable. Today was strictly a catch and release day. We concentrated our efforts in the area of the Cuban Hole in the 110 - 200 foot area. Once again we had pretty blue water and no current. The blue/green edge was running in an east to west direction in this area. The deep rod was the star again producing 1 kingfish and 2 bonito. The flatline was not to be out done as
we caught 1 kingfish and 1 barracuda. The highlight of the afternoon portion of the trip was also caught on a flatline. I saw the blackfin tuna sky rocket into the air before the flatline rod bent over severely. The fish put up a tremendous battle and the angler countered its every move and effort to throw the hook. After a few pictures, we released (remember it was a catch and release only trip), a 30 pound blackfin tuna that showed its appreciation by almost slapping me in the head with its tail and soaking me as it took off away from the boat. As it got dark and the tide got right, we were in position to try for some tarpon. We didn't have to wait very long. Within a 10 minute time frame, we caught and released 2 tarpon. The second fish actually hit while we were putting out the bait. A mangrove snapper got into the act before we made a move to where we saw fish exploding on baits. They didn't like our baits so we moved again and caught another mangrove snapper. We were getting ready to call it an evening and had reeled in the first bait, when the second one got hit and we released our third tarpon of the evening. This last one decided to get up close and personal with us by making 4 or 5 jumps right at boatside. On it's last jump, it landed on the bracket between the cable tubes running to my motors. I quickly flipped it back into the water for the final release.
Friday (7/27) Fred Gates and his brother Jeff got in some fishing time while they are down here on vacation. Today we bought pilchards from Greenline Mike and then topped off the well once again with herring. The morning started with a light offshore wind and we started in 130 feet just north of the Sea Buoy. There was no current and green water. The deep rod bounced a few times and Jeff reeled in a small kingfish that we released. The wind died and the boat started to spin in circles. We ran south to the Cuban Hole and started slow trolling baits on the downrigger and flatlines. Lines of grass forced us to move out deeper to find clean water. In 180 feet, the downrigger went off followed by both flatlines. Jeff tangled with the downrigger line and Fred worked one of the flatlines. The other flatline got cut off by a toothy critter. Jeff pulled a large kingfish up to the boat and it did its usual thing of making another run. It crossed Fred's line and proceed to cut it off. The fish weighed in the 15 to 18 pound class and was kept for dinner. Continued slow trolling only produced a herring that was cut in half. We moved north to the Twin Towers area and worked a wreck in the 155 foot depth. In 4 consecutive passes near the wreck, we caught and released 3 kingfish and 1 barracuda. All the fish ate a herring fished on the downrigger. The flatlines were not touched.
Saturday afternoon (7/28) Juan Valdiviego treated his son, Lucas to his first saltwater fishing trip for his 10th birthday. Lucas' cousins Duilan and Derek Baltar rounded out the group. We were looking for constant action and size and species of fish didn't matter. The perfect style of fishing to fit those goals is fishing the various patches and artificial reefs in shallow water. The first stop was in 15 feet and as soon as I put out the chum bag, a triggerfish showed up. This was followed by more triggers, mangrove snapper, yellowtail snapper, and bluerunners. Everyone had a blast drifting small pieces of squid back in the chum line and getting constant action. Next, we threw out and worked a pink/white Kaplan jig. That's when the small amberjacks showed up and gave the boys a good workout. There was plenty of time to move to another location, so off we went to some artificial reef modules in 25 feet of water. We then added lane snapper and grunts to the species list. The Kaplan jig produced more bluerunners and small amberjacks. It wasn't long after that when everyone seemed to have reached a fished out mode. We called it an afternoon and three totally content boys smiled all the way back to TNT Marine Center. They're already talking about and planning their next trip, so we'll introduce them to another style of fishing next time. Happy Birthday Lucas.
As you can see, there is still plenty of good fishing. It just takes a bit of work and be willing to change your approach on the fly if your first efforts aren't paying off. Give me a call and lets get out there and catch some fish.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 132
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 16, 2007 - 7:46 am: | |
We are definitely in our summer mode of fishing. It requires lots of work to put together a decent catch. Also, the afternoon thunder boomers and potential for waterspouts require a watchful eye.
On the dolphin fishing scene, lots of searching is required. On most days, there has been little to fish to and when you do find something, it is holding lots of bait and few if any dolphin. Birds are your best friend and learning how to read their flight pattern will improve your chances of having a successful trip. Blind trolling has produced many of the fish being caught.
In on the reef, there have been a few kingfish both in shallow and also out deep. By shallow, I mean 40 - 60 feet and deep is 180 - 225. Although there are some bonito around, they have yet to make their huge summer showing. Mixed in with them is the occasional blackfin tuna. Sailfish are spread out over a wide depth range and chumming with live pilchards or herring will improve your chances if there are any in the area that you're fishing.
Friday (7/13) Captain Gil Gutierrez and I fished out front of Haulover Inlet for a few hours. Bait fishing both inside and outside of the Inlet was a breeze and we ran out to the reef with a livewell full of various size herring. We had wind from the ESE/S @ 1 - 9 knots and a decent north current. Drifting was showing us no action, so I started slow trolling with both flatlines and downrigger. The downrigger produced 1 kingfish and a triggerfish. The flatline produced 1 bonito out of 4 that busted our chummers. We also had a sailfish chasing our free ones, however, it just couldn't find our hooked bait.
Sunday (7/15) was a dolphin trip with John & Rachel Perkins, their friend Brad Coren, and Harold Coren who is Brad's cousin. We bought bait from Greenline Mike at Haulover. Then we added a few larger baits in the form of herring before running offshore. We found lots of slicks with little to no weed in them. We found small pieces of wood and bamboo with no fish around or below
them. We found birds who were searching like we were. We put out the dolphin juniors and blind trolled them for a while with no results. We started running further offshore toward another slick when I spotted a frigate bird and several terns working the surface very hard. We ran to the area threw out a half dozen live chum baits, hooked a live herring on a line and it got hit while I was putting it out. John took the rod and was hooked up with a 16 1/2 pound cow dolphin. I put out a live pilchard and set the rod in a holder. As I was about to gaff John's fish, the other bait got hit and this time it was Harold's turn. His turned out to be a 17 1/2 pound cow dolphin. This action took place 23.9 miles ESE of Haulover. The birds were long gone, so we headed south. I stopped on a good looking slick and set up a drift. The flatlines went untouched, however, we hooked up on the downrigger that I had down 100 feet. We never got to see what the fish was, as the hooks pulled. It was time to start running in. At 13 miles out, we found the best conditions we had seen all day. The slick actually had a line of scattered grass in it. Out went the juniors and before long, John spotted several terns working to our north. We high speed trolled to the area and knew that there we fish there. They didn't even look at the artificials. In they came and out went the live baits. Instant action with small dolphin. They were all of the throw back variety from 18 - 19 1/2 inches. As quickly as the birds had put us on the fish, they took off in several different directions and so did the fish, but not before we caught and released 5 fish.
There are still fish out there to be caught. It just requires a lot of hard work, lots of running, reading your surroundings, changing tactics on the fly, and a bit of luck.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 131
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - 4:03 pm: | |
The action offshore has been mostly of the dolphin variety. It's been lots of hunting and searching to find keeper size fish. If you just want action and plenty of it, then the under sized schoolie dolphin will keep you happy. The weedlines have been from 5 - 18 miles out on most days. When you find birds, they usually will put you on fish. You just have to learn to read their flight pattern. Throw in a few wahoo and if you can find some good size floating debris, add tripletail and bar jacks to the catch.
Meanwhile, in on the reef, the summer bonito are starting to show up. There are some kingfish being caught of various sizes with most of them on the small side. When there is good north current and clean water, add a few sailfish to the variety.
That's the general run down, now lets get to the daily action reports.
On Monday (6/18) Carlos Ochoa, his wife Karina, son Anthony, and sister Yadi spent a beautiful 3/4 day out in the blue water. The wind was from the E/SSE @ 2 - 6 knots. Today we found large patches of grass and the first one we came to had plenty of small dolphin on it. They responded very well to the 1/4 ounce Kaplan jig as well as chunks of herring. Some more running and soon we found shearwaters and frigate birds that put us back on some more small fish. Everyone was having a blast catching dolphin, especially Anthony. When the day was over, we had conservatively caught 3 dozen fish, with most of them being released. On the way in to TNT marine Center, we counted iguanas along the seawalls in Keystone Point and set a new record with 36 sightings.
Tuesday (6/19), was another trip with my good friend Captain Gil Gutierrez. Our guests for that day were Alex and William. The wind was NNE/E @ 5 - 10 knots. Bait was a cinch with massive schools of herring outside of Haulover Inlet. Further south, we added some pilchards and out to the color change we went. It didn't take long before the small schoolies had us surrounded. After catching several, we moved offshore some more in search of larger fish. We found them under birds and soon had several in the box to about 10 pounds. We spent some time butterfly jigging on several of the deeper wrecks with no success. We ended the trip with a large barracuda catch and release on the downrigger.
Wednesday (6/20) was an evening tarpon trip with Steve Todd. We had perfect drift conditions with wind from the SE/SSW @ 10 - 12 knots. Live crabs were the bait and Government Cut the place. Steve saw plenty of action with fish in the 50 - 120 pound class. At the end of the evening, the final count was 3 for 4.
Thursday (6/21), the first trip of the day was with friends Oscar Marrero and Ramon Cruz. Having a good time was the first objective with taking home some dolphin a close second. The wind was S/SW @ 7 - 12 knots. Bait was a snap once again. The search began and we hit the jackpot thanks to several frigate birds and terns that put us on some large patches that held some large schoolie size fish. We stuck with the area even after several boats joined us and then moved on. It paid off with several more fish as well as some smaller ones that were released. Final count was 20 fish with 15 keepers and plenty of fillets for dinner with their families.
Thursday (6/21) afternoon, it was John and Arlie Kirk along with their friends Ed and Stacey. The wind picked up considerably this afternoon to S @ 17 - 20 knots. We took our time moving offshore and found large weedlines. Just like on previous days, the birds put us on fish and soon everyone was catching and releasing small dolphin. We saw a large fish
greyhounding toward the weedline as we approached the area and while we were catching the smaller ones, it finally showed up to the outside of the main school of fish. I tossed a live pilchard in front of it and John was hooked up and doing battle. The fish made about 4 runs away from the boat and jumped at least 6 times. Everything was going fine when the hooked pulled and everyone was disappointed. The fish won its freedom fair and square. We went back to catching more fish by trolling the Kaplan jigs. Final count for this afternoon was about 36 fish with one keeper and one fish tale about the one that got away.
Friday (6/22) was an evening tarpon trip with Pat Swantner. Wind was S/WSW @ 17 - 20 knots. Once again it was live crabs at Government Cut. After several drifts and just before I threatened to make a major move, we got the hit we were looking for. The first jump left Pat almost speechless and amazed at the sight of the fish flying out of the water. The entire battle lasted 35 minutes and took us on a tour to the main channel and out to about the third red marker before we finally got the pictures we wanted and released the fish. We saw no further action this evening, however, it was Pat's first tarpon and it left him wanting more.
Saturday (6/23) was a full day with Geoff and Helen Ehrlichman. Today we had the westerly type wind of W/WSW @ 0 - 16 knots. We started by running offshore for some dolphin and found little to nothing to fish to. Even the birds were absent. The radio was buzzing with various groups of anglers calling each other to find out if someone had found the fish. The general answer was still looking, seeing, and finding little. We decided to run back in and fish the edge. That's where we got the skunk out of the boat with small undersized dolphin along the blue/green edge. We trolled the Kaplan jigs and once we pulled the school to us, it was a snap to cast the jigs at them and watch as they chased it and caught it. Both Helen and Geoff were having a blast catching and releasing a total of 11 fish. Next, we set up a drift and spent the remainder of the trip trying to find some sort of action. We got cut off a few times and finally convinced a kingfish to eat a bait presented on the downrigger.
Saturday (6/23) evening it was a tarpon trip with Dave and Christina Ziegler. Wind from the S @ 13 - 19 knots had the south side of Government Cut a bit on the rough side. We used the shelter of both jetties to have much more pleasant sea conditions on the north side. It required a lot of work and persistence, however, it paid off when Christina got to do battle with her first tarpon. The fish was a line burner and had Christina talking to it while she fought to regain line only to see it melt off the reel several times over. She had that I'm not giving up attitude and it paid off as she released her first tarpon. She was ready for another one, however, it was not to be this evening and it was another 1 for 1 evening.
My Sunday (6/24) morning trip was a group of all ladies. Eileen Clark and her friends Dana Darche and Ellie Miller have fished with me several times in the past and it is always a very fun trip. We had pleasant sea conditions with wind from the N/NNE @ 4 - 7 knots. We bought pilchards from Greenline Mike at Haulover and then added a few dozen herring before heading out. We worked various weedlines and large patches out to 14 miles with no results. We ran out to 22 miles and found nothing. On our way back in our friends the birds put us on fish along a very weak scattered weedline. The fish didn't stay around very long and we kept 1 of the 3 fish we caught. The good old Kaplan jig came through for us again. We found another area of large patches on the way in and worked it over good with no results. The morning ended all to quickly and we headed back in still searching but not finding any other fish.
Sunday (6/24) afternoon, Dave and Christina Ziegler were back for a trip out to the reef. We had wind that clocked around from the E to WNW @ 0 - 13 knots. As the afternoon progressed, the storms built to our west and headed in our direction. Up to that point, we were scrapping the bottom of the barrel with a remora for our efforts. I decided to take the plunge and head offshore in hopes that the dolphin fishing had improved over the morning's efforts. At just over 10 miles out, I stopped as we had seen very little to fish to. We discussed whether or not we want to run through the storm that had Haulover totally blanked out from view. Inshore from us, a bird caught my eye and as we ran toward it, we saw another and then a third. A pilchard was slow trolled for about 5 seconds before a schoolie dolphin picked it up and we were in the fish one more time again thanks to the birds. When the school came up, we caught a few more on bait and then switched to the Kaplan jigs. This school stayed with us for a while and then Christina saw a much larger fish. Out went a live bait and we continued to fish the jigs. I noticed the live bait appeared to be swimming back toward the engines and went to clear the line. The big fish had eaten the pilchard and was sitting
under the boat. Christina fought the fish from the motors to the bow of the boat where I gaffed a nice 14# bull dolphin. By then the wind picked up as the rain approached us and we headed back toward shore and TNT Marine
Center.
Monday (6/25) was a corporate trip that required 2 boats. Captain Joe McGivern borrowed a boat and we each had 4 anglers on board. R. Dennis O'Riley was treating his employees and their spouses to a day of fishing for their outstanding efforts throughout the last year. On board my boat was Helen & Geoff Ehrlichman and Chris & Karl Staub. The ladies were the employees and their husbands were reaping the benefits. We bought bait from Greenline Mike and then added a few dozen herring for good measure. We ran out in calm seas with the wind from the NNW/ENE @ 0 - 11 knots. The first weedline we found had a rope mixed in with the grass and we caught a few small bar jacks. On the next line, we slow trolled up a small schoolie that was released. The next line produced a large bluerunner. Joe ventured a bit further out and found nothing. We both headed south and I found several birds working and more sitting on the water. Once the sitting ones got up, they found fish quickly. We put out the Kaplan jigs to keep up with them and then the action started. We pulled a school of 5 - 9 pound fish to the boat and everyone got in on the action with both live bait and casting jigs.
Joe was just offshore and a bit to the north of us doing the same thing. Geoff had a line burner of a strike and it turned out to be a wahoo. When our action slowed, Joe told me they were on a pallet and still had fish. We moved up that way and Geoff spotted the tripletail about the same time that I did. On his first cast with the Kaplan jig, we caught a tripletail. Then another. With all the activity around the pallet I just knew that there had to be a wahoo or two under it. We dropped a 4 ounce deep jig and pulled it back up and got a nice reward in the form of a 15 pound wahoo caught by Karl. Back to the pallet and another tripletail for Geoff. On the second drop, we saw the hit by another wahoo, but missed the hook up. We went right back and the third time the wahoo didn't miss. This time it was Geoff's turn to catch another 15# wahoo. We tried a few more drops and didn't have any further action. Both boats started running back in to finish the day looking for a kingfish or bonito. the area I stopped in had no current, green nasty looking water and was loaded with grass. After having to clear all my lines from grass, it was time to get back out to some good clean blue water. We ran back out and set up with flatlines, deep baits, and the kite (the wind had picked up just enough to fly a light air kite) with two lines on it. As I was tending to the flatlines, I noticed as did everyone else that the short kite bait was being taken by a sailfish. Chris got on the rod and had her hands full while I was clearing the deep bait and flatlines to give chase to a not to happy sailfish. It was dumping line off the reel at a fantastic rate and the only thing Chris could do was hang on. Karl was by her side to assist her. We started making progress and caught up with the fish to only have it go ballistic with jumps and take
off again. It tried to sound and we kept it from going to deep. By now, Chris had enough and Karl took over. He make a couple of trips around the boat before he passed the rod off to Geoff. He took a trip or two around the boat before I was finally able to bill the fish. We took several pictures and released a healthy fish that swam off wondering what had just happened. It was a great way to end a great day of fishing.
Tuesday (6/25) John Fabian and his son Ryan spent some good quality time together fishing. Today was the first day in a long time that we had to really search hard to put together a decent amount of bait. It required stopping in three different locations. With bait accomplished, we started running offshore with the wind from the NNE/E @ 6 - 15 knots. We stopped on the color change for about 15 minutes in hopes of quickly catching a sailfish. It didn't happen, so off we went in search of dolphin. On the first weedline, we found a large blue plastic barrel that held no fish. Up ahead, the birds were working so we ran up to them and then beyond them where we found a large school of small fish swimming under the grass. We had a ball catching them on the Kaplan jig and releasing all of them including one that was of keeper size. We moved on in hopes of finding some larger fish. The further we ran out, the bigger the seas got. At the 56 line, we found our friends the birds working over some fish and trolled up a few more small fish. With having seen nothing encouraging as we ran further out, we turned back toward shore to concentrate on trying for a sailfish once again. On the way in, we found another group of birds and caught another dolphin before getting in to sailfish range. While swimming the kite baits back out to deeper water, we picked up a large summer (bomber) time bonito on the short kite bait. That was our last hit of the day to go along with the 18 dolphin we had caught earlier in the trip.
As you can see, the dolphin fishing has ranged from lots of small fish to several trips with good to decent size fish. Find some large floating debris and there will probably be some nice wahoo under it. Find the right conditions and there are still sailfish to be caught and any day now the main body of large bonito should show up for some fast and furious light tackle action. Give me a call and lets get out there and catch some fish.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 130
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 5:00 pm: | |
Once again, it's time to get caught up with the fishing that has been taking place in the Miami area. Dolphin fishing has been in full stride, with some really great days and a few struggle type days. Throw in a bit of windy weather and on those days, running and gunning becomes only for the stout of stomach. On the calm days, its a pleasure. The fish in general have been anywhere from 250 feet on out to over 20 miles.
Saturday (6/9) Lloyd and Barry Rosen along with their friends Joel and Derek picked one of those windy days to go dolphin fishing. The wind from the NNE/ENE @ 10 - 16 knots took its toll on two of the anglers. The general word on the radio that day was few fish being caught except in close. The in close fish were mostly all throw backs. Despite finding some very decent weedlines, we had to move back in close to find a dolphin to break in Lloyd's new outfit.
Sunday (6/10) evening, friends Herb Krackow and Jason Arena challenged the hard fighting silver king. We had perfect wind conditions from the ESE/SE @ 6 - 9 knots. On our first drift, we got one good jump from a tarpon that threw our hook. A couple of drifts late, Herb hooked up solid with a mean and nasty tarpon that made a beeline for the main channel. It went deep and flowed offshore with the tide, staying in the deep water the entire time. Herb won in the end and released his first tarpon after some boatside pictures. Two drifts later, it was Jason's turn. His fish was much more cooperative and stayed on the south side. We had two more shots that evening, including our last one that hit like a freight train and ran south and inshore to the rocky are. Before we could chase it down, it managed to cut the leader in the corner of its jaw.
Thursday (6/14), friends Terry, Kevin and Gary wanted to catch dolphin. I was helping my friend Captain Gil Gutierrez with this trip as his motor conked out on him and is being repaired. Wind conditions of NNE/ENE @ 3 - 7 knots made for smooth running and gunning. Once again on this day, the dolphin were playing hard to get in the offshore waters. While running to find another spot to fish to, we saw a free jumping sailfish. We got ahead of it and put out two baits. In a matter of minutes, we had a doubleheader sails on. Both fish put on great aerial shows with one coming to the boat fairly quickly for a quick picture. The other fish was a very stubborn one. It too put on some great aerial jumps, leaps, and greyhounding before going deep. Steady pressure got it back to the surface and then it sounded again. Finally we had it boatside where we released the fish. With no dolphin action, we moved back in to the edge in 230 feet. That's where we found the dolphin and released 6 undersized fish. The final fish of the trip was a 20# barracuda that ate a herring on the downrigger.
Thursday (6/14) evening, Brian Bach and his son Tim spent some good quality time together tarpon fishing. The evening started out slow and got much better after 9 PM. Prior to 9, we missed one fish. After 9, we hooked up to a fish that acted like it knew exactly what to do when it felt the hook. It made a beeline straight for one of the swim markers and cut us off. The next fish was much more cooperative and Brian had no trouble working the fish to boatside for a release. The final drift of the evening had Brian hooked up again. He tried to give Tim the opportunity to fight the fish, however, Tim would have nothing to do with his Dad's fish and Brian fought that one also. The tripped ended with a count of 2 for 4 tarpon all caught on crabs.
Saturday (6/16) morning I once again was helping another of my friends Captain Joe McGivern with one of his trips. Joe was also experiencing engine problems. Adam and Desiree Bresovits came over from the Tampa area to catch some dolphin. Bait fishing took a while and the seas weren't exactly calm with the wind WSW @ 17 - 20 knots. The blue/green edge was 10 miles out and once we crossed it, the seas got worse. We found two nice weedlines and worked them both by slow trolling herring in both a south and north direction. The south movement was the sloppiest, however, it was the direction the fish liked best. The sea conditions took their toll in the form of motion sickness, but not before Adam caught 5 dolphin to 18 pounds.
Sunday (6/17) Chuck Williams and his son, Brad picked the perfect weather day to do some running and gunning for dolphin. The wind varied from the SSE/W @ 0 - 7 knots. Bait fishing was a snap and offshore we went. Today it was about 7 miles before we found blue water. There was lots of scattered weed with some weak lines. On one of the lines, we caught and released several undersized fish. The we found a very large raft of grass and caught a few keepers and more throw backs. Mixed in with this group of fish was a very nice 15# wahoo that Brad caught. Some more running and we found some outstanding weedlines 20 miles out from Haulover. This area produced two more keepers before we found a pallet. The pallet gave us one more dolphin. The final fish of the trip was another wahoo. This time Chuck was the angler and the 10# wahoo was caught from under the pallet. The final count was 16 dolphin of which 6 were keepers and 2 wahoo.
The brings me up to date. I've got more dolphin trips as well as tarpon trips this coming week. I'll keep you posted.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 129
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 07, 2007 - 3:39 pm: | |
After 2 weeks of heavy winds, the fan was finally turned down to a more reasonable speed. Fishing in 25 - 30 knot winds is not fun for most everyone. As a result, I like many of my fellow guides, had to cancel numerous trips during that time frame. I was only able to reschedule a few of the lost trips. With all the east wind during that time, we've been licking our chops to get back out and catch the dolphin that just had to be pushed in closer to the coast.
On the first day when the wind calmed down, I was able to get out and do some fishing. On Sunday, June 3rd, Robert Bordlee and his son, Brett got to sample the South Florida fishing. The wind started out light and continued to pick up throughout the trip. It also switched directions from SSE/W and blew from 6 - 19 knots. Surprisingly, the blue/green edge was out rather deep at 240 feet. On our first drift, we had something small blow up on the long kite bait and kill the bait and not eat it. Then the same thing happened on our short kite bait. While moving back toward the edge, the downrigger produced a very very large barracuda that kept Brett busy for a while. After a quick picture, we released the fish. Some heavy chumming brought in a nice hammerhead shark that was going nuts trying to catch the chum baits. Just as it was zeroing in on one of our flatlines, the bait skipped at the surface and a gull picked it up and ripped it off our hook. At that point the shark lost interest and moved on. As we crossed the edge just south of the Twins, a flatline hooked up solid to a sailfish. Brett had his hands full with this very stubborn fish. Twice it dumped 3/4's of the 20# line off the spool. Both times Brett fought back and regained the line. We finally got the leader to touch the rod tip for a catch and Brett had his first Atlantic sailfish under his belt. It was now time to head inshore for some tarpon fishing. On the 4th drift, Robert got his chance to tangle with a large tarpon. Twice the fish made long runs away from the boat only to turn around and charge the boat. This had Robert reeling like crazy to try and keep up. During this time, the fish made 5 tremendous jumps as it headed toward the deep water of the main channel. Like most all large tarpon, it did make it to the deep water and then the real fight began. The fish ran back and forth across the Cut as it flowed in with the incoming tide. Brett was on the camera and got some nice shots and Robert kept the pressure up. The 110 pound tarpon was pulled along side for a final picture before I released the fish to fight again.
As I mentioned in the first part of this report, we expected the dolphin to be in close. The fish have been inside of 1000 feet on very scattered grass. There have not been to many birds helping with locating the schools. With only a few exceptions, the fish have been preferring slow trolled live baits over pitched live baits while drifting. The schools have also been on the move and not hanging around with their buddies to long.
That brings me up to date. Weekdays are available and the weekends are booked with just one Sunday open the remainder of June. If you can go during the week, there is less pressure and fewer boats, so give me a call and lets catch some fish.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 128
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - 6:58 am: | |
It's been a while since my last report and I've done lots of fishing. Generally the offshore has been very good. We continue to catch sailfish, kingfish, and dolphin. Inshore the tarpon have been easy on some evenings and play hard to get on others. With that said, lets get straight to the trip by trip action.
Tuesday (5/8) was an afternoon/evening trip with Mark Rubert, Casey, and Ken. The wind came from the south and west @ 9 - 24 knots. Offshore we had a south current and during the tarpon portion of the trip, we enjoyed the last of the outgoing and first of the incoming tide. Offshore we caught a couple of kingfish and a dolphin. The tarpon gave us one shot and the fish through the hook during a jump.
Wednesday (5/9) evening it was Tim Gipe needing to catch a tarpon on 12# line. The wind was WSW/W @ 17 - 21 knots and an outgoing tide all evening. We found the fish later in the evening and it wanted no part of us. We started on the north side, went to the main channel for a while, took a tour of the south side before coming back to the main channel, and then started heading back to where we hooked up on the north side. The final move by the tarpon was to reverse directions and head back toward the main channel. It came up to gulp air and that's when we got the leader and released the fish.
Thursday (5/10) was a 3/4 day trip with Joe Krzykwa. Once again we had south current with a SW/W wind @ 9 - 12 knots. We warmed up with a couple of bonito and finished with a sailfish that ate a kite bait.
Thursday (5/10) evening, Tim Gipe was trying for his second tarpon on 12#. Despite the WSW/W wind @ 17 - 20 knots, the drift was so slow that we had to use floats to keep the baits out of the bottom. We got the fish on that we needed. Everything was going great until some who will remain nameless decided to try and break the balloon off the main line. Needless to say the line parted and we missed the only opportunity we had that evening.
Friday (5/11) was a full day with Lee Chusak, his dad, Richard, and mom, Joan. Today we had no current to go along with a wind from the S/WNW @ 9 - 18 knots. We started by running offshore to look for dolphin. At our first stop, everyone caught a fish plus one, giving us four. We looked around some more and despite finding decent what we needed, the fish avoided us. With our first goal accomplished, we moved back inshore to try for a sailfish. While waiting for a sailfish, we caught 3 kingfish and that's how our day ended.
Friday (5/11) evening it was father and son time with Mark and Sam Rubert. The tide was outgoing all evening and the wind came from the WSW/W @ 14 - 23 knots. This was another evening where we needed floats to hold the baits out of the bottom. The fish were rolling and busting baits all around us. One finally found our bait and gave us a quick show before giving us back our hook. Then we got the solid hook up and Sam and Mark tag teamed the fish till I released it.
Saturday (5/12) was a 3/4 day trip with Angelo Tarantino, his son, Mike, and Joshua Taylor. We started off with some kite fishing. After no action on several drifts, the short kite bait finally got hit. It turned out to be a remora. With that, it was time to head offshore and do some dolphin fishing. The frigate birds put us on a weedline and fish in 700 feet. Every time we got up ahead of the diving birds, we'd pick off 1 or 2 fish. Joshua caught his first dolphin and then some. Angelo and Mike were having a blast catching fish. The day ended what seemed way to quickly. Final count was 10 dolphin and fresh fillets for the whole family at dinner.
Sunday (5/13) was a full day with Don Whisler and his long time fishing partners, Dave, Chris, and Steve. The wind was S/WNW @ 5 - 11 knots with a south current. We needed a helium balloon to fly the kite. The action started quickly with a bonito. Then we broke a line on another fish. A couple of flat line baits got cut off and then the downrigger started producing kingfish. The kite finally worked its magic and Don caught his first sailfish. The final fish of the day came on the downrigger and was a barracuda. To sum it up, we caught 3 kingfish, 1 bonito, 1 barracuda, 1 sailfish, and got cut off about 5 times. When I put wire on the flat lines, the strikes stopped coming.
Sunday (5/13) evening was Tim Gipe's last chance to get his second fish on 12#. SSW/WNW wind @ 10 - 15 knots and out going tide were the conditions this evening. Before dark, the fish were rolling everywhere. After dark, they started popping baits. Balloons were needed once again this evening. Our first strike never even bent the rod and resulted in the bait removed from the hook. The second strike was the one. It took about 15 minutes and Tim had his second fish on 12#.
