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Fishing Reports for Local Area - Location |
    
Captain Ron (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 1:43 pm: | |
We made it through another Florida summer! It is still warm but the last few days kept to the high 80's. Today was another perfect day on the water. The first bait out on the spinning rod got taken by a large Sailfish. During the hour and a half battle we had 3 others jump on another bait and quickly come up jumping and throw the hook. We were concentrating on the first fish since it had become a personal battle and we finally released it. We did end up shallower that morning and got into a few nice Dolphin that appeared in very close where we usually get Kingfish. Mixed in with a couple of cut off lines and some mystery bites, the anglers went home happy, packing some filets and a camera full of Sailfish photos.
Sea Ya,
Captain Ron Mallet
www.actionsportfishing.com
(954) 423-8700 |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 70
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 16, 2005 - 2:24 pm: | |
September has always been a slow month for me charter fishing wise. This September has been no exception. The few times I've been out, the fishing has been good. It has required a change in fishing tactics to get a good catch. Yes, there have been some sailfish and the kingfishing has been OK for those who like to troll. What we have been doing is fishing wrecks in the 110 to 375 foot range with some very good success. The weather has been very good on the days we've been out and this makes fishing these wrecks enjoyable.
Today for example the wind was from the NNE to NNW @ 2 - 6 knots. This gave us flat calm seas. There was a south current and whether we drifted over the deeper wrecks or anchored on the shallower ones, it didn't require very much compensation for wind or current. The current was light enough so that we could get down with 8 ounces of lead. We started in 240' off Haulover and caught vermillion snapper, yellow jack, and AJ's along with a blue runner that went into the live well for barracuda bait later on. The next wreck was in 230' and turned out to be the most disappointing one of the morning. The 3rd stop in 225' had us catching more of the same varieties. We ended the morning anchoring in 170'. Here we caught gag grouper, lane snapper, mangrove snapper, and vermillion snapper on the bottom. Meanwhile on the flat lines, Georgie and Tom had action with bomber size bonito that we had chummed up around the boat. The surface explosions of the bonito hitting the live chum had everyone excited. About a 100 yards offshore of us, we saw a free jumping sailfish. The chum didn't get its attention, but we were glad to see the fish nonetheless. On the way in, we made one quick stop at Haulover Inlet and put out the live bluerunner to try for a barracuda. We got the hit, unfortunately the Cuda hit the mono portion of the leader while striking the bait and we all know what happens to mono leaders when it comes into contact with sharp teeth.
So as you can see, by changing tactics, we caught a variety of fish and got to bring home some snapper for dinner. Give me a call to schedule a trip and lets get out and get in on the variety.
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: 69
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 02, 2005 - 2:50 pm: | |
With the passing of Katrina, the wind and seas have calmed down so that running anywhere you want is a pleasure. A word of caution though. There is still plenty of debris in the water ranging from coconuts to large pieces of wood and bamboo, so keep an eye out for it. Once you cross the blue/green edge, there have been plenty of dolphin in the area ranging from throw backs to 15 pound fish. Find some of that debris and even if you don't see fish immediately, drop a 1 or 2 ounce T&M pilchard jig down deep. If there are any dolphin in the area, you'll either hook a fish or draw them up to the surface where you can cast jigs or live bait to them.
Thursday (9/1), Adrian Ocampo had two goals in mind. First was to catch a dolphin and second to catch a sailfish. We bought bait from Mike on the Greenline at Haulover and then ran down to the crooked range marker at Government Cut. There, we worked very hard to get two dozen herring before running offshore. At 5 miles, we found a small board and raised some very small dolphin with the pilchard jig. The fish were so small, it wasn't even worth pursuing them. At 8.6 miles, we found a large piece of bamboo and Adrian hook his first dolphin with a 1 ounce jig. Another fish ate a live bait and then a third fish swam up to see what was going on. We landed 2 of the 3 fish we hooked and with the first goal accomplished, it was time to run inshore to try for sailfish. The blue/green edge was in 235' off the Monument Buoy and we slow trolled pilchards and herring into the north current. About five minutes after putting out the baits, a small shark swam up to us followed by a large school of dolphin. We caught and released dolphin with jigs and live bait and also caught and released the shark. We moved south to Fowey Light along the same edge that was in 220' in that area. While putting out the first bait, it got hit and another nice dolphin made it to the fish box. We moved again, this time to south of the Light in 298'. A large weedline caught us and was passing us as we drifted north. It held more dolphin that we caught and released as well as large bluerunners and a bar jack. We were making another run back south when I spotted a free jumping sailfish offshore of us. While we were running toward it, we watched it make at least 8 jumps. Just as I was arriving in the general area, it made its last jump. We quickly put out a herring, however, we didn't connect with the sail. Next, we slow trolled back to and inside of the edge. In 145', the downrigger popped and Adrian caught a bonito. With the day almost over, we stopped to catch and release a 12 pound barracuda at Government Cut. A stop at Haulover had us hooked up with a barracuda again, but this time, the wire on the trailer hook broke and we released the fish prematurely. We didn't catch the sailfish for Adrian this time, however, he was thrilled to get to see the free jumper and is looking forward to his next trip.
Needless to say, with the hot temperatures, make sure you have plenty of liquid refreshments. Also, keep a close eye on the weather as there have been some nasty afternoon thunderstorms. I have openings, so give me call to schedule your fishing trip. If you want to beat the heat, then consider booking a swordfish trip. The seas have been very calm and the fish have been cooperating.
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: 68
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, August 19, 2005 - 2:22 pm: | |
With the most recent hike in gas prices, the question that must be answered by the dolphin fisherman is "Is it worth the expense of fuel to go out and search for dolphin?" Only you can answer that question. On two of my last three trips offshore the answer for me is YES it has been worth it. The third trip left us disappointed and we saved the day in on the reef bottom fishing.
On the reef, there was one day when there was a flurry of sailfish. Live baiting for kingfish has been OK one day and not so good on others. Those pulling spoons on planers have faired much better as you'll need to cover a lot of ground to find the fish off our area this time of year. Mixed in with the kings have been some bonito, barracuda, and an occasional blackfin tuna. If you like bottom fishing, the mutton snapper have been cooperating.
Sunday (8/14) afternoon, Mike and Jane Johnson wanted to beat the heat some and to catch some fish. We left the dock at Spinnaker Marina at 4:00 PM with some dolphin action in mind. At 4.7 miles out the birds put us on a large floating wooden crate that was loaded with bar jack. After catching about a half dozen fish a piece, we continued on. At 10 miles, two birds put us on the dolphin. The first three fish we caught were pushing 10 pounds each and the fourth fish was about 6 pounds. These were the first dolphin that either Mike or Jane had caught and they were amazed at the beautiful colors and how the fish jumped. We had plenty of fish in the box and the decision was made to release any other dolphin we might catch. Running south, we found the birds again and this time they were over large blue runners. Next we found a large plastic garbage bin and caught more bar jacks with jigs. The action was fast and furious. The next set of birds put us on more dolphin and blue runners. With all the action, both anglers were all smiles. We ran back in and made a stop for barracuda using the blue runners as bait. We got one hit and the cuda got a half meal as it chopped the runner in half right behind the trailer hook.
Tuesday (8/16) afternoon, Mike and Jane were back for a second afternoon of fishing. Our game plan was the same as on Sunday. At 12 miles, I found a barnacle encrusted piece of styrofoam that produced 3 dolphin (2 on jigs and 1 on live bait) that were all released. After that it took a lot of searching, however, we finally found the birds and started catching blue runners. We also found 2 rainbow runners mixed in with the blue runners. Once again, they were all smiles at catching fish, having fun, and enjoying the beautiful weather. We ended the evening trying for a sailfish. We had time enough for two drifts and despite some heavy chumming, we didn't get any strikes or even have a bait get nervous.
Thursday (8/18), Oscar Marrero and Ray Cruz had two goals in mind. The first was to catch a few dolphin and the second was to end the day doing some bottom fishing around the wrecks. Today was the day when dolphin fishing was to be disappointing. We ran out as far as 25 miles and only found 1 styrofoam ball and 1 coconut. Every bird we found was flying back inshore. Once we got beyond 5 miles, the weed disappeared except for some very scattered lines that were about 100 yards long. We worked the lines and any scattered grass areas we found with no results. Goal one was a disappointment, so we moved on to wreck fishing. It started slow and when I threatened to move, we caught our first mutton snapper. Then several sharks moved in and we landed and released 1 of 3 fish (mono leaders) that we hooked up. At the second wreck, I didn't like our position as there wasn't as much current in shallower. After resetting the anchor, we caught our second mutton and lost a barracuda (mono leader again) to a cut off. That's how the 3/4 day ended and goal two was accomplished.
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: 67
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 15, 2005 - 5:13 pm: | |
To say the air temperatures have been HOT would be an understatement. It has been down right brutal on some days. The gentle breeze from the E/SE has helped some, however after a dolphin attack, the best bet is to get the boat moving and create your own wind. Make sure you have plenty of liquid refreshment on board and start replacing the lost fluid from your body even
if you don't feel thirsty.
Fishing in on the reef has been hit and miss. This is the time of year when trolling spoons down deep on either a planer or downrigger will out produce live baiting on most days. I've stuck with the live bait in the Haulover area with very limited results. The water has been a pea soup green on the days when I've been out and there has been minimal current. Meanwhile
offshore, the search for dolphin has been just that, a search. The good news, however, is that when you find them, they've been very good sized
fish. We've only had to throw back about a dozen fish and the rest have been up to 15 pounds.