Monday (5/14) was a 3/4 day with Eileen and Fred Clark. A combination of north current and wind from the NE/E @ 9 - 14 knots had the seas building. In 340' we found a weedline that produced a dolphin almost immediately. Eileen got 2 jumps out of the fish before it came unglued. Moving right back to the line, we hooked up again and this time we put a nice 8 pound mahi in the fish box. Next, we moved back in to try for kingfish. While putting out the second bait, it got hit and Fred added a kingfish to the box. The next drift, 2 pesky remora found our flat lines. A frigate bird put us on a beautiful 20# dolphin in 109'. When it came along side, Eileen decided she wanted to release the fish, which we did. Then in 113', Fred caught and released another nice size dolphin. The final fish of the day was a kingfish that ate the downrigger bait and it too was released by Eileen.
Monday (5/14) evening was a Bay tarpon trip. We only had to try one location. Despite the E/ENE wind of 19 - 24 knots and storms all around us, the water was quite calm. Normally the fish at this location are in the 30 - 50 pound range, however, this evening the bigger boys showed up. The first fish was a 70 pound fish that cooperated nicely by swimming out away from any structure. We got the catch before it decided to head south and after making its 4th jump, the hook pulled. The second fish came about 15 minutes later and this one wanted nothing to do with us. The 90 pound fish weaved us in and around some structure and somehow with the help of everyone, we passed the rod around and through the structure and the fish was still hooked up. We chased the fish down and it made it to the main channel. The fish was pulled up from the bottom and we had the catch. It made on final jump and once again the hook pulled. It always amazes me how after fighting a fish for 30 minutes with all the long runs and jumps that the fish somehow throws the hook.
Tuesday (5/15) the wind kicked up and we rescheduled our day trip to an evening tarpon fishing trip later in the week. That evening I did a seminar on afternoon/evening fishing at the Pompano Beach Offshore Anglers Club.
Wednesday (5/16) the wind and rain had us rescheduling our dolphin trip to a later date.
Thursday (5/17) was a 3/4 day with Lenny Wroblewski, his wife, Carol, daughter, Jenni, and Jenni's boyfriend, Pete Kudhl. Neither Jenni or Pete had caught a dolphin, so that was the first goal. We found a frigate bird beating the surface in 300 feet. Lenny caught a nice 12# dolphin to start the day. Following the frigate put us on more fish. This time, Jenni caught her first dolphin that weighed in at 15 1/2 pounds. Then it was Pete catching his first dolphin that gave him one whale of a fight. That one weighed in at 25 1/2 pounds. The frigate disappeared and I set up a drift to let the dolphin find us. Out went two flat lines and when I had the downrigger bait down to the 30 foot mark, it popped out of the clip and Carol added a 5 pound dolphin to the box. The wind from the NNW/NNE @ 10 - 14 knots with a north current had some decent swells coming through so after about 20 more minutes with no action, we moved in to some calmer water to look for kingfish and sailfish. So far, all the dolphin action had taken place in the 300 - 400 foot range. Our first action in on the reef came in 92 feet. The rod sitting in front of Lenny took off and when the fish came into view it was a cobia that had two friends with him. Before we could get a bait in front of wither fish, they swam off. The cobia weighed in at 23 pounds. As we neared the end of the trip, we started emptying our livewell. That did the trick and up came the sailfish that ate Lenny's flat line. After a quick picture, we released the fish and watched it swim off strongly.
Thursday (5/17) evening it was the Lee Chusak and his mom, Joan, and father, Richard. There trip on Tuesday was blown out with the weather and this was the make up trip. This evening's conditions were an incoming tide with wind from the NE/ENE @ 11 - 17 knots. The fish were rolling all around us for our first several drifts. The third drift had us hooked up to something that didn't appear to be a tarpon. Generally, the only other fish that would eat a crab would be a permit. That's exactly what it turned out to be and Lee caught his first permit. It was well after dark and we still couldn't get a tarpon to eat our bait, so a major move was in order. It turned out to be the right move and on our first drift after relocating, we had him on. Lee did a great job of fighting the fish and had the leader up in about 10 minutes. He wanted a boat side picture and that's when he learned how tough a fight with a tarpon can be. It took about 40 more minutes and lots of pulling before the 100 pound fish begrudgingly gave us a few opportunities to take its picture.
Friday (5/18) was a 3/4 day trip with Cesar Maradiaga, his daughter, Samantha, and cousins, Rafael Rosario and James Bonilla. The wind was W/SE @ 0 - 6 knots. There was no current. We started with some dolphin fishing. There were still some swells from yesterday's wind and it didn't take long before one of the cousins wasn't feeling too well. We moved back inshore to get out of the swells. Slow trolling two flat lines and the downrigger was the plan of attack. The downrigger did its job and Samantha caught a kingfish. We worked the depths of 110 - 160 feet and had action on the downrigger 4 more times. The flat lines got chopped off twice before we caught a kingfish on one of them. Final count of the trip was 6 kingfish and 3 rounds of motion sickness by one of the cousins.
Saturday (5/19) was a full day trip with Ron Bowerman, brother and sister, Jason and Jeanna Laytart, and Jason's wife, Jean. Dolphin was the goal. We couldn't have asked for more beautiful sea conditions with a WNW/ENE wind of 3 - 7 knots. On their drive over from the west coast, they ran into lots of fog and smoke. This added a bit of time to their drive and to make up for it, we bought bait. It turned out to be the right move. As we ran offshore, we found our friend the frigate bird in 400 feet and we were into dolphin almost instantly. We pulled quite a few fish from the school as the fish stuck around with their buddies much better than they have been. The frigate put us on fish 3 more times before it disappeared. Throughout the remainder of the day we found fish under almost every frigate bird or flock of terns. Sometimes we caught 1 or 2 and other times we'd catch a few more. Toward the end of the trip, the wind started to pick up as predicted. We set up close to the color change and got instant action from a few fish. Back at TNT Marine Center, we set up an assembly line to clean the fish and got the job done while feeding scraps to the jack crevalle and tarpon at the cleaning table.
That brings me up to date. Dolphin fishing has swung into high gear so when this wind calms down again the action should continue. The shallower water outside the reef is still producing kingfish and sailfish. The kings have appeared to be going into their summertime mode of hanging out in deeper water. This is the time of year when the downrigger and bottom rod will shine.
With the wind blowing hard for the past few days, I've had a few days off. I have several more trips scheduled for the remainder of the month along with several open days. The best dolphin fishing is yet to come, so give me a call and schedule your trip and don't forget that there are still plenty of tarpon around too.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 127
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2007 - 6:55 pm: | |
Fishing is OUTSTANDING. There is no other way to put it. Whether you fish offshore or inshore, they are snapping. Offshore it's sailfish, kingfish, dolphin, and blackfin tuna. Inshore, the tarpon fishing is the best its been since the beginning of the season. I've have lots of trip by trip reports to get caught up on so lets get started.
Thursday (4/19) morning, Fred Buck and his friend Keith had come to Miami to strictly go fishing and get some down time away from their jobs. The wind was W/NW @ 11 - 15 knots. We started in the middle of the anchorage and found green water. The kingfish were snapping. We moved north to the Twin Towers area and found good blue water. The flatlines and downrigger produced kingfish and bonito, while the bottom rod gave us a mutton snapper.
Thursday (4/19) evening was a tarpon trip with Ted Wynne, Lee, and Liz. We got the bite we were looking for and the tarpon had other thoughts on its mind. It ran to the Cut and suddenly the hook pulled for no apparent reason. After that one shot, the bite turned off.
Friday (4/20), Fred and Keith were back for an afternoon/evening trip. During the offshore portion, we quickly caught 2 dolphin out in 840 feet. We had 2 other dolphin swim by the boat and show no interest in our baits. We moved in on the reef and then it got slow. We had no current and no other strikes. Inshore, we caught a large jack crevalle and then found the tarpon on the north side of Government Cut. The first fish jumped off on its second jump. The second fish hooked up solid and both anglers fought the fish.
On April 23 & 24, I took a few days off to be with Nancy while she attended a conference in Stuart. While she was at work, I fished with my good friend and tarpon enthusiast, Jim Lefevre. We had a blast catching snook, ladyfish, jack crevalle and bluefish.
Thursday (4/26) evening, Zac Grossman along with his friends Ira, Bruce, and Joe spent some good quality time together doing what they all love best. Fishing of course!! Bruce and Joe each caught and released their first tarpon. The fish were on the north side of Government again.
Friday (4/27) was an afternoon/evening trip with James Savopoulos and his friends Brian, John, and Rob. They've been fishing together for many many years. The wind was SE/SSE @ 9 - 13 knots. Put that together with a good north current and we had the perfect formula for some good fishing. First strike was a sailfish. Everything was going real good. The fish jumped, charged the boat, and dumped plenty of line. It went down wind of the boat and made another jump only to give us back our hook. Next, we caught a small dolphin that ate a kite bait. Then it was a nice 17 pound blackfin tuna on the kite. A sailfish crashed the long kite bait and it was caught and released. Then the kite produced yet again with another blackfin tuna of 24 pounds. The group had so much fun with all those fish, they decided to forego the tarpon portion of the trip and get some much need rest before heading down to the Keys the next morning.
Saturday morning (4/28), Harry Duncanson, his wife Carole, and daughter Shannon had some beautiful weather for their half day trip. The wind varied from W to SSE @ 0 - 5 knots. The current was ripping to the north. Before I could put out the second flatline, the first one got hit and we fought a mystery fish for about 5 minutes before it came unglued. The next action came with the downrigger. While fighting that fish, the flatline got hit and it was a sailfish. Carole got to watch it make one jump before throwing the hook. The downrigger fish was a nice kingfish. More slow trolling and the downrigger produced another kingfish. Then the action slowed down dramatically. A move to the north and some live bait chumming produced the last fish of the morning before it was time to head in. This time, the hook stayed in and we caught a large summer time size bonito.
Saturday afternoon (4/28) it was Nathan Benson and Chris. The ESE/S wind of 8 - 12 knots had me putting a helium balloon on the kite to make sure it would stay up. It was a good move as all our hits came on the kite. We had lots of hits, however, the hook ups were poor. We finally got the sailfish we were looking for and it turned out to be more than we bargained for. Despite using a circle hook, the fish was foul hooked at the base of the dorsal fin and the leader was wrapped around its body and through its mouth. It took a lot of pulling and chasing before we were able to free the fish. The next fish was a bonito and then everything shut down.
Sunday evening (4/29), Kent Jones and his 15 year old son, Spencer got to experience the tarpon fishing that they had read about and seen on TV. The east wind @ 7 - 9 knots gave us a perfect drift. The fish were rolling everywhere and we hooked up on the first drift. The fish wanted no part of us and headed straight for the deep water of the main channel with us in hot pursuit. First the fish moved in and then toward the north side of the deep water. Next, it tried to make its way to the pilings of the pier. Spencer pulled hard and got the fish's head turned so that it started heading out to sea. It hugged the north jetty till it got out past the red channel marker before it dashed back into the channel and to the south side. Here it went up into the shallower water and then back to the channel before heading back inshore. It found the chain on the green marker and released itself. We had the official catch several times and were trying to get a close up picture. The fish must have been camera shy and didn't want its picture taken. Back to the south side and we hooked another fish. That one was photographed and released. The we caught and released another tarpon. On the final drift of the evening, we got the double header. Both fish eventually made it to the deep water and both fish we released successfully. That had us finishing the evening at 5 for 5 and two very tired, exhausted, but very happy anglers.
Monday evening (4/30) Tim Gipe got in on the same hot tarpon action. The wind had picked up some to ENE/E @ 12 - 15 knots. The fish were rolling everywhere again. As soon as we got late in the dusk period, the action started and continued for most of the evening. Final total for the evening was 5 for 6 on fish in the 50 - 100 pound range.
Tuesday evening (5/1) Tim Gipe was out again. The wind this evening was NE @ 10 - 12 knots. As is often the case with tarpon, they don't stay in any one pattern for too long. This turned out to be the case this evening. Our first fish was during the day time. It ran straight for the Cut and then dropped over the edge into the deep water where the hook pulled. Next was during the late dusk period and this fish also ran straight for the Cut. We fought it for several minutes while it traveled from the south side to the north side. We were making good progress toward getting the fish up when once again the hook pulled. Finally on the next drift, we got a solid hook up and landed and released the fish. After resetting another drift, we noticed that the fish had stopped popping baits and everything had gotten quiet. So quiet that we ran over to the north side to check it out. Quiet there too. Back to the south side and we got a hit and hook up. The fish didn't fight like a typical tarpon. It wasn't. When it came into the spotlight, were saw a beautiful 25 1/2 inch permit. That's the way our evening ended.
We're now up to date and its time to get back to fishing tomorrow. Weather permitting, I have the next 15 days straight booked for either a day trip or evening tarpon trip. There are still days open toward the end of the month, so give me a call or email me and lets get together and take advantage of this great fishing action.
See you on the edge or at the Cut.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 126
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 16, 2007 - 12:59 pm: | |
It is definitely springtime!! If you have ever wanted to catch a large dolphin (mahi-mahi) now is the time you should be fishing or booking a trip. To say that we have been catching large dolphin would be an understatement. The large ones are here and they are hungry. Add to that some great sailfish action plus plenty of kingfish and that's why I say it is definitely springtime.
Monday (4/9), Eileen Clark, her son-in-law Matt Whitney and grandchildren, Olivia and Jacob had a great family fishing trip. The wind was SE/SSE @ 10 - 15 knots. The water was a beautiful blue with no current. That didn't seem to discourage the fish. The bottom rod drew first action with a small mutton snapper. It was just a bit short and got released. Next Olivia caught a kingfish off the downrigger. Every time we got in to 85 feet and started moving the kite baits back out to deeper water, one or both lines would get cut off by kingfish. In 180 feet, the bottom rod saw action again. This time it was a remora that was released. In 160 feet, both flatlines got hit and both Olivia and Jacob hung on as line disappeared off their reels at a very rapid pace. Olivia's dolphin came to the boat first. Matt's dolphin was larger and he fought the fish like a seasoned veteran. He won the battle after a 30 minute fight and we put a 34 pound dolphin in the box. The final action of the trip saw us amazed at how a kingfish can sky rocket a bait twice and miss the hooks even with a stinger rig.
Tuesday (4/10), Jack Campi, his wife Cheryl, daughter Erin and son Jack Jr (4 years old) fished a half day family trip. This was Jack Jr's first fishing trip. The wind today was SSE/S @ 9 - 13 knots. Once again today, we had no current. On our first drift, a schoolie size dolphin hit a flatline and Jack Jr along with some help from his Dad caught and released his first fish. Next, Erin caught a kingfish on the downrigger outfit. Jack Jr's second fish turned out to be a triggerfish that found the stinger hook on the downrigger rod. The final fish of the morning was caught on the downrigger outfit again, but this time we were slow trolling the baits. Dad held the rod and Jack Jr reeled with all his might before he got tired and asked for his sister to help finish catching the fish. Erin got a good workout before bringing the fish into gaff range. It joined the other kingfish in the fishbox. Jack Jr was the official bait catcher when we needed a bait from the livewell. Toward the end of the trip, he declared that he "liked fishing!!" His dad beamed and I could see the look in his eye that they were going to have lots of fishing adventures together.
Tuesday (4/10) afternoon, I had Bud Corbin and his wife Denise out for a late afternoon trip. Bait fishing at Government was the best I'd seen it for the past several days. Denise was a bait catching machine and out fished her husband about 3 to 1. With a full livewell, we headed straight out from Government and were greeted by wind from the SSE/S @ 10 - 14 knots, green water, and no current. We fished the full compliment of flatlines, downrigger, and kite baits. We chummed with live herring and pilchards. The highlight of the afternoon was 1 kingfish on the downrigger.
Thursday (4/12) was an afternoon/evening trip with Joel Sellers and his dad Laurence (83 years young). Bait fishing was tough! Finally at the 5th bait location, we got the bait up and picked away at them till we had a decent number of baits in the livewell. Today we started south of the Monument Buoy. We had a light north current with wind from the SE/S @ 5 - 14 knots. Within 3 minutes of putting the first bait on the downrigger, Laurence caught a kingfish. A couple of minutes after that, Joel caught another kingfish on the downrigger. The third kingfish took us a bit long to find. We then moved out and set up a drift starting in 200 feet. At about 180 feet, all three flatlines got hit. The lines were crossed with dolphin jumping and running. Laurence's line broke before we could untangle the mess. The other two lines appeared to be crossed and we worked frantically to try and clear them. It soon became apparent that they weren't crossed and that the 21 pound dolphin had eaten the baits on both lines and had 2 hooks in him. The dolphin soon joined the kingfish in the fishbox. After re-rigging all the lines, a sailfish ate the bait on the rod I was putting out and Laurence sat up front and together, we all helped him catch and released his first sailfish. With baits back out again, this time Joel's bait got hit and he caught and released a sailfish before it was time to go in and tarpon fish. The tarpon were playing hard to get and we called it an early evening, but not before we caught and released a bluefish.
Friday (4/13), Joel and Laurence were back for day two of the afternoon/evening combo trip. Laurence said his right arm was still a bit sore from the previous day's sailfish. I told him I'd try to even things out for him and get his left arm sore. We worked hard to get bait again, however, today we found it in Government Cut. We were back to no current today with a wind change to the ENE/E @ 8 - 13 knots. The kingfish were hungry this afternoon and the downrigger once again produced all except one fish. Laurence was ready at the downrigger because he knew it was going to give us plenty of action and he was right!! Every time we got in the 100 - 110 foot range we caught a kingfish. Final count on the kingfish was 5. Out deeper, we caught a couple of small brown sharks. We saw a free jumping sailfish in 230 feet and had one free jump about 50 feet from the boat in 110 feet. They only put on a show for us and ignored our baits. Time to tarpon fish. We made one drift and hooked a beautiful 80 pound fish that Laurence caught. This was his first tarpon also. He turned the rod over to his son to finish fighting the fish to get a few boatside pictures before I released the fish. It's never to late to get out and catch the fish of your dreams. Laurence did just that with his first sailfish and first tarpon at the young age of 83. Nice going Laurence!!
Saturday (4/14), Mike Shafer and his foster sons Harley Hayes and Ryan Carter saw action on another afternoon/evening combo trip. Bait once again required some searching and picking away at to get a decent number of baits. The wind picked up some today @ 13 - 20 knots from the SE. We had a light north current and had to go out to 400 feet to find the blue/green edge. With 2 flatline baits and the downrigger bait out, I was about to plug in the kite reel when a flatline took off. From the start, it was obvious that we had another decent size dolphin on. It made some great leaps, head thrashes, and sounded about a half dozen times. Through it all, Mike fought the fish like a pro. A totally exhausted dolphin came boatside and was put in the fishbox. That evening back at Spinnaker Marina it weighed in at 29 pounds. The next fish on Mike's wish list was a sailfish. We worked the kite baits and flatline baits back in to some shallower water and at 290 feet we had a sailfish come up and look at the short kite bait for a while before disappearing. We moved back to south of the Cuban Hole and set up for sails and kingfish. At 107 feet I started working all the baits back offshore. At 140 feet, the short kite bait and a flatline got hit at the same time. Mike took the kite bait reel and Harley got the flatline rod. Harley's fish was a 12 pound kingfish that joined the dolphin in the fishbox. Mike's fish was the sailfish he wanted. We caught the sail and got the pictures he wanted before releasing it to fight another day. Time for some tarpon fishing. Just like yesterday evening, we hooked a tarpon on our first drift. Ryan fought the fish and got the catch before turning the rod over to Harley so he could see how hard tarpon pull. We got the pictures and released the tarpon.
As you can see, the fishing action both offshore and inshore is good for big dolphin, good sailfish action, plenty of kingfish, and tarpon along with a few other assorted fish. Now's the time to get out there and get in on the good action. Send me an email @ nkostyo@bellsouth.net or call 305 965-9454 for details or to schedule your trip. The afternoon/evening combo trip is a great one for those who want the best of both worlds with both offshore (sailfish, kingfish, dolphin) and inshore (tarpon) fishing in one trip.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 125
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 08, 2007 - 4:13 pm: | |
My clients for today had to cancel due to an illness. This gives me the opportunity to bring everyone up to date on what's been happening off the coast of Miami. The vast majority of my fishing has been between the Miami Sea Buoy and just south of the Monument Buoy in depths ranging from 90 - 400 feet. The bait has been live herring and pilchards. Inshore, the action has taken place at Government Cut in the form of tarpon using live shrimp and crabs. With that being said, lets get to the daily reports.
Wednesday (4/4), Steve McVay and his two sons, Daniel (8 years old) and Sean (14 years old) spent a guy's day together fishing. We've been trying to do this trip for a while and finally had everything line up properly. The bait today was pilchards and we started just north of the Monument Buoy with a light north current pushing us back toward Government Cut throughout the day. The wind was ESE/SSE @ 8 - 13 knots. The kite gave us first action in the form of a nice 25 pound wahoo that Steve caught. While working the kite baits back offshore, Daniel got to catch his first dolphin. This was not a schoolie size one. Daniel needed the help of his Dad to assist with holding the rod. It took him a while and he hung in there when the fish sounded several times. It all paid off in the end when I gaffed a beautiful 34 1/2 pound bull dolphin. The downrigger produced the next action in the form of a kingfish that Sean made quick work of. We had another kingfish up to the boat, however, the hook pulled on that one.
Thursday afternoon (4/5), it was Bob Seltzer, his wife Miriam, son, Greg, and daughter-in-law, Brandi. The bait once again was pilchards. The wind was SSE/S @ 7 - 19 knots. We started in the same area as yesterday. The fishing this afternoon was really tough. The full compliment of kite baits, flatline baits, and downrigger bait was out. We worked the kite baits and flatline baits back toward shallower water once we got out to 200 feet. After turning the boat to set up another drift, a flatline bait finally got hit and Greg pulled in a nice size kingfish. The wind was increasing and the seas were building and the fish weren't biting. We made a move up to the Government Cut area and slow trolled baits from 140 feet into 110 feet. One of the flatlines got hit and despite the fact that we had wire on, the fish cut us off anyways. It was time to cut are losses and head back in.
Friday (4/6) I had Tom Winters, his son Justin, and friend Dino out for a full day of fishing. Once again the bait was live pilchards and today we worked the area between the Monument Buoy and Fowey Light. The weather report called for decent wind from the NW. The day started that way and by noon, there was barely a breath of wind. Throughout the day it was NW/N @ 0 - 18 knots. Compared to yesterday afternoon, the fishing was a whole new ball game. In the morning, I could hardly get baits out before the kingfish would attack us. Justin put the first kingfish in the boat on a flatline. Then the downrigger shined and got the remainder of fish throughout the day. We had action on the kite and flatlines, however, those baits were either cut off or knocked off the hook. The long kite bait took off and Tom was hooked up to a sailfish. The fish pulled lots of line off the reel and put on a decent aerial show for us. It posed for a few pictures before being released. In between all the kingfish action, a barracuda cut in on us and added some variety to the action. I lost track of all the king bites, but when the day was over we had 5 in the fishbox along with 1 released sailfish and 1 released barracuda.
Saturday (4/7) was an afternoon/evening trip with the Tom Winters group again. Today, the conditions were changed drastically from the past several days. Live herring was the bait today. There was no current and green ugly water in the depths that we would normally fish for the sailfish and kingfish. The wind direction was all over the compass from WNW/E @ 0 - 7 knots. We saw a free jumping sailfish south of the Cuban Hole in 110 feet. We slow trolled flatlines and downrigger baits and worked our way offshore looking for current and clean blue water. In 220 feet both flatlines got hit and both were cut off. Yes, we had wire on one of the flatlines. We finally found blue water in 300 feet. Birds were chasing schools of small bonito. We saw two free jumping sailfish on slicks along with a school of porpoise. Our persistent slow trolling finally paid of in 340 feet when we had two sailfish attack our flatlines. One knocked the bait off the hook and Justin hooked up the other fish. At first it swam right to the boat and we got the catch. Then the fireworks began. Lots of jumps, greyhounding, and some sounding. Justin prevailed and the fish posed for a few quick pictures before we released it to fight another day. It was time to move inshore and finish off the day with some tarpon fishing. We got our first shot as soon as it got completely dark. Dino had the tarpon on till its 2nd jump before it gave us back our hook. Two drifts later we had a tarpon crush a crab and spit it back out. We made several more drifts before searching the main channel. No action there. Back to the shallow south side and we saw several fish busting baits inshore of us. We moved toward the area and the fish kept moving away from us before finally disappearing completely. Dino got a taste of tarpon fishing this evening and can't wait to get back and try it again.
That sums it up. Its back to fishing again tomorrow and the remainder of the week. I'll report back just as soon as I can.
See you on the edge or at the Inlets.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 124
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 12:27 pm: | |
Whether you choose to fish inshore or offshore, there is plenty of action to be had for a variety of species. On some days, you'll have to do more searching than on others. That just depends on the conditions that exist on the day you go fishing.
Offshore, the action for sailfish, dolphin, and kingfish has been excellent as long as the current is running north and there is good clean blue water. The wind has been up for about the last 2 1/2 weeks, so if you can't handle rough sea conditions, then your days have been very limited.
Inshore, there are places to hide some from the full force of the wind when you're tarpon fishing. Although the tarpon action has improved dramatically, it still has its ups and downs.
Tuesday (3/27) evening, Joe Lay and Henry Kolsch experienced NE/ENE winds @ 15 - 18 knots. The fish were rolling everywhere in the main channel at Government. The key word is rolling. We couldn't get a single fish to feed. Moving to the south side of the jetty after dark provided Henry with his first tarpon. After bending the rod over, the fish swam right to the boat before making a jump. It then proceeded to keep swimming under the boat and never made a blistering run that they are know for. The one good thing about this fish was that it showed the stubbornness that almost every tarpon has.
Wednesday (3/28) morning was the one day this past week when we had a brief break from the wind. It was E @ 9 - 13 knots. The current was running south and it had the fish spread out. Clint Jones, his 8 year old son Colin, Mike Mazur, and Ric Hawthorne were my guests for the morning. Toward the end of our first drift, we were fighting a dying wind and dropping kite. Something took off with the long bait and Ric was hooked up. The fish fought deep and made a circle around the boat toward the bow. When we got it close enough to identify, it was a nice cobia. The next action came while working the kite baits back out to deeper water. In 205 feet, a sailfish came up and took a look at the short bait. It didn't like it and disappeared, only to go out and eat the long bait. Mike came tight on the line and popped it from the clip. At the same time, the sailfish jumped and gave us back an empty hook. The final action of the morning came several minutes later. A large barracuda skyrocketed the long kite bait and this time Colin got to fight his first offshore fish. He did a marvelous job and the fish put up a great fight. The fish was released.
Wednesday (3/28) evening, The wind picked up some to ENE/E @ 12 - 15 knots. On our third drift for tarpon, we got our reward in the form of 100 pounds of explosive silver dynamite. As is normal for most tarpon that are caught on the south side during an incoming tide, the fish wasted no time in heading straight for the deep water of the main channel. Once in the main channel, the fish fought deep and hard. My angler was up to the task at hand and soon had the fish along side for a release. Next, we checked the edge of the drop off before heading in to try for tarpon in the Bay. At the channel edge, we marked and saw a large school of jack crevalle. Using a surface chugger, we caught and released a fish of about 12 pounds. The Bay tarpon were cooperating this evening and we only had to go to one location. Within minutes of putting out the first bait, we caught and released a beautiful 30 pound fish. About five minutes later, we hooked a larger fish that managed to bite through the leader, but not before making two spectacular jumps. Before I could get two baits back out, we had a third fish on that jumped 10 feet behind the engines while running straight at the boat. The action settled down for about 10 minutes before we had our fourth fish on. We survived the first run and series of jumps. The fish changed directions and made another jump. We had the fish coming toward us nicely when it made another jump and that was the one that gave us back our very sharp hook.
Thursday (3/29) evening, we had high hopes of a repeat performance from the tarpon. The wind was NE/ENE @ 14 - 19 knots. The fish were in the same location as Wednesday. The only difference was that this evening they had lockjaw. After dark, we went into the Bay. A day later and tonight the fish were absent. We moved to a second spot and saw fish busting to our right. We moved to that area and the fish moved further to our right. Another move and once again the fish moved. It was as if they were taunting us.
Friday (3/30) evening the wind started out reasonable and got progressively worse. It was ENE/E @ 12 - 26 knots. The fish were in the same spot as if on cue. Our first two drifts had us marking lots of fish and we caught two spanish mackerel. The water got rougher as the wind blew harder and we moved to some calmer water inside the jetties. The tarpon were rolling and marking and we got our reward on the third drift. The tarpon made several giant leaps before fighting hard and deep. Toward the end, it made a few more half jumps before we released the fish.
That brings my reports up to date. April has me scheduled to fish many trips. There are a few openings so call and ask about the dates that are still available. It's springtime and fishing will only keep getting better and better. Don't miss out on it.
See you on the edge or at the Cut.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 123
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 24, 2007 - 5:54 am: | |
Spring is definitely in the air. March has been roaring like a lion for the past week and a half. The strong easterly wind has push plenty of dolphin in close. Throw in some sailfish and a few kingfish and you have the ingredients for plenty of good offshore action. The one missing ingredient is having a strong stomach to handle the big sea conditions.
Inshore, the tarpon continue to act like they should be for this time of year. To spice up the action, there are large schools of 10 pound plus jack crevalles tearing up the bait fish. It's an awesome site to see when a stretch of water about 100 yards wide erupts with feeding jacks.
Monday evening, friends Andrew Schultz, Howard Lerner, and Joe Cuozzi sampled the tarpon fishing at Government Cut. The wind was from the E @ 14 - 21 knots. The tide was incoming all evening long. On our first drift before I could get the third rod out, Joe was hooked up to a nice 10 pound jack crevalle. On our next drift, we were treated to the site of jack crevalles busting all around us for a few minutes as they reeked havoc with schools of bait fish. Afterwards, the action slowed down till about 8:15 PM. That's when Joe hooked up with a beautiful 50 pound silver beauty. The fish cooperated very nicely and came right to the boat. Then things got real exciting. The fish made several jumps and decided something must be wrong and took off on a decent run. In the end, Andrew did the honors and released the fish. On the next drift, Howard hooked up with a very strong 70 pound fish. It was determined to get to the deep water of the main channel. We were determined to not let that happen. Howard won that battle of wills, but not before the fish made several blistering runs and beautiful jumps. Once again Andrew did the honors of releasing the fish. That's the way the evening ended, three friends spending some time together catching fish and having a great time.
Tuesday morning, it was Brad Coren fishing offshore for a half day. Bait in Government Cut required lots of searching and picking one or two at a time. Word from the bent one was that the herring were thick so everyone ran out and finished filling our livewells with large herring. We took our time working out to the fishing grounds with a wind from the ENE/E @ 12 - 16 knots. All our action this morning was with dolphin and the majority of hits came on the kite. We did have a small school of the mahi follow up one of the fish that we hooked on the kite. That's when we caught a few more using flatlines. We had a light north current and the sailfish avoided us this morning, however, the dolphin (mahi-mahi) we kept made for some great table fare.
It's springtime and the fish are here. It won't be long before the blackfin tuna start showing up to add to the excitement. Now's the time to call and book a date to get in on the action.
See you on the edge or at the Cut.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 122
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 2:03 pm: | |
Sailfishing is off the scale as evidenced by the 462 sailfish released at the Florida Billfish Masters Tournament by 32 boats in two days of fishing. If that isn't hot sailfishing, then there is no such thing.
Tarpon fishing has finally come to life. The fish have been at Government Cut for a while but have been slow to feed. They are now taking live shrimp that are being presented to them. Also, the good news is that the tarpon are back at their Bay spots and are readily feeding.
Last Saturday evening, Tara Sullivan along with JJ, Amanda, and Fabio were down from New York for a quick vacation and rest from the cold weather up north. We started the evening with 3 spanish mackerel on the north side at Government. The sea conditions started to get to two of the anglers, so we moved to the south side where the water was much calmer. No action on that side. When the tide turned, we moved to the main channel and on the 3rd drift, JJ was hooked up with a very mean and nasty 80 pound tarpon. The fish fought deep and made a few jumps close to the boat toward the end of the battle. It was his first tarpon and several cameras were flashing throughout the fight. JJ won the battle and happily watched as I released the mighty silver warrior. One fish was enough for him and the others chose to not even try to catch another fish.
Last night (3/17), Edward Kim and his friend Chang Lee from New Jersey got to participate in tarpon fishing at its best. When we arrived at Government Cut, the tarpon were rolling in the main channel. The wind was from the N @ 11 - 16 knots and we had an incoming tide. They played hard to get at first, however, when we got to the dusk period, the feed bag was turned on. With 2 quick bites, Edward landed 1 of the 2 fish. As quick as they turned on, the fish disappeared. At the tide change, we went inside to two different Bay locations. At location 1, it didn't take long before Edward made quick work of a 40 pounder that spent more time in the air than in the water. Next, Chang had a 50 pounder on that acted like it was 80 pounds. It made several very long runs and also put on a great aerial show. The fish was released Palm Beach style after it wore through the leader. Prior to this action, we had 1 fish that threw the hook on its first jump. At location two, it took a bit long to get the fish going. Edward got the first shot on his side and the fish jumped about the time he got the rod out of the rod holder and proceeded to give us back out hook. Next, Chang picked on a bigger fish the made another great run and jump. The end result was another Palm Beach release. The action was fast and furious from dusk until the end of the trip.
It appears that the tarpon action that has been so hit and miss has finally settled into what it is supposed to be for this time of the year. I'll find out for sure tomorrow evening and will post the results as soon as I can. In the meantime, call me to book a sailfish or tarpon trip. If you want to try for both in the same day, then ask about the afternoon/evening trip. Now that we're in the Daylight Savings mode, it's a perfect time for this style of trip. With April just around the corner, we'll be getting more consistent dolphin (mahi-mahi) fishing and the blackfin tuna will be making their springtime showing. Give me a call @ 305 965-9454 to get your trip scheduled.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 121
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 09, 2007 - 3:25 pm: | |
Clean blue water and plenty of fish have finally arrived. There has not been much current, however, all it took to jump start the fishing was clean water. With the blue water and the latest cold (cool) front, the sailfishing action has been excellent. Throw in plenty of dolphin (mahi-mahi) along with some kingfish and you have the makings of typical South Florida fishing for this time of year.
Tuesday, Matty Jimenez along with his dad, Pablo experienced some excellent dolphin and sailfish fishing. The wind was from the NNW/N @ 14 - 20 knots. The edge was inside of 100 feet. The action was so hot and furious that all we could do was fish flatlines. There was no time to get the kite or downrigger lines out.
Wednesday, it was Skip and Jimmy Selle along with their friend Joe Kovac. This day's wind was from the E @ 7 - 14 knots. The good action continued with sailfish on the kite, kingfish on the downrigger, and dolphin on the kite.
Thursday, it was Matty and Pablo Jimenez back for round two. Winds today were NNW/NNE @ 14 - 16 knots. Neither angler had seen the kite in action before. With some quick instruction, Pablo took to tending the kite baits like a pro. It paid off quickly with a dolphin. Then the flatline and once again with the kite. The downrigger gave us action on kingfish, but the hook pulled at the boat.
All this action took place from the north anchorage buoy south to the Cuban Hole in 80 - 160 feet of water using live herring and pilchards.
I have dates available so to get in on this action, give me a call and lets get out there and catch some more fish.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 120
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 02, 2007 - 5:55 am: | |
In my previous reports I have talked about the slow tarpon fishing at the Inlets. The one bright spot has been in the Bay. That has held true until my last two tarpon trips.
Meanwhile, offshore the sailfishing has been very good when you find north current. When the current dies to nothing or turns south, so does the sailfish action. Kingfishing has been very disappointing thus far this season. The few I have found have been out deep and close to the bottom. By deep, I mean as far out as 205 feet. It's like we are in the summer time pattern.
Let's take a closer look at my last few trips.
Thursday (2/22) was a no current green water day. We worked the area from the Cuban Hole north to the Twin Towers in 100 to 240 feet. We had 1 bite and caught 1 kingfish just off the bottom in 205 feet. Not a very good day, but that's the truth, nothing added or nothing enhanced.
Friday morning (2/23) was a tarpon trip starting at 1:00 AM. We were fishing the tides in the Bay. Greg and Donna Stube were both wanting to catch their first tarpon. With the tarpon action as inconsistent as it has been, they were willing to fish the odd ball hours to improve their chances. At 2:10 AM, Greg accomplished his goal with a nice 30# fish. After a few pictures, the lines went back out and it didn't take very long. At 2:25 AM, Donna achieved her goal also and landed a 50# tarpon. That's the way the trip ended, going 2 for 2, with both anglers catching their first tarpon.
Sunday evening (2/25) once again it was tarpon fishing in the Bay. We were fighting the lower end of the tide. This time we were 1 for 1 on tarpon and when the tide died off, we called it a night.
Tuesday evening (2/27) I fished with Doctors Lewis and David Carroll. They are both very accomplished fly fisherman. With high hopes, we went to the Bay spots that had been producing fish. The tarpon had something else in mind and after checking out 4 different locations, we had yet to even see one. At the fifth location, we found fish. We saw and heard several fish popping baits. David got a tarpon to roll on his fly. Another move and this time, Lewis had a strong bite. We got back a chafed leader with the fly gone. On our way in we checked two other locations and saw nothing.
Wednesday evening (2/28) we took the tour of Haulover, the Bay, and Government. On our first drift at Haulover, we got a strong hit that pulled good drag and then the hook popped loose. The second rod bucked once and the shrimp was gone. Checking both outfits revealed two leaders with teeth marks. With no further action at Haulover and the tide having turned, we ran into the Bay. After two Bay locations produced no hits and after looking at another location and seeing none, we moved outside Government to the south side. It too produced no action. Time to try the north side. The first drift had a shrimp cut in half. Another drift and we caught a large ladyfish. Back to the Bay to check out another 2 locations and no action.
So as you can see, even the more reliable Bay spots have cooled off. When the tarpon will turn back on is anyone's guess. We'll keep our fingers crossed and hope it will be on our next trip. We'll keep you posted on how the action is going.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 119
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 7:04 am: | |
The best way to describe the fishing both offshore and inshore for the past two weeks since my last report is very up and down. Offshore it has been up when there is current and a real struggle when there is no current. Inshore, tarpon fishing remains inconsistent at both Haulover and Government at best. The one bright spot has been in the Bay.
With the lack of current offshore, there has been green ugly looking water. This has spread the fish out and with numerous boats spread out along 25 miles of coastline, you'll hear about fish being found in 115 - 240 feet of water. The area between the Miami Sea Buoy and the Cuban Hole has been giving up some fish. You have to work the area hard and have some luck on your side also. As soon as the current gets back in our area, the fishing should pick up dramatically.
Kingfishing has been slow as well. Your best bet for some action is to get a bait down deep just off the bottom using 1 pound of lead and a long leader. If you bait survives before the bottom critters get to it, you'll be rewarded with a nice 8 - 10 pound kingfish.
Lets talk about the one bright spot with tarpon fishing. Its been the Bay. If you are flexible and are willing to fish some odd ball hours, then you can follow the tide throughout the night and get your fair share of fish. If your schedule will not allow flexibility, then you'll have a 3 day window twice a month to get your shots during the normal hours that we fish for tarpon. The challenge of keeping the fish away from the obstructions will hone your angling skills very quickly. I refer to it as gorilla tarpon fishing.
Since it's been so long since my last report, I won't get into the day by day report. I will however mention some of the highlights.
While waiting for some tarpon action, we've been catching bluefish, jack crevalle, mangrove snapper, lane snapper, and ladyfish.
The USS Gridley was in Miami to be commissioned. I participated in the Take A Hero fishing event. Gerald Diaz and his father-in-law Scott Meyers fished with me. It was a win, win day for us. Gerald wanted to catch a sailfish and we got that accomplished. Scott wanted to catch a dolphin and we got that accomplished too. Throw in a few kingfish and a couple more dolphin and we had a great day.
Dorin Khouri caught his first Atlantic Sailfish on one of those lack of current, green ugly water days. We also had another one on for a short time before the circle hook pulled. The bottom rod added an 8 pound kingfish to the days catch.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 118
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 - 3:40 pm: | |
We've turned the calendar page from January to February. With that turn, tarpon inshore and sailfish offshore are your best bet. That's a hard combination to beat. With that being said, lets get to the individual day reports.
Thursday (2/1) evening the wind was SSE/S @ 21 - 25 knots. Haulover was fishable, however the tarpon were absent. The tide change for one of my Bay spots was supposed to be 9:05 PM. With all that wind, it held the tide up until about 10:30 PM. While we were waiting, we caught and released 3 ladyfish and 2 seatrout using live shrimp and 4" Tsunami Holographic Shrimp in Chartreuse/Silver Fleck. More on the Tsunami shrimp later. We finally had 1 shot at a nice 50 pound tarpon. It made 2 jumps while coming straight at us. At some point, a slack loop got thrown around the rod. About the time I got it cleared, the fish made a third jump and give us back our hook.
Friday (2/2) evening the wind had calmed down to S @ 11 - 14 knots. On our first drift at Haulover, we hooked up with 100 pounds of silver dynamite. The fish kept us occupied for about a half hour before we got the pictures we needed and released it. The fish was nice enough to make some great jumps right at the boat and quick work by two different cameras got the action shot. The rest of the evening we worked from the Inlet south to the end of the tarpon hole twice with no other strikes.
Saturday (2/3) the plan was to make a drift or two and try for tarpon before heading offshore and doing some sailfishing. We did both, however, the tarpon fishing lasted longer than we planned. We had light wind conditions coming from the WSW/N @ 3 - 9 knots. This gave us a very slow drift. After setting up the first drift with live shrimp, I spotted a large school of tarpon working their way toward us from the south. A quick reset of our drift to intercept these fish resulted in a hook up. The fight lasted about 45 seconds before the hook pulled. Meanwhile, there was a school of fish moving south from the Inlet and yet another bunch of fish that were just milling around just out of casting distance. I moved ahead of the milling fish and reset the drift. This resulted in hooking a monster tarpon that looked to weigh around 140 pounds. This fish made a short run and struck its head, gills, and about a 1/4 of its body out of the water and shook. The result was another thrown hook. Meanwhile, the Lady Lo contacted me and said they were 0 for 3 on sailfish. What a dilemma!! We decide to get our bait and head offshore. A quick stop at Lester's Live Bait for pilchards and offshore we went only to run into some thick fog. We got out to the right depth about the time the fog began to clear. We started by slow trolling two big pilchards and within 5 minutes, we hooked up with a beautiful sailfish. Stephen Brunt did a fantastic job of fighting his first sail and after about 20 minutes we had the fish boatside. As quick as the action started, it shut off. One final attempt at tarpon before heading in had us seeing two fish but no hook ups.
Saturday (2/3) evening the wind picked up to N @ 18 - 20 knots. It drizzled on us several times and the seas were for only the strong of stomach. On our third drift we hit pay dirt. I had three rods out. Two with live shrimp and 1 with a Tsunami Holographic Clear/Red Fleck Shrimp. The third drift produced a doubleheader. The first bait to get hit was the Tsunami Shrimp and then the stern live shrimp. We landed one of the two fish. It was a 100 pound tarpon that gave Phil all he could ask for. The fish made three jumps at boatside that were nothing short of spectacular. On one of the jumps, he came out from under the boat and jumped away from us. The fish would have easily cleared a 6 foot high jump bar. The next drift had us hooked up again to one of the most stubborn fish I've had on in a very long time. About 20 minutes into the fight we got the leader to touch the rod tip. At that point, the fish made a long run and then went down to the bottom. It then refused to let us pull it up any higher than the double line knot breaking the surface. This went on for the next 45 minutes until the heavy drag setting and heavy pressure that Cy Mager was putting on the line finally over taxed it and the line parted just above the doubleline.
As you can see, there are sailfish and tarpon. The tarpon are big, mean, and nasty. They'll tax your angling skills and give up line only begrudgingly. For those of you who like to cast artificial baits, the Tsunami Holographic Shrimp are getting busted.
Give me a call and schedule your tarpon or sailfish trip. Ask about the afternoon/evening trip where you can get a chance to catch both species on one trip.
See you on the edge or at the Inlets.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 117
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - 6:05 am: | |
We've finally gotten the cold fronts that we've needed to get the shrimp moving. Along with that, the tarpon fishing has picked up dramatically. Prior to these last two fronts coming through back to back, the tarpon fishing was still hit and miss.
On Monday (1/22) it was a hit evening. We fished a 6 hour trip starting at 9:30 pm. This was to take advantage of both the Inlet and Bay fishing action. The Inlet produced 1 doubleheader tarpon, 2 ladyfish, and 2 mangrove snappers. The Bay was where the majority of action was with 5 tarpon, 2 of which were on artificials.
The next two evenings were miss type trips. We caught ladyfish and seatrout, however, there were no tarpon to be found. Where they went had me scratching my head trying to figure it out.
Then the 2 fronts came through and we move forward to Tuesday (1/30). This evening was another that allowed us to take advantage of both the Inlet and Bay areas. This time the Inlet was Haulover. The water temperature had dropped 4 degrees. Very light wind varying from the north to east @ 1 - 5 knots gave us just enough drift speed when combined with the current of the Inlet. Before moving into the Bay, we had action with 3 fish in the 25 - 40 pound class. When the tide made its change, we moved to the Bay and fished 3 different locations. The final result in the Bay was 4 fish (40 - 100 pound class) for a total of 7 fish overall. Now that's more like what tarpon fishing should be this time of year.
That's it for now.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 116
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 12, 2007 - 3:52 pm: | |
Windy weather seems to be the norm. Most everyday it is blowing 20 knots and better with just a few exceptions. Tarpon fishing has been hit or miss depending on the evening that you fish. There have been plenty of seatrout in the Bay for those who want calmer water and still want to get out despite the windy conditions.
On Friday (1/5) evening we had winds of 22 - 25 knots from the SE at Haulover. It made for some very bumpy conditions. We had 1 tarpon on for about 5 minutes until we caught up with the fish. At that point, the hook pulled. The remainder of the evening, we caught 1 ladyfish.
Saturday (1/6) evening we gave Government Cut a try with Billy Green, John Anduono, and Kevin Caudle. The reports I've heard from down there have been the same as up at Haulover. Hot one evening and cold the next. On this evening, we watched numerous tarpon roll around without any hits until we got to the dusk period. At that point, they disappeared. The good news is that prior to dusk, we caught and released a mutton snapper and a permit. We remained persistent and finally marked a school of tarpon. A rod bent over and the battle was on. Some pictures and the fish was released. This was the first evening that I have been tarpon fishing this year when the wind wasn't blowing like mad. The wind was E/ESE @ 6 - 13 knots.
Thursday (1/11), the wind was back up. ENE/E @ 22 - 25 knots. Steve Adams and business associates Rory, John, and George spent a relaxing day in the Bay fishing for seatrout. We had to do a lot of searching and moved numerous times. At most of the locations we anchored at first thing in the morning and then after 12 noon we caught at least 1 to several seatrout. Everyone caught several fish, with Steve finding the largest fish of the day. Cajun Thunder popping corks and shrimp did the trick for all the fish.
That's it for now. We've got day trips and night trips coming up and I'll post another report as soon as I can to keep everyone up to date with the most current information.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 115
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 7:02 pm: | |
Happy New Year everyone. We've sent 2006 on its way into the history books and welcomed in 2007. The last week of 2006 saw Knot Nancy at Bob Hewes Boats in North Miami getting a new pair of Yamaha 200 HP HPDI engines with Command Link. They were installed just in time to get in trips the last Saturday and Sunday of 2006 and get off to a great start in 2007.
We've been doing a variety of fishing that has included offshore for sailfish, kingfish, and dolphin. Inshore its been tarpon out of Haulover Inlet and in the Bay, the seatrout have been cooperating very good along with decent size jack crevalle. Lets cover each of the areas with a bit more detail.
Offshore, the sailfishing has been very good on the days when the current has been running to the north. For the most part there has been good north current. When the current stops even though there is good blue water, the sailfishing drops off dramatically. Dolphin have been showing up while we're sailfishing. No large schools, just a single or double here and there. When we drift or slide inside of 120' and most of the time inside of 100', the kingfish take over.
Inshore at Haulover Inlet, the tarpon have been cooperating on most every trip. Tuesday evening (1/2/2007), Don Eichen saw action with 3 fish in the 60 - 75 pound class. In the Bay, the tarpon have been cooperating very good after dark with the right tides.
Also in the Bay, there have been a good number of seatrout. They are all small, but when you find them, the action is fast and furious on every cast. It's hard to beat a Cajun Thunder popping cork and shrimp. There are also some schools of very nice size jack crevalle roaming the edges of the grass flats on high tide. On Sunday (12/31/2006) the Milner family had a good time catching seatrout. A few days later on 1/3/2007, Jimmy Stone and his three sons had a whale of a morning. Ryan caught a very nice 8 pound jack crevalle on 6# test line. Then we found the seatrout and Max, Ryan, and Dad (Jimmy) were catching them on every cast. Jack was the official release man. He would hold out both hands and after I placed the trout in them, he'd quickly toss it back in the water and watch it swim off.
Offshore, the wind has been pretty much blowing hard and creating sea conditions that are mostly for the strong of stomach. On Saturday (12/30/2006) Mark Alavaez and Robert Iglesias were helping Chad and Christie Hodges celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary with a half day fishing trip. Wind was E @ 22 - 23 knots. Everyone enjoyed the bait fishing part of the trip. When we worked our way offshore, the first drift gave us a decent size kingfish. By the third drift, the motion of the ocean had gotten to one of the group and they decided to call it a morning.
Brothers Tim and Mark Burrel rang in the New Year (1/1/2007) with style. The SE/E wind @ 11 - 15 knots along with a strong north current made for some great fishing action. Mark caught his first sailfish and Tim caught his second sailfish. We got the pictures they wanted and also took a tag out of Tim's fish. Throw in 2 dolphin and a nice 15 pound kingfish to round out a good afternoon of fishing. All the fish ate pilchards on the kite except for the kingfish that ate a herring on a flatline.
Once in a great while, I'll have someone book a date and for whatever reason they won't call to cancel or show up. That happened on the morning of 1/2/2007. When I booked the trip with them they were very enthusiastic about fishing. A call to their cell phone on Tuesday morning had me talking to their voice mail. I'm hoping that I've gotten that once in a great while no show out of the way for a long time. It was their loss, the action for the fish they wanted to catch was great.
Tarpon and sailfish are here for the winter and cooperating nicely. Now's the time to call and book your date.
See you on the rip or at the Inlets.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 114
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 9:40 am: | |
I've been asked how the tarpon fishing is at Haulover. Are they there yet? I've heard good reports, however, every time I've tried to get out there and find out for myself, the wind has been blowing from an easterly direction at 25 knots or better. On Tuesday (12/19) I had a good strong stomach crew consisting of brothers Tim & Mark Burrel and their friend Chuck Fitzgerald. Strong stomach because a wind of NE/ENE @ 20 - 23 knots gave us very sloppy, rough sea conditions along the beach in the Haulover Tarpon Hole. Without a sea anchor, the drifts lasted about 3 minutes. With the sea anchor, it extended the drift time to 7 minutes and slowed our drift down to about 1 MPH. That was all it took and on the second drift, we mark several fish on the recorder and 30 seconds later, the bow flatline bent over severely with our first tarpon of the new season. Tim had the honors and showed the fish very quickly who was boss before we released the fish. We made several more
drifts and marked a few more fish with no results before we all decided that it was just getting to rough and we ran in to the Bay for much calmer waters. A run down to Government Cut and fishing on the south side produced no action. When the tide turned, we tried a few Bay spots. We saw one fish at each spot and couldn't convince either fish to bite. We headed back to Spinnaker Marina happy that we got the one tarpon and saw a few more. So, to answer the question about are the tarpon there yet, YES they are. Now all we need is for the fan to shut down some so we can get out and concentrate on catching multiple fish. Now's the time to give me a call and schedule your evening tarpon fishing trip.
Saturday (12/23) Guy and Marie Rock, their son, Jack, and niece, Nicole spent a half day doing a family fishing trip. Bait fishing for herring was a snap and the livewell was filled in short order. The wind was from the SSE/S @ 11 - 18 knots. There was no current and the water was an ugly green until you got out to 250 feet. We started by slow trolling baits on the downrigger and flatlines in 80 - 120 feet. This quickly produced 1 kingfish that Jack handled nicely and it was soon in the fishbox. After no further action, we ran out to 300 feet and both slow trolled and drifted baits. We spotted several birds working the surface and moved as quickly as the conditions would allow to the area. It was a light weedline in 400 feet. As I was putting out a flatline, it got hit and Nicole caught a nice 8 pound dolphin. The water was a light blue, so we continued to work the area and chase a few more birds with no results. After the second rain storm passed over us, the wind died off and we decided to try in shallower once again. The action was non-existent and we moved north to the Anchorage area. This time, the deep bait got all the action in the form of 1 stolen bait, 1 chopped bait, and finally, 1 mutton snapper.
Sunday (12/24) Tim and Mark Burrel fished an afternoon trip in hopes of doing battle with a sailfish. The bait cooperated even better than yesterday and they were both amazed at the quantity of bait and how easy it was. They have fished for tarpon in Puerto Rico where they use herring and they remarked that the amount of bait we caught in a half hour would have taken them all day to catch in Puerto Rico. With the wind from the ESE/SE @ 13 - 18 knots, I started the first drift in 180 feet. Like yesterday, there was ugly green water and no current. Also like yesterday, we got a kingfish in short order that had Mark moving from one end of the boat to the other before it was put in the fishbox. At the end of the first drift, the long kite bait got hit and cut off by a kingfish in 80 feet. The next drift produced no action, not even a nervous bait. Next, we started slow trolling in the 70 - 100 foot range and missed 1 hook up on the downrigger bait. That's all the action we had. A very slow afternoon.
As you can see, the conditions have not been very good. We managed to get some action by trying different depths and different styles of presenting baits. By being persistent, we got some action. When you're presented with these same conditions, remember to keep trying different methods and something is bound to happen in your favor.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 113
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 15, 2006 - 6:26 pm: | |
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 Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 112
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 8:50 am: | |
A variety of species continues to be the trend with the fishing off Miami Beach. Thursday was the best day wind wise and that was the day that we
fished.
Thursday (12/7) was a full day with Tom Mathias and Ange Sireno. The herring at Government were solid like they have been for a period of time. We filled the livewell and headed straight out. The wind varied during the course of the day coming from N/E @ 2 - 8 knots giving us very calm seas. Fishing started off slow with the first fish being a remora on the downrigger. Inside of 100 feet we caught and released two kingfish. Next, we slow trolled baits out to 225 feet with no action. The little bit of current that we had first thing died off completely and with light wind, the drift was very slow. We saw a dolphin jump on a slick that was offshore of us and pulled in our lines to run out and south of the area. We slow trolled two flatlines and within a couple of minutes we had a nice size dolphin on. It made a couple of jumps and ran off some line before giving us our hook back. We saw another dolphin jump inshore of our location and ran south of it again. This time we didn't get the fish to find our bait. We needed to make a major move. While running north, we saw several good slicks out in 450 feet and worked them. The only thing we saw was very small tuna popping the surface. It was time to slow troll in shallower to try and get some action going with kingfish. At 220 feet we caught and released a small brown shark that had another hook and wire leader hanging
from its jaw. At 150 feet, the downrigger produced a dolphin. At 110 feet it was a kingfish on the downrigger that we added to the fishbox. The
downrigger saw more action at 130 feet and this time it was a sailfish. While reviving the sailfish and taking pictures, a dolphin swam up to the sailfish and followed it. The herring we presented was eaten immediately by the dolphin and then another showed up and was hooked and yet another ate a bait. The fourth fish got the bait but avoided the hook. The wind had picked up just a bit and setting up a drift, got us another dolphin on a flatline. More slow trolling produced yet another kingfish on the downrigger. To sum it up, what started as a slow day got better as soon as a little wind started blowing. The downrigger produced the vast majority of our action that came in the 85 - 220 foot range. We had at least a half dozen hits from toothy critters that resulted in cut mono leaders or baits slashed. Final count was 1 sailfish on the downrigger, 5 dolphin, 4 kingfish, 1 shark, and 1 remora.
Keep in mind the Holiday Gift Certificate for a fishing trip with Knot Nancy Fishing Charters. The big days are fast approaching, so don't let the time slip away and come up short. Call or email to order your Certificate today.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 111
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 05, 2006 - 5:41 am: | |
Green water and no current, blue green water out deep with current, and a sharp blue/green edge with a roaring north current in 110 feet along with winds as light as 6 knots and as heavy as 17 knots have made for some decent fishing off Key Biscayne and Miami Beach. There have been sailfish, kingfish, and dolphin coming through as well as some pesky small brown sharks. The nice surprise we had on our last trip was small cobia. They were undersize and were released, but fun to catch nevertheless.
Saturday (12/2), the father/son team of Fabio and Jason Nick got together again after having not fished together for awhile. They haven't lost their touch. The day started with catching herring at Government. With a full well, we headed out to find ugly green water and no current. The wind was from the E/ESE @ 12 - 15 knots so flying the kite was a snap. Our first drift was very uneventful. I got reports from several friends that there were some dolphin coming through out deeper. Moving out to 400', we found blue green water and north current. The downrigger scored the first action in the form of a small brown shark. Next it was a dolphin eating a goggle eye on the long kite line. Inside of 300' the water turned ugly green again. A flatline got hit in 280 and the mono leader was cut off. I replaced the short kite bait with a herring and started slow trolling the kite baits back out to deeper water. The downrigger got hit again and turned out to be the same small brown shark we had released earlier. When we reached 320', the action started. A dolphin hit the short kite (herring) bait. Back out goes another herring and within 2 minutes we have another dolphin on. This time it had buddies. We caught a few more and also had a shark get one of the fish we had hooked up. We hooked the shark and caught and released it in the hopes it would vacate the area. We caught 1 more dolphin before the action ended. Toward the end of the trip we started some heavy chumming with the herring and sure enough, the shark showed up again. Final count was 6 out of the 9 dolphin we hooked made it to the fishbox and 3 sharks caught and released.
Monday (12/4), was a rescheduled trip with Oscar Marrero and his friend Ramon Cruz. Originally it was scheduled for Friday. The windy conditions were much more than either of them cared to fish in. It turned out to be a very wise choice. The bait fishing was excellent. The wind was NW/NNE @ 6 - 8 knots. The seas were calm and the sharp blue/green edge was in 110' with a roaring north current. A flatline drew first action and Oscar caught a nice kingfish. The bottom rod got the next action and this time it was Ramon who caught a small brown shark. Two small cobia were sitting under the bow of my boat and got very excited when I reeled up the bottom rod to check the bait. Ramon caught and released one of them using a flatline and herring. By now the current had pushed us to the north end of the anchorage. We made a run back south and started off the Cape Florida area. Oscar got back in the action with another kingfish, this time on the downrigger. The flatline rod Ramon was watching twitched a few times and then stopped. I looked up about a minute later and saw that his line was about to go around the bow. He quickly got on the rod and ran to the bow. He came tight on the fish and we had the sailfish on, or should I say the sailfish had us on. It put on a good aerial show and made a decent run. We got the leader to touch the rod tip and then the fish came to life. It dumped about half the line off the spinning reel before we matched its run away speed with the boat. It soon became apparent that the fish was foul hooked near the tail. We had no control of the head and this was going to be a long drawn out fight. Ramon and Oscar took turns on the rod to try and get the fish to the boat as quickly as we could. As soon as it finally came up, we turned the fish around quickly and started reviving it. After a solid 5 minutes of towing the fish, it clamped down on my hand and started moving its tail briskly. After a few more minutes, we released the fish and watched it swim away. We ran back in to 100' and put a bait down on the downrigger. The wind was beginning to switch more toward the NE, so I started to slow trolled out to deeper water. I didn't make it very far. The downrigger line popped and Oscar caught another kingfish. We repeated the same technique and got another king almost immediately. Then as quickly as the action started, it stopped. Final count for the trip was 1 sailfish on a flatline, 1 kingfish on a flatline and 3 kings on the downrigger, 1 cobia on a flatline, and 1 small shark on the bottom rod.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 110
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 26, 2006 - 1:41 pm: | |
Lets get straight to the daily reports.