Wednesday (8/10), Oscar Marrero and Ray Cruz wanted some dolphin action. We started finding good weedlines in 700' and more each 1 to 1.5 miles out from there. Then the lines became groups of large patches of grass. We worked
from patch to patch with the live bait with no results and continued to work offshore. At 17 miles, we came across about a half dozen more large patches and a 5 gallon bucket. When we reached the north most patch, we got our
reward. A school of good size dolphin in the 8 - 15 pound class moved in on our baits and the action began. The fish stayed with us for at least a half hour. Oscar and Ray were constantly hooked up using live bait and with 1
ounce T&M pilchard jigs as well as the 1/4 ounce Kaplan jig. We all needed a break when the fish moved on. It was 10:30 in the morning and their visions of dolphin fillets had turned into a reality. We moved offshore a bit more and found nothing. It was time to turn back inshore and work some of the other weedlines we had seen on the way out. Once again when we got back to
17 miles, we found more large patches a bit further to the south and put out the live baits. Ray spotted some commotion on several patches to our north. We saw a free jumping sailfish and then several large boils in the water. We moved quickly to the area, where another very large school of dolphin surrounded
the boat. Ray used live bait and Oscar used jigs. We started catching and releasing fish as fast as we got lines in the water. These fish were smaller and we kept a few in the 22 to 24 inch class. Each time the school left us, we went back to the same patch and there they were. We did this three times before the 3/4 day trip was over and it was time to head back to
Spinnaker Marina a clean fish. At this last location, we easily released a minimum of 20 fish and I'm being very conserative. Now, here is the good part. All morning long, both Oscar and Ray kept replenishing their sunscreen. If you look closely at the attached picture, you'll see that it is the Banana Boat brand. So for all of you who are superstitious about
bananas on board being bad luck, I say I'll take this kind of bad luck any day.
Thursday (8/11), what a difference 24 hours makes. We paid our dues today in our dolphin search. Out to 20 miles, we found only cattered weed. Moving south and angling back in, we found large patches of grass and worked them all. Even the birds were doing no better. To sum up the day quickly, we caught and released two undersized dolphin and one bar jack. For those who say that this was a delayed banana thing, I say you're looking for excuses.
Friday (8/12), Jay Hardel from Atlanta, Georgia and his sons Derek and Andrew wanted to experience a half day of fishing on a charter. The goal was to catch a few eating fish. We started with a drift and some slow trolling straight out from Haulover with kingfish being the target. There was no action. We headed offshore with word that there was a weedline at 13 miles with birds working it. As we were running out, flying fish were taking off and this was a treat for everyone as they'd never seen them before. Jay always seemed to be looking in the wrong direction when one took off on its flight. There was also a lot more bird activity than yesterday and this gave me a good feeling. At 10 miles, I spotted the telltale signs of birds working over fish and ran to the area. Out went the live baits and we had almost instant action. All three anglers were hooked
up in less than 30 seconds and there were more fish swimming around the boat. I looked off to the left and then I spotted the large piece of 2 X 4 floating in the water. Out went the Mark's Marker so we could find the board again once we drifted away from it. Having never seen action and fish of this size before, everyone was amazed every time a dolphin made a huge
jump trying to shake the hook. Somewhere along the line, a video and digital camera came out and pictures were taken. When the fish stopped
biting, we found the marker by the board and picked up a few more fish. After a quick clean up and drinking plenty of water, we started our search again. The breeze felt good and this is when Jay saw his first flying fish. We found a nice rip with no fish. Then another weedline with birds on it that also had no fish. Heading back in, we found a 5 gallon bucket with the
usual assortment of triggerfish, filefish, and barjacks, but no dolphin. We took more pictures and then headed in to clean fish. Jay and his sons decided that the 3 largest fish were more than enough for them, so the remaining 5 fish were filleted and given to several of the employees at Spinnaker Marina. Everyone sends their THANKS to you all for your kind generosity.
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 Monday, August 15, 2005 - 3:05 pm: | |
We are in the middle of our summer pattern. The Kingfish are cooperating most days with a good mix of big Bonita's too. One day you go through all the bait and the next day you return with extra. The Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi) are still scattered and not too dependable. Because of the high risk and high cost of fuel, I haven't had any takers lately. The ones I know that are going aren't coming back with many good reports. We did get a few surprises this week while fishing for Barracuda in the inlet. The Tarpon jumped on the Cuda baits and put on a great show for the victim that grabbed the rod. Lots of air time and a rough workout in the heat of the day, but worth every minute of it.
I just had a video copy sent to me of the TV show we did back in May. It looks pretty good. Some nice Sailfish action, which came as good luck with cameras onboard, and being a but out of Sailfish season. If you have The Outdoor Channel HD, watch for it. It will air the week of August 5. The series is titled "The Professional's" and it is based on captains and guides inviting each other out to experience a different type of fishing as seen from a clients view.
Sea Ya,
Captain Ron
www.actionsportfishing.com |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 66
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 2:55 pm: | |
The heat of summer is definitely upon us. Make sure you have plenty of fluid on board to replace what you'll be perspiring away. For those who like to troll, get a #3 1/2 drone spoon down deep and you'll get your reward with kingfish and bonito. They've been anywhere from 100' out to over 200'. Drifting live bait will get you hits also if you find the area where the fish are concentrated. Early in the morning, there has been a very light NW wind for the past several days and a south current.
Running offshore for dolphin has been OK if you can deal with all the undersized fish that you should be throwing back. There has been lots of weed and debris and the birds continue to help with finding the schools. When you start finding the large grass patches, in past years you'd start licking your chops and tasting dolphin fillets. This year, you'll have to work hard running from patch to patch until you find the right one. Don't waste to much time at any one patch. If you don't get a bite quickly, drop a jig down deep. If this still gets no action, then move on to the next one.
If you just want to bend a rod, then save a bluerunner or two in your livewell and if you slow troll them in the right places, then you shouldn't have much trouble getting a large barracuda to inhale it. For the best fight, don't forget to us lighter tackle. Their jumps and runs can be amazing.
Saturday (7/23), Glen Tischner, his daughters Arista and Hope, and grandson Chris spent a day together fishing as a family. We started with running and gunning for dolphin. Once again birds and networking with other boats were the key to finding some fish. The first group of fish were all in the 15 to 19 1/2 inch range. Everyone got in on the action and enjoyed the pulling, tugging, and jumping of these beautifully colored fish. Every fish was released. The next group of fish was a carbon copy of the first. It was a shame to see some of the other boats that were on the school keeping every fish they caught. We worked our way out to 31 miles in search of larger fish. A boat out at 38 miles reported that they were also on throw back size fish. Moving back in a bit, we started finding all kinds of floating lumber inside of 20 miles. Of the six items we found, only the wooden cable spool held fish and you guessed it, they were all under size. Arista and Hope were catching fish as fast as they could put baits in the water. They were amazed at how visual the fishing was. Glen and Chris worked together as a team to release numerous fish and then Chris wanted to be the bait catcher. Every time some needed a bait, he scooped up a net full from the livewell and kept everyone supplied. We kept working our way back in with the intention of finishing the day on the reef. The first drift on the reef resulted in the mono leader getting chopped off by a toothy critter. The next drift had Arista fighting a kingfish that took a downrigger bait and Hope battling with a feisty bonito on a surface bait. Chris was helping me with the chumming process. Despite some heavy chumming, the last two drifts drew a blank and the day came to an end all to quickly. Final tally for the day was at least 24 dolphin caught and released, 1 kingfish, and 1 bonito.
Monday (7/25) Jose Sarraga and his friend Julio wanted a relaxing half day of fishing. Species of fish wasn't important, they just wanted some action and to listen to the sound of a protesting reel drag. We started off Haulover and with no current and little wind, slow trolling was in order. Julio grabbed the rod when the first fish hit and held on tight as a bonito dumped about half the reel before stopping. After a couple of more tacks in and out with no hits, we ran down to the Cuban Hole off Government Cut. This time Jose did battle with the next bonito. Neither angler had caught a bonito before and both were thrilled with how hard the fish fought. Next, we ran offshore and 7.5 miles out from the Sea Buoy, we fought a large grass patch that had dolphin and bluerunners on it. Once again the dolphin were of the throw back size. After catching and releasing 8 dolphin and 6 bluerunners, we moved further out in search of more action. We saw a free jumping sailfish that we were able to throw a bait at, however, it wasn't interested in feeding. Heading back in, we found another large grass patch. This time we watched as a small dolphin swim up to our live pilchards and then ignore them. The question is where are all the decent schoolie and gaffer size dolphin? Maybe we'll find them tomorrow. I'll let you know.
Tuesday (7/26) Eileen Clark, her brother Stephen, his son Matthew, and Matthew's friend Joey were looking forward to a day of fishing off the Miami coast. Like yesterday, species wasn't important. They just wanted any kind of action. Straight out from Haulover, we found a very light NW wind with a south current. The bonito action was good and both boys had their hands full pulling on the hard fighting bonito. After 7 fish, we headed offshore in search of dolphin. At 5 miles out, we found a weedline and a single tern put us on some fish. Everyone got in on the action using either live pilchards or a jig. After catching and releasing a dozen fish, we moved on with our search. We found lots of weedlines, scattered grass lines, and large patches of grass. At the 10 mile mark an exceptionally large patch had us in the fish again. Moving on, we came upon a school of porpoise and neither Matthew or Joey had seen them in the wild before. We spent some time with the porpoise cruising in our bow wake and pictures and video being taken. Along the way, we also caught a remora, a large houndfish, and 2 bluerunners. With the runners in the livewell, and with 24 dolphin caught and released, it was time to try for a barracuda. The first location had the bait getting nervous several times, but no strikes. At the second location, Joey did battle with a large barracuda that tested his stamina. After releasing the fish, it was time to head back to Spinnaker Marina and reflect on the days catch.
Wednesday (7/27) I had Alan Luchnick, his business associate Ben and Ben's two sons Mike and Nathan out for a half day of fishing. Once again we just wanted some action for the young boys and then some larger fish for the adults. Neither Mike or Nathan had been fishing before, so any action was great for them. We started with bonito straight out from Haulover. After catching 4 bonito and a remora, we headed offshore in search of some dolphin action. Between 5 and 9 miles, we found loads and loads of grass in large patches. We moved from patch to patch and finally found some large bluerunners under several of them. We kept two for some barracuda fishing later in the morning. After about the 25th patch, we found the largest one of the day and it had the dolphin under it. Ben, Mike, and Nathan were very excited at all the fish around the boat and how pretty the fish were. Alan had seen this type of action before and caught his share of fish. Meanwhile, Mike and Nathan wanted to keep catching and releasing fish, their Dad was having fun taking pictures, enjoying watching his children catching fish, and catching a few himself. As has been the pattern for the past week, every fish was a throw back. We had enough time left in the morning to try for some barracuda with the bluerunners. They didn't disappoint us and very quickly Alan had his hands full pulling on a 15# cuda. After pictures and releasing the fish, it was Ben's turn next. As the incoming tide pushed us through the Inlet, we got our reward once again and Ben did battle with a 20# barracuda. More pictures and the released fish swam away in a flash.