Monday (11/20) David Larson and his friends Bud, Joe, and Keith from Minnesota fished a three quarter day trip. We were presented with a light
north current and wind from the NW/NNW @ 14 - 23 knots. Bait fishing was a snap with the herring at Government Cut being very cooperative. Everyone got in on the action and contributed to filling the livewell.
Our first drift started in 100' just north of the Cuban Hole and we were pushed offshore very quickly. Once we reached 200', I worked the kite back
inshore to 115' and set up our second drift. The first action came at 160' on the downrigger. David made quick work of an eight pound kingfish on a 12# spinning outfit. The next drift was made without any excitement. While working the kite baits back in to shallower water, a sailfish ate the goggle eye on the long kite in 168'. Keith got to pull on the fish for a few minutes until the sail made its third jump and threw the hook. We immediately put out two herring on flatlines and slow trolled them in to 125'. As we made a turn, both flatlines got hit and we had a double header of sailfish solidly hooked up. Keith and Joe each caught and released their first sailfish. We continued to work the 120 - 200 foot range with no other action other than birds picking our baits off the surface until it was time to head back to Spinnaker Marina.
Thursday (11/23), James Snelgrove along with Roberta, Hank, and Averil got in a half day of fishing. The herring at Government Cut were playing a little hard to get, however, a quick run out to the bent range marker had us quickly topping off our livewell. Roberta and Averil had the hot hands with the sabiki rods and James finally got the hang of catching the herring.
We ran offshore and started outside of the Cuban Hole. We had a light north current and with the wind coming from the NNW/N @ 13 - 17 knots, it made for some bumpy seas. We got a bite on the first drift and James caught a large summer size bonito. It wasn't to long before we had one seasick angler. They hung in there for another drift and we got the sailfish we were looking for. Once again, James fought the fish as the others were busy holding on, taking pictures, and not feeling to well. After a quick boat side picture, the fish was released and the decision was made to call the trip at the half day mark. Despite some very heavy live chumming, we got no other hits in the final half hour. Once we reached calmer water, the symptoms of motion sickness disappeared and the one angler felt like normal again.
Friday (11/24), Jeff Godel treated his friend Bob Seltzer to a fishing trip. Bob is normally a casual boater and had not done any fishing. The herring returned with a vengeance at Government Cut and Bob caught on very quickly to the technique of using the sabiki rig. He and Jeff quickly filled the livewell and we added a final baker's dozen for good measure.
The wind today was NW/NNW @ 13 - 18 knots. Combined with a south current, we had 1 - 2 foot seas. The action was terrific and was so good, that I couldn't get a bait out on the kite before we got a hit on either a flatline, downrigger, or both. I finally just pulled the kite in and fished flatlines and the downrigger. We started with a kingfish. Then Bob was tested by his first sailfish. He passed with flying colors. Next, it was a 10 pound dolphin, followed by another kingfish. Next drift was two more kingfish. As we drifted out a bit deeper, the bonito found us and the fish we were fighting had buddies with it, so it was very easy to get a second and then a third fish hooked up. After the third bonito, both Jeff and Bob said no more. The sum total for the half day trip was 1 sailfish, 1 dolphin, 4 kingfish, 3 bonito, several chopped baits, a couple of mono leaders cut off, and two tired anglers. All the action came in the 110 - 180 foot range south of the Cuban Hole.
Saturday (11/25), 11 year old Luke Langston was treated to an offshore fishing trip by his grandfather, John Burrows. Luke had a blast catching herring and his grandfather was amazed at how easy it was. The herring today were on the smaller side, however, they were perfect kingfish size baits.
The wind today was from the NNW/ENE @ 10 - 16 knots. Mostly, it came from the NE. This had the seas beginning to build. Once again, like yesterday, the current was south. Within minutes of putting out the first baits, Luke caught a bonito. Then the downrigger rod got hit and we were making good progress until the fish ran under the boat and cut us off. Next drift, we got hits on the flatlines and downrigger that didn't hook up. We got more hits on the flatlines that didn't hook up and it was beginning to get a bit frustrating. Finally, the downrigger got hit and hooked up solid. This time Luke prevailed and put a nice 10 pound kingfish in the box. On the next drift, the downrigger scored again and this time John fought the kingfish. Meanwhile, the bow flatline got hit and finally hooked up to another kingfish. Then as if someone turned off the switch, the kings shut off. We ran out deeper and found some weedlines in 250 feet. They produced no action. I slow trolled back to 200 feet and set up a drift. At 145 feet, the bow flatline took off and John was hooked up to a sailfish. Luke got his video camera out and got some footage when the fish got close to the boat. The sail posed for a quick picture and was released to give someone else on another day the same pleasure John had just gotten. That was our last hit of the day and it ended with 1 bonito, 3 kingfish, and 1 sailfish.
The sailfish and kingfish are here. Dolphin are migrating through our area as they head south. The cold fronts are starting to line up and come through on a semi regular basis. The fishing is good and it's time to book a trip. Give me a call for details.
Another year has quickly passed by and we are fast coming up on the Holiday Season. Gift Certificates are available for that hard to please angler in your life. They make a very special gift. Call me for details and thrill that special someone with a fishing trip gift certificate.
Do you want to fish with Goggle Eyes, but don't know how to catch them or just don't have the time to catch them? Then there is good news!! Captain Gil Gutierrez and I now have goggle eyes for sale on a reservation basis. Call 305 965-9454 for details. Would you like to have a pen full of these great baits in the canal at the back of your house so you can just load them in your livewell and go fishing? We'll install the pen and fill it with your order. Call
305 965-9454 for details. With a minimum order, we'll deliver the gogs to your cage or boat in the Haulover to Government area. Call 305 965-9454 for details. Do you need gogs for the up coming sailfish and kingfish tournaments? Call 305 965-9454 for details and to reserve your baits. Let Captain Gil and I take all the mystery and lose of sleep on your part out of the equation for you. We'll do the work and you'll reap the rewards of fishing with these highly sought after baits.
See you on the edge!!
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 109
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 13, 2006 - 4:31 pm: | |
November thus far is shaping up into being a very good fishing month. Spanish Mackerel have shown up in the near shore waters. Offshore, we're finding sailfish, kingfish, and dolphin in the 110 - 300 foot range. The winds have been coming from every direction and on most days have been on the light side. Blue water has been on the deep side for the past several days. Finding decent current has required lots of hunting and searching. With all that being said, here's the run down on my past several trips.
Friday (11/10), the Elias family (Paul, Rebecca, and their sons Mariano and Emilio) from Toronto, Canada fished for a half day. The boys had a blast catching bait at Government Cut and off we went in search of larger fish. We tried the blue water that was out in 250' and got no action. Next we came in shallower and fish the green water. With a very light north
current, we knew it might take a while to see some action. We got cut off by a toothy critter. I was just about to send a bait down to the bottom when both flatlines got hit and we were hooked up solid to two large dolphin. Paul and Rebecca fought the fish while I cleared as many lines as I could while helping them follow their fish around the boat. We had Paul's fish just out of gaff range when it dove under the boat. I hadn't had a chance to clear the downrigger and you can guess what happened next. The
wire leader found the downrigger cable and parted. That left Rebecca still hooked up. She had to make 3 trips around the boat before the 18 1/2 pound
dolphin came to the gaff. This was the biggest fish that Rebecca had ever caught and the pictures told the whole story.
Saturday (11/11), Joel and Melanie Townley from Columbia, SC came down a day early to go fishing before attending the Miami Dolphins football game on
Sunday. We caught pilchards in the bay and herring at Government and ran south to start in 200' just south of Fowey Light. We had a light north current and wind from the ENE/ESE @ less than 8 knots. There was even a 2 hour time frame when there was no wind at all. Keeping the baits out away from the boat was a chore as they kept wanting to swim back to the boat no matter which way we faced or which end or side of the boat we threw them out from. Our persistence in recasting the baits paid off when we got in to 178' with a sailfish. This was Joel's first sail and it put on a very good show for him. We got the pictures we needed and watched the fish swim briskly away. Next, Joel wanted to catch a dolphin. As we were approaching the Monument Buoy area, we got chopped off by toothy critters. When we put out the wire leaders, we couldn't buy a bite. We fished the blue water out in 350' next and struck out there. We moved in to a blue/green edge in 220' and slow trolled a herring and pilchard. The herring got us the dolphin we wanted. After another 1/2 hour of working that edge with no further action, we moved in to shallower water and put a herring down with the downrigger. We were rewarded with 2 kingfish while slow trolling the 110 - 130 foot range. That's how our day ended despite moving further to the north and
working the blue water on last time.
Sunday (11/12) Eileen Clark and Faye Naylor came over from Ft Myers to fish a previously cancelled trip. The wait turned out to be well worth it. With our livewell loaded with pilchards, herring, and goggle eyes, we started just north of the Cuban Hole in 100'. The WNW wind was pushing us offshore at a very slow pace. The baits were behaving like they had for the past two days by swimming back to the boat. At 230' we untangled the two flatlines and were putting the baits back out. The bow flatline took off and when I looked over the side, there were 4 large dolphin. Faye fought the first fish while I rebaited Eileen's line and she hooked up. I hooked up another
fish and it threw the hook after a few minutes. By now I had Eileen's fish in the box and the others were still hanging around the boat. We hooked up
another dolphin and then put Faye's fish in the box. By the time all the action had settled, we had 4 dolphin (11, 14, 16, and 18 1/2 pounds ) in the box. During the entire time, the goggle eye on the kite remained untouched. We worked our way offshore to the blue water and spent some time in 400' with no results. Faye held on to the kite and balloon when I ran back in to 110' north of the sea buoy. We had a good south current in that area. Our next action came on a flatline and we pulled the hook on that fish. I was chunking with dead herring and the bow flatline hooked up as well as the downrigger line. Once again we pulled the hook on the flatline fish and caught a bomber size bonito on the downrigger line. While Eileen was putting out her line, it got hit and proceeded to dump half the 12 pound line off the reel before we gave chase. We were gaining line and making good progress when the line went slack. This time, the wire leader broke. We set all the baits back out in 170' and the downrigger got hit again. This time, Eileen got the kingfish to the boat and we added it to the fishbox. We had a great day of fishing with the 4 dolphin, 1 kingfish, 1 bonito, and 3 mystery fish.
As you can see, we worked hard to find fish. The reward of the smiles on my clients faces was well worth all the effort. We are getting closer to the
winter season and I'm beginning to book many trips in the January - May, 2007 time frame. Tarpon season is just around the corner and I already have well over 20 trips booked. The sailfish have already shown up and will only get better as the water temperatures cool down some more and we get more frequent fronts coming through. We are due for a major kingfish run anytime now. Dolphin are still migrating south and most of them are very decent size fish. With all this being said, now is the time to book your dates so you won't miss out on any of the action.
See you on the edge.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 108
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, November 09, 2006 - 12:10 pm: | |
November started off with some very windy weather that resulted in the canceling of one fishing trip. The weather has calmed down and with it, the fishing has improved dramatically.
Eileen Clark was treated to a fishing trip for her birthday by her sisters Nancy Berish and Carolyn Signor. Bait fishing was relatively easy and we headed offshore with pilchards, herring, and goggle eyes. The seas conditions were perfect for flying the heavy air kite with ESE/SSE winds of 12 - 19 knots. We started off the trees at the north end of Key Biscayne and worked our way north to the anchorage area. All of our action came in the 120 - 180 foot range. It started with Carolyn catching her first dolphin in 150', followed by Nancy catching her first dolphin off the kite in 120'. Both dolphin weighed in at 9 pounds. Next, Eileen got in on the action with releasing a small brown shark. Working the kite baits back out to 180', we saw action on the downrigger with another shark that was released. Then we had a sailfish on for one jump before it gave us our bait back. The bow flatline took off next, and Carolyn caught a very nice 25 pound kingfish. By this time we were north of the sea buoy and had picked up some north current. Another small shark inhaled one of our flatlines and it too got released. Nancy was watching the kite baits and saw the long one getting very nervous. I glanced out to it and saw the sailfish inhale the goggle eye and Nancy was now hooked up with her first sailfish. 15 minutes later, we got pictures and released the fish. The final fish of the days was caught by Eileen. It took the kingfish three tries to catch the herring on the short kite. Along the way, we had baits chopped in half, knocked off hooks, and mono leaders chopped off by toothy critters. It was good steady action throughout the trip.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 107
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, October 17, 2006 - 1:51 pm: | |
It's been quite a while since my last report. I'm beginning to come out of the summer doldrums period and I'm starting to get booked up in the January through May time frame in 2007. This summer period has seen some very slow fishing. The few trips I have done have been real struggles to catch a few fish out on the reef.
I had a half day teaching trip with Bill and Jackie Kasselbaum. They learned where and how to catch bait at the various times of the year. We loaded the livewell full of pilchards, herring, and small bluerunners. Next it was how to rig their rods and reels and some basic knots to tie double lines, mono and wire leaders. We put out our flat lines, downrigger baits, and kite baits. Our drift started in 90 feet and with a west wind, we drifted out to 300 feet. The end result was no runs, no hits, and no errors. Next, we did some running and gunning in search of some dolphin. We found lots of floating wood and no dolphin. Even the birds were absent. We dropped jigs for wahoo with no results. The final move of the trip was slow trolling a weedline and debris that we found at the color change in 350 feet. The long and short of it was we didn't even have a bait get nervous.
My next trip was with Scott Moreland and his business associates Steve and Rich. Once again bait was a snap and offshore we went into a wind from the NE/ENE @ 18 - 21 knots. We put out herring on the flatlines and downrigger. Two goggle eyes were flown from the kite. A sea anchor was deployed to slow down our drift. The color change was in 160 feet on our first drift. By the second drift it had moved out to 190 feet. The final drift before coming in to some calmer water saw the color change out at 210 feet. Final results on that part of the trip was a goggle eye cut in half behind the bridle and we saw a large school of mullet in 210 feet. We moved inshore for calmer water so one of the angler's stomach could settle down. We slow trolled a goggle eye and caught and released a barracuda. Next, we had a tarpon roll on the second bait and move on. We saw a school of finger mullet swimming happily along and not being bother by any predators. That's the way our morning ended. Another day of struggling.
Our most productive day was when we did some deep dropping on various wrecks in the 115 - 220 foot range. The lane and vermillion snapper cooperated on most every drop. On one of the wrecks, we were hooking large bluerunners and before we could get them up, the barracudas were chopping them in half as well as cutting off our dropper rigs.
As you can see, the few trips I've done for the most part have been a struggle. The good news is that it shouldn't be long before the fishing picks up and the results will be better for reef fishing. Kings, sailfish, and mackerel are not to far off. The tarpon should start to settle into their winter time pattern at some point in December. Fishing will improve and I'll be ready.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 106
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 07, 2006 - 2:18 pm: | |
We're still getting through our long, hot, and stormy summer. Fall is just around the corner, however, we still need to get through September. As is usual for me during this part of the year, business is still slow. The fishing is still in it's summer pattern of kingfish, bonito, and barracuda on the reef. Night time snapper fishing is still worth pursuing. Dolphin fishing remains mostly slow with a decent day here and there. Most people I talk with who have ventured out in pursuit of dolphin have come back disappointed or have only caught a couple. They all say the same thing; no weed, no birds, no debris, and no rips, just a clean ocean.
Let me bring you up to date on my fishing (or should I say lack of fishing) trips. When you see the dates, you'll understand why I say lack of.
Saturday (8/19), Mark Rubert, his son Sam, and Sam's brother-in-law, Rubin just wanted to spend some time together and catch a few fish. Species or size didn't matter. We started off Haulover Inlet and wound up off the Miami Sea Buoy. We covered the water from 100 - 230 feet with flatlines, downrigger, and bottom rigs. As is usual for this time of year, the downrigger and bottom rig saw most of the action with several kingfish and bonito, a shark, a remora, and a determined triggerfish that ate the bait and got the hook in its small mouth. The highlight of the trip was the swordfish that swam with us in 170 feet for several minutes. Try as we might, the fish refused our pilchards and bluerunner offerings. Each time we put the bait in front of the fish, it would go down as if to catch the bait and then come right back to the surface. When we lost sight of the swordfish, it was heading inshore toward shallower water.
Monday (9/4), Bruce Moldow spent some quality time with his son Jordan and daughter Eliza. Both young anglers pitched right in with scooping the bait in the livewell after I made one throw with the castnet. We started just south of Haulover Inlet and put out our flatlines, downrigger, and bottom rig. We had enough wind to fly the ex-light kite with 1 rod. The kite bait did the trick and Jordan caught and released a barracuda. Next, Eliza caught a bonito on the kite outfit. We watched a waterspout come down from a storm coming ashore off Government Cut. Then a storm developed to the north of us and we saw another waterspout whipping up the surface. So far we avoided the rain storms. We moved south to off 87th Street and Jordan released a kingfish on the bottom rig. As soon as we started chumming off both sides of the boat with pilchards, Eliza caught and released a bonito on a flatline. Our luck with the storms finally ran out and the seas kicked up with just a few minutes left in the trip when the wind started blowing over 20 MPH. We pulled in all our baits to head in and the bottom rig once again caught a triggerfish with a very big appetite. Jordan and Eliza were both a real big help with getting baits out of the livewell for me and doing a great job with throwing out the chum baits. The team effort by everyone made for a fun and successful morning. Oh, by the way, Dad got his chance with one fish that hit the bottom rig and really peeled off some line. That was the only strike we had that didn't result in landing and releasing a fish. Better luck next time Dad.
As you can see, there was a lot of time between trips, but they were both almost identical with what we caught. We're looking forward to the Fall mullet run and the fishing that comes with it. I'll be taking my yearly vacation to Marco Island and checking out the wade fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. I'll let you know how the action is so you can schedule a wade fishing trip. Meanwhile, if you want to fish on the Atlantic side of Florida , I have the openings, so give me a call and lets get out on the ocean and have some fun catching fish.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 105
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - 7:45 pm: | |
Yes, it has been quite a while since my last fishing report. This is the time of year when, like many other guides, business slows down in August and September. With all the slack time, it's time to pull maintenance on the tackle and the boat.
I often hear that the reason for this slow down is it's to hot, fishing is slow, and there are the afternoon thunderstorms. It's true that it's hot, however, there are ways to beat the heat. As for the fishing being slow, that depends on what species you are after. Let's take a look at what the summer has to offer.
During the daytime, the main fish out on the reef are going to be kingfish, bonito, and barracuda. Use light tackle for these species and on some days, your arms will ache from fighting so many fish. Besides these three species, there will be an occasional sailfish and mixed in with the bonito will be an occasional blackfin tuna. Around the wrecks, there will be some mutton snapper and yellowtail. Further offshore, there are dolphin and a few wahoo. The dolphin fishing has picked back up some from a very dismal late June and July. As for the afternoon thunderstorms, if you fish early and watch the weather, you can usually get in a half day of fishing.
Now, let's talk about beating the heat. The best way is to fish after dark. The reef has been producing mutton snapper, mangrove snapper, and yellowtail snapper. On Thursday (8/10), Steve Gensolin and his friends Billy, Wade, and Ray took advantage of the good snapper fishing. We started out in 40 feet and got the ball rolling with lane snapper and some under size mangroves and yellowtail. The sharks moved in on us and we moved offshore to 55 feet. The chum bag raised pilchards to the boat and we started catching legal size snappers. At the trip end of the scheduled trip, they all decided that wanted to stay another two hours. About an hour later, the current died off and the fishing slowed down, but that is when the goggle eyes showed up. At the end of the evening, we had caught and kept 4 mutton snapper, twice that many mangrove snappers, 5 legal yellowtails, and 15 large grunts. Throughout the evening we caught and released numerous lane, mangrove, and yellowtail snapper that were under sized along with lots of grunts, and 2 bonnethead sharks. The action was steady most all of the evening. That's one way to beat the heat, and now here's another.
Swordfish are found much further offshore. They make great table fare and the battle with this giant is hard to beat. On Friday (8/11), Eric had his bachelor's party with his friends Jim, Frannie, and Busby. We were set up just before dark. During the beginning of the trip, our drift was toward shore. During the last hour of the trip, the drift changed to an offshore one despite the wind still coming from the SE. It was at this point that we hooked up and the battle was on. We worked the fish back to the 50 foot mark on the line and then the hook pulled. Two other baits got slashed during the course of the evening. The seas are calm and should remain so on into October.
To sum it up, I have plenty of dates open, so getting the date you want should not be very hard. Despite the heat, the daytime fishing is good. To beat the heat, fish at night. Whether you're looking for sportfishing action or something to take home to eat, the fish are there both during the day and after dark. You've got the low down on what's going on during the summer. The rest is up to you. Give me a call 305 965-9454 or send me an email nkostyo@bellsouth.net to book a date and lets get out there and catch some fish.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 104
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - 3:19 pm: | |
The summer time fishing on the reef continues to remain in its normal pattern. Blue water, north current, good edge, and lots of bonito, kingfish, and barracuda. Just about the time you get tired of pulling on bonito, one of them turns out to be a blackfin tuna. Mix in an occasional sailfish and you have the makings of plenty of action. Dolphin fishing for the most part still remains slow. There have been a few fish up to 10 pounds caught, however, most anglers who go out and search for dolphin have come back very disappointed. A bit of encouragement on the dolphin front is that today (7/19) a fair amount of the throw back undersized fish made an appearance. This doesn't put any fillets in the fish box, but at least you get more action than there has been.
The pleasant surprise is that the tarpon are still hanging out in decent numbers at Government Cut. The best bet for action has been late in the dusk period and after dark. Live crabs are still the bait of choice. The fish are in the 40 - 100 pound range.
Monday (7/10) evening, Mark and Sue Schorr from Plantation along with Sue's brother-in-law Mick from Shelbyville, IN were out for some tarpon fishing. This was Mick's first time fishing in the ocean. We got in one quick drift before the weather closed in around us and we made a mad dash for shelter at Monty's. As is typical of our weather, the storm passed over in about an hour and we ran back out to resume fishing. It was just about the right time of the evening and on the third drift, we got our first shot. The fish made a nice run and jump before giving us back our hook. We continued our drift and a few minutes later, we got a solid hook up and Mick was fighting his first tarpon. Prior to this fish, Mick's best catch was a 5# bass. He'd been told about what a great fight a tarpon is, however, I don't think he was prepared for the real thing. It was a see saw battle with Mick enjoying every minute of it. He kept the pressure up and the fish finally gave in and was released. The next drift we jumped another fish. The next drift had Mark hooked up solid to a mean and nasty tarpon. We kept increasing the drag and the tarpon kept laughing at us and pulling out more line. Every time we got straight up and down with the fish it sprinted under the boat and dumped lots of line off the reel. Then it started making surges at the surface and gulping air. This gave the fish more energy. After what seemed like an eternity, we got the leader to touch the rod tip for the catch. At this point, Mark passed the rod off to Sue so she could do some pulling on a tarpon. The fish must have sensed the change in angler's and started pulling harder again. It was back and forth and back and forth before Sue finally got the leader in to my hands and we released the fish. We made several more drifts with no further action and the evening ended with a 2 for 4 count.
Saturday (7/15) we fished offshore on the reef. Tim Gipe and his friends Mike and Rich got to pull on bonitos and barracuda. We had to work for our herring in some fairly rough water. Persistence paid off and we had a livewell full of herring with some cigar minnows and bluerunners. We started straight out from Government Cut and made drifts in the 100 to 300 foot range. We had a beautiful blue edge and a strong north current. Most all of our action came in the 100 - 150 foot area. Flatlines, downrigger, and kite lines kept us busy and we had action on most every drift. By the end of the trip, we were straight out from Haulover Inlet.
Sunday (7/16) we had much calmer seas than on Saturday. Bait fishing was much easier and we filled the well once again with herring and small bluerunners to go along with the pilchards we bought before heading south from Haulover Inlet. Brian and Deepali Tracey from Ft. Wayne, IN were out for a relaxing day of fishing. Did I say relaxing? It started out that way off the southern end of Key Biscayne and then back north to the tree area of Key Biscayne. The conditions looked perfect with one thing lacking. CURRENT!! We moved north to the Cuban Hole area and the relaxing went out the window. We had some type of action on every drift from that point on. If it seemed like it was slowing down, Deepali would lay down to try and catch a quick rest. That was all that was needed to get another strike. When the dust settled at the end of the trip, we had a 15 and 22 pound kingfish, 1 kingfish released, 1 barracuda released, 8 bonito caught with 4 being released, and at least a dozen, I lost track, pulled hooks or mono leader chop offs. All the action came in the 100 - 160 foot range on flatlines, downrigger, and bottom rigs.
As you can see, the action is fast and furious. There are plenty of days open and this is the time of year when it's not to hard to get the day you want. Lets get that day scheduled and get out and get in on the action before the real heat of the summer gets here. Give me a call @ 305 965-9454 or send me an email nkostyo@bellsouth.net for information or to book a trip.
The edge is sharp. See you out there.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Ron Mallet (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - 3:14 pm: | |
The heat is on. Florida summer has kicked in, 80's, 90's and scattered storms. There are some nice weather spaces for those who feel lucky! I try to stick with mornings and get it done before the temps and clouds start to build. Most of the action has been hunting Kingfish and Bonita offshore. The Dolphin action has been weak, spotty and very unpredictable lately. But of all the fishing here, the Dolphin is the one fish that can quickly turn you from zero to hero. Just get lucky and stumble on them and you can get into instant action. The inlet is holding some Barracuda and Jacks. I've seen a few Tarpon rolling but no takers lately. The bottom fishing for Snapper can be good this time of year too. It all depends on the conditions, which change daily and sometimes hourly. If you pick the right day and get the right conditions things might come together for you.
Sea Ya,
Captain Ron Mallet
www.actionsportfishing.com
954 423 8700 |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 103
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 - 3:01 pm: | |
We are definitely in our summer pattern. That equates to mainly bonito, kingfish, and barracuda on the reef during the day. There will be a few
sailfish and blackfin tuna caught but not on every trip. When there is north current, then anchoring on a wreck and bottom fishing will result in some mutton snapper. For those who want to fish in cooler temperatures, then you'll have to fish after dark. Well offshore it will be swordfish. In on the reef you'll find yellowtail snapper and mangrove snapper. Dolphin have become very scarce in our area. There are scattered grass areas as well as large patched offshore, however, the dolphin are hard to find. The
few that have been around have been good sized ranging from 10 - 30 pounds just not very many at all.
Saturday (7/1) it was Cameron Sisser and his friends Matt, Malcolm, and Adam. We had ENE/NE wind @ 5 - 16 knots along with north current. Catching herring at the range marker was relatively easy. We fished the area from the Cuban Hole north to just south of Haulover Inlet. The fishing started off fairly quickly with a bonito on the downrigger and went downhill from there. It's not that we didn't get our shots, it was just that I must have opened the box of rubber hooks. The opportunities were spread out
throughout the day. We had 3 cutoffs by toothy (kingfish or barracuda??) critters, a downrigger bait that a toothy critter couldn't even chop in half, and a barracuda that sky rocketed the long kite bait and didn't hook up. The downrigger then produced a triggerfish that made a mistake and hooked itself before it ate the bait off the hooks. After the three cutoffs on the flatline baits, I put a wire leader on and then we got the sailfish strike. The fish made two jumps before the wire that was wrapped around its bill came loose. And that's how the day ended. Anglers 2 and fish 6.
Monday (7/3) Fred and Eileen Clark treated their granddaughter Tiffany Louchez and her husband Clyde to a day of fishing. Once again, the herring were very cooperative at the range marker. The wind was ENE/SE @ 7 - 11 knots and we had no current. We started in 200 feet and the first two drifts produced a kingfish that was caught by Clyde and a bonito by Tiffany on the downrigger as well as a flatline cutoff by a toothy critter. The next several drifts were uneventful. We moved out to 300 feet when Henry
and Maria on Two Extremes called us and told us about two nice size dolphin that they had caught. The moved paid off for us, but not in the form of dolphin. The downrigger drew first action and Tiffany was up for the challenge. While she was fighting her unknown fish, the bow flatline hooked
up and Clyde was on that fish. Tiffany's fish made a smoking first run and then rose to the surface. Next, it went back down deep and started to move
inshore. It was give and take for the first several minutes before Tiffany started to gain the upper hand. Meanwhile, up at the bow, Fred took over
fighting the fish as Clyde wasn't feeling to well. Fred made quick work of a 10# barracuda while Tiffany continued to gain line on her fish. All this
time, Eileen had the video camera working capturing all the action. Slowly but surely, Tiffany worked the fish closer to the boat and soon we had color
and saw that it was a kingfish of about 25 pounds. It ran back and forth across the motors several times and each time Tiffany was right on top of the fish. She won in the end as I gaffed the fish and added it to the fish box. Clyde's stomach wasn't improving any so we called it a morning and headed to Spinnaker Marina and solid ground.
Thursday and Friday evenings, we tried to get a tarpon trip in, however, Mother Nature just wouldn't let it happen. The late afternoon storms put a
damper on the trips and we are going to try again on Monday evening.
Saturday (7/8) Byron Chigoy and his wife Nichole from Austin, Texas were visiting his dad, Tom. His Dad was treating his son to a saltwater fishing
trip for his birthday. We bought pilchards and caught herring and had a live well full of bait. With the wind from the NE/E @ 7 - 9 knots, we had
calm seas. We started in 190' off of 96th Street. We got action on the flat line and Byron caught a bonito. Two drifts later, we started a bit
deep at 215' and while I was putting out the downrigger it got hit and this time Tom caught a bonito. While I was removing the hook from the bonito, a small barracuda ate a pilchard and Nichole caught and released that fish. With no further action, we moved south to the Twin Towers and started in 190'. We had no action by the time we drifted in to 120', so I moved out to 300' for a change of scenery. It turned out to be the right move as the
rear flatline got hit and in almost a blink of an eye, 3/4's of the line had been dumped off of the 20# spinning outfit. Everyone was frantically reeling in lines as we gave chase. Byron was up on the bow and we were at a stand off with the fish. He did a great job of fighting the fish and soon we were quickly gaining line. We then came to another stand off and this time Byron inched the fish in a couple of inches with each pump of the rod. The fish made it's final move toward the bow and came to the surface where
we saw it was a decent size wahoo. We were fishing with a straight mono leader and short shank (Eagle Claw L194 6/0) live bait hook. The fish was hooked perfectly in the corner of the jaw and after gaffing the fish and putting it in the fishbox, we saw only one slight nick from the wahoo's teeth on the leader. Back at Spinnaker Marina, the fish weighed 22 1/2 pounds and some of the steaks are being eaten this evening.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Ron (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 7:09 pm: | |
The weather had us keeping one eye on the sky and the other on the rod. We did get lucky though, the rain went around us the last few mornings and the rods bent. The offshore action has been mostly Kingfish and Bonita in the 10 to 20 pound range. Not as many bites as earlier in the week but it is just a trend, by tomorrow it is old news and the action might be fast and furious again?
We did get a nice gift today, at the end of our morning we saved exploring time to try something different inshore. The first bait out got hammered by a nice Snook in the 10 pound range. Over the next 20 minutes or so we pitched 11 live baits and had 11 instant bites. We released 6 Snook, 10 to 18 pounds, 1 Jack about 10 pounds and pulled the hooks on another 4 large fish. It was a blast on spinning tackle and a first for the anglers. This was some of the best Snook action I've seen in a long time considering it was high noon, in a busy waterway. All fish were quickly released. The ending went well too, we tied up the dock lines and it started to pour!
Captain Ron Mallet
www.actionsportfishing.com
954 423 8700 |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 102
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 26, 2006 - 3:08 pm: | |
There continues to be lots of very small dolphin all over the ocean whether you are 15 miles out or fishing in 150 feet. The best bet for finding decent size dolphin has been to fish inside of 250 feet.
Meanwhile, if you're looking for some rod bending action, there have been plenty of bonito (little tunny) in the 100 - 150 foot range. Before you go saying it's only a darn bonito, think about the folks up north who can't wait for them to show up. They call them false albacore and even have tournaments where they fish for them. They are great light tackle fish and can really pull some line off a reel. They can save the day when other fish aren't cooperating. I guess we're spoiled here in South Florida with all the other different species of fish that we catch. Mixed in with the bonito have been a good amount of kingfish in the 6 - 15 pound class and we're in that time of year when the barracuda are making a good showing on the reef. They've all been hitting both flat line and downrigger baits, so put out both and let the fish decide what they want on the day you are out. And finally, when you find some good north current, there are still a few sailfish around. Once again, don't be surprised when your downrigger line pops and up comes a sail jumping and putting on a great aerial show.
Tuesday (6/20) was mother daughter day aboard Knot Nancy. Eileen Clark and her two daughters Cindy and Sharon spent some good quality time together while getting in some fishing action. The day started by catching herring off Haulover Inlet. There were lots of schools of bait to choose from and after filling the live well, we ran offshore looking for dolphin. Lots of scattered weed and very weak scattered weedlines were all we could find. The few birds we saw were looking and searching just like we were. At 20 miles, we turned around and started back in. We trolled a weedline that was forming and spent lots of time clearing weeds off our lures. At 12.5 miles, I set up a drift with a weak weedline and about 10 minutes later we got some action. The dolphin were all under size and could only kill the live herring. Cindy caught her first dolphin while Sharon and Eileen are old pros at catching them. Chunk baits and Kaplan jigs netted us 6 dolphin that were caught and released. We decided to run in to the reef to give Cindy a chance at pulling on some hard fighting fish. All our action came in the 110 - 130 foot range until our last drift. We had baits pulled off the hooks and mono leaders cut off by toothy critters. Then it was a triple header bonito with everyone landing their fish. The next drift had a sailfish eat two of our flatline baits and Cindy got to see and experience the excitement of fighting a large fish. The last drift of the day was set up in 150 feet and a large school of under sized dolphin invaded us. The fish followed us in to 80 feet and during this time we caught and released 18 more dolphin.
Friday (6/23) evening I fished for tarpon for the first time in eleven (11) days. Shaun Hoskins from England had never caught a tarpon before and he was anxious to do battle with a large silver king. Before it got dark, we only saw a few fish roll and one explode on some bait. We were fighting large lines of grass that kept fouling our baits. I made a move to a different area and on our first drift we had something pick up the live crab and immediately drop the bait. We reset our drift and this time we got a solid hook up. Shaun wanted to catch his tarpon using a spinning outfit and he got his wish. The fish fought very sluggishly at first and then suddenly realized that something was wrong. It then made a tremendous run and dumped half the line off the reel. After about 30 minutes, we got the leader to touch the rod tip. Shaun wanted a good picture and it was then that he learned how hard tarpon really fight. Every time the fish began to tire, it would come up and gulp air. It then got strong again and would make a nice run. This see saw battle went on for another hour and a half with the neither the tarpon or Shaun wanting to give up. The fish moved offshore to 22 feet and then reversed field and went inside of the swim markers to 8 feet. It then went offshore again and then back shallow again. Shaun could not believe how hard the fish fought. The fish gulped air for the 6th time and made a dive under the boat. We had the drag very tight and it pulled the spinning rod down again the rub rail. Shaun could not lift the rod up and when the line rub again the boat it parted. During the fight, I got several pictures with his camera. I convinced him that using conventional tackle would whip the fish quicker and he agreed to put them out. In less than a minute after setting up another drift, we were hooked up again and this time it only took about 20 minutes to whip the fish. The final two drifts of the evening produced no action and a very tired and happy Shaun enjoyed the ride back to Spinnaker Marina. He had caught his first two tarpon, gained a tremendous respect for how hard they fight, and was looking forward to his next battle with the silver king.
Call to schedule your fishing trip and get in on the action.
See you on the edge or at Government.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 101
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 18, 2006 - 11:26 am: | |
Tarpon inshore and small dolphin offshore have been the most reliable catches. On the reef, there have been some kingfish, bonito, a few dolphin, and some barracuda.
On Monday (6/12) evening we had some excellent tarpon fishing. Despite the cloudy skies and wind from the SE/S @ 12 - 17 knots that Alberto sent our way we found some pleasant sea conditions at Government Cut using the north jetties to knock down the seas some. Live crabs did the trick and by the end of the evening, we had caught and released 3 out of 4 tarpon in the 55 - 90 pound class.
Friday (6/16) started out with a bang. I mean that literally. We were just outside Haulover Inlet headed to the first bait spot when it felt like I picked up something on a prop. When I checked, I saw that we had thrown a blade off the starboard prop. We fast idled back to Spinnaker Marina where Mike Thomas and John Tomlinson of TNT Marine fixed me up with a new set of 19" Mirage Stainless Steel props. At 9:45 AM we were headed back out. We caught herring outside of Haulover and at the worm hole. At Government Cut, we topped off the baitwell with pilchards and the Scharf Family and I headed offshore to look for dolphin. At 12.5 miles out, we broke the ice with a throwback size dolphin. At 14.5 miles we found more dolphin under a flock of birds that were working the shoreward side of a weed line. Chris and Tyler were having a grand time catching fish on herring chunks and Kaplan jigs. Mom (Pam) and Dad (Gary) also got in on the action and all four were constantly hooked up at once. The birds and fish moved on and we continued out to 20.5 miles before turning back after finding no more action. At 18.5 miles we found a flock of birds and the mother lode of dolphin. For the next 2 hours it was almost constant action with everyone hooked up. When it slowed a bit we only had to look up and see the birds about a 100 yards away and move over to them and we were back in the action. The wind started picking up from the NE and along with the wind so did the seas. The fish didn't mind and neither did the Scharf's. Late in the afternoon, the boys began to tire from catching so many fish and it was time to start heading back in. How many fish did we catch? Conservatively the count was 60 fish. Now before I gets loads of emails about going over the limit let me say that every fish was released because they were all under the 20 inch minimum legal length. The largest fish was caught by Pam and was 19 1/2 inches. Chris and Tyler didn't care, they were happy with just catching and seeing so many fish on their first dolphin trip. Gary and Pam didn't mind because they had fished with me previously and still had dolphin fillets in their freezer from that trip. They were happy with seeing their boys having so much fun catching fish. The boys learned two valuable lessons from this trip. First, you can still have fun fishing while obeying the rules. And second, you don't have to kill a lot of fish to say you had a great day of fishing. The ride back in was on the bumpy side, however, it was made much more pleasant with thoughts of the great day of fishing they all had just experienced.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 100
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 11, 2006 - 1:37 pm: | |
Dolphin fishing remains fairly consistent. The fish have been spread out over a wide range of depths from 125 feet on out. On Saturday, June 11th, there were some large fish caught in the 125 - 200 foot range as well as in the 8 - 9 mile range. Others who went as far out as 30 miles found structure to fish to but very few fish on the structure. Kingfish and blackfin tuna action is still good. Sailfish have made a dramatic slow down. With summer upon us, the bonito are making their showing as well as large barracuda.
The really bright spot is the fantastic tarpon action that is still taking place around this full moon cycle. They are feeding well both in the late afternoon and on after dark. Live crabs are being devoured readily by these hungry silver kings.
Friday (6/2) Tino and Anthony caught dolphin, barjacks, and rainbow runner on a half day trip. The birds put us on most of the dolphin action. We kept 5 fish for dinner and released the rest. Trolling the 1/4 ounce Kaplan jig got us the vast majority of action. We found an outstanding weed line at 18 miles out where we found only 3 of the dolphin, however, the bar jacks and rainbow runner were holding on one section of the line and gave us action on every pass.
Saturday (6/3) was the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Broward fishing event. We started by looking for dolphin. At 8 miles out we found a large plastic trash barrel in a decent weed line. It held barjacks and triggerfish that were very finicky to feed. A dolphin swam up and refused our live bait offering. Five minutes later it swam up again and this time it was hungry. Running further offshore only produced a nice boat ride. We came back in to the reef to catch anything from the bottom. At the third location where we anchored, we got the variety of bottom critters to eat and 6 different species of fish. It was a good time fishing with Nicholas, Trevor, Jason and Tony.
Friday (6/9) Joe Casey and his friends Jed, Dave, and Steve all from Jackson, Wyoming got to experience tarpon fishing at its best. Government Cut was loaded with hungry fish and everyone was getting in on the action. Joe started it off with a very nice 70 pound fish. From the dusk period on to well after dark, we got some sort of action on every drift until the tide changed. Everyone eventually caught and released a fish. The three fish that we didn't catch were all hooked up with one throwing the hook when it finally made its first jump, the second fish shed the hook after fighting it for several minutes, and the third fish found a rock pile and cut us off before we could catch up with it. The largest fish of the evening was an 80 pounder. When everything was over and done, we finished the evening at 4 for 7.
Saturday (6/10) morning was the most disappointing dolphin trip I've had so far this season. Neil, Chris, Trenton, and Wayne worked hard to get the fish up. Our reward for the morning was a very disappointing 1 dolphin and 1 bar jack.
Saturday (6/10) evening's tarpon trip with Tom, Richard, Peter, and Arnie was great. The second drift had Peter hooked up with his first tarpon. He did a great job of fighting and countering each of the tarpon's moves. The 55 pound fish broke the ice for him and prepared him for the next fish he wanted to catch using a 20 pound spinning outfit. The second fish of the evening was caught by Arnie. He is a seasoned tarpon angler and had no problem beating his 70 pound fish. The spinning outfits went out next and it took a few drifts before Peter was doing battle with a beautiful 80 pound fish that made numerous high flying leaps, thrashes, and head shaking half leaps. We got the pictures he wanted before releasing the fish. During all the fights, Tom and Richard were busy with taking lots of pictures and video to capture the battles on film. Final count for the evening was 3 for 3.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 99
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 - 5:23 pm: | |
The past several days have been action packed with lots of action. Dolphin offshore and tarpon inshore have been the main attraction. Throw in a wahoo, a few tripletails, and a permit to round out the action.
The dolphin have been found from the blue/green edge out to 15 miles. The fish on the edge have been mostly throw backs. The unfortunate thing is that once again this year I am watching way to many people throwing everyone they catch into the fish box. The 20 inch minimum size limit apparently doesn't mean anything to them. It is really nice to be able to stop on the edge first thing on your way out and catch and release a few to break the ice. Then head offshore to find some keeper size fish for dinner. There is also more debris flowing through our area. Look for tripletail around this debris and also for wahoo down deep below it.
Inshore, tarpon continue to make a strong showing at Government Cut. Live crabs will get you the strikes, you just have to wait them out sometimes. The fish are big, mean, and ornery and are not giving up easily. Expect a long hard battle with these fish and most of them are making it to the deep water of the main channel where the battle gets even tougher. There have also been some permit in the area, so on any give strike it could turn out to be the silver platter.
Friday (5/26) Omar, Maurice, and Eddie sampled the dolphin fishing for a half day trip. We caught a total of about 32 fish and kept enough for several meals for everyone. The remainder of fish were released. The fish were all found on the blue/green edge and responded to live pilchards and 1/4 ounce Kaplan jigs. We ran out to as far as 15 miles and found a clean ocean and no bird activity. We ran back in to the edge and finished off the morning catching more fish by trolling the Kaplan jig.
Saturday (5/27) evening, Dennis and Vicki Horn did battle with the tarpon at Government Cut. Our first drift was uneventful. On the second drift we saw lots of rolling fish and had one crush a bait and give it back to us. On the third drift, we got the double header on. Dennis' fish ran in toward Fisher Island and Vicki's fish ran offshore and then toward the main channel. By the time we were getting close to the main channel, Dennis had his 60 pound fish along side and we released it. Vicki's fish ran into the Cut and swam against the current before heading back to the south side and toward Fisher Island. When we got to the ridge, the tarpon reversed directions and swam back to the deep water of the main channel. It then proceeded to head offshore into the current. We went half way to the second
green marker where it once again reversed directions and headed back toward shore. It swam around the first green marker and I managed to maneuver the
boat around the marker and freed the line. It had some very bad chaffing but held together. The next move was across to the north side of the Cut and then up over the ledge to the north jetty before heading offshore again. The fish was now moving toward the red marker off the tip of the north jetty. As it was moving back toward the deep water, we got the leader to touch the rod tip and got the catch. Once again it reversed directions and it was at this point that the line couldn't take it any more and it parted. All this took about 1 1/2 hours and Vicki was totally exhausted. As she put it, she always picks on the tarpon from hell. The next drift it was Dennis' turn and it didn't take very long. The surprise was the 20# permit that we caught and released after we took its picture. The next 2 drifts we hooked up and had a hook pull and a line cut off in the bottom. The final drift of the evening was a solid hook up and the tarpon ran in toward the shallow water where we got the catch and release. Final total for the evening was 3 for 5 tarpon and a 20# permit.
Sunday (5/28) we started at 10 AM and fished till 6 PM. Max Dekelbaum and his friend Gene wanted some dolphin action. We started on the blue/green
edge and trolled the Kaplan jigs about 100 feet before we were hooked up. After catching and releasing several fish, we ran offshore in search of some keeper size fish. We found a large board that had 4 huge tripletail under it. We got 2 of them to eat chunks. Next we dropped the 4 ounce jig down deep and Gene caught his first wahoo that weighed in at 20 pounds. We out to about 15.5 miles and found a clean almost bird free ocean. We ran back in and found a scattered weedline at about 10 miles. The further south we followed it, the more defined it became and soon we found some large patches. We worked the patches for the remainder of the trip and caught numerous dolphin. All total we caught 40 dolphin and kept 20. Throw in the wahoo and tripletail and we had a very nice days catch.
Monday (5/29) morning, Keli Faure, her father Kenneth, and boyfriend Freddy were out for a half day of dolphin fishing. The blue/green edge once again broke the ice for us and after catching a releasing about 8 fish, we ran offshore. The word from my friends on Reel Rowdy II was that there were some large patches at 15 miles. They were the best patches I've seen so far this dolphin season. We slow trolled two pilchards between two of the patches and got almost instant action. Then the bigger fish swam by us and we hooked it with the second bait. It ran under a 50 yard wide patch and jumped on the other side. Our line was trying to get through the dense patch. I had to clear the weeds from the line while I slowly worked our way through the patch. Miraculously, the fish stayed on and after another 5 minutes we put the fish in the boat. Back at Spinnaker Marina when we weighed the fish, it tipped the hand held scale at 23 1/2 pounds. We stayed with the patches the remainder of the morning and caught more keepers and several more throw backs. Everyone got in on the action and when all was over and done, we had caught 14 dolphin. We kept the big bull and 6 schoolie size fish and released the rest. Dolphin fillet dinner was on the menu for Monday evening.
Monday (5/29) evening it was Jerry Scala and Alvaro De Palleja's turn to do battle with the silver king. When we got down to Government, the fish were rolling every where. The biggest challenge we had was that there was no wind and a very slow drift of .2 MPH. It required us to put floats on to keep the baits out of the bottom. Late in the dusk period, our patience paid off and Alvaro was fast into a battle with his first tarpon. It made a bee line for the main channel, went across the Cut to the north side and then out and around the tip of the north jetty. The next move by the tarpon was to head toward the beach on the north side of the Cut. It made several dives under the boat and we countered each of its moves. Every time it would then start moving closer and closer toward the beach. We got the leader to touch when we were just inside of the swim markers. The fish made another dive under the boat and this time the leader broke at the hook from all the chaffing on the tarpon's bony jaw. We ran back to the south side and by now the wind finally picked up enough from the WNW so that we could drift and cover ground. On the last drift of the evening, we got the tarpon hit we were looking for and Jerry was reeling frantically as we tried to get to the drop off before the tarpon did. This time the tarpon beat us and cut us off as it dropped over the ledge and into the deep water of the Cut. Final total this evening was 1 for 2 tarpon.
We're up to date again and looking forward to our next trip. If you want to join in on the fun, give me a call or send me an email for details.
See you offshore on a big patch or weed line.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 98
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 25, 2006 - 4:32 pm: | |
Time for a quick report to bring you up to date and then it's off to go fishing again for me. Dolphin offshore have been quite reliable. One day it's run out 9 - 12 miles to find them, on another day they are in 800 feet, and on yet another day they'll be found on the blue/green edge. During the week, if you find something large floating out in the blue, odds are good that it will be holding dolphin and you'll have it pretty much to yourself. On the weekend unless you are one of the first couple of boats to find something, then odds are that it will have been picked clean by the time you get to it. None the less, dolphin fishing is good.
Inshore, tarpon are still in high gear at Government Cut and in the Bay. Live crabs fished through the dusk period and after dark will usually get you several shots at the silver king. The fish have been in the 60 pound and up class. In the Bay, the fish are in the 20 - 50 pound class.
Friday (5/19) evening, the Karim family (Shahid, Melinda, Asha, and Paul) had tarpon on their minds as the goal. The tarpon had other thoughts on their mind. There were a few fish in the area, however, not like they had been. It seems like they were taking the night off. We worked the south and north sides of Government Cut and finally hooked a fish on the south side. The tarpon dumped a lot of line on its first run in toward Fisher Island. We were in hot pursuit, but not fast enough. The fish found an obstruction on the bottom and dragged the line through it. You don't have to guess that the main line parted and the fish won its freedom. That was our only shot for the evening so on this evening the tarpon won.
Saturday (5/20) morning was a catch our own bait and go dolphin fishing trip. Matt and Sharon Whitney and their friends Gary and Pam Scharf enjoy catching bait almost as much as the fishing offshore. We found the pilchards in Government Cut and the contest was on. During the competition, we caught plenty of bait and we headed offshore. The report from Larry and Bruce on Lady Lo was there was a very good weedline 12.5 miles out from Haulover. Before we got on that line, we all spotted two frigate birds working the surface and quickly had 3 fish in the box. As we moved down the weedline, the terns put us on a school of dolphin and everyone was hooked up with lots of fish swimming around the boat. The fish ate live pilchards and a 1/4 ounce Kaplan jig. After recovering from the first dolphin blitz, we continued moving south and found the terns again working over fish and got into the dolphin again. Everyone had a blast catching the fish and the whole experience was captured on video and digital cameras. Total for the 3/4 day trip was 30 fish caught, 6 released, and 24 kept for the fish fry. Back at Spinnaker Marina, we got an assembly line going for the cleaning process and it went very smoothly and quickly with everyone doing their part.
Saturday (5/20) evening the tarpon turned back on. Marc Thorne and his friend Rob were out to test their skills with the silver king. On the first drift, we had our baits stolen when the rod tips quivered just a bit. The next drift, we got a solid hook up and Marc was fast into his first tarpon. The fish made its way to the main channel and the safety of the deep water. Marc had to take some good natured ribbing from his friend Rob about working up a sweat and sitting down on the job. Marc got the last zinger in when he caught and released his first tarpon. Now it was Rob's turn. The next fish came unhooked with the fish's first jump. Then we got the solid hook up. While winding in the other line, it got wrapped around Rob's line several times and it took a bit of time to figure out which way to unravel it. Meanwhile, Rob's tarpon was none to happy and dumped about 1/2 the line off the reel before we could start chasing the fish down. With that amount of line out and the fish heading south to what I call the mountain area, the tarpon gained the advantage and once again we got cut off on an obstruction on the bottom. We got no more bites on the south side, so I went to the north side. The first drift over there had Rob hooked up again. Everything was going fine until the fish made its third jump. Hook thrown and a frustrated Rob. We moved to another area on the north side and our first drift there gave Rob a solid hook up and another chance. This time was the charm and we got the catch and release. Total for the evening was 2 for 5.
Sunday (5/21) morning Patsy Rubenstein, her boyfriend Dale and their friends Dwany and Alex were out for a 1/2 day of dolphin fishing. We bought bait and headed offshore. At 9.5 miles, we found some heavy scattered grass. Slow trolling pilchards produced no action and very shortly, a frigate bird was spotted to our north. As we were headed in that direction, we found another frigate bird and followed it for a while with no results. Moving back offshore a bit, the terns put us on some fish. Trolling the 1/4 ounce Kaplan jig to keep up with the birds got us our first action and a few fish around the boat. We put 4 fish in the box before the others disappeared. We caught another fish trolling the jig and this time it was by itself. We ran back south and found some heavier concentrations of grass but no fish. Time to look out a bit further. We found a large buoy with lots of rope attached to it and dropped a 4 ounce jig down deep. We hooked something and hoped it would be a wahoo. We never found out what it was as the jig pulled when the fish was half way in. Out to 15.5 miles and nothing but a very clean ocean. Back in to find the first grassy area and we worked it hard with numerous other boats and found no other fish. The morning ended with 5 fish and a good taste of dolphin filets for both couples.
Monday (5/22) evening turned out to be one whale of a tarpon night both on the outside and in the Bay. Jim Lefevre picked this evening based on the tides so we could fish both areas. A very light wind that ranged from the ENE to ESE had us drifting very slowly. The only action on the south side was the rod twitch and stolen bait. The evening really got started on the north side. We made four drifts, had action on all four drifts and wound up going 2 for 3 before heading in to try our Bay spots. We only had to go to one spot. The first tarpon threw the hook on its second jump and this was after it slammed into a major obstruction. The next two fish cooperated more and we caught and released them, but not before one of those fish jumped and slammed into the bow of the boat. They've got to have some hard heads as it didn't seem to phase either fish. Total for the evening was 4 for 6 tarpon.
Wednesday (5/24) afternoon, George Morat wanted to catch a few dolphin for dinner. We ran into two schools of herring while running south to the range marker at Government Cut. We caught bait from each of the schools and finished off bait fishing at the bent range marker. Offshore we went and found a floating 55 gallon drum 10.1 miles out from the Miami Sea Buoy. We found the mother load of dolphin and had a blast catching fish in the 4 - 10 pound class. Most of the fish were caught by chunking up the herring and by casting the 1/4 ounce Kaplan jig. A few were caught with the whole live herring. We tried dropping the 4 ounce jig down deep in hopes of attracting a wahoo that might be lurking beneath the school of dolphin. We didn't get any wahoo action, but were happy with the dolphin. We caught our limit and released two fish. George got his dolphin dinner, Nancy got some fresh dolphin fillets, and several people at Spinnaker Marina are eating fresh dolphin this evening. Thanks George!!
That's it, we're up to date again. I'll be out dolphin fishing again in the morning and have several more tarpon trips before the end of the month. Call or email to book your trip and get in on the action.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 97
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - 6:35 am: | |
The sailfish, bonito, kingfish, and dolphin action continued to be very good this past week. If you hit the right stretch of water, the blackfin tuna has also been good. All this good action can be accredited to the strong north current that has been running at the 3.5 to 4 MPH rate. Take this into consideration when setting up your drifts. You can be way to the north in no time at all.
Tarpon action has been EXCELLENT so far this full moon cycle. Live crabs at Government Cut and shrimp in the Bay has been the ticket. The fish have
been in the 50 pound and up category at the Cut and 30 - 50 pounds in the Bay.
Monday (5/8) afternoon was a 3 - 8 PM trip with John Pazienza and his friend Cliff. We ran to Bug Light to catch all the pilchards we wanted. The interesting thing about the bait was that it did not respond to chumming. We started in 160' half way between the Monument buoy and Fowey Light. The north current was running at 3.7 MPH and had the water a dark blue color. The first action had Cliff fighting a large bonito. While this was going on, John hooked up with an unknown fish on the kite. We released Cliff's bonito and John was beginning to make progress with his fish when the circle hook pulled. All the baits went back out and I threw in about a half dozen chummers. Within a few minutes, both flatlines got hit. The bow rod hooked up and the stern rod bait got dropped before the hook set. Both anglers tag teamed a sailfish and we reset. A few more chummers and this time it was the stern flatline that got the sailfish. Both anglers once again shared the rod and Cliff did the honors of releasing the sail. Another reset and this time the downrigger saw action. While John was fighting the kingfish,
the short kite bait got hit and Cliff had the 3rd sailfish of the afternoon on. The king got released at boat side and after a good fight, the sail was also released. By the time we pulled in our lines at the end of the trip, we were just south of the Miami Sea Buoy. Final count was 3 sailfish (2/2 on flatlines & 1/1 on the kite), 1 bonito, 1 kingfish, 1 mystery fish, and 2 misses on the kite.
Wednesday (5/10) evening was on fire time for tarpon. We started at Government Cut with a tarpon on the first drift and by the time we went into the Bay we were 4 for 5 tarpon. Live crabs got us all the action. The wind was from the S @ 9 - 16 knots and the tide was roaring in. In the Bay, the hot action continued. The first fish got the best of us and cut us off on an obstruction. We got the next 3 in a row making us 3 for 4 in the Bay. Jim Lefevre and I got soaked twice from tarpon that exploded at boat side while I was attempting to grab the leader to release them. We also had a fish that ran to the side of the boat where I was trying to clear a line. It made an eight foot high cartwheeling jump about 20 feet from the boat that had me ducking to get out of the way of the main line. Tarpon fishing
can get down right dangerous at times. Like all fishing trips, it seem to come to an end all too quickly. Final count was 7 for 9 tarpon.
Thursday (5/11) evening it was back to Government Cut and a tarpon on the first drift. Mark Rubert and his son Sam along with Sam's father-in-law, Rubin Lujo Sr and brother-in-law, Rubin Jr were spending some good quality time together. The Lujo's had never caught a tarpon before. Sam asked me to put Rubin Jr on a tarpon that was going to make him cry "uncle". Rubin Jr picked up the rod on the first fish and the fight was on. We took a tour of the south side at Government. Then the tarpon decided it wanted to tour the deep water of the main channel. It was a see saw battle back and forth with the tarpon beginning to get the upper hand. Everyone was giving moral support to Rubin. We came so close several times to getting the catch. The fish gulped air on 4 different occasions and got strong. Finally, Rubin had enough and Sam took over. It took Sam about 5 more minutes to get the tarpon back to the surface where we released the 75 pound fish. Rubin was exhausted and Sam gave me a thumbs up. The tarpon put up a great fight and Rubin Jr had a real appreciation for the power of a tarpon. By now, the wind had switched from the south to the SW it blew @ 17 - 21 knots during the course of the evening. The next drift had Rubin Sr hooked up. This
time the 60 pound tarpon showed mercy on him by swimming in toward shallower water in front of Fisher Island. After releasing his fish, Dad had some good natured ribbing for his son about how quickly he caught his fish. Several drifts later, the third fish of the evening hooked up and ran the same way, toward shallower water. Rubin Jr was back on the rod again and this time we took the tour of the shallow waters up close to Fisher Island. Rubin won this battle with the 80 pound tarpon and it got released to give someone else the thrill of fighting a big hard fighting fish. Final count for this evening was 3 for 3 tarpon.