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: 65
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 17, 2005 - 1:48 pm: | |
Dolphin fishing in the Haulover area for the past several days has had its ups and downs. There has been a general lack of structure to fish to and the best bet has been finding birds working over a school of fish. In past years, finding some type of large object floating would almost always produce plenty of dolphin. This year, it has been the exact opposite. I have found my fair share of floating objects, however, only 1 out of 15 has produced fish. It hasn't mattered whether I've found these objects during the week or the weekend. On the brighter side, there have been fewer undersized fish.
On Thursday (7/14), Brian Hallmark and friends Mark and Shawn all from Tennessee, took some time off from their convention to get in some dolphin fishing. The run and gun technique of fishing emphasized the run portion all morning long. A wooden pallet had nothing but triggerfish, filefish, and bar jacks on it. We found lots of weed patches in the 24 - 28 mile range and only 1 patch produced one fish. We ran back south and when we were 23.9 miles east of Haulover Inlet, I spotted another slick worth investigating. As I approached, we all saw the frigate bird working lower. Next it was the 2 terns that put us on the school of fish and the gun part of the technique finally came into play. Everyone caught multiple fish and when the school moved on, we had plenty of fish for the fish fry that evening.
Friday (7/15) the wind picked up and made the run offshore a bumpy one. Bob Meyers along with Seth, John, and Nora helped spot lots of birds. The birds were searching just like we were. Frigate birds circled and then flew off. Terns flew NE as they covered lots of territory. There was only a patch of grass here and there. The decision was made to run back in to the reef area and get in some type of action. It turned out to be a good move. On 4 consecutive drifts, when we hit 180', we got action on either the flat lines or down bait. Bonito, barracuda, and triggerfish kept everyone busy and turned what started as a very bleak day into an OK one.
Saturday (7/16) I had the pleasure of fishing with Ray Mahalick, his wife Karen, and daughter Jennie. The goal was dolphin and blackfin tuna. Once again, the wind was up and made it bumpy running offshore. It was beginning to look like a carbon copy of yesterday's trip. Running south and working with Larry and Bruce on Lady Lo, we found the right flock of birds and put a couple of decent dolphin in the box and released some under sized ones also. Continuing south, we found more birds that were over a school of small tuna that moved fast and wouldn't feed. Moving south again, we found 3 birds that put us on some more undersized fish that we had fun catching and releasing. The large tree that we came upon next provided us with fun catching bar jacks. Even stopping for lunch didn't bring any more dolphin our way. Working back north showed us nothing but pretty blue clear water, so once again like yesterday, we decided to run in to the reef area. We had a 3 mph north current and started just south of the Government Cut Sea Buoy. The first drift produced two baits chopped in half at the mid body and one triggerfish on the downrigger. The next several drifts were fishless. We were on the last drift of the day and I had just reeled in the bow flatline, when the middle flatline took off. Jennie picked up the rod and the fish was dumping line from the 20# spinning outfit in a hurry. She was holding on tight and doing a great job of chasing the fish around the boat. It was a back and forth battle and soon, the fish was getting to be too much for Jennie to handle. She asked her Dad to take over and sat down amazed at how hard the fish was pulling. Meanwhile, Karen was capturing the battle on film and Ray had his hands full with a very stubborn fish. It was back and forth for about ten minutes before he started to win the battle. In another 10 minutes, we saw color and a large blackfin tuna. The tired fish came right to the boat and it was gaffed and put in the fish box. The team effort of daughter, father, and moral support from mom ended the day on a very high note. After being bled and iced, the fish later weighed in at 25 pounds.
Once again, we're up to date. The fishing remains quite good and persistence has paid off most of the time. Give me a call to schedule your trip.
See you out in the Stream.
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: 64
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - 2:12 pm: | |
Lets get caught up, so it's straight to the daily reports.
The first report is a bit old as it was before the blustery weather of Hurricane Dennis came through this weekend.
Monday (7/4) Bill Quain, Joel, Ben, and Jackie were looking to catch some dolphin. The birds put us on the first action at 14.5 miles out from Haulover. We found several fish that were over the 20" minimum length and several that were under. The next group of fish were at 16 miles and all except for 2 were undersize. We kept searching further offshore and once again the birds put us on fish at 18 miles out. By this time, the current had pushed us north of Haulover Inlet. Once again, lots of fish and almost everyone was a throw back. Next, we found a fishy looking board with nothing on it. A large plastic barrel also produced nothing. A call from Mike on the Silver King had us running further to the NE as they were into fish at 22 miles out. Once again, the fish were mostly throw backs. We were having a ball catching and releasing them and soon they became very uncooperative. The fish were feeding under pods of grass, however, they ignored our live bait, cut bait, and jig offerings. There were three boats (Knot Nancy, Silver King, and Barely Rigged) trying everything to get them to feed with only a fish occasionally taking a bait. We kept leap frogging one another and followed the fish as they moved north. With about 15 minutes to go in the charter, my group was ready to pack it in. I told then we still had time to find a decent fish and had them change their baits. We saw the school of dolphin shower and both Bill and Joel threw out their fresh lively pilchard. First Bill said he was hooked up, and then Joel echoed the same. A large, very unhappy dolphin broke the surface and took off before making several more jumps. It soon became very apparent that they were both hooked to the same fish. One was using 12# line and the other 20#, so we were fighting it on 32# line. Not an IGFA line class, nor would it count in a tournament, however, when you're fun fishing, you'll take them any way you can. The tag team made quick work of getting the fish boat side and everyone gave out a big yell when I put the fish in the boat. It weighed in at 26 pounds and ended the morning with a big bang. It just goes to show that you never know when it could happen, so keep the faith.
Monday (7/11) evening, Cy Mager and his brother-in-law Jerry wanted some tarpon action. Prior to Hurricane Dennis, there was still decent tarpon action if you could get an evening with a little wind and no storms. This evening, you couldn't have asked for better weather. We started on the south side of Government Cut and after about 5 drifts with no action, it was time to try the north side. On the third drift, the action started. The fish dumped about 3/4's of the spool before we began to gain line back. First it ran offshore, then it reversed its field and ran toward the beach. Next it ran toward the jetties and turned offshore again. Jerry was winding like crazy trying to keep up with the fish. It settled down briefly before heading for the deep water of the main channel. We crossed the edge just as a large freighter went past us heading out bound. The fish surfaced and we got a brief shot at the leader before it dove deep again. It headed south across the channel and then went slack. After about 20 minutes of intense fighting, the hook pulled. Two drifts later, Jerry was hooked up again. The fish pulled the reverse field tactic again and Jerry thought he had lost the fish. The line came tight and it was headed to the beach. It spent a lot of time almost at the shoreline before heading out again. By now, Jerry had the fish under control and we soon released the spunky 50# fish.
I've got several dolphin trips scheduled for this Thursday through Saturday, so look for another dolphin report from the Haulover area shortly thereafter.
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
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 08, 2005 - 1:36 pm: | |
Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Boca Raton fishing report
Here we are getting ready for our first taste of this years hurricane season. Dennis the menace is passing just south of us today. It looks like we will be lucky this time and just get some winds and rain. The fish bit real well this morning. I snuck out to wet a few lines until my anglers decided to go in early. It wasn't all that bad (2-4 footers) but they landed a Sailfish on the first drift and decided they wanted to quit before they saw thier breafast. The rest of the boats were getting similar action, Sails, Blackfin Tuna and a few Shark and Kingfish were filling thier bellies before the weather came. Hopefully this will pass fast and we can carry on as usual.
Sea Ya,
Captain Ron Mallet
www.actionsportfishing.com |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
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Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 63
Registered: 8-2003
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 03, 2005 - 2:27 pm: | |
Dolphin continue to make a strong showing. One day you find some decent size fish and the next they are almost all throw backs. The unfortunate thing that I am seeing is that way to many boats are keeping under size fish and lots of them. Distance offshore doesn't seem to matter much as to what size fish you will find. I have talked with anglers who fished out as far as 31 miles and they were catching the same under size fish that we were finding at 10 - 15 miles out. Others are finding birds working over schools of fish that turn out to be under size. The main thing is to catch and release a few, have some fun with light tackle, and then move on and try to find some larger fish.
Friday (7/1), Tino and Ruben finally were able to get their schedules to match so they could get out and spend some time fishing together. The weather was beautiful all day and the fish were very cooperative. At 9.8 miles, slow trolling live pilchards got our first two fish on a very weak weedline. The good news was that the fish were in the 5 - 7 pound range. Our next action came at 13.5 miles under several birds. Once again, the fish were mostly in the 5 - 7 pound class with a few throw backs mixed in. It took some searching to find the third group of fish, however, the search was well worth it as we hit the mother load. Up till this time, there have been no dolphin on any of the floaters that I have found. That changed today with the pallet we found. As they say, we hit the mother load. The big fish of the day was a 12# fish that took it's time about wanting to eat our bait. Many of the fish that Tino caught were on jigs and 8# line. This added to the challenge, fun, and excitement. After we left the pallet, the ocean seemed to dry up and Ruben caught the final fish (a throw back) of the day on a weedline that was 6 miles out.
Saturday (7/2), John Perkins, his dad, Bob, brother Kree, and friend John were looking forward to day of dolphin fishing. The action started on a large patch at 10.5 miles. Every fish we caught was a throw back. Many of the boats around us were keeping every fish they caught. We moved out to another large patch at 14.5 miles and found the same action. We kept having fun catching them on live pilchards, cut bait, and jigs. We finally caught 1 legal fish for the box. Boats out as far as 31 miles were catching the same size fish. Almost everyone was in the 18 - 19.5 inch range. At one point, I saw a frigate bird dive to an explosion on the surface about 100 yards from us. We moved to the area quickly and tossed out a live bait on a 12# spinning outfit. We got our reward when a 25# cow broke the surface and headed east away from us. John (friend) wasn't going to let the fish get away and fought it like a pro. During the course of the fight, the fish made 8 - 10 great leaps that had me holding my breath with each one. In the end, the fish came aboard and joined it's smaller relative in the fish box. After some celebrating and pictures, we moved to another patch and continued catching and releasing the smaller fish. With a quickly dwindling bait supply and continued small fish, we decided to call it a day and enjoyed our long ride back to Spinnaker Marina.