Friday (5/12) evening's tarpon trip was with Mike Little and his co-workers Tom and Randy. The action started slowly for us and we had to wait until the dusk period before we got our first hit. That fish won its freedom on its first jump by throwing the hook. The next drift, we hooked up solid. The fish made a tremendous run toward the jetties and under another boat. As that boat attempted to back away for us to pass through, the line got cut off by his props. The third time was the charm. Tom hooked up again and this time the fish made a mad dash for the shallow water in front of Fisher Island. Mike was taking action shots with his camera and it wasn't too long before the fish got its picture taken and was released. That was Tom's first tarpon and now it was Randy's turn to get his first tarpon also. The fish cooperated and Randy got hooked up on the next drift. His fish also ran toward Fisher Island. Mike was busy with the camera again and got a lot more action shots. The fish was released and both Tom and Randy now had their first tarpon under their belts. Things got quiet for the next few drifts. Then as if someone flipped a switch on, the tarpon started popping baits off the surface. The explosions on the surface are enough to get anyone excited. Then it happened. Both crab baits got hit and we were hooked up solid with a double header. It started with Tom and Mike, but Mike passed the rod off to Randy after a few minutes so he could keep taking pictures. Randy's fish was co-operating nicely by coming toward the boat. Tom's fish, however, was dumping line like crazy and the chase was on. The good thing was that once again both fish were moving toward Fisher Island instead of making a bee line for the main channel. Both anglers did several laps around the boat during the fight and Randy's fish got released first. Tom's fish was camera shy and kept running away. The fish was finally released, it actually released itself by wearing through the leader, after being officially caught numerous times. After a slow start, the evening ended with a 4 for 6 count.
Sunday (5/14) afternoon Alan Stewart and Stephen Irick were out for an offshore/tarpon combo trip. We loaded up on herring at Bug Light and ran out to just south of the Monument Buoy to make our first drift. The action started quickly with 2 bonito. Then the kingfish started biting on both the flatlines and the kite and with mono leaders, it was time to tie on new hooks. After another round of cut offs on the kite, I switched to a trace of #3 wire. We got the hit on the kite again and this time the circle hook failed to do the job. The next drift, a flat line got hit and up came a sailfish doing a chart wheeling jump and then slack line. The fish had wrapped itself in the leaders and when it fell back in the water, the leader broke. By now, I'm beginning to pull my hair out. The downrigger popped and we finally put a decent kingfish in the boat. All this action took place in 95 - 140 feet in blue/green water with no current. Before going inshore to tarpon fish, we made several quick drift at the Cuban Hole. One bait got hit on the downrigger and we came up with teeth marks in the herring. It was a quick run in to the tarpon area. I explained what to expect when the tarpon hit and on our first drift, the strike came. The fish made a short run, jumped, and threw the hook. About 30 seconds after reeling in the line, the other rod got hit and we were hooked up solid. Stephen had his hands full fighting the fish. It ran straight for the main channel and then flowed in with the tide. We toured both sides of the channel as we continued to follow the fish and move in. We got the catch, only to see the fish swim right back to the bottom with ease. Both Steve and Alan couldn't believe how hard the fish fought. By the time the fish released itself, we were in front of the Coast Guard Base. We reorganized ourselves and went back out to reset the baits. It took several drifts and a bit of hunting to find the next fish. We marked two fish on the recorder and 10 seconds later, it was Alan's turn to pull on an 80 pound tarpon. This fish did the run to shallow water move and it didn't take very long to get a real good look at the fish. The fish was released and Alan had caught his first tarpon. After some trying times offshore, we finished the trip on a very positive note by going 2 for 3 on tarpon.
Monday (5/15) we rescheduled our evening tarpon trip due to the thunderstorms and rainy weather that was moving through the area.
So that's it, once again we're caught up with the action that has been taking place aboard Knot Nancy. It only takes an email or phone call to schedule your trip and get in on this kind of action too.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 96
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 07, 2006 - 12:53 pm: | |
During the past week, we've seen action with dolphin, wahoo, kingfish, and tarpon. For the vast majority of the week, there has been very little to a light south current. On our Friday offshore trip we even found a green water pocket 13 miles SE of Haulover Inlet.
Tuesday (5/2) we had blue water with just a touch of south current. The wind varied from NNW - NE @ 11 - 15 knots. Adam Anderson along with his friends Mike and Shaun were down from Detroit for Adam's bachelor party and planned a day of fishing before the actual party. Bait fishing started out tough at the bent range marker and finished very strong inside of Government Cut where we found lots of pilchards. We ran down to the hotels on Key Biscayne where we fished in the 90 - 160 foot range. All of our action came inside of 140 feet in the form of large bonito on the flatlines, a dolphin on the kite, and kingfish on the downrigger. We also got several chopped baits and cut off leaders. When the action slowed, we ran out to 470 feet and got our reward in the form of a 25 pound dolphin in 400 feet. We finished the day off the monument buoy with more bonito action.
Wednesday (5/3) evening, it was tarpon at Government Cut. The action started slow, however, it got fast and furious in a hurry. The first fish weighed in at about 90 pounds. The next drift it was a 50 pound fish. On the third drift, we literally had a tiger by the tail. Whoever said that you don't foul hook fish with circle hooks is dead wrong. The third fish started off by dumping the vast majority of line from the reel. Jim Lefevre kept telling me that something didn't feel right with the fish and it seemed like the leader was wrapped around the fish's body. The rod tip was bouncing up and down as if we had a jack crevalle, but we'd seen the fish make several jumps and knew it was a tarpon. After about 20 minutes, we got our answer when we saw that we were pulling the fish in backwards because it was hooked in a meaty part of the tail. We released the fish and I straightened the circle hook out in the process when pulling on the leader. The fourth fish of the evening was another 50 pound fish. We had two more fish on, but each fish managed to throw the hook on the second and third jumps respectively. That gave of a 4 for 6 total for the evening using live crabs.
Friday (5/5) Adam Anderson was back for more action. This time he had Chad, Tony, and Jeff with him. They had seen the pictures of the big dolphin that Adam had caught on Tuesday and wanted to go dolphin fishing. We started by catching a good supply of pilchards in Haulover Inlet. Running SE from Haulover, we found a large piece of cargo netting in 740 feet. By dropping a 4 ounce jig down deep, we brought a school of dolphin to the surface. They were a bit finicky with their feeding at first, however, we managed to get one to eat a 1/4 ounce Kaplan jig and then the others followed up by eating the live baits. Everyone was hooked up at the same time. We made several trips back to the cargo netting and each time we caught a few more fish. Some were under the 20" legal size and got thrown back. We caught 18 fish and kept 12. I then dropped the jig back down deep and we caught a 12 pound wahoo. Another drop brought more dolphin to the surface. Yet another drop produced a 10 pound wahoo. The next drop had a fish hitting the jig but did not hook up. The final two drops by the cargo netting produced no action, so we moved on. At 13 miles out, we found a heavy scattered weed line that gave us one more throw back dolphin. Moving out a bit further we ran into a large pocket of green water. We ran back in to the blue water and toward the north. We made several drops with the jig at a plastic deck chair we found floating. Our efforts produced no strikes. We called it a day and when we were coming back across the Bay toward the Keystone canal, we found a large school of big jack crevalles busting schools of mullet. We caught and released 3 of them with our pilchards to finish the trip.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 95
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 30, 2006 - 11:53 am: | |
With the wind howling from the NE, now is a good time to get caught up with the past week's fishing.
Tarpon are still going strong at Government Cut. They have made the change to feeding on crabs, so if you can't find any decent size shrimp, don't worry. The fish are large, mean, and full of fight. Be prepared to take the tour of the main ship channel while fighting your fish.
Offshore, the sailfish are still in a very cooperative mood. Throw in some dolphin along with kingfish and blackfin tuna and you have the makings of a nice mixed bag day of fishing.
Wednesday (4/26) evening we started out by going 2 for 2 on tarpon and 1 very large ladyfish on the south side. After the tide changed, it was to the north side for one drift with no action before we went into the Bay. In the Bay, the fish were plentiful and in a feeding mood. At the first spot we got a tarpon right away. Then the fish ignored our offerings, so it was on to the second location. There, we started off jumping 2 fish before we got a solid hook up, catch and release. Once again the fish turned off. On to the third location and we caught our final fish of the evening on a D.O.A. Glow Shrimp and 10 # spinning outfit. Final total for the evening was 5 for 7 tarpon for Jim Lefevre.
Thursday (4/27) evening Don Eichin and his two sons Eric and Randy were out to test their tarpon skills. Eric was up first and the first fish of the evening came on the first drift. Everything was going fine until we went around the tip of the south jetty on our way to the main channel. The hook pulled and we found a small scale on the point of the hook when we reeled it in. It took several more drifts and total darkness before we got our next hit. This time Randy got the catch and release on a dandy 80 # tarpon after touring the main channel. Eric was next and his shot came on the next drift. His tarpon dumped a tremendous amount of line on its initial run and ran straight toward the jetties and then west toward Fisher Island. We were in hot pursuit and had to do some fancy maneuvering as the fish ran under a boat that was drifting to the inside of us. The fish finally settled down in about 10 feet of water and Don got some good action shots with his camera. That's how the evening ended with the score 2 for 3 tarpon.
Saturday (4/29) afternoon/evening we braved the NE/ENE wind @ 17 - 24 knots. We found herring in Government Cut after checking out the bent range marker where there were no herring to be found. With a good supply of herring we started in 160' straight out from the Cuban Hole. The first drift was uneventful. We started in 280' on our next drift and at 219' a sailfish ate a flatline bait and the battle was on. Brian Carr was fighting his first sailfish while his wife Jo Ann was holding his belt and the leaning post. To say the seas were rough would be an understatement. The fish put on a great aerial display before sounding and moving offshore. The further we went out the rougher it got. Meanwhile, Bill Durham (Brian's brother-in-law) and his wife Susan (Jo Ann's sister) were taking pictures and video and holding on. We got the catch several times and the fish was being stubborn about having its picture taken at boat side. The hook finally pulled before we could get any decent pictures. The decision was made to go in for tarpon as most everyone was getting pretty beat up from the rocking, rolling, and soaking they were experiencing. On the south side at Government Cut, the seas were calm when compared to what we had offshore. While emptying my livewell of the herring, we chummed up a school of large jack crevalle and it was Bill's turn to tug on a hard fighting fish. This time we got good video and good pictures before releasing the fish. Out went the crab baits and toward the end of the first drift, the 100+ pound tarpon hooked up solid. It made 3 tremendous cartwheeling leaps during its first run. Susan was cranking with all her might while her husband was at her side giving her moral support. We got straight up and down on the fish when it made another run and the line parted. There was chaffing on the line and it must have rubbed some underwater obstruction while we were chasing the fish down. We made several more drifts with no strikes before heading back to Spinnaker Marina via the calmer water of the Bay.
The action is still great, so give me a call and lets get out and take advantage of it.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 94
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 24, 2006 - 4:26 pm: | |
The sailfishing action is on fire!! That's the only way to describe it. The action has been good most all day, with the afternoon getting the nod for the best action. Live herring have been like candy for the sailfish and double and triple hook ups have been common.
Kingfish have been cooperating in the 90 - 120 foot range and if you have plenty of bait to chum with, blackfin tunas will respond. The most difficult part at times is getting them to hit the baited hooks.
Those looking for dolphin have been finding limited success. If you find a frigate bird or something large floating, then you'll most likely find fish. The weedlines have started forming, but most have not held very many fish. One boat will find fish and the next 5 will find a barren ocean. As we get into May and then June, the dolphin fishing will improve dramatically for those who like running offshore and searching for them.
Tarpon fishing slowed some for a few days, but the good news is that it is picking back up and should get better as we approach and go through the new moon cycle.
Saturday (4/15) evening's tarpon trip was with Angelo Tarantino and his son, Mike. As has been the case for the past several trips, the tarpon didn't turn the feed bag on till late in the dusk period. Mike was first up and when the tarpon hit all he could do was hold on while the 120# fish made a hard, long first run. With the incoming tide, the fish quickly made its way to the deep water of the main channel. The battle went back and forth as we first went out against the tide and then the tarpon changed directions and flowed in with the current. We released the fish and went back out to the south side. After setting up I heard the tarpon popping on the surface to the south of us. They worked their way toward us and then disappeared after I reset to intercept them. Suddenly they popped up ahead of us as we drifted down on them. The rod with the crab took off and Mike (I thought it was Dad's turn) jumped on it. The fish dumped about 3/4 of the line off the reel even as we were moving toward it. It found a rock pile and cut us off. Angelo got the next hit that turned out to be a bonnethead shark. We made a move and this time it was a tarpon. Everything was going fine as we moved toward the fish. Then for no apparent reason, the hook pulled. The next drift, we caught and released a mangrove snapper. Our last drift of the evening was uneventful and that made us 1 for 3 for the evening. I guess the tarpon got a bit of revenge for the 3 for 4 evening the previous night and the 4 for 4 evening the night before that.
Sunday (4/16) evening the tarpon cooperated again as if like clock work. James Banter was introducing his brother Mark to saltwater fishing for the first time and wanted him to catch a tarpon. Mark's wife, Sharon and James' wife Meggan were along for moral support. Before the evening was over, Sharon got to experience the thrill of catching a large tarpon. First, however, it was Mark's turn. The first fish came up thrashing on the surface immediately and gave us back the hook. The next fish hit a live crab in the dusk period and the battle was on. The wind from the S/SW @ 11 - 18 knots had the south side a bit choppy, but the 80# tarpon didn't seem to mind in the least. The battle was a down and dirty fight with the fish spending most of its time hugging the bottom. It eventually made it to the deep water of the main channel and the fight became a struggle of two wills. The fish's and Mark's. Mark won in the end and got his first tarpon and the tarpon won by giving us a great battle and then getting released to fight again on another day. The next fish had Sharon doing battle and this time the fish ran toward the shallow water close to Fisher Island. Sharon whipped her first tarpon and the two video cameras got some great action as the fish made a very nice jump about 30 feet from the boat. Next up it was Meggan's turn. Her first fish was a ladyfish. We then ran to the north side and found much calmer water and this time the shrimp got the strike. The tarpon stayed on till its second jump before giving us our hook back. We reset and then made another adjustment to our drift before getting another screamer of a tarpon on. After dumping about 3/4's of the line off the reel, we were making progress toward regaining line when the hook
pulled. We caught 2 bluerunners and then moved back to the south side to make our last drift of the evening. The tarpon seemed to have vacated the area and we ended the evening going 2 for 5 on tarpon with 1 ladyfish and 2 bluerunners.
Wednesday (4/19) we went 1 for 4 on sailfish, 1 large jack crevalle, and 1 bonnethead shark.
Thursday (4/20) it was 2 kingfish, 1 dolphin, 1 barracuda, 1 mangrove snapper, and 1 for 2 on tarpon.
Friday (4/21) morning, Eric Pfeiffer and his fiancée Jacquelyn shared the battle with their first sailfish. The fish hit in 420' while we were slow
trolling live herring for dolphin.
Friday (4/21) afternoon, Walter Rodriguez and Fernando learned how to fish herring on the kite. The SE wind @ 13 - 16 knots was perfect for keeping
the kite steady. Walter caught the first sailfish in 120' between the Cuban Hole and Sea Buoy. After resetting, Fernando caught the second sail right in front of the Sea Buoy in 130'.
Sunday (4/23) Eileen Clark and her husband Fred fished for a half day. The light SSE/S wind had us fishing flatlines and the downrigger. The first sailfish hit in 120' about a 1/4 mile north of the Sea Buoy. It threw the hook before Eileen could even get the rod out of the holder. With a hard north current, we ran south to just south of the Cuban Hole. A quick reset from 120' out to 160' put us in pretty blue water. The downrigger popped and Eileen was hooked up with a none to pleased sailfish. Well over an hour later, 3 miles north of where we hooked up, and out in over 400', we released a still very feisty sail that Eileen had caught on 12# spinning tackle. We had about 15 minutes left to fish and we ran back to the Sea Buoy and set up in 140'. We had barely settled into the drift when Fred
hooked up with another mean and ornery sailfish. After its initial run and jumps, the fish sounded and stayed down for the rest of the fight. Every time it came up toward the surface we would get just so close and it would sound again. Finally, we got the release after another long hard fight.
Sunday (4/23) afternoon, David Ziegler wanted to catch his first sailfish. The first order of business was catching fresh bait. The herring cooperated nicely and we quickly had several dozen baits in the well. The first strike of the afternoon was a 12# kingfish on the downrigger. Our first sailfish action was in 130' off the hotels on Key Biscayne. The sailfish missed the bait the first time it struck and David was reeling it back toward the boat when it charged again. A quick drop back and David was hooked up. In the meantime, I pitched out another bait and hook a second fish. The chase was on with both fish running and jumping almost parallel with each other. The fish I had hooked gave us our hook back after about the 6th jump. We landed David's fish and after many boat side pictures, the
fish swam away in a hurry. Resetting in 135', the next strike came within 2 minutes of putting out the baits. I had just cast the downrigger bait out when the stern flatline got hit. Another sailfish and David was walking on air. That fish got released after another great fight. We moved south after no further action at the north end of Key Biscayne. The wind picked up enough to fly the ex-light kite with one bait. The downrigger produced another kingfish of 10#'s in 115'. The final strike of the afternoon was another sailfish on a flatline in 110'. We got some more great pictures of this fish also and sent it on its way to please some one else on another day. Final total for the afternoon was 3 for 4 sailfish and 2 kingfish. Combine that with the morning's action and we were 5 for 7 on sailfish on two half day trips.
How long this great action will last is anyone's guess. If you want to get in on it, then give me a call and get your trip booked as soon as possible.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 93
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 15, 2006 - 11:55 am: | |
The wind blew very hard with the passing of the latest front through our area. If you had the stomach for it, the sailfishing was very good. Kings were mixed in when you got in shallower and dolphin have been cooperating also. Despite the windy weather we've managed to get in an offshore trip and several tarpon trips.
Thursday (4/6) evening, the tarpon didn't turn on till late in the dusk period. Since we are in Daylight Savings Time, that isn't until after 8:15 PM and will get later as we progress through the Spring and into the Summer. We had pleasant sea conditions with the wind from the SSE @ 8 - 11 knots. The first tarpon that Jim Lefevre caught and released was a 70# fish on the south side at Government. The second fish came an hour later on the north side and was a 50 # fish. We got one on a shrimp and the other on a crab. That made us 2 for 2 on tarpon. Throw in a jack crevalle and a miniature (10 inch) kingfish and we had a well rounded evening.
Sunday (4/9), the Gold Family was out for an afternoon/evening trip. The wind came from all direction from 5 - 22 knots. During the afternoon portion of the trip, everyone helped with catching bait. The first strike we had came on the downrigger and Sandy (grandfather) caught a kingfish that posed for a quick picture before it was released. Next it was Jeff's (dad) turn and he caught his first sailfish on a herring fished on a flatline. We tried to find a dolphin, however, we had no luck in that department. Moving inshore, it was time to tarpon fish. The first drift was uneventful. The second drift we had one fish on for 2 jumps before it gave us our hook back. Then it was dark and the wind died off to almost nothing. The shrimp ran and the tarpon were exploding on them all around the boat. We had to go to floats to keep our baits out of the bottom. We watched the tarpon roll around our baits and finally the rod tip would twitch. When we came tight on the fish, it would jump and throw the hook. We were 0 for 4 going into the last drift of the evening and FINALLY, we got a good solid hook up. Sandy started the fight. He passed the rod to his grandson, Jason, who fought the fish till his arms got tired. Next it was Emily's (daughter) turn and she fought it till she got tired. Dad took over and the fish still didn't want to come in till after a long knock down drag out battle in the deep water of the main channel. Jeff won in the end and the 100 pound tarpon was released after numerous pictures were taken at boat side.
Monday (4/10), Robert Rodriguez from Houston, Texas wanted to catch his first sailfish. While we were catching bait, we had a NE wind @ 7 knots for about a half hour. After that, it picked up and blew from the NNE/E @ up to 22 knots. In 120' straight out from Government Cut, we hooked the sailfish Robert wanted. The fish fought very lazily for about the first 10 minutes until it finally figured out that something was wrong. Then it did what all sailfish normally do. The jumps, leaps, and tailwalking was a site to see. The fish then started heading offshore and then sounded. The seas got bigger as we chased the fish offshore. It would just not come up for about another 45 minutes. Finally, it came up to about 50 feet down and continued offshore. By now the waves were a steady 8 to 9 feet. We continued to apply pressure and as the fish came along side, I realized why the fight lasted so long. The fish was huge. Conservatively, it weighed in at about 80 pounds. The area right in front of the tail was so big that I could not touch my middle fingers and thumbs together as I tried to support the fish in the water. We took pictures and spent 10 minutes reviving the fish before sending it on its way. With the mission accomplished, we headed in for the calmer waters of the bay.
Tuesday (4/11) evening we were presented with wind conditions from the NE/ENE @ 27 - 28 knots. Hiding behind the south jetty at Government Cut gave us some protection. Unfortunately, one of the group started feeling the effects of the swells and it was decided to call it an evening after a couple of drifts.
Thursday (4/13) evening the wind calmed down to NE @ 15 - 23 knots. We started later in the evening to be able to get the right conditions to fish in the Bay. We stuck it out on the south side just long enough to get our first tarpon of the evening at 10:30 PM. Moving into the Bay, the fish were hanging out and in a feeding mood. The next fish ate a D.O.A. Shrimp and Jim Lefevre did a great job of keeping the fish away from numerous obstacles. The third fish of the evening was caught and released by Jim's friend Bill. The fourth and final tarpon of the evening was a real surprise. The fish we find in the Bay are normally in the 15 to 50 pound range. This fish was a solid 90 pounds. It did its best to try and wrap us around numerous obstructions and every time, Jim answered by turnings its head the opposite way and getting the fish to swim away from the obstructions. That made us 4 for 4 on a less than ideal evening weather wise.
Friday (4/14) evening, Ken Hudson got to experience tarpon fishing Miami style. The wind had died down to a very gentle NE @ 10 - 13 knots which produced a terrific drift speed. From the time we arrived at Government Cut, the fish were rolling on every drift. We got our first strike about an hour later and it turned out to be a nice permit that ate a shrimp. This was Ken's first permit and the second one I've caught at Government this season. The next action came after sunset. The shrimp produced again, however the fish came up with a tremendous jump after a very short run and the hook came out as soon as it hit the water. The shrimp produced again late in the dusk period and this time we got a successful release. There were a lot of boats tarpon fishing this evening and the area was getting very crowded. It was quite obvious that some of the boats had limited experience with night time fishing. One boat had no running lights on and another kept an overhead light on while maneuvering amongst all the boats to reset a drift. Keeping that light on basically kills your night vision and makes it very difficult to see the other boats. With the crowd of boats that were there and more arriving as the evening progressed, it was time to move to another location. It turned out to be the right choice as we made 2 drifts and caught 2 fish before calling it an evening. That made us 3 for 4 for the evening with fish in the 70 - 90 pound class.
Tarpon fishing has been excellent. Prior to the wind blowing, sailfishing offshore was very good. Kingfishing and dolphin fishing is well worth your while. It's Springtime, so the fishing is great. Let's get that date booked and get out and take advantage of the good weather and good fishing.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 92
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 04, 2006 - 8:57 am: | |
Spring time dolphin fishing is in full swing. Throw in some kingfish, add a sailfish or two and lets not forget that blackfin tuna are on the scene and you have the makings for some great spring time fishing.
Meanwhile, the tarpon continue to feed at Government Cut and in the Bay on a nightly basis. The shrimp have been running and the mullet have shown up. The only thing remaining is to figure out which of the three areas at Government, if not all of them, that the tarpon will bite best at on the night you're out. Just a few quick stats on the tarpon season thus far. We've had 157 shots at tarpon on 47 trips. That's an average of 3.3 fish per trip. Of the 157 shots, we've kept the hooks in and successfully landed and released 103 fish. That's a 65.6% catch rate.
Thursday (3/30) evening, Michael Goldberg and his friends Leon and Daniel sampled the tarpon fishing at Government. East winds @ 18 to 20 knots made it a bit bumpy, but very fishable. The fish were there and it was only a matter of time before they turned on. We had 5 shots this evening, including a double header. When everything was said and done, the fish won 3 times and we won twice.
Saturday (4/1) we did a mid-day trip with Cam Coleman and his girlfriend Jayme Grey. They had just returned from a 6 day cruise that morning and before heading home to Canada, they wanted to try some saltwater fishing for the first time. Jayme quickly got the hang of using the sabiki rig. She was out doing Cam till he got the hang of not setting up (must be a fresh water thing) on the bait. We loaded up on pilchards and headed out to 350' and got into the dolphin (mahi-mahi) almost immediately. With the school around the boat, it was fast and furious action. All the fish were released. Then the action was non-existent till the last drift. More dolphin showed up and started with the downrigger bait. All total, we caught and released 12 dolphin.
Sunday (4/2) I had the privilege of fishing with 3 generations of lady anglers. Eileen Clark (grandmother) was treating her granddaughter, Olivia age 11 to her first fishing trip on the Atlantic Ocean. Olivia's mother, Sharon, came along to capture all the action on video and camera. We had light wind (WNW/N @ 3 - 6 knots) and a beautiful sunny day. Our first stop was on a weedline in 780'. After 5 minutes of no action, I ran back in to 115' and set up. Bumping offshore, we found a nice edge in 140'. The downrigger got first action and Olivia, caught her first dolphin. Meanwhile, Eileen got its mate to eat a Kaplan jig and she caught a dolphin on her 6# outfit. At 160', Olivia caught two more dolphin and we missed the hook up on a few more. Olivia's final fish of the morning was a nice 12# kingfish that took her around the boat 1 1/2 times before I gaffed the fish up on the bow. During all this action, both mom and grandma were busy with the cameras capturing all the action.
Monday (4/3) James Sebasiano and his uncle, David were out for a half day of fishing. We had NW wind to begin with before it settled into a steady SE @ 6 knots. The current was smoking to the north @ 2.2 to 3.2 MPH. The first drift of the morning starting in the middle of the anchorage area produced nothing. While running back south, I spotted a dolphin flopping on the surface in a weedline in 200'. We watched the school of dolphin lazily swim up to our live bait and show little interest. One finally ate and his buddies followed him to the boat. I threw out the Kaplan jig and the dolphin beat each other up to be the first to grab it. James and David took turns catching and releasing dolphin till the fish lost interest and moved on. Working my way south, I spotted a large school of birds feeding just outside of the Miami Seabuoy in 130'. We hit the mother lode of feeding dolphin. Jigs and live bait both worked with this school, however, the fish didn't hang around for long. We got on them again for a second time and caught a few more. Then they disappeared. After trying several areas and depths ranging from 150 out to 350', I moved back north to 71st Street for the last drift of the morning. The downrigger finally got action in the form of a snake size kingfish. Meanwhile, I had thrown out the Kaplan jig and let it sink while setting the rod in the rod holder. After putting the kingfish in the fish box, the jig rod got hit and we released another kingfish at the boat. A flatline got hit and didn't hook up. The Kaplan jig got another strike and we pulled the hook after a brief fight. We got one more strike with the jig while working it back in for the final time. All the kingfish action took place in 135 - 150 feet. The final total for the morning was 11 dolphin caught, 6 released and 5 kept, 1 kingfish kept, 1 released, and pulled hooks on two others.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 91
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 27, 2006 - 4:09 pm: | |
Most of my trips since my last report have been evening tarpon trips with a few daytime trips mixed in. The tarpon action has been hot with from 2 to 7 shots per trip. Depending on where I've been fishing, they have averaged from 25 to over 100 pounds. The prime bait is still live shrimp and we have started putting out a live crab with some success. Government Cut has seen the vast majority of the action with fish being caught on both the north and south sides. There have been some good to major shrimp runs and this has really got the hot action going. The Bay has also seen some hot action with lots of shots on smaller fish that have a real good knack for jumping quickly and throwing the hook.
Offshore, we've been out on days when the conditions have been mostly less than ideal for sailfish. The kingfish and dolphin have filled in nicely for the lack of sails. All the action has been in the 70 - 200 foot range with the majority of the action from 140 feet in. The downrigger has been shining when it comes to kingfish and has out fished the flatlines about 2 to 1.
So with all this general info being said, lets get down to the day by day and evening by evening reports.
Friday (3/17) evening, Patsy Rubenstein treated her boyfriend Dale to his Christmas present of an evening of tarpon fishing. Neither had caught tarpon before and by the end of the evening they were both hooked on catching the silver king. Dale was first up and his fish did the normal thing of running for the deep water of Government Cut. Next, we had two fish throw the hook on their first jump before Patsy got a solid hook up. Her fish too went to the Cut and Patsy showed the fish who was boss. We had two more bites that evening and Dale caught got his second fish with the other fish doing the throw the hook routine. Throw in a jack crevalle and bluerunner and we were 3 for 6 this evening.
Saturday (3/18) Brian Worthington along with Tom and Marshall cashed in their Christmas Gift Certificate. Catching bait was almost as much fun as the day's fishing. With the livewell loaded, off we went to fish the Key Biscayne area. We had a good edge and saw a free jumping sailfish. We caught 2 kingfish on the downrigger. Next it was a school of dolphin in 160 feet that we got 3 into the fishbox and donated the fourth fish to a large barracuda. A flatline took off like a sail would, however, it never jumped. After an intense 10 minute battle, a nice 10 pound skipjack tuna made its way to the fishbox. Then we caught and released a small shark. It seemed like that no matter what depth we fished, we always saw a free jumping sailfish outside of us.
Sunday (3/19) we spent the day slow trolling large baits looking for large kingfish. Tim Gipe, TJ, and Andrew were fishing the South Florida Fishing Club Kingfish Outing. We got our one shot at a large fish on a bluerunner only to have the 30# line part on us. Tim picked up a spinning outfit rigged with an Al Kaplan jig and tossed it out. He hooked up immediately and we caught a snake size kingfish. On his next cast, he did it again. We had several herring chopped in half both on the flatlines and downrigger and caught another fish with Al's jig.
Sunday (3/19) evening, Danny Penengo and his three friends John, Andy, and Cody got to experience tarpon fishing. The fish were playing hard to find this evening, however, persistence paid off and Andy caught his first tarpon. Then Danny got a ladyfish before catching his first tarpon. 2 for 2 was the final count this evening.
Monday (3/20) Steve Norton from England got in some offshore fishing. The kingfish were snapping in the 70 - 140 foot range in the anchorage area. The downrigger was getting twice as many hits as the flatlines. We had one shot at a sailfish on the kite and everything was going text book perfect until the pin popped. The rod tip wrapped as the slack fell and we all know what happened when the line came tight. A pair of dolphin found us in 100 feet and we put one of the fish in the box with the other releasing itself about 30' from the boat. We kept our limit of kingfish and caught and released another limit.
Monday (3/20) evening Steve Todd from California got to see and experience tarpon feeding on a major shrimp run. Before all that action started, he also caught and released his first permit. After it got dark, the tarpon action started and was non stop the remainder of the evening. We caught fish in the 50 - 100 pound range and even had a double header on during our next to last drift. When everything settled for the evening it was angler 3 and fish 4 for a total of 7 shots.
Tuesday (3/21) evening Jim Lefevre and his friend Bill were out. Bill was up first and the fish cooperated nicely. After missing a fish, Bill hooked up solid to the next fish and caught and released it. Jim caught the next two fish, with the last fish of the evening coming on the last drift. We ended up 3 for 4 this evening.
Wednesday (3/22) evening, it was Rick Burgess, his son RJ, and RJ's friend Austin. The fish waited till it got dark again this evening and both RJ and Austin caught and released their first tarpon. Throw in a jack crevalle as a warm up and it was a 2 for 2 evening.
Thursday (3/23) evening it was Luis Espinosa and his son. We started later than normal and the tide was right to try the Bay. The fish were cooperative with eating our shrimp, however, they weren't so cooperative with keeping the hooks in their jaws. We got 3 shots and all three fish made a short run, tremendous cartwheeling jump, and gave us our hook back. The tarpon won this evening as we went zero for 3.
Saturday (3/25) morning, we only made it through 1 drift before the NW/NNW wind of 19 - 23 knots took its toll on one angler and had another not feeling so well. We tried the calmer water at Government Cut, however it didn't help, so we made it a very short trip.
Saturday (3/25) evening, Nigel Heath with his friends Roger and Smithy got to experience one of the most frustrating evenings of tarpon fishing I've had in a very very long time. We started off by hooking up on the second drift. The fish made one jump and threw the hook. Next, we went into the Bay and had three more shots, all resulting in thrown hooks on the fish's first jump. Then we went back out to the south side of Government Cut and hooked up again. This time the fish was hooked solid and dumping major line from the reel. It ran in toward the island instead of out toward the ocean. Before we could begin to catch up to the fish, it found a coral head in a shallower area and broke us off. The final straw of the evening was on the last drift when we hooked a rock pile. That made us 0 for 5 and the worst evening of tarpon fishing I've had since I can't even remember.
Sunday (3/26) mornings trip was postponed and moved to April 2nd due to the windy and cold weather.
Sunday (3/26) evening Jason Megson and his friends Luke and Mike got in on a major shrimp run and some very hot tarpon action. We hooked up starting with our first drift and on every drift there after except one until the shrimp run stopped at about 9:30 PM. Every fish made it to the deep water of the Cut except for the first fish. When the dust settled, we had hooked up 6 tarpon, had the hook pull on 2 fish after fighting them for 5 to 10 minutes, had 1 fish cut us off on a channel marker chain, and we released 3 fish in the 70 - 80 pound range.
Once again, we're up to date. The tarpon action should continue to be good as we approach the new moon phase and have strong tides. April is right around the corner and you can expect the tarpon to get bigger and the great action to continue. Offshore, we'll be going into the transition month when we'll have both the winter time and summer time species here at the same time. It will make for some good opportunities to catch a great variety of different species all in the same day. The afternoon/evening trip will become very popular. You get to sleep in and start fishing offshore in the afternoon for sails, kings, dolphin, and blackfins. Then as dusk approaches, it'll be time to go inshore and fish for tarpon to finish out the evening. It's the best of both worlds, so give me a call and lets get a date booked before it's to late.
See you at the Cut.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 90
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 7:43 am: | |
It's been another whirlwind week. Fishing offshore has been good for a variety of fish which included kingfish, dolphin, sailfish, cobia, and sharks. My goal when fishing offshore is to not have a one track mind and key in on only one species. I try my best to provide rod bending action with a variety of fish. Being keyed in on only one species of fish can many times lead to a disappointing day of fishing.
Inshore, the tarpon have been on fire. There have been some very good shrimp runs and that means lots of tarpon action. Although there have been some flurries of action at Haulover, the most consistent action is now taking placing at Government Cut. Some evenings require a bit of searching, however, you can usually find them in one or several of the know areas that they hang out in.
Here's a quick run down on what's been happening aboard Knot Nancy since my last report.
Tuesday (3/7) evening, Max Dekelbaum and his friends Gary and Gene enjoyed an evening of tarpon fishing in the Bay. The conditions were right and we found plenty of protection from the NNE wind that was blowing 17 - 20 knots. The action was hot and heavy, however, keeping the fish hooked up and away from structure was another story. That final total for the evening was 2 for 6.
Friday (3/10) evening Mike Little and business associates Mark, Bruce, and Fred sampled both Inlet and Bay tarpon fishing. We started on the south side of Government Cut with ESE/SE wind @ 15 - 19 knots. Within 30 seconds of putting out the baits, we were hooked up and released our first tarpon after an intense battle. When the tide changed, we ran in to the Bay and worked several locations where we found fish at all except one. Once again as on Tuesday evening, the tarpon cooperated, but took advantage of us. The final score in the Bay was 1 for 7.
Saturday (3/11) evening, Andrew Weisbrot and his friend Rich Konefal fished the first of three trips with me. We got a weak strike and a thrown hook early in the evening and then we had to do some searching on both sides of Government. Late in the evening, we found the fish and caught and released three tarpon on three drifts. That had us finishing the evening at 3 for 4.
Sunday (3/12) afternoon/evening, Andrew and Rich were back at it again. We were hoping for a sailfish and found green ugly water from south of the Cuban Hole up to the north end of the Anchorage area. An E wind @ 13 - 18 knots made flying a kite a breeze. Despite the lack of sailfish, we had variety of action which included kingfish on the downrigger, dolphin and a hammerhead shark on the kite, and another shark on a flatline. The inshore tarpon portion of the trip more than made up for the lack of sailfish offshore. We found the tarpon on our first two drifts and two others before it was time to head in. The final score for tarpon was 4 for 4.
Monday (3/13) afternoon/evening, Andrew and Rich were joined by Rich's dad, Rich, senior. The offshore portion of the trip was an almost carbon copy of Sunday's trip with the exception of the sharks and more dolphin. Today's wind was E/SE @ 10 - 16 knots. Back in for a final evening of tarpon fishing before heading home, was another success. Rich, senior got to feel the pull of a wild silver king. This evening we went 2 for 3 on tarpon and 1 large ladyfish. I told Rich, Jr. that the weather was going to make a change that would probably get the sailfish going for my Wednesday trip, so Rich, you might want to stop reading this report at this point.
Wednesday (3/15) Mike Kearney along with Chris, Bob, and Jim put in a full day of offshore fishing. There goal was to have a good time and have some action with any species of fish. The wind was from the N/NE @ 14 - 21 knots and in combination with a strong north current, we had 4 - 6 foot seas with some waves that were higher. The edge was in at 105 feet and it didn't take long before we found dolphin action. We kept 2 and released 2 before the school moved on. Next we had a strong run off from a mystery fish before the hook pulled. Then it was several baits knocked off the hooks by very small dolphin. I spotted a turtle and moved the baits in its general direction and we got a double hook up. One fish pulled the hook and the other was hooked solid. Ten minutes later, we put a 30# cobia in the boat that was landed on a 12# spinning outfit. I moved back south and that's when the current died and the seas dropped off to about 2 feet despite the windy conditions. Now Rich it's time to close your eyes and skip this portion of the report. While working the baits back offshore, we got our sailfish on the short kite bait in 120' of water. After pictures and reviving the fish, we made our last drift of the day and this time the long kite bait got hit. The fish initially came up on the short kite bait, however, a pesky tern picked the bait up and the sailfish went out and ate the long kite bait. We got lots of jumps and a very long run from this sail. We were within 20 feet of the catch when it changed directions and the hook pulled.
Wednesday (3/15) evening, it was Jim Lefevre's turn for some tarpon action. We hooked up on our first drift and released the fish before it made it to the deep water of the main channel. The next drift, we hook a fish that refused to jump or expend its energy on a long run. This fish made it to the deep water and started flowing in with the incoming tide. Before we finally released the fish, we dodged a cruise ship leaving the port, several sportfish style boats coming and going, the Pilot Boat going out and coming back in, and a small boat that watched us fight the fish for 20 minutes before they lost interest and went on there way. We finally released the fish on the south side of the channel in front of the Pilot Boat station. It was well after dark by then and the fish seemed to disappear for the remainder of the evening. Final score was 2 for 2.
And that brings us to Thursday (3/16) evenings tarpon trip with Tino Poo and his son, Anthony, and nephew, Ramon. When we arrived on the south side of Government Cut, there were lots of tarpon rolling. On our second drift, Ramon hooked up and fought his first tarpon. The fish put on a fantastic aerial display with numerous high flying jumps and then some long sizzling runs. Ramon hung in there and got his reward when we release a beautiful 80 pound fish. Well after dark and just before the moon came up, the shrimp made a major run and the tarpon were there to have a feast. Fish were exploding on the shrimp all around us. After what seemed an eternity, one found our shrimp and Ramon caught another 80 pound tarpon. The next drift, we had both our baits stripped off the hook and we only saw a slight twitch of the rods. With two new baits on, it was Anthony's turn. this time a 100 pound tarpon inhaled the shrimp and the battle was on. We went from deep water to shallow water and then back out to deep water again. The fish was right next to the boat when it slapped its tail on the surface and soaked all three anglers before running a 100 yards of line off the reel. In the end, the fish was released. We set up again and just as quickly as the shrimp run started, it ended and the tarpon shut off. Final score was 3 for 3.
That's it for now. I'm back tarpon fishing this evening and I'll bring my report up to date as soon as I get another short break. There's still time to schedule your tarpon trip for this season, so don't delay. Give me a call and lets get together and go catch some fish.
See you out there.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 89
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 07, 2006 - 11:25 am: | |
It's almost time for me to go fishing again, so lets get caught up on the fishing activity since February 26th.
Sunday evening (2/26), Don Eichin and his son Eric were out to sample evening tarpon fishing in Miami. The wind was from the north @ 20 - 28 knots. The south side of the south jetty gave us protection from the seas created by the wind. The tarpon were thick and they were hungry during the incoming tide. The first fish threw the hook on it's second jump. We caught and released the next 3 fish before the tide started going out and the fish shut off. Throw in a ladyfish and we were 3 for 4 on tarpon this evening.
Wednesday (3/1) Matt Jimenez, his dad Pablo, and friend Tim fished for a 3/4 day trip offshore. The wind varied from the south to the NNW @ 2 - 8 knots. We had no current on the reef, so we ran offshore some to find dolphin. The birds put us on fish and we caught eleven fish. There were 3 keepers and the rest were undersized throw backs.
Wednesday (3/1) evening, it was back to tarpon at Government Cut on the south side. The incoming tide had the fish stacked up again and at dusk, we caught 2 fish on 2 drifts. A few drifts later, we fought a larger tarpon for 10 minutes before it jumped and threw the hook. With no further action, we moved to the north side. The first drift had us hooked up again and this time the hook pulled before I could give chase with Knot Nancy. The next drift we hooked up again and fought this fish for 20 minutes on a 12# outfit before it too made a jump and gave us our hook back. That had us finishing the evening at 2 for 5.
Thursday (3/2) we started at 11 AM. Dave Cingari and friends Greg, Peter, and Bob were down to get in some fishing and a break from the cold weather back home. Dolphin were once again on the agenda. The birds helped us again and by the time it was time to go in to tarpon fish, we had caught and released 7 dolphin. They were all undersized fish. Tarpon fishing had us starting with an outgoing tide and fish rolling everywhere in the main channel. We caught and released two fish before the tide started coming in. One drift on the south side and we caught our third tarpon of the evening. After that we had no more action. The evening ended catching and releasing 2 jack crevalle in the main channel and 3 for 3 on tarpon.
Friday (3/3) morning, Tino and Raul fished for a half day. The wind was SW to WNW @ 5 - 9 knots. There was no current and we had green water conditions. Fishing in the area of the Haulover Outlet, we caught 3 kingfish and 2 bonito. The action was equally divided between the flat lines and downrigger.
Friday (3/3) evening, Matt Jimenez and his friend Tim were back for an evening of tarpon fishing. We had south to west winds @ 18 - 20 knots. The tarpon were playing hard to get this evening. My friend and fellow Captain Gil Gutierrez located some fish on the north side that were feeding on a shrimp run. On out last drift of the evening, Tim hooked up and 55 minutes later, we released a beautiful 120# fish that had both Tim and Matt fighting the fish.
Saturday (3/4) morning, Dan Levy, his son Alan, and father-in-law Jimmy spent some time together fishing off Haulover. The wind stated out in the NNW direction @ 9 knots. There was a perfect blue/green edge in 120'. About 3/4's of the way through the morning, the wind switched to the NE @ 20 knots. Everyone was switching to the ex-heavy kites. By this time, we had 3 kingfish in the fishbox. All the action was on the downrigger fished 60' down. With the seas picking up quickly, They decided it was time to go in and had plans for the kingfish steaks.
Sunday (3/5) morning, Eileen Clark, her daughter, Sharon, and son-in-law, Matt we out for a 3/4 day trip. Sharon and Matt were having a blast just catching bait. We very quickly had a livewell full of pilchards and a few herring. The fishing started slow and progressively got better as the morning progressed. We chased birds offshore amongst the weedlines and finally caught and released two dolphin. Moving back in to just north of the Miami Sea Buoy, we had a doubleheader sailfish on in 120'. The first fish ate a herring on the downrigger, and the second a pilchard on the kite. We chased Matt's fish on a 12# spinning outfit while Sharon just held on with the 20# kite outfit. We got Matt's official catch and then worked on Sharon's fish. We caught Sharon's fish and got a few quick pictures before releasing it. Next we went back to work on Matt's fish to get some more video. We had the fish up several times before it sounded and the hooks finally pulled. Our next action had Eileen on the rod and came on the downrigger in the form of a throw back size kingfish. The final action of the day once again stated with Eileen and resulted in a bonito with friends. Matt hooked up and caught another.
Sunday (3/5) evening I had the Little family out. Mike, his wife Ann, daughter Ashley, and son Will are seasoned tarpon anglers. Will brought along his favorite outfit and wanted to test it against a tarpon. The E/ENE wind @ 10 - 11 knots gave us pleasant sea conditions. We saw and marked lots of tarpon on the south side at Government Cut. Will's outfit was getting all the action in the form of squid killing our live shrimp. Ashley's outfit started to bend over and about the time she got the outfit out of the rod holder, the fish was gone. We moved to the north side and on the second drift, Will got his chance. The 80# tarpon dumped about 90% of the line off his reel on its first run. The battle continued with Will rapidly gaining line back. The fish made a few quick dives under Knot Nancy and we countered each move. Dad was busy taking pictures with Mom and His sister giving moral support. We got the leader several times, got the pictures to prove it, and the fish was released. The next drift, Ashley hooked up to a very mean and nasty 40# tarpon. It made 3 very quick jumps right at boat side with the fish slamming into the bow of the boat on its last jump of the series before making a 50 yard run. Ashley fought it back to have its picture taken and released. The next two drifts each produced ladyfish and that Mike and Ann caught. Ann's fish was a very large one that pulled drag and was right at 4 pounds.
And that brings us to Monday (3/6) evening. The wind stated in the south and switched to the west @ 16 - 20 knots. We saw a few fish roll on the north side. Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, and kingfish were caught and released. We went inside to the Bay and saw numerous fish feeding. We set up and presented our baits, only to have the tarpon refuse them. Back outside and more ladyfish action. Up to Haulover we went to finish the evening. The conditions were perfect at Haulover. The only thing missing were the tarpon and that's how the evening ended.
We're now up to date. It's back out to tarpon fish again this evening. The rest of March is quite filled in, however, I do have a few openings. April is starting to book up. Don't forget that April is the transition month when we'll have both the winter and summer fish together. Call and book your trip so you won't miss out on any of the action.
Whether it's the edge or the Inlets, I'll see you out there.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 88
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 7:11 am: | |
Most of my trips over the past week have been in the evening time for tarpon. The action at Haulover Inlet was excellent through the end of last week. This week, the tarpon seem to have taken a vacation. The one report I heard from Government Cut was that action there was very slow also.
A few trips offshore had us finding dolphin coming through in singles and small schools. All of our action came in the 80 - 200 foot range. I've managed to avoid good conditions on the days I've been out and have had to battle with green water and no current conditions.
On Valentine's Day (2/14), Stan Schuham and his friend Mike along with Mike's son Will fished an afternoon/evening trip. The wind ranged from the N/ESE @ 8-15 knots. We had one very small dolphin eat a bait and it released itself close to the boat. At Government that evening, the shrimp ran on the incoming tide. Despite the 68.8 degree water temperature, we found two willing tarpon and both Will and Mike caught and released their first tarpon.
Wednesday evening (2/15) we fished Government Cut again. This time, the tarpon avoided us, however, Clint Jones did catch 2 spanish mackerel, 1 ladyfish, and 1 bluerunner. The report from Haulover was excellent action until it got dark and then all action stopped.
Thursday evening (2/16) we fished Haulover with Harold Dukenik and his business associates Doug, Spencer, and Scott. By now, the water temperature had warmed back up to the 72 degree level. An east wind @ 16-20 knots had me putting out the sea anchor to slow the drift down. That's what it took to get a bite and we had a double hook up. Doug and Spencer were both hooked up to 90 pound tarpon that put on a great show and tested both anglers tackle handling skills. We managed to catch and release both fish despite having to dance around each other and around the boat several times. We missed the hook up on the next drift and then Scott finished off the evening with a nice 60 pound tarpon that did lots of jumps and put on a great aerial show.
Friday morning (2/17) Frank Conley took his grandsons Chad and Brandon out to catch dolphin and kingfish. Brandon had the first shot in 80 feet straight out from Haulover. Unfortunately, the hook pulled on what appeared to be a decent size kingfish. Next, both boys hooked up with dolphin in 85 feet. Their buddies hung around just long enough for us to see them before taking off. We moved south and tried anchoring up for kingfish in 100 feet. Our baits swam around happy as could be and never even got nervous. Back to drifting, we caught another dolphin in 140 feet before the NNE/NE winds @ 9-13 knots took its toll on one of the boys and we came in.
Friday evening (2/17), we were the last boat to get out tarpon fishing. Very shortly after putting out the baits, Cyndi Silver was hooked up to her first tarpon and it was a dandy 100 pound fish that put on a good show. She hung in with the fish and got the catch. Glenn Hughes was trying to get some good tarpon shots and Cyndi keep battling the fish back to the boat till she was exhausted. Greg Devine took over and the fish still didn't want to give us a good photo opportunity. The leader finally parted and we reset to try for another. A couple of drifts later, Greg took his turn and this time the 50 pound fish was more cooperative and we got some excellent boat side shots. During both fights, Jess Chapman gave moral support to her sister and Greg as well as making sure they had plenty of liquid refreshments to quench their thirsts.
Saturday (2/18) I spent the day at Bass Pro Shops with Shakespeare/Pflueger and did a tarpon seminar as well as getting to talk with many people about fishing and fishing tackle.
Sunday (2/19) and Monday (2/20) I was at the Miami Boat Show with Whitewater Boats. The weather was fantastic and the crowds were good. I talked with many of my friends and customers and got to show the Whitewater28 to many people.
Thursday (2/23) evening it was back to Haulover Inlet. It seemed like a different ocean. There were no tarpon around to be seen, marked on a recorder, or hooked up. The action for the evening was 1 bluefish, 1 ladyfish, 1 jack crevalle, and 5 pesky squid that kept killing our baits.
Friday evening (2/24) we once again experienced the lack of tarpon at Haulover. Even the squid were missing this evening. Top it off with a huge rain storm moving in on the entire beach area and we decided to call it quits for the evening. We were all soaked to the bone and the rain got worse and the wind picked up dramatically as soon as we came through the bridge. Tim, Mark, Chris and I all decided that we had made a good decision.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 87
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 5:10 pm: | |
As I write this report, we are experiencing the coldest air temperatures so far this winter. For a person who has lived in Miami since 1960, this weather is way to cold for me. My clients from up north laugh when I say how cold it is. They tell me that this is a warm day for them. I hope that they take this cold weather back north with them.
Sailfishing and tarpon fishing have had their ups and downs over the past week. When we've been able to find some north current it has been good. When there is no current and green water, we've had our struggles. Tarpon fishing at Haulover has gone into it's February mode. The fish have been hiding once it gets dark and it has taken lots of searching to find a few. We found them on Sunday (2/12) during the daytime at both Haulover and Government.
Here's a brief breakdown on what's been happening since February 6th.
On Monday (2/6), Robert Parillo and Mark Graham got in a 3/4 day trip before heading back north and home. Fishing off the Monument Buoy, we found a light north current in the 110 - 140 foot range. The first fish to break the ice was a large bonito. Next, Robert fought his first sailfish. We saw several tailing fish speed past us and got one interested in the freebies we tossed its way, however, it never found the bait on our line.
On Tuesday (2/7) we did a TV Show about catching bait and general drift fishing in the Miami area. We started with kingfishing and every hit that we had was on the downrigger. We moved south to the hotels where we found some good north current. Once again the downrigger produced a large barracuda. We had no wind at all, so flying a kite was out of the question. Moving offshore, we found several good weedlines and worked them. We had a nice dolphin on that threw the hook before the camera started rolling. Back to the reef for the late afternoon bite and once again it was the downrigger that produced a shark. We were filming a question and answer segment when the flatlines both got hit by dolphin. The circle hook found its mark with one of the two fish and that's how we ended the day. The sailfish avoided us on this day. I'll post a report when I find out the date and time the show will be on.
Wednesday (2/8), Pete Kozich and his friends Ed and Jim were taking a fishing trip together before Pete moves to the mid West with his job. Fishing north of the sea buoy, we found a light north current and caught a nice dolphin of 10 pounds before the sea conditions took its toll on one of the group. He hung in for as long as he could before we came in early. Good luck Pete on your new assignment.
Wednesday (2/8) evening was a tarpon trip with Jim Lefevre. During the daylight and incoming tide, we caught 1 tarpon down the beach at Haulover. After it got dark and the tide changed, we finally found a fish at the Inlet and unfortunately pulled the hook just a few feet from being a catch. That was all the action we had that evening.
Thursday (2/9) evening, Tim and Mark Burrel and their shipmates Nick and Chris were out for their last tarpon trip before they were due to sail. The tarpon played scarce again this evening at Haulover. After it got dark and before the tide started going out, we moved up to the Inlet and found a large school of big jack crevalle. Mark got the first shot and everything was going fine until the 20# braid on his reel bound down in the spool and parted. On the next drift, Chris did battle with a nice 10# jack and won. On the last drift of the evening we found a nice feisty tarpon in the same area we had worked several times during the course of the evening.
Friday (2/10) was an afternoon/evening trip with Josh Wimmer, Bruce, Barry, and Travis. Bait fishing was a snap and when we got out to 130', we found green water with no current and no wind. A flatline got cutoff by an unknown toothy critter. Slow trolling baits out to 250' got no action. We ran offshore and found a great weedline in 600' that was still in green water. We jumped a very small dolphin off. When we found current in 900', we also found lots of birds working down another excellent weedline. We found lots of 10 - 12 inch dolphin that showed no interest in feeding. We trolled small jigs past several schools of fish before finally catching a releasing a 12" fish. We moved back to the reef and chummed heavily with no results. Moving inshore to tarpon fish at Government, we were greeted with little to no wind. Our first drift on the south side had us hooked up to something momentarily before the hook pulled. Over on the north side, we had no action at all. We ran up to Haulover and hooked up on a fish that turned out to be a large jack crevalle.
Saturday (2/11) we started our tarpon trip an hour earlier than usual. This turned out to be the key to success. Josh, Bruce, Barry, and Travis were back for day 2 of 3. I put out a sea anchor to slow our drift some and within a few minutes, we hooked up to a 100 pound tarpon. It was caught and released and then the wind switched to the SW and we didn't need the sea anchor anymore that evening. The next drift, we got an 80 pound fish. When it got dark and the tide changed to outgoing, the fish once again disappeared. We did find a large jack crevalle at the Inlet.
Sunday (2/12) we started off with some tarpon fishing at Haulover Inlet. A drift across the mouth of the inlet produced nothing. Moving south down the beach a little, we hooked up with a 100 pound fish just minutes after putting out the bait. The fish made 7 jumps during the course of a 15 minute battle before the hook pulled when it dove under the boat. On the next drift, a tarpon threw the hook on its second jump. Two more drifts with no hits and we moved down to Government Cut. Just like Haulover, we hooked up minutes after putting out the baits. And just like Haulover, the fish threw the hook 10 minutes into the fight. We tried the south side and the main channel with no results. Back to the north side and we hooked up again and got the catch this time. We had two more fish on and caught both fish. This made us 3 for 6 for the day with tarpon in the 60 - 100 class.
As you can see, the tarpon have been feeding better during the daytime then at night. The daytime feeding will continue and I expect them to turn back on at night very soon. With the passing of this latest cold front, the water temperature on Sunday during the day was getting very close to 70 degrees. With another night of cold temperatures again this evening, I'm sure it is below 70 degrees by now. This normally makes it very difficult to find feeding fish. Once the air temperature moderates, the water surface temperature will jump back up above 70 and the fish should turn on the feed bag.
As a reminder, on February 18th, I'll be with Shakespeare/Pflueger at the annual Spring Classic event held at the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Dania Beach. I'm scheduled to do a tarpon seminar and will be at the Shakespeare/Pflueger booth all day.
On February 19 and 20, I'll be at the Miami Boat Show with Whitewater Boats. Come on by, say hello, and lets talk some fishing. You can meet and talk with Norman, Shane, and Cindi and find out all the details about the great fishing machine that I call my office.
See you out there on the edge or after dark at the Inlets.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 86
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 02, 2006 - 8:55 am: | |
January flew by like a blur. The wind conditions ranged from almost flat calm to blowing a gale. For the most part we had some downright windy conditions. The cold fronts came through on a regular basis with little time for calmer winds in between. Despite all this, we had excellent sailfishing, wonderful tarpon fishing, good kingfishing, and dolphin came through in their normal manner for this time of year. February looks like some more of the same conditions and I expect the fishing to be just as good.
We ended the month on a high note and have started February in the same manner. Here are the details of my last several trips.
Sunday (1/29) Ron Bowerman along with Jeanna, Bill, and Jesse came over from the west coast of Florida to sample the offshore fishing on our east coast. Bait fishing was a snap and they almost wanted to stay longer since they were having so much fun. Offshore we went in 4 - 6 foot seas and put out our spread of flatlines and kite baits. First action came on a flatline and everything was going fine until the line broke. We had a lull in the action until Bill watched a sailfish eat the short kite bait. Jesse took the rod and 10 minutes later he released his first sailfish. The next action came on the kite again when a dolphin knocked the bait off the hook. It swam out and ate a flatline bait and Ron caught his first dolphin. Later in the day, Bill added another dolphin to the box.
Tuesday (1/31) Jim Lefevre, his niece Beth, and her husband Jim were out for an evening of tarpon fishing. We started at Government and just couldn't seem to get the tarpon to cooperate on either side. We ran back up the Bay to Haulover and on our first drift, Beth got to experience the thrill of catching her first tarpon. She picked on a 100 pounder and it gave her the fight of her lifetime. The jumps and run were spectacular. Toward the end, she needed some help from her uncle, and Jim put plenty of pressure on the fish to get it boat side for pictures. With the tide coming in, we moved to the mouth of the Inlet and it was Beth's husband Jim's turn. He picked on a more moderate size fish and it put up quite a tussle before being released. The next drift, he hooked it's twin and it too put up a great fight. We ended the evening going 3 for 3.
Wednesday (2/1) evening, Tim and Mark Burrel were out for another evening of tarpon fishing. The first drift at Haulover had Tim catching and releasing a 10 pound jack crevalle. The next drift produced no strikes, so we moved down the beach. Our first drift there had Tim fighting a large tarpon. It made several jumps a long distance away from the boat so it was difficult to estimate the size. We got the leader to touch the rod tip before the hook pulled. The next drift, Tim was hooked up again. This time we got a good look at the 70 pound fish. Another drift and this time, Mark's rod got hit and we didn't hook up. Then the fish moved and we had to search them out. We found them just to the south of the Inlet and Tim got an 80 pound fish. Then we missed a hook up again on Tim's rod. On the last drift of the evening, once again Tim's rod hooked up and this time Mark fought the 70 pound fish. We ended the evening going 4 for 6, all caught with live shrimp. For whatever reason, we just couldn't get a tarpon to hit Mark's outfit except for one time.
We're now current with the fishing reports and I have most of February booked for either a day or evening trip. Sailfishing is still going strong and tarpon fishing is doing the same. We still have several more months for this great action to continue. Give me a call and lets get your fishing trip scheduled.
On February 18th, I'll be with Shakespeare/Pflueger at the annual Spring Classic event held at the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Dania Beach. I'm scheduled to do a tarpon seminar and will be at the Shakespeare/Pflueger booth all day.
On February 19 and 20, I'll be at the Miami Boat Show with Whitewater Boats. Come on by and say hello. You can meet and talk with Norman, Shane, and Cindi and find out all the details about this great fishing machine that I call my office.