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)
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Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 62
Registered: 8-2003
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 - 1:12 pm: | |
The offshore word is dolphin (mahi-mahi) and lots of them. The only problem is that they have been mostly peanut size with plenty of under sized fish that need to be released. I am seeing way to many anglers bringing in lots of fish under the minimum size 20" fork length. The vast majority of action in the Government Cut to Haulover Inlet area has been in the 6 - 12 mile range. Beyond that, the ocean clears up and finding birds and floaters is your only hope for success. So far this season, I have found a large range and size of floaters and have yet to find any dolphin under them. Within the 6 - 12 mile range there has been plenty of weedlines, large grass patches, and plenty of birds.
Saturday (6/25) morning, Brad Coren and friends Jesse and Jose finally got to go dolphin fishing after having to reschedule twice due to bad weather. The third time was their lucky charm. We found decent size schoolies and one gaffer under several flocks of birds in the 10.5 - 13 mile range. If you were the first to find the birds, you got several fish before the school either shut off or moved on. There were also many under sized peanuts mixed in. Jose got the big fish of the day (15#'s) and cane poled it into to the boat and proceeded to throw his body across the fish to keep it from flopping around. He had us all laughing like crazy as he fought the fish both in the water and in the boat. We ended the morning with 10 keeper fish and many throw backs.
Sunday (6/26) morning Stephan Louvere and his friends Erik, Jim, and John were back for round two of dolphin fishing. Their first trip was in May when the dolphin fishing left a bit to be desired. This time, they got to see what dolphin fishing and dolphin fever is all about. The fish were in the 6.5 to 7.5 mile range and we had to work hard to find keeper size fish. We had constant action with fish in the 18 to 19.5 inch range and it seemed like we caught 2 to 3 undersized fish for every keeper. Around 11 AM we decided to run out and see if we could find some larger fish. Beyond 10 miles, the ocean got very clean. At 14.5 miles, we found a swim buoy with only a barracuda around it. We followed numerous birds who were searching just like we were. Working our way back in, we found very different conditions. The weedlines and large patches had been broken up by the change in wind direction and increase in wind speed. We had 12 keepers in the fish box and must have released at least that many and probably more. It's hard to keep track when the action is coming fast and furious.
Monday (6/27) was an afternoon/evening trip that I donated to the MET Fishing Tournament. We caught herring at the bent range marker and worked our way offshore to dolphin fish. We had 9 - 14 knot winds, so the seas were up a bit and sloppy. Our first bait got hit as I was putting it out and Tom caught a nice 10# barracuda that put on a great aerial show with numerous jumps. Next, frigate birds had us working our way out a bit further to the 6 mile range and once again like the last 2 days, we found only peanut size fish. We had a blast catching and releasing these fish. Another frigate bird put us on more schools of peanut sized fish. We lost track of how many, but most of the time all of us were hooked up. We finally put 1 legal size fish in the box and decided to head back in to try for some tarpon. Inshore, the seas were much calmer. So calm in fact that we caught the bottom with our bait due to such a slow drift. We all saw tarpon rolling and were waiting patiently for the sundown period. It wasn't to be as some very fierce thunderstorms moved in and we decided to error on the side of safety and call it a night. As we made the run back to Spinnaker Marina, we watched the storms developing all around us. About 10 minutes into my cleaning the boat, the skies opened up and I knew for sure that we had made the right decision.
As you can see, there are plenty of dolphin offshore. Finding decent size fish has been very hit and miss. There have been a few around, however, most anglers have been having to wade through lots of smaller ones to get a few to take home. Yes, you'll hear about someone catching a 20 or 30 pound fish, but when you talk with them, that's all they got that trip. They missed out on all the fun of catching and releasing lots of fish and getting to keep a few in the process. Who knows, the bigger fish could move in on your next trip. That's what makes fishing so challenging and interesting.
Remember the size limit (20" from lower jaw to the fork in the tail) and bag limit (10 per person) and have 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: 61
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 20, 2005 - 1:23 pm: | |
As I'm sitting here writing this report, we are having another weather system passing through our area resulting in an all day rain with plenty of lighting and thunder. For the past several days, the mornings have been beautiful. Then as is typical of this time of year, the storm clouds build and keeping an eye on the weather is a must if you don't want to get caught out in some very violent weather. There have been some waterspouts sighted off Miami Beach.
Now on the brighter side, the dolphin fishing has been excellent. For the most part, the fish have been schoolie size and smaller with some fish up to 10 - 15 pounds mixed in. In the Haulover area, the reef fishing has been on the very slow side mainly due to a lack of any current. Tarpon fishing remains excellent as long as there is enough wind to drift with. Without a drift, the baits sink to the bottom and often times snag some structure. Also, remember to bring plenty of mosquito repellent as they have been out in force once it gets dark.
Friday (6/17) morning, Richard Finder treated his grand daughter Brittany and her friends Jade and Diego to some dolphin fishing. Our first action came on a weedline at 6.8 miles out from Haulover. Next it was 14 miles and the largest school of the day was found at 17 miles. All the fish were on weedlines and large weed patches. We caught them trolling dolphin juniors, casting 1/4 ounce Kaplan jigs, slow trolling live pilchards, and finally on chunks of pilchards. The action was so fast and furious that most of the time all four anglers were hooked up at once. The seas were almost flat calm and this made running and gunning a pleasure. Back at the dock, Brittany, Jade, and Diego pitched right in with the cleaning of the fish and were looking forward to a dolphin fillet dinner.
Saturday (6/18) morning, Emilio Martinez and family members Mike, Ernie, and Ernie Junior were out for a day of dolphin fishing. Like yesterday, we found our first fish at 6.5 miles out. It hit a dolphin junior and jumped off at the boat. A live bait enticed it back and it got released as it was under the 20" size limit. Back to the large patch of grass and this time we got a keeper size fish to the boat. Moving on, we worked numerous patches and lines out to 12 miles. From that point out to 14 miles, we found nothing and moved back toward the more likely looking areas. We found a 14' long piece of bamboo with no fish. Several small pieces of wood also had no fish. As we trolled toward a large patch of grass at 10.5 miles, both Ernie Junior and I spotted the jumping dolphin at the same time. It didn't want the juniors, however, it couldn't resist a live pilchard and he had plenty of buddies. All four anglers were hooked up and as I brought each fish on board, they'd throw back out and get hooked up again. We moved on to another area and once again we saw the fish swim by the boat as we were trolling. Out of gear and out with the livies and the action began again. We called it quits about noon and made it back to Spinnaker Marina just before the rains started. All three family members went home with plenty of fish for the fish fry that evening.
Saturday (6/18) evening was a tarpon trip with Bill Cullen and business associates Jason, Fred, and Luis. The tarpon were rolling on the south side at Government Cut and the closer we came to the dusk period, the slower the wind blew. We hooked up one fish that thrilled us all with its two great leaps before it threw the hook. When it got dark, the wind died almost completely. The drift was so slow that we hooked the bottom several times. Then the mosquitoes attacked us and we spent the remainder of the evening swatting them.
Sunday (6/19) morning it was back out dolphin fishing with Kevin McCarthy, his brother, dad, and friend. The seas picked up for the first half of the morning before calming back down. The dolphin were playing hide and seek with us doing a lot of seeking. The conditions looked great with plenty of live looking grass patches and heavy scattered lines. Trolling was near impossible without grassing up your bait. Slow trolling live baits required constant attention to keep the grass off them. We picked away at the dolphin with one here and one there. Several boats that I spoke with who went out as far as 21 miles found grass, floating structure, and some birds, but no fish. We watched the thunderstorms build up inshore and to the north of us and came in at 1 PM. We caught 5 fish in the 5 - 10 pound range and fish fillets were on the menu for that evening.
Monday (6/20), as I mentioned earlier, it has been raining most all day and we rescheduled our afternoon/evening trip for next Monday.
All of the dolphin fishing I have been doing has been in the Haulover area from the Twin Towers to the south and Golden Beach to the north. So, that brings me up to date. I've got dates open, so give me a call and lets 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: 60
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - 7:38 pm: | |
Prior to Arlene paying us a brush by visit, the dolphin fishing was improving day by day. Tarpon inshore are continuing to display a strong showing. Arlene spoiled the plans of most people over the weekend. Only those with the strongest of stomachs dared to venture out.
The seas have calmed down nicely and it's time to get back out and do some fishing. On the one tarpon trip I had last week, Randy and Brad combined to go 4 for 5. Sharon handled the video and digital cameras and did a spectacular job of it. It seemed like the tarpon didn't want their pictures taken because several of the fish jumped and slammed into the side of the boat right where Sharon was standing. This had her diving for cover to protect herself and the cameras. Live crabs were the bait of choice and they are still holding their feeding pattern of waiting till the dusk period before turning on the feed bag.
Captain Dave
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: 59
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 30, 2005 - 12:11 pm: | |
YES!! They have finally shown up. I'm talking about dolphin (mahi-mahi). It has taken them a while to get here, but now you can expect to find some when you invest your time and gas to make the run offshore. Once again, as like last year, we are finding them within a reasonable distance offshore. Don't get caught up in the need to run out 20 miles. Most all the fish are in the 7 - 12 mile range. Find some type of structure or working birds and chances are good that you'll find the fish.
In on the reef, it continues to be hit and miss. Go out on a day when there is north current and you'll get your shots. Find no current or south current and it could be a tough day. If you're searching for blackfin tuna, then persistence is the key. Fish the late afternoon up till sunset and you'll get your reward. It could take a trip or two, however, it will happen if you're persistent.
Inshore, the tarpon fishing remains very good. They're feeding on crabs and have been quite reliable about turning on during the dusk period and after dark. Throw in the fact that the BIG fish are around and you've got the combination for a long drawn out battle that could have you pulling them up from the bottom in the deep water of the main channel.
Wednesday (5/25) evening Dennis Duley and his friend David flew into Miami from Upper Marlboro, MD at 5:15 PM. At 7 PM, we pulled away from the dock at Spinnaker Marina to do some tarpon fishing. True to form, when we got in to the late dusk period, Dennis hooked up and the battle started. The fish took the tour of the south side of Government Cut before making its way to the deep water of the main channel. Once in the channel, the fish hugged the bottom as it swam in with the incoming tide. It was a back and forth battle for well over an hour before we released the fish in front of the ferry boat dock on MacArthur Causeway. To say the least, Dennis was tired, exhausted, and extremely impressed with how strong his 120# tarpon was. We made the run back out and put out the lines again. This time it was David's turn, and it didn't take to long. His fish dumped 3/4's of the spool of line on its first run. The fish swam south into the rocky area and we worked hard to get caught up with the fish. Just when we thought we were making progress, the fish would take off on another long run and we started the process of gaining line all over again. The fish finally found a rock pile and wrapped us around it and broke the line.
Saturday (5/28) morning, Jose Sarraga from San Juan, Puerto Rico and his son had dolphin dinner on their minds. At 7 miles out from Haulover, I arrived in the area where friends Larry and Bruce on Lady Lo had found some large turtle grass patches that were holding fish. Nose hooked pilchards that we slow trolled soon had dolphin on our lines and the fun began. We caught 8, kept 6 for dinner, released 2 and had several others throw the hook. With enough dolphin, we ran back in to the reef only to find dirty green water with south current and no fish. We worked 3 different areas from the Cuban Hole north and didn't even have a bait get nervous.
Saturday (5/28) evening, Ed Roy from Michigan took some time off from a business trip/vacation to get in some tarpon fishing. The fish showed us some mercy this evening by sending in their smaller brothers and sisters. Our first fish (80 pounds) was the big fish of the evening. The fish was trying hard to get to the main channel, but Ed worked harder to keep the fish from getting there. We released the fish about 100' before it would have gone over the edge into the deep water. On the next drift, the tarpon jumped almost immediately and threw the hook. The third fish hit just as I started to wind in the bait to set up another drift. This 40 pound fish put on a great jumping show very close to the boat and had us both shouting with excitement. The fourth fish of the evening was a 50 pound fish that put on another wonderful show for us. Final total was 3 for 4 tarpon and one extremely happy angler.
Sunday (5/29) evening, Luis Carmona and his brothers Steven and Jesse were spending some quality time together prior to Steven heading overseas for a year with the Air Force. The tarpon were rolling around all over the area and it would only be a matter of time before the pulling would begin. The first hit came on the first drift. The rod bent over very weakly and as soon as we turned the handle, the hook popped out and the crab was gone. Several drifts later, we watched a big swirl and saw the rod twitch. No hook up and the bait was alive and kicking like crazy. Finally, a tarpon hit in the standard manner and made two huge jumps before starting a slow but steady fight. The south side tour began. Steven soon tired out and Luis took over. He soon tired out and Jesse took his turn. Now the fish made its way to the main channel. It moved offshore with the outgoing tide to just before the second red marker before deciding to head to the north. As each angler got tired, the rod was passed over to the next brother to keep everyone semi fresh. The fish soon tired of the north side and headed back to the main channel. It continued offshore and by the time we released the 100 pound fish, we were almost to the turn in the Government Cut channel and the brothers had taken 4 complete turns on the fish. That was one mean and ornery fish. Sandwiches for everyone and beverage to wash them down and everyone was now ready for round two. On the second drift, the crab that Steven's son Joseph had picked out got hit. This time, Luis started the battle and the fish headed straight south like a freight train. It turned west and we soon found ourselves in the very shallow water of the reef area to the south of Fisher Island. We had the official catch and Jesse now was taking his turn. The 120# fish made a tremendous totally out of the water jump and the threw the hook. It flew straight back at us and luckily it hit no one. Good luck Steven on your overseas assignment and THANKS for helping make our country a safe place to live.
There is still time to get in on the tarpon action so don't miss out on it. The dolphin action is heating up and the fillets are very tasty, so give me a call and lets get out there and do some 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: 58
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 22, 2005 - 2:25 pm: | |
Fishing in the Haulover to Government Cut area continued to be on the slow side this past week. The main culprit remains the lack of current. Even when we find blue water, there has been no current. The one bright spot has been that the tarpon have finally turned on the way they should be for the May time frame. They have settled in to feeding on crabs on a consistent basis.
Sunday (5/15), Eileen and Sandy got to go on a trip that we had to be rescheduled due to very windy weather. We fished straight out front of Haulover in the 90 - 200 foot range. Wind from the E/ESE @ 10 - 15 knots gave us a 3 - 5 foot sea condition. The first strike of the morning was a kingfish on the downrigger. Next, a houndfish on a flatline. A 100# hammerhead shark ate a pilchard on the kite and Sandy had her hands full for several minutes until the shark ate through the mono leader. The final action of the morning was a sailfish that came up on the short kite bait and proceeded to knock it off the hook. Then it went to the long kite bait where it got the leader tangled on its bill and came up jumping and never got the bait.
Tuesday (5/17) evening was the night before the tarpon finally turned back on. The fish were rolling throughout the area, however, they weren't in much of a feeding mood. Our first and only shot at a tarpon this evening resulted in a jump and a thrown hook. Our next strike hooked up and turned out to be a bonnethead shark. On Wednesday evening, the tarpon turned on and have remained consistent with their feeding just prior to the dusk period and after dark.
Friday (5/20) morning, the lack of current continued in the Haulover through Government area. Wind from the ENE/E at 6 - 12 knots had two of the anglers dealing with motion sickness. The downrigger once again was the main technique that produced the strikes. The first kingfish was under size and was released. A houndfish on a flatline was also released. The next downrigger strikes was a decent size king. A porpoise decided it liked the fish better than we did and we got the head and gills with the porpoise getting the better part of the deal. After that, we moved south and fished off the Twins were we pulled the hooks on a fish that once again struck the downrigger bait. Moving offshore to 500 feet, we found pretty blue water with no current. The last move of the morning was to the Miami sea buoy. In 106' with dirty green water and no current, we caught a 10 pound dolphin. The final drift of the morning got us a barely legal kingfish on the downrigger.
Saturday (5/21) morning we made our first run offshore looking for dolphin. We found lots of good looking weedlines and large rafts of grass. The first dolphin we found was undersize and couldn't even eat the bait. At 16.5 miles, it was time to start back in. Working numerous weedlines finally gave us 1 schoolie size dolphin. Back in on the reef, we once again were fighting no current ugly green water conditions. After several moves back toward Haulover, we found some blue water with some current. The downrigger bait got hit within minutes of putting it down. The result was another barely legal kingfish. After putting the fish in the box, the blue water had pushed out well beyond our 130' depth and the 3/4 day trip was over.
Saturday (5/21) evening, the father and son team of Mark and Sam got to spend some time together while tarpon fishing. Sam was up first and got the largest fish of the evening. We took the tour of the south side of the jetties and then into the main channel. The 35 minute battle ended with Sam releasing a 120# tarpon. The next fish threw the hook with its first jump. The next drift had Mark hooked up with a very manageable 50# fish that was released. Then the wind died off and a lull in the action came. A move to deep in the tarpon area got Mark hooked up again with a very nasty 110# tarpon. Several times, he thought the hook had pulled only to find out that the tarpon had reversed its field and charged back and under the boat. I had my hands full with countering the tarpons moves. In the end, Mark prevailed and the fish was released. By this time, the wind had died completely and the only way to get any forward drift was to bump the boat forward with the engines. When we came tight on the lines, the rod bent over and Sam caught a bonnethead shark. The evening ended with a 3 for 4 in the tarpon category.
As you can see, the lack of current has made fishing a challenge. Reports from clients and friends who have gone out in the afternoon have been that the current has picked up some and with it so has the kingfish and sailfish action. With this in mind, an afternoon/evening trip for right now will help improve the chances for more action. Give me a call and lets 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: 57
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 13, 2005 - 5:53 am: | |
It has been a while since my last report. We'll get caught up shortly with the daily reports, but first some general comments about both the offshore fishing and inshore tarpon scenes. Depending on which day you fished, the conditions have ranged from green pea soup looking water with no current to beautiful blue water without current and also with current. On the days with no current, it's been a struggle to get a decent catch. With current, the kingfish and sailfish have been very cooperative. Dolphin, however, have been strangely absent in our area. Yes, there have been a few and yes, many of them have been undersize. Remember they have to be 20" from the lower jaw to the fork of the tail.
Meanwhile inshore, the tarpon fishing has been running hot and cold. The shrimp ran for two nights a few days before the new moon and the fishing was excellent. Prior to and after that, they have been feeding on crabs. There have been loads of fish in the area, however, they have mostly been having lockjaw. The sundown and dusk periods have been when we start to get our strikes and then for a few drifts after dark. There has been a tremendous amount of weed throughout the area and it has made keeping the baits weed free very difficult.
Saturday (4/30) afternoon/evening was one of those no current days offshore. In 270' we all watched a sailfish knock baits off of both our flatlines and swim away. Numerous other drifts produced no strikes. I ran to just north of the sea buoy and slow trolled herring to finally catch a decent kingfish on the downrigger. We moved inshore to try for tarpon. Within a minute of putting out the first shrimp, we got a solid hookup from a very large fish. After 56 minutes, we got the pictures my group wanted and the estimated 130 pound fish was released.
Tuesday (5/3) evening we struggled to get a tarpon bite. With very little wind, it made drifting difficult at best. It took going into the Bay to get a fish to cooperate. We hooked it on a D.O.A. glow shrimp and 10# line. We came close to getting the catch a few times only to be denied. The fish then made a move for some pilings and added additional pressure resulted in a broken line.
Wednesday (5/4) was a middle of the day trip. Pea soup looking green water with no current had us in the struggle mode again. Flatlines had no action at all despite live chumming. The downrigger got the action with one tail hooked undersized kingfish that was released. The next fish was a much larger one, however, after dumping about 3/4's of the spool, the hook pulled. The final fish of the day was a dolphin just larger than our bait. Despite a good drop back to the fish, it still threw the bait when it jumped.
Saturday (5/7) evening the shrimp ran as soon as it got dark. Once again light winds had us struggling in the drift department. We watched as a school of tarpon that was blasting shrimp finally moved our way and the strike we were looking for happened. We released the fish and then a hour later after not finding a cooperative snook, we went back to tarpon fishing. By this time, the shrimp run was over and the fish had moved out of the area. We went to the Bay where we caught 1 of 2 fish on 12# spinning outfits. The evening ended with us going 2 for 3 on tarpon.
Sunday (5/8) evening was the night of the new moon. Crabs were the bait of choice this evening. We started with a nice 110 pound fish in the dusk period. This gave Jerry a good work out. The next drift it was Mike's turn and he too got a good work out with a 50# fish that made its way to the main channel. Back out to the south side and another drift and another tarpon for Mike. This time the fish stayed on the south side. We went fishless on several drifts after that and ended the evening at 3 for 3.
Tuesday (5/10) afternoon/evening we struggled to come up with 2 dozen herring. We found beautiful blue water with current. Everything looked perfect except someone forgot to tell the fish. On the first drift we got a kingfish on the downrigger as we crossed the current line in 120'. The next highlight before going in to tarpon fish was watching a free jumping sailfish make 8 jumps. I ran up ahead of the fish and put out baits and got no action. We got our one and only tarpon hit after it got dark. The Eagle Claw P170 8/0 circle hook did its job and we released a nice 60# fish that ate a crab. We had to pick our spots to put out the baits as the grass was covering almost the whole area.
Wednesday (5/11) evening I did a seminar on dolphin fishing at the S.A.I.L. Club in Ft. Lauderdale. They meet at the Downtowner Saloon on Andrews Avenue and the New River. It was a great time with a wonderful group of anglers. They have several teams who will be fishing the Grove Slam Tournament this Saturday (5/14). Good luck S.A.I.L. Club members and get out there and find that BIG dolphin.
Thursday (5/12) morning we started straight out from Haulover Inlet. The kingfish were chopping. All the action came in the 110 - 140 foot range with the flatlines catching the majority of the fish. The downrigger, however, caught the largest fish. We had several cutoffs and after putting 5 nice kings in the fishbox, it was time to try for a sailfish. We started in 250' to give ourselves a shot at a dolphin. At 170' the downrigger bait was eaten by a triggerfish. The same happened at 140'. At 115' as we approached the blue/green edge, the long kite bait got the sailfish action. Cliff Goodman from Long Island, NY worked the rod like a pro and was hooked up with his first sailfish. A second sail ate the short kite bait and Craig Kaylor hooked up that fish also. We had a double header going. As we fought the two fish, Neil Goodman was busy taking pictures and got some great action shots. Both fish were released and that's how the morning ended.
Once again we're up to date. Time to go out fishing again. 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: 56
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 30, 2005 - 8:10 am: | |
The fishing offshore has run the range from tough to very good over the last week. The good news is that it has mostly been on the very good side. Sailfish has been the main highlight with some dolphin. The spring run of kingfish has finally started and the blackfin tuna are beginning to make a showing.
Inshore, the tarpon broke out of their one per night mode on the night of the full moon. There was a good shrimp run on that night and for the next two nights after that. If watching tarpon blasting shrimp off the surface doesn't get your blood to boiling, then it's time to find another sport.
That's the major highlights, so here are the day by day events.
Friday (4/22) was an afternoon/evening trip. Hank, Darrell, and Dewayne were on vacation. One throw of the castnet and it took two of us to pull the net full of pilchards into the boat. The blue water edge was in close straight out from Government and within 10 minutes of putting out the baits, Hank was fighting a sailfish. The action continued hot and furious and by the time we pulled in our baits to go tarpon fishing, we had another sailfish, a couple of dolphin, a couple of kingfish, a bonito, shark, and spanish mackerel. Inshore, the tarpon continued their 1 shot per night mode. We failed to hook up solid with our 1 shot and got no other strikes that evening.
Saturday (4/23) was the one tough day we've had. Chris and Tonya had two kingfish bites within the first 45 minutes and then the action stopped for the remainder of the day. Once again we had a livewell full of pilchards and with all the chumming we didn't raise a single fish.
Sunday (4/24) Hank, Darrell, and Dewayne were back for another afternoon evening trip. Offshore, we got a sailfish and remora. Inshore, we hooked up with a beast of a tarpon on our first drift. It took us to the Cut and found the rock pile along the deep side of the ledge and cut us off. As soon as it got dark, the shrimp ran and the tarpon started feeding. The wind had died and the drift was extremely slow. We caught a mangrove snapper and finally had the strike we wanted or so we thought. It turned out to be a large blacktip shark. Then the fan turned on and we went from a .3 mph drift to a 1.7 mph drift. We jumped a tarpon and then on the next drift we hooked up solid. Dewayne took the next 56 minutes pull hard on his tarpon before we could get some good pictures of the fish at boat side.
Monday (4/25) evening I had Carlos Senior and Junior and Albert Senior and Junior looking for a fight with a tarpon. As if on queue, the shrimp ran after dark and the tarpon fed. Both Carlos and Albert Junior took turns battling the tarpon. The fish made their way to the Cut, however both anglers pulled hard and got their tarpon boat side for pictures. The anglers were a bit arm weary, however, it was a good feeling after they saw the size of the fish and knew they had won the battle. Final score for the evening was 3 for 3.
Tuesday (4/26) evening it was Pete and Bill's turn to pull on tarpon. The first drift had Bill hooked up. We were making our way to the Cut and after about ten minutes, the hook pulled. We had action with ladyfish and bluerunners before our next tarpon strike. Bill hooked up again and this time we got the catch. They wanted a good picture and the tarpon had other things on its mind. It stayed deep until a sailboat approached us and then it decided to surface and run to the opposite side of the Cut right in front of the sailboat. Needless to say, the keel of the sailboat broke the line, so a mental picture would have to do. Pete hooked the next fish and off to the Cut we went again. He was making progress as a large ship was coming in to port. As I pulled off to one side to get out of the ship's way, the line went slack. After reeling in, we discovered that the tip of the hook had broke off. We went 1 for 3 this evening with two very tired anglers.
Wednesday (4/27) evening the shrimp run slowed down drastically. There fish were still blasting shrimp, however, not as much as on the previous nights. On the first drift we jumped a tarpon and then had to wait until the late dusk period before our next chance. The wind died and it required floats to keep our shrimp away from the bottom critters. Also, the fish were feeding in a come toward the boat manor that required us to reel frantically to get caught up with the fish. Andrew and his guest each caught and released a tarpon and that gave us a 2 for 3 night.
Thursday (4/28) it was back to daytime fishing. We started with a few drifts for tarpon that only had our shrimp eaten by bluerunners. The pilchards were not to be found, however, the threadfins were solid. We started slowly after getting offshore, but picked up momentum by late morning. We chased frigate birds for a while and got our reward of 2 dolphin. Back in to some shallower water and we added a kingfish. Then the sailfish action started. First it was Chris catching his first sailfish. On the next drift it was Lyle getting his first sail. The next drift was the final drift of the day and it was time for Neil to catch his first sailfish. There was the friendly $1.00 bet about who would catch the biggest fish and Neil was the winner.
Thursday (4/28) evening Jim and Rafa started with a gag grouper and mutton snapper. Both were undersize and were released. Next it was a ladyfish. On the final drift of the evening, a tarpon ate our crab bait and we got the tarpon skunk out of the boat.
Friday (4/29) it back to an afternoon/evening trip. We had to work hard for the herring we caught and go to several spots to get bait accomplished. Their was little to no current and the edge was out deep until I moved back to the Cuban Hole area. The downrigger was the hot method this afternoon. Setting the bait at 40' down got us action on every drift. We had 8 strikes from kingfish. We got two to the boat. The first weighed 12 pounds and the second weighed in at 22 pounds. These were the first kingfish that Mike had ever caught. The other strikes resulted in broken line, pulled hooks, and cut offs. The highlight of the afternoon once again came on the final drift. The downrigger line hooked up first with the larger kingfish. Then a flatline got eaten by a sailfish. Mike had to do some fancy foot work while fighting both fish. We concentrated on the sailfish and after getting pictures and releasing the fish, he went to work on the king that was being fought on 12# line. The tarpon portion of the trip required lots of patience before we finally got our hook up. The fish made several jumps and pulled lots of line. The grass in the water was very thick and we picked up a good deal of it on the line. We watched the fish make a third jump and it was the one that won the tarpon its freedom. The evening ended with a 0 for 1 on tarpon. As Mike put it, I caught my first kingfish and catching a tarpon gives me an excuse to come back to Florida again.
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: 55
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 22, 2005 - 8:30 am: | |
From windy to pleasant sea conditions, that's what April has been like for the past two weeks. Spring time is in the air and with it has come the early run of dolphin. The frigate birds will help make it easy to find them and the size has been from throw backs on up. Along with the dolphin, the sailfishing remains very good. When the wind picks up in the afternoon, so does the sailfishing. The kingfish action has been on and off OK.
Meanwhile, inshore the tarpon action has hit a lull. The fish don't stay in a trend to long, but so far they have held the 1 fish a night pattern for three days. I'm hoping that tonight will be the bust out one and they finally start acting right again. I'll keep you posted.
Lets get caught up with the daily fishing activities. The first report is rather old, however, it was the first decent day of kingfishing I had this spring.
Wednesday (4/13), myself and three other boats took out a convention group from Chicago for a half day of offshore fishing. We had a limited time frame so the plan was to find some rod bending action with kingfish. On this morning, the area about a 1/2 mile north of the Cuban Hole did not disappoint us. We caught several 10 - 12 pound kings, a bonito, and an ever pesky remora. All the action came off the downrigger fished 30' down. The S/SSW wind @ 16 - 20 knots was perfect for giving us a great drift.
Saturday (4/16) our trip was cancelled due to some very strong north wind conditions.
Tuesday (4/19) evening, it was tarpon fishing with Jim and Bill. This was my first tarpon trip in over a week. The conditions at Government were great, however, someone forgot to tell the tarpon. When the tide got right, we went inside and finally got a tarpon to eat our offering. With no further action inside, we made one final effort back outside with no results.
Wednesday (4/20) we did an afternoon/evening trip. The first part of the trip was for dolphin and sailfish. The boats who fished in the morning caught lots of large dolphin, kingfish, and some sails. The action slowed some in the afternoon, but we persisted and got our reward. We found a capsized dinghy in 120' that held a school of dolphin. We kept two and released several undersize fish. The birds were working a scattered weed area in 140' and we released several more undersized fish. On our last drift before heading in to tarpon fish, the sailfish showed up and Lloyd caught and released his first sail. The one fish trend continued with the tarpon fishing. The dusk period was the time and this time it was Juan Carlos who caught his first tarpon. The 70 pound fish gave him more than he bargained for, but now Juan Carlos is hooked on tarpon fishing. These fish have a way of doing that to anglers. After dark, the few fish that were rolling in the area disappeared and try as we did, there was no more action this evening.
Thursday (4/21) morning it was some more dolphin action. Lloyd and Doug picked a perfect weather day for this trip. The action came one at a time, but the result was the same. They each went home with plenty of dolphin fillets for several meals and it only took three fish. The highlight of the trip was the free jumping dolphin we spotted while relocating our drift. The 15 pound cow ran straight for the herring and Lloyd did a wonderful job of battling this beautiful fish. Doug had previously added two 6 pound schoolies to the fishbox.
Thursday (4/21) evening the tarpon continued their one fish trend. Tuesday evening, a crab did the trick. Wednesday evening, it was a shrimp. This evening, the tarpon ignored the sundown bite time frame and waited till it got completely dark before taking a crab. The 100 pound fish made a bee line for the deep water of the main channel. We got the leader several time, however, not before the fish made a surge at the surface and gulped air. The air gave the tarpon new found strength and it went straight back to the bottom. It was a group effort in catching this fish and the 3 anglers were extremely happy and excited.
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: 54
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 11, 2005 - 2:31 pm: | |
The hot fish on the offshore scene has been sailfish. There have been some kingfish around, however, not in the numbers like the spring run will be. That run could take place any day now. Dolphin are beginning to make their April showing. Frigate birds will put you on the fish very quickly, so keep a sharp eye out for them.
Meanwhile, the tarpon action continues to be strong at Government Cut. They are beginning to show some interest in crabs, so it is time to have both baits available for them to make a choice. Some evenings they'll eat only shrimp, while others it will be crabs, and yet another they'll alternate between the two.
Thursday (4/7) evening, the tarpon action started quick and then went into a lull until it got dark. We fought a large fish for over an hour only to have the hook pull. During the fight it took us into the deep water of the main channel where we dodged a freight, a tug pulling a barge, the pilot boat, and several small boats. When I put out two shrimp and a crab, the crab got the hit. Two crabs and a shrimp had the shrimp drawing the strike. We went 2 for 5 with the two fish that we landed and released going 90 and 110 pounds.
Saturday (4/9) I fish aboard Incognito with Tim Gipe and his 3 guests. The action started very quickly when we spotted a frigate bird beating the water's surface in 250'. That produced a 10# cow dolphin. Running back to another frigate and slow trolling herring got us a 10# bull dolphin. Then it got slow. We tired several areas for kingfish with no results. We worked the blue water both at the edge and out deep with no results. In the afternoon, we put the kite up and got a sailfish strike almost immediately. When we came tight to the fish, a tackle malfunction resulted in the line breaking. We made on more attempt at kingfishing with no results.
Sunday (4/10) John Masel, his father-in-law Rodney Raub and brother-in-law Scott Raub were looking for a relaxing time together and catching some fish. The relaxing came during the middle of the trip, but the beginning and ending were action packed. Within 10 minutes of putting out the baits, John was hooked up to his first sailfish that we caught and released after a 30 minute battle. Resetting and 20 minutes later, it was Rodney's turn to catch and release his first sailfish. The fish had another hook in its mouth and I was able to remove both hooks and send it on its way without wearing any jewelry. Then the relaxing part of the trip came. It got interrupted only briefly for Scott to catch a bonito. More relaxing and the rocking of the boat was lulling most everyone to sleep. I started to wind in the baits as the trip was coming to an end. First the downrigger bait and next the bottom rod. At this point I saw another free jumping sail coming straight at us. Another flatline bait was thrown in the general direction. The center flatline got hit and Rodney was into his second sailfish. The fish tangled with the back flatline and ultimately I ended up having to handline 25 feet of the back flatline to get to the leader and finally released the fish. That ended the day with a bang and we went 3 for 3 on sailfish all caught on flatlines.
Sunday (4/10) evening, Gussie Leech wanted to catch a tarpon to add to her list of caught species for the IWFA. The wind was from the NE/ENE @ 14 - 19 knots and we got all the protection we needed by fishing the south side of Government Cut. We warmed up with a bluerunner on the first drift. A few drifts later, it was a spanish mackerel. This was another species to add to the list, so it was a bonus. The dusk period arrived, and as if on queue, we got the first tarpon on. The incoming tide had us quickly making our way into the main channel where Gussie made quick work of the tarpon and her husband, Mike released the fish. A few drifts later, it was Gussie's turn again and this time the 50 pound tarpon was much more cooperative and stayed in the shallower water. One final drift and we called it a night with the main goal accomplished along with a bonus.
The action is good and will only get better. It's time to make that commitment and book a date to get in on the action, so call 305 620-5896 or email nkostyo@bellsouth.net me and lets go 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: 53
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 03, 2005 - 2:29 pm: | |
Here's a quick update of the latest from both the offshore and inshore fishing.
Saturday (4/2) evening, Chuck, Curtiss, and Michael were looking forward to challenging a tarpon. When we arrived at Government, the fish were rolling all over the area. It took a few drifts before Chuck was hooked up immediately after putting his bait out. It was a see saw battle before Chuck got the best of the tarpon. A few boat side pictures and it was now Curtiss' turn. Two drifts later, a very feisty 80# tarpon tested Curtiss. The fish made it to the deep water and moved out with the tide past the second green marker. We took pictures and released the fish just as one of the cruise ships was passing by us on its way out. It was Michael's turn next. The fish turned off right after it got totally dark. While we were trying to locate them, we added a ladyfish and yellowtail snapper to the catch and release list. After numerous drifts covering a very large area, Michael got his chance. Another silver beauty put on a great boat side aerial show for all of us to marvel at. At one point during the battle, the tarpon showed his defiance for Michael by slapping its tail on the surface and soaking him. Pictures were taken and the fish was released. That made us 3 for 3 for the evening and that's how it ended.
Sunday (4/3) morning, Fred and Eileen wanted some kingfish to make some smoked dip. Minutes after putting out the baits at the Cuban Hole, Fred had one of the two fish that he needed. The next drift, Eileen added the second one. The next drift, we missed the hook up on another fish. The next move was to set up in some deeper water to try for a sailfish. The main goal had been accomplished and a sail would be a bonus, however, not necessary. The north wind at 22 knots was pushing us south along Key Biscayne. We worked from 120 - 140 feet and watched lots of flying fish come up, but had no action on our baits. We finally got a strong hit and didn't hook up. Moments later, the other rod hooked up and the fight was on. I was waiting for the jumps that never came. It didn't take long to find out why. The big brown fish was a cobia. It also had another fish swimming with it. A bait was tossed out to the other fish and now both Fred and Eileen were hooked to two not so happy cobia that kept trying to swim around one another. We stayed one step ahead of them and soon got them separated. We got Fred's first and 10 minutes later, we got Eileen's. By this time it was time to head back in with our bonus fish. It wasn't a sailfish, but cobia of 23 and 31 pounds.
I've got some dates open during the early part of this coming week. 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: 52
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 10:05 am: | |
It has been another whirlwind week. The term "family fishing is fun" was in full swing this week with the exception of two evening trips, all my groups have been families this past week. Young children and lots of action to keep their attention has been the order of the day.
Saturday (3/26) was a 3/4 day trip with the Brennan family. They were looking for larger fish action and after catching bait at Government Cut, we made our way south finally ending up several miles south of Fowey Light. We had good north current south of the light. We had our shot at a sailfish and it put on a tremendous aerial display after taking the bait. Unfortunately the hook pulled after the first 30 seconds. The next strike was a nice 8 pound kingfish. After that we had nothing except for the baits getting nervous several times.
Monday (3/28) morning, the Rojas family wanted steady action. Anchoring on some close to shore structure, they got just that. Both Dad and his daughter Chelsea hung in there despite some very windy conditions. As fast as they dropped the baits, the hits came. Lots of variety (10 different species) of small fish were caught. Everything was released and as we were heading in, sore wrists were being nursed from all the action.
Monday (3/28) evening, I attended a meeting of the Miami Outboard Club and gave a seminar on sailfishing using kites, flatlines and downrigger. It was a great evening and I got to meet lots of wonderful people.
Tuesday (3/29) morning, the Knollman family got to fish in ideal weather. Smooth seas and a sunny sky had Mom and Dad enjoying the break from the less than ideal weather back in Ohio. Brooke and Blake got right into the shallow water action. I could barely keep up with removing and releasing fish and baiting hooks. Mom and Dad also got in on the action and like Monday morning's trip, we caught 10 different species of fish. Once again some sore wrists were being nursed on the trip in. Like all fishing trips, it came to an end all too soon.
Wednesday (3/30) afternoon/evening, I captained the vessel Incognito on a Bay and Ocean cruise. The owner of the vessel and his employees were celebrating last years increase in production. The music was good and loud, the food and drink wonderful, and some great people were enjoying a break from the everyday grind of work. As part of the trip, we stopped at Shuckers for dinner on our way back. Afterwards, we made our way back to the owner's home and an end to a perfect day and perfect cruise.
Thursday (3/31) evening Jim was out for some more tarpon action. Government Cut on the south side was the place and we would have been hard pressed to beat the action. Before dark, we got our first tarpon. Next, throw in a few bluerunners and a yellowtail snapper. After dark, the shrimp ran and the action got HOT!! Every drift produced something. As quickly as it started, it ended by 9:30 pm. Live shrimp was the bait and the final total for the evening was 6 for 9 tarpon, 2 bluerunners, 1 snapper, and a 21" fork length ladyfish.
Friday (4/1) evening, the Rojas family was back for some tarpon action this time. It was Dad and Daughter on Monday and this evening Mom joined in. Chelsea caught 2 bluerunners and 1 spanish mackerel, Mom caught a bluerunner, and then it was Dad's turn. The 80 pound tarpon he hooked made at least 6 jumps and 2 or 3 surges at the surface. In the end, we took some pictures and let the silver beauty go. Then a big lull in the action came. Finally, we hooked Mom up to a fish that just kept going. We were making good progress on catching up to the fish as it made its way to the deep water of the main ship channel. Then, for no apparent reason, the hook pulled. We were disappointed, however, the adrenalin rush woke everyone up. We tried for several more drifts to get Chelsea her chance, but it was not to be this evening. The action slowed this evening and the final count was 1 for 2 tarpon, 3 bluerunners, and 1 spanish mackerel.
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: 51
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 20, 2005 - 4:39 pm: | |
Whether you choose inshore for tarpon or offshore for sailfish, kingfish, or dolphin, the action has been good. The tarpon are still be very cooperative at Haulover Inlet using live shrimp. The sail action has been from the Miami Sea buoy south. The kings have been scattered up and down the coast and dolphin can be found on the blue/green edge.
Friday (3/18) morning Rob and Laura Hughes finally were able to get out and do some fishing. The strong wind on Wednesday and heavy rain Thursday evening put a damper on the scheduled trips. We started just south of Haulover in 90 feet. A few minutes later we hooked up and after a 20 minute battle, Rob landed a 30# kingfish on a 12# spinning outfit. The next move was to just north of the Twins area. The action was fast and furious with several double headers. Both Rob and Laura were busy catching and releasing kings. Both surface baits and downrigger baits were being hit. We kept 3 kings, released 4 more, and pulled the hooks on 3 others for a total of 10 shots.
Friday (3/18) afternoon/evening we had two goals in mind. First was to catch a sailfish and second was to catch a tarpon. We caught several dozen herring at Government Cut and then worked the north end of Key Biscayne. For several drifts we had no action. Then the wind started dropping off to the point we were having a hard time keeping the kite flying. As I was dealing with the kite, the bow flatline took off and we got our sailfish reward. The fish was fighting extremely strong and making no jumps. After a very tough 30 minutes, my suspicions were confirmed. The fish was foul hooked in the tail with a circle hook. First goal accomplished. It ws time to run back up to Haulover for part two of the trip. The shrimp were put out and it didn't take long before we caught and released our first (60#) tarpon. I moved up to the Inlet itself after several drifts with no further action. It turned out to be the right move and we were soon hooked to a freight train of a tarpon. The fish kept running north until it was in the middle of the rough outgoing tide water. It then started doing circles and kept us on our toes to out maneuver it. We got some great action photos and the 120# tarpon finally gave up just long enough for a final shot before splashing us all as it was released. 2 for 2 and the second goal accomplished.
Saturday (3/19) was a full day trip. Bait fishing at Government was excellent for both pilchards and herring. Starting just north of the Cuban Hole, we caught several kings in the 90 - 190 foot range. When we crossed the blue/green edge, a dolphin joined the party and was added to the fish box. Up to this time, we had a good NNW wind. Then it died off to almost nothing, and the fishing for kings shut off. Moving back out to the blue water, we started picking away at the dolphin. By days end, we had 6 dolphin and 3 kingfish for the fish fry.
As you can see, the action has been good. As spring time comes on, it will only get better, so give me a call and book your trip today to get in on the action.
I'm scheduled to do a sailfish seminar at the Miami Outboard Club on Monday evening March 28th. It's open to everyone and if you have questions or need directions, give Eddie at El Capitan (305 635-7500) a call. Hope to see you all there.
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: 50
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 6:20 pm: | |
I have a brief break in my schedule just long enough to get caught up with the fishing reports, so lets get right to it.
Saturday (3/12) evening, it was tarpon fishing with first time tarpon angler Andrew Weisbrot. It turned out to be one of those dream nights. The shrimp ran on an incoming tide and the tarpon were having a feeding frenzy. Everywhere that we looked we saw explosions on the surface as the tarpon were feeding all around us. Andrew would hardly catch his breath from catching one tarpon when another would hook up. Then as quickly as it started, the shrimp were gone and the tarpon with them. Final tally for the evening was 6 for 9 with the fish in the 25 - 90 pound range.
Sunday (3/13) evening was almost a carbon copy of the evening before. As soon as the tide turned around and started coming in, the shrimp ran once again and the frenzy started. This evening it was Jeremy Johnson's turn to catch tarpon. The hot action ended with Jeremy going 5 for 8 and he was looking forward to our sailfish trip the next morning.
Monday (3/14) I fished in the daytime for the first time in over a week. The bait was very cooperative at both Government Cut and the range marker and Jeremy Johnson and I filled the livewell with herring of various sizes. Ten minutes after putting out the bait outside of the Cuban Hole, Jeremy caught and released his first sailfish in 116 feet of water. Our next three strikes resulted in baits chopped in half. The bottom rod hooked up and the hook pulled half way up, so that was a mystery fish. The next strike was another sailfish in 146 feet. This fish was the largest of the day and measured 92 1/2 inches. Later in the afternoon, Jeremy had the thrill of hooking up a double header of sails. We caught and released one of the two fish. The hook pulled on the second fish after it had dumped about 90% of the line on the reel. We got no other strikes the remained of the trip and we finished the day going 3 for 4 on sailfish.
Monday (3/14) evening Micael Haskins and his son Robert spent some quality time together out on the water. The goal was the quality time and catching a tarpon would be a bonus. During the sundown bite period, the tarpon ate, the rod bent over severely, the drag screamed, and Micael had his hands full with a very feisty 60# tarpon. It was a see saw battle, however, in the end the angler prevailed. The fish posed for some boat side pictures and was released. A few drifts later, it was Robert's turn. As his Dad put it, "he had to out do me". Robert's fish turned out to be a very angry 100# tarpon that tested all his angling skills. He too prevailed and released his fish after some pictures. Up at the Inlet, the shrimp ran again and we found a school of large jack crevalle. We caught and released two of them. Between the jacks, we got another tarpon strike with the hook pulling after a good long run by the fish. Some where along the evening, we also caught a bluefish and a lowly bottom (lizardfish) critter. The shrimp run wasn't quite as strong this evening.
Tuesday (3/15) evening Pete & Sandy Churchwell along with their son-in-law and daughter John & Arlie Kirk wanted to experience the thrill of catching a tarpon. They had visited Robby's in the Keys and Pete fell in love with the tarpon and wanted to catch one. The wind died this evening and the drift was very slow and so was the action to begin with. We worked the entire Haulover tarpon hole area with no results until the wind picked up just enough to add .1 of a mph to our drift speed. Pete had been religiously putting out and manning a rod. He decided to take a break and sat up front with his wife. As fate would have it, a 100# tarpon hit the rod he had been watching and John was holding on to the rod attached to this very angry tarpon. Everyone was excited and lots of action shots were taken with the camera. John fought the monster like a pro. The tarpon thrilled everyone when it made a huge jump 10 feet behind the boat. The fish was released and we had enough time for one more drift. I moved up to the Inlet and this time it was Arlie's turn. She hooked a 35# fish and with an incoming tide, it took us through the bridge at Haulover. Once again lots of pictures were taken before releasing the fish. The slow start to the evening ended with a 2 for 2 evening.
Wednesday (3/16) evening the wind was howling from the south @ 11 - 20 knots. The sea conditions were quite comfortable and we fished all evening long without having to use a sea anchor. We caught 1 tarpon and 1 bluefish with the outgoing tide. After it turned around, we added 3 more fish in a 55 minute time frame from 9 pm - 9:55 pm. The fish were in the 60 - 110 pound class and the evening ended going 4 for 4 on tarpon.
As you can see, the tarpon action at Haulover continues to be outstanding. The season is moving right along, so don't let it slip away from you and miss out on some great action. Give me a call (305 620-5896) or email nkostyo@bellsouth.net to schedule your trip.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 49
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 27, 2005 - 10:26 am: | |
After a few evenings of slow tarpon fishing during the Miami Boat Show, the action has kicked back into high gear. Haulover is the place and live shrimp is the bait of choice. The fish have been spread out from the inlet to about a 1/2 mile south along the beach. It is just a matter of figuring out where they are located on the evening you're out there.
Tuesday (2/22) evening we had light wind from the E/ESE. A north current along the beach gave us a very good drift speed and the tarpon were hot and hungry. Two strikes during our first drift had us starting the evening at 1 for 2. After dark, the fish moved further to the south than they have been thus far this season. Once we located them, we had action on almost every drift. Final total this evening was 5 for 6 with the tarpon being in the 30 to 70 pound class and 1 bluefish.
Wednesday (2/23) evening Bill Pfau from Canfield, Ohio had the opportunity to fish for tarpon for the first time in 25 years. The wind was SE @ 10 - 13 knots and once again the fish were spread out all along the beach. This evening we managed to land and release every other fish. With 4 shots at tarpon, we ended the evening at 2 for 4 and 1 giant ladyfish. Bill, I hope you don't have to wait another 25 years before you get the chance to go tarpon fishing again.
Friday (2/25) evening the forecast called for heavy rain. We got sprinkled on for about 5 minutes at 8:30 PM. The gloom and doom forecast kept one of the anglers home and it turned out that he missed a spectacular evening of tarpon fishing. The WSW/WNW wind @ 11 - 23 knots combined with an incoming tide gave us perfect conditions to slide across the face of the inlet. Richard (Dad) and Adam (Son) Herman and Adam's friend Kareem had there hands full fighting tarpon on almost every drift once it got dark. The fish this evening were also in a throw the hook mode on the first jump. We ended the evening going 3 for 9 on mostly 30 - 35 pound fish. Without mentioning names, the older Herman went 2 for 3 and the two younger anglers combined