See you out there on the edge.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 85
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 9:15 am: | |
Sailfishing continues to be EXCELLENT. Beautiful blue water and a strong north current has finally moved back in on the reef. The vast majority of the sail action has been in the 100 - 190 foot range any where from the twin towers south to the monument buoy. They have also been on both sides of the color change. Lots of tailing fish have been surfing down the waves as they head south.
Dolphin action has also been very good. They are in the same range as the sailfish and have been coming through in singles and small schools. Most of the fish have been 8 pounds and up.
Inshore, the tarpon action also continues to be good to excellent in the Government area and in the Bay.
Tuesday (1/24) evening, Tim & Mark Burrel and Nick were out for an evening of tarpon fishing. Also along was their friend Chuck from Sailorman in Ft. Lauderdale. Government was the spot and our first drift produced a nice 70 pound tarpon on the south side. The fish moved out of the area as soon as it got dark so we went over to the north side. Our first drift on that side had us hooked up to an 80 pound fish. The angler (who will remain anonymous) in his haste to turn the handle and pull the rod out of the holder broke the handle right off of the reel. Now we had a dilemma. The only way to turn the reel was by turning the star drag. If there was to much pressure on the line, this only tightened the drag. Somehow, we managed to sneak up on the tarpon and we actually got the leader to touch the rod tip and had the fish up on the surface next to the boat and took a few pictures before it released itself. In all my years of tarpon fishing, this was a first for me. It was going to be hard to follow that up, however, we found the fish again and caught two more before the end of the evening.
Wednesday (1/25), Bill Harter, Ron Welch, and Joel Mooney wanted to try for sailfish. We loaded up on pilchards and herring and started straight out from Government. We got cut off by a toothy critter almost immediately and then had to do some searching before we got in the zone. The zone on Wednesday for us was in the 135 to 150 foot range with the majority of action in 140 feet. This put us just inside of the blue edge but still in the roaring north current. Ron and Bill caught their first sailfish, and Joel had the misfortune of having a bait crushed with no hook up and then after fighting one for several minutes, having the fish jump and throw the circle hook (yes it does happen even with circle hooks). He did, however, add one of two nice size dolphin to the fishbox that gave them some tasty fillets to take home.
Wednesday (1/25) evening was tarpon time again. We started at Government again on the south side and Jim Lefevre and I watched numerous tarpon roll and we marked lots of fish on the recorder. They had lockjaw and like last evening, they disappeared when it got dark. Over on the north side, we got to watch a boat hook up almost every time they drifted through. We never even lost a bait to anything. We finally moved into the Bay where we worked hard to finish our evening going 1 for 2. The unfortunate thing about the Bay is that many of the lights that attract the tarpon are out. This makes it necessary to check out many more places than I would normally have to.
That's it for now. I've got more sailfish and tarpon trips coming up and I'll get new reports posted as quickly as I can.
See you on the rip or after dark. Remember, turn your running lights on when it gets dark. It's really hard to see you when you're drifting in the dark with no lights. Besides, it is down right DANGEROUS!!
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 84
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 1:11 pm: | |
Sailfishing action has been steady. It has it ebbs and flows with some mornings being better and some afternoons being the best time. There is no way of predicting when or where the fish will turn on. The one mostly constant factor is finding north current. If you find the current, then stick with it and you'll get your reward. The next thing is you'll need a strong stomach and good sea legs. Between the north and east wind in the 19 - 25 knot range, the seas have been big or should I say sporty.
There has been some good kingfish action from Government Cut to the south with some nice fish up to 30 pounds mixed in. While you're waiting for your sailfish action, some dolphin have helped add some action. They have been ranging from throw backs to 20 pound fish.
Inshore, we have seen a wide range of conditions for tarpon fishing. The most recent cold front drove the water temperature down to the 68 - 69.2 degree range and this put the tarpon in the missing from the scene mode. Prior to that, they had the feed bag on down at Government Cut where we went 5 for 7 with Matt Vigliotti and his fishing partner Richard Chase. On the cold water evening, after much hunting and searching, we got a nice 70 pound fish to cooperate at Haulover on our last drift of the evening. That fish took us for the grand tour of the Inlet through the bridge and almost to the ICW. On another night, we were fighting ENE winds @ 19 - 22 knots. The water along the beach looked like mud and was full of grass. When the tide changed and started coming in, we found more fishable conditions at the Inlet and got Jo DaRosa his first tarpon. Inside the bridge on the flats area, the ladyfish were exploding on baits and we caught and released two before calling it an evening.
Mother Nature has played a key role in canceling several of my scheduled trips this week. The good thing is that we have been able to reschedule all of them and we're keep our fingers crossed that we'll see some more pleasant sea conditions so we can enjoy the great fishing that is taking place in South Florida this winter.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 83
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 5:27 am: | |
If you've ever wanted to catch a sailfish, now is the time to get out there and catch some. Sailfishing over the past several days has been off the scale. More on that later in this report. Throw in some decent kingfishing and add in some dolphin showing up and you have the makings for some good offshore fishing.
Inshore the tarpon fishing has been OK. We've been getting between 1 and 3 shots per evening in the Haulover area. The nice thing is that the fish
have been much bigger than is usual for this time of year. We still haven't seen any major shrimp runs on the evenings that I've been out at Haulover as
of yet. Just an occasional sprinkling.
We ended 2005 with brothers Tim and Mark Burrel going sailfishing for the first time. Fishing just south of the Monument Buoy in the afternoon, Tim caught and released his first sailfish slow trolling a live herring.
Max Dekelbaum and his neighbor Howard tarpon fished the evening of Jan 2nd. We went 2 for 3 on tarpon to 70 pounds at Haulover. Throw in a large jack
crevalle and a bonnethead shark and the evening was a success.
Jean-Max Garoute and his nephews Ignacio and Sebastian caught dolphin on the afternoon of Jan 4th.
Back to tarpon fishing at Haulover Inlet on the evening of Jan 5th. Jim Lefevre caught and released 1 large jack crevalle and went 0 for 1 on tarpon.
Jan 8th, Dan Kovasevic along with Bill and Peter combined to catch kingfish. We watched 1 sailfish swim up to a flatline bait, take a look at it and then
disappear.
Jan 9th was the off the wall sailfishing day for us. Keith Rollyson and his business associate Chris Dyer were on their first sailfish trip. We started
straight out from Government Cut in 290'. We put out 2 flatlines and before I could plug in the kite reel, we caught a small shark. Out went the flatlines again and this time I got the first kite bait out and Chris hooked up a sailfish on the flatline. We released that fish and within a minute of putting the flatlines out again it was Keith's turn to catch his first sailfish. While fighting Keith's fish, we saw several sailfish balling baits and throwing a bait into the mix had Chris hooked up again. One fish
went north and the other went south. Unfortunately the fish we had on a 12# spinning outfit spooled us and the line broke. After landing and releasing
Keith's fish, we ran back south and found a nice rip. While putting out the first flatline, I watched a sailfish chase and catch the bait. Keith hooked
the fish and off we went again. All these sailfish were large, mean, and ornery fish. They fought very hard and had a never give up attitude. The last sailfish of the day started off as a mystery fish that ran hard and stayed deep. It wore Chris out pretty good. When we finally found out that it was a sailfish, the mystery was solved as it was hooked in the tail with the circle hook. That's why it fought hard and deep. On the last drift of the day, we put a nice 6 pound dolphin in the fish box. The action was fast and furious most of the day and took place in the 240 - 280 foot depth range. Final count was 5 for 6 sailfish 1 for 2 dolphin and the small shark. We spent an average of about 30 - 35 minutes on each fish, with Chris' foul hooked sail taking over an hour to land and release.
Jim Lefevre broke his tarpon drought on the evening of Jan 10th. We went to Government Cut and fished the south side to hide from the east wind of 19 -
24 knots. It paid off for us with a tarpon on our first drift. We also tried several different bay spots and found no cooperative tarpon. We finished the evening by making one drift outside at Haulover with no results. With a 1 for 1 evening on tarpon we were very pleased considering the very windy conditions we fished in.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 82
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 01, 2006 - 3:07 pm: | |
I've got just enough time before I do my last trip of the 2005 year this afternoon to get in a fishing report.
In general, the sailfishing has been a lot of hunting and some luck. There are some fish caught each day, but not in the numbers we've come to expect for this time of year. The clean blue water with lots of good north current has been missing for a long time. If you find a dirty green to clean green edge with a little north current, stick with it and with some luck, you'll get your reward. While waiting for the sail bites, there have been some dolphin mixed in.
Kingfishing has been OK and they have ranged in size from throw backs to 10 pound fish. In the Haulover area, the fish are being found in as shallow as 40 feet. Off Government Cut, we're finding them in the 100 to 120 foot range. Most of the fish are cooperating when using the downrigger and the deep rig. Friday was the first time I got any surface action with kings on the flat line rigs.
Monday (12/26) evening, Rob Gold, his son Adam, daughter Avery, and his Dad, Sandy spent some good quality family time together while tarpon fishing. The evening started slow and well after dark the action got hot. Sandy and Adam tag teamed the first fish. Avery fought her tarpon from start to finish. We missed one before catching a bluefish. And finally, Rob got the
big fish (100 pounds) of the evening that we fought from a dead boat.
Tuesday (12/27) evening it was Michael Oshry's turn to pull on some tarpon. We had high hopes of another good evening of tarpon fish. The fish had another idea in mind. We saw shrimp in the water. We watched the tarpon exploding on the surface. We even had two fish explode on baits right where our lines were. We worked the entire length of the tarpon hole and try as we might, we couldn't get a fish to eat our baits. It was a very disappointing evening.
Wednesday (12/28) morning, Oscar Marrero, his friend Richard, and Richard's son, Danny were out for a 6 hour fishing trip. We couldn't have asked for a better day weather wise. Catching bait was a blast and before long, we had a blacked out livewell full of pilchards and some herring. The plan was to bend a rod on anything. We started off the north side of the Cuban Hole. The downrigger and deep rod got hit at the same time and Danny and Richard caught a kingfish and bluerunner. The remaining action of the day all came on the deep rod in the form of a mutton snapper and yellowtail snapper.
Wednesday (12/28) evening was tarpon time again with Tom and Sandy Churchwell, their daughter Arley and son-in-law John. The shrimp trickled
out for a very short period of time. Just long enough to get one tarpon to cooperate and give Tom his chance to do battle with a silver beauty. It wasn't a big fish, however, size didn't matter to Tom. The tarpon did everything one could ask for and then some. The jumps, runs, and stamina of the fish was fantastic. That was our only shot for the evening and we made the most of it.
Thursday (12/29) Courtland Conover and his cousin, Collin from Seattle wanted some sailfish action. We were presented with wind from the SSW/SW @ 19 - 27 MPH. Our first drift started in 100 feet and ended in 300 feet in dirty green water with no baits even getting nervous. While running back south, we found a clean green edge in 230 feet off the north end of Key Biscayne. The location just felt right. I was still putting out baits when the short kite bait got hit. We missed the hook up on that bait. Next a sailfish came up jumping and running from the bow to stern on the down wind side. The long kite bait got hit and we figured out that the jumping sail was on the bow flatline. We got tight on that fish and then on the long kite and we had a double header on. Both fish put on a spectacular show with their lightning fast runs and aerial antics. We released both fish. The good crisp edge disappeared and we had our action for the day.
Friday (12/30) morning, Fabio and Molly Nick from N Miami Beach were finally able to take some time off from there business and get in some much needed fishing and relaxation. After catching bait, we started off the north end
of Key Biscayne. The light NNW wind pushed us very slowly off shore and we were able to fly the extra light kite for about 30 minutes before the wind died almost completely. The action was absent, so we moved north to about a 1/2 mile south of the Cuban Hole. We started slow trolling in 105 feet and got almost instant action on the downrigger and then the flatlines. We worked our way north and had steady action on kingfish. They were on the
small side and we kept 2 keeper size fish and released the rest. The further north we worked, the slower the action got. We ran back south and set up a drift in 105 feet. The small fish were chopping our baits in half and the deep rod didn't set in the holder for more than 30 seconds before it got hit. The wind switched to the NE and then the action stopped.
As you can see, the action has been up and down. If you're willing to change tactics and not be focused on catching only one particular species, then you'll open up more opportunity for success. The tarpon action slowed down drastically in the Haulover area and this will only be a temporary condition. I expect it to pick right back up as soon as we get past this
new moon phase.
I'd like to thank everyone who fished with me during the 2005 year. I got to meet many new people and make some lasting memories with everyone who fished with me. I'm looking forward to another great year in 2006 and hope
that it will include a fishing trip with me whether you're local or planning a vacation in the Miami area. HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 81
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 25, 2005 - 3:30 pm: | |
Happy Holidays everyone. Another year is about to come to an end and we're looking forward to a fresh new one. Before we send 2005 out the door, we've
got another full week of fishing both offshore and evenings for tarpon.
Tarpon fishing at Haulover Inlet has been excellent. There have been a few shrimp in the water and when you find them, you'll find the fish. Mixed in the with tarpon are plenty of large ladyfish and winter time bluefish.
Offshore, we've been battling mostly westerly type winds and either south or no current. The sailfishing has been running hot and cold. Kingfishing has
been the same. There have been enough dolphin around to make things interesting.
Let's get to the daily action report. Wednesday (12/21) was an afternoon/evening trip. Mark Rubert, his son Sam, and son-in-law Casey were spending some quality time together doing what they like to do best. That is "FISH". Sam started things off with a sailfish that was caught on the kite. Next it was Casey with a small shark. Advance forward to the evening and that's when the action kicked into high gear. We went 4 for 4 on tarpon in the 50 - 60 pound class and added 4 ladyfish while waiting for those tarpon bites.
Thursday evening (12/22), Mark was back for more tarpon action. This time he was with his brother-in-law John, and John's son David. Just after dark, the first tarpon ate and 15 year old David was hooked up with a not so happy 80 pound tarpon. It was a see saw battle all the way. We got the catch and David wanted a closer look at the fish. After 40 minutes, the tarpon had beat him up pretty good and he handed the rod to his Dad for another 5 minutes before we released the fish. Next, it was John's turn and he did battle with a nice 60 pound tarpon. By the next drift, David had recovered and was ready for another fight. We got a bonus, when both rods got hit and we were into a double header. Mark had one fish and David the other. Both fish got landed and released and we finished the evening going 4 for 4 again.
Friday (12/23) was an afternoon/evening trip with Bruce and Karon Nunes, their friend Bill and his son Billy. The afternoon portion of the trip was a bit disappointing. We watched a sailfish chase the short kite bait for a little while and then just disappear. A flat line bait got hit and stripped off the hook and despite all the live chumming I was doing, we had no other action. Tarpon fishing more than made up for the slow afternoon of offshore fishing. Everyone got to fight and release a tarpon. They were in the 50 - 60 pound class. Between the tarpon fights, we caught 4 ladyfish and 2 bluefish. The tarpon were spread out from the Inlet to the almost far south end of the tarpon hole.
Shari Kwitney purchased a gift certificate as a birthday present for her husband, Leon. We did that trip on Saturday (12/24) morning. Leon wanted to learn more about how and where to fish in the Government To Haulover area both inshore and offshore. We started with inshore locations and worked our way south to catching bait at Government. Offshore we went and the bite was on for kingfish just north of the Cuban Hole. The flatlines never got touched. Every hit was on the downrigger. Leon and his daughters boyfriend, Grant barely had a moments rest between bites. The fish were in the 75 - 160 foot range. We kept 2 kings and released 2 undersized ones before we moved north to learn more locations to fish. Leon was not concerned with how many fish we caught, he wanted to learn as much as he could during our trip. At the third location, we put out some baits for about 15 minutes before the sea conditions got the best of Grant. One of the deep baits got cut off behind the hook and with Grant not feeling very good, we headed in to calmer water. Back at the dock, we discussed knot tying, hooks, and building leaders.
Saturday evening (12/24), I had a tarpon trip with Tim Burrel and his brother Mark. We had mostly light south wind and it got calmer as the evening progressed. The tarpon action slowed some this evening and it was late in the trip before we got our first solid hit. The tarpon came up jumping almost immediately and threw the hook. This got everyone's enthusiasm up again and we reset over the area. It took several more minutes, however, we got the hit we wanted and Mark did a splendid job of fighting his 80 pound tarpon. That made us 1 for 2 and that's the way the evening ended.
I'll be out everyday next week. I'll do my best to try and put up a report somewhere about mid week. January is just around the corner and the fishing will only get better. The January days are beginning to fill in, so don't get left out. Call and book your trip to get in on the action.
See you out there.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 80
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 20, 2005 - 8:07 am: | |
During this past week, I was out on the windiest day of the week. Chris, Brad, John, and Mike only had a half day break from their conference to get in some fishing. To say it was windy was an understatement. It came from the ESE/SE @ 24 - 30 MPH. We worked our way slowly offshore to 320' straight out from Haulover. Within minutes, we got a strike on the downrigger. That hit lasted for about 30 seconds before the hook pulled. Next we got a flatline bait knocked off and fought another unknown fish for about 20 seconds before that hook too also pulled. Those 3 strikes came outside of 250'. When we got inside of 190', we caught a kingfish on the downrigger. Another kingfish cooperated in 130'.
Neither of the 4 anglers had seen kite fishing before this trip. They caught on to the concept very quickly. While I was checking the bow flatline, I heard some commotion from the anglers tending the kite baits. A bull dolphin ate the short kite bait and the Eagle Claw circle hook did its job. The fish made a trip around the motors and up the starboard side to the bow before it joined the kingfish in the fish box.
All this action took place on the first drift. The next several drifts produced no further strikes. We had to cut the trip short so everyone could make it to the conference on time.
Tarpon fishing has taken a definite up swing turn in the Haulover area. On our trip last evening, Gil Gutierrez and I watched numerous fish feeding at the surface. The action took place in two distinct time frames. The first came during the sundown through dusk period. The next action occurred after the tide change and for about an hour there after. Mixed in with the tarpon were some really big ladyfish. One we had on doubled the 20# outfit over and actually made the drag scream as if we had a tarpon on. It ran toward the bow still pulling drag and like its cousin the tarpon, it threw the hook after making several jumps at boat side. The tarpon were in the 30 - 80 pound class and feasting on live shrimp.
As good as the action on tarpon was last evening, it will continue to get even better with each passing day. The cold fronts have gotten a few shrimp moving and the tarpon have responded very nicely. Watching a tarpon blast shrimp off the surface will definitely get your blood to boiling. When we get the first major shrimp run, the action will be off the scale.
To sum it up, we are into our winter time mode of fishing on both the offshore and inshore arenas. Our friends in the northern part of our great country are now getting blasted with snow, ice, and cold cold weather. It will soon be time for a break from those nasty conditions. The weather in Miami has been beautiful. What we call a cold front is short sleeve shirt and shorts weather to our northern friends. Its time to start putting the winter vacation plans into action. Give me a call or send me an email to book a day or two of fishing as part of those plans. Don't miss out on some great fishing.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 79
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 12, 2005 - 2:09 pm: | |
The offshore fishing has picked up dramatically with each passing cold front. The only time the fishing has slowed down is while the wind has been in a westerly direction. There has been at least one day when the sailfishing has been off the scale. Most other days it has been steady. The dolphin are in their winter time mode. They'll come along while waiting for sailfish bites. Kingfish have been much easier to find than they were a few weeks ago. For the most part, they are being found in more of the winter time depths. There have been all sizes including a lot that are under the 24" fork length minimum. Remember to release all those under size fish. Spanish mackerel fishing continues to be excellent.
On the inshore tarpon scene, the fish are here and feeding. They are just not here in the numbers that they will be as we get further into December. It is still definitely worth the effort to fish for them.
We've been out twice this past week for tarpon. On Monday, Tim, Chris, Nick, and Mark took an evening off from the boat they work on to enjoy an evening out on the water. We fished the entire Haulover Tarpon Hole area and found the fish more toward the north end of the hole. We had 2 opportunities and caught 1 tarpon. When we got in close to the swim markers, we got ladyfish action.
On Tuesday evening, we worked the entire area again for tarpon. Despite having the perfect north south drift, the tarpon were no where to be found in the area. The rain moved in on us and then let up. We watched another rain storm bearing down on us. The highlights of the evening were the great conversation, the good eats, and knowing that we covered the entire area very thoroughly.
Ted, Yvonne, their son David, and Ted's brother Tom fished with me on Sunday. The fog was thick up until about 10 AM before it started burning off. We had the westerly type wind that I referred to earlier. Kingfish was our first goal. We started straight out from Haulover and got the first fish in 140' on the downrigger. David got to catch his first saltwater fish. Only Tom had done some saltwater fishing up in Alaska. This was everyone's first time on the Atlantic. Our next action came in the form of a bomber size bonito on a flatline and an arctic bonito on the deep rod. By the time the fog had lifted enough to see the shoreline, we were off 71st Street. Running down to the crooked range marker, we quickly caught a few dozen herring before heading out to the Cuban Hole area. We slow trolled a combination of herring and pilchards and once again got all our kingfish action on the downrigger. The action was consistent up till 11 AM. The remainder of the day, we tried offshore for dolphin and spent the last hour and a half sailfishing. Despite some heavy live chumming, the only thing we attracted were hungry birds. We covered the area from Haulover to Government Cut and found green water with no current. While running offshore, there was no color change edge. The water just gradually turned blue. All our kingfish action came in the 140' depth range on the downrigger. Everyone got in on the action and David even said he thought he wanted to be a guide when grows up. This trip once again proved what I've always said that family fishing is fun.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 78
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, December 03, 2005 - 7:48 am: | |
THE WINTER TARPON SEASON HAS STARTED!!
Friday (Dec 2) evening we caught our first tarpon on live shrimp in the Haulover tarpon hole. This marks the beginning of the winter 2005-2006 tarpon season. Large ladyfish were also very cooperative. The season will gain momentum with each passing day.
Now is the time to schedule your trip to catch the tarpon you have been dreaming about. Send me an email or give me a call for details about a 4 or 6 hour evening tarpon trip. Don't delay, lets go test your angling skills against the hard pulling high flying silver king.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 77
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 28, 2005 - 4:15 pm: | |
For the past week, the waters off the Haulover area have been green with no current. If you wanted to find blue water, you had to run out to as far as 9 miles before finding blue/green water. On Saturday afternoon, the wind finally turned back around to an easterly direction and this should help dramatically with pushing the blue water and current back in closer to shore.
Despite these less than ideal conditions, the kingfishing has been OK. All of the kingfish we have been catching have been in the 140 - 200 depth range and on baits that are fished deep. The surface action has been very slow.
Offshore in the blue/green water, there have been large rafts of needle grass that have been holding dolphin. They are migrating south this time of year and don't stick around with their hooked buddies like they do in the spring and summer time. You'll hook a fish or two and the school will continue moving south. We've been finding them under birds and also seeing them milling on the surface like a school of mullet.
Meanwhile, much closer to shore, the spanish mackerel fishing has been on fire. We've been anchoring in 20 feet of water and it hasn't taken to long to get them chummed up.
Jose and Julio were out on Monday (11/21) for a half day. We netted pilchards in the bay and fished from 71st Street back to the Inlet. The NW wind had already pushed the blue water out to 200 feet and inside of that depth it was green with no current. Starting in the normal kingfish fish depths, we were molested with triggerfish stealing out baits. One did manage to hook itself on the downrigger bait. Fishing on the blue/green edge, our first action came on the kite. Neither Jose or Julio had done any kite fishing, so when a nice dolphin of 10 pounds hit the kite bait it definitely got their interest in that style of fishing. A small shark followed the dolphin to the boat and hung around and ignored the bait we offered it. The kite bait got hit again and this time it was the shark. A few pictures and it was released. The next action came on a flat line, and you've probably guessed by now that it was the same shark. It was released for the second time and we moved out of the area so it wouldn't try to get hooked for a third time.
On Friday (11/25), Guy, Marie, Nicole, and Jack were looking forward to a full day of fishing. We bought pilchards and then caught a few dozen herring before starting north of the Cuban Hole area. The SW wind pushed us offshore in the green water with no current. Our only hit came in 140' on a flatline. The kingfish kept making a run everything it saw the boat. On its 4th pass, for whatever reason, the hook pulled. We tried one more drift with no results before deciding to head offshore . Running straight out, we found some decent needle grass patches in the 4 to 5 mile range off the sea buoy. The birds were working over some schools of fish. Throwing out live bait got us no action. I switched over to 1/4 ounce Kaplan jigs and trolled them way back behind the boat. The first large patch we passed had us hooked up to two large schoolie size dolphin. The school came up and we hooked 2 more fish before it moved on. The birds disappeared so we jumped from patch to patch and slow trolled live baits by them. We picked up from 1 to 3 fish off each patch. When the patches disappeared, we saw what looked like a school of milling mullet on the surface that was actually a school of dolphin. Trolling the jigs by them got us hooked up again. We kept moving to the south and picked away at them, till finally the school disappeared. Running out to 10 miles, we found a more pretty blue water, but no fish. The next move was back to 20' and finishing the day spanish mackerel fishing. We had steady action and at days end, we had caught 15 dolphin, kept 11 and also kept 4 mackerel, pulled the hook on a few, and missed the hook up on several more mackerel. The dolphin were in the 4 to 12 pound range with Guy getting the largest one. The mackerel were in the 3 - 4 pound range.
Saturday (11/26) was a half day with Bill, Charles, Robert, and Jim. The wind was from the east and they too had not seen a kite in action. NO current and green water were the conditions. We started our first drift in 200 feet. After putting the deep rig down and describing what would happen and what should be done, I walked to the bait well to get another bait and heard some yelling up on the bow. When I looked up, the rod was bent severely and some hard cranking was taking place. A few minutes later, we put a kingfish in the fish box. At 90', we worked our way slowly back out to 220' with the kite baits still in the water. The second drift was a blank. Moving south to 78th Street and starting in 250', we were still in green no current water. When we got inside of 200', the deep rod got hit and we caught a small shark, then a large bluerunner, and then the downrigger produced a kingfish. Our next drift was started in 300' and once again when we got inside of 200', the action started. We got another kingfish on the deep rod and then got cut off with the next bait we sent down. On the final drift of the morning, the short kite bait got hit by a nice 8 pound dolphin that joined the 3 kingfish in the fishbox. Everyone went home with their share of kingfish steaks and dolphin fillets and the goal of eating fishing was accomplished.
Despite the less than ideal water and current conditions, we managed to get in some decent fishing. Imagine what the fishing will be like when we get the current and blue water back in closer. I've got open dates available, so call to schedule your trip.
Don't forget that Gift Certificates are available for your Holiday shopping. And, finally, remember the Pflueger Day at the Ft. Lauderdale Bass Pro Shops on December 10th.
See you on the water.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 76
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 6:00 am: | |
The first good cold front of the season came through yesterday (11/21). This morning the cooler temperatures are a welcome relief. This should get the fish going as the surface water temperature begins to drop from its present 78 degrees.
Last Thursday evening, we gave tarpon fishing another shot. Mark and Hershey knew that it is still a bit early for the winter tarpon season, however, since this was the only time that Mark would be in the Miami area, he wanted to give it a try. The NNE/NE wind was perfect for covering the entire Haulover tarpon hole area. After numerous drifts we only had one large ladyfish to show for our effort. I moved inside to catch the last of the incoming at a couple of Bay spots. At the first location, Hershey caught a snook on each of the first two drifts through the area. We released one and kept one for dinner. The lights were out at the second location and one drift produced no hits. By the time we made it back to the first spot, the tide had stopped flowing and it was time to go in.
On Monday (11/21) we fished for a half day in the morning. The weather report was calling for rain, thunderstorms, and windy conditions. We all know how accurate the forecasts can be and Monday was no exception. Yes, we watched a few squall lines build and move offshore. We got rained on for maybe 5 minutes if you count the time when we were coming in at the end of the trip. We fished the area from the Twins north to Haulover Inlet in the 95 to 250 foot range. Jose and Julio had not seen kite fishing before, so it was a new experience for them. The closest we found the blue/green edge was 200 feet. The first fish was caught on the kite bait. Jose caught on real quick and did a great job of hooking a 12 pound dolphin. A small shark was following the fish around as it got closer to the boat. With the dolphin in the fish box, the shark kept hanging around. We tossed a bait to it but it got ignored. As we worked the kite bait back out across the edge, it got hit and it was Julio's turn. The shark finally decided to eat and liked the kite bait. A couple of boat side pictures and I released the shark. Next, a flatline got hit and Jose caught the same shark. I guess it didn't learn anything from being hooked the first time. It was released once again and we made a major move to the south. With very little current inside of 150', the last drift of the morning had our downrigger bait eaten by a triggerfish.
There were a few days in the Haulover area when the spanish mackerel and kingfish bite was very good with the nod going to more spanish bites. We're still waiting for the tarpon to show up in the Haulover tarpon hole area. This Friday we'll be giving that another try. This present cold front should kick the sailfish action up a notch or two. We're still waiting for our first major run of kingfish and if this front doesn't do it, then maybe the next one will push them down into our area.
On December 10th, the Ft. Lauderdale Bass Pro Shops is having a Pflueger Day. I'll be there doing both a sailfish and tarpon seminar. There will also be several other Pflueger guides along with TV host Mark Sosin. Come on by, take in a seminar or two, and find out about the various Pflueger reels that we use.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 75
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 3:18 pm: | |
For those who are wondering if the tarpon have shown up in the winter time
location at Haulover Inlet, the answer is "no" as of Tuesday evening
November 8th. On that evening, there were two of us out fishing the
Haulover tarpon hole. We covered the area quite thoroughly and neither of
us had a tarpon bite. We'll be testing the waters again during Thanksgiving
week and will keep you posted.
Meanwhile, on Veterans Day, Friday, November 11th, I had the honor and
privilege of taking three veterans fishing in t
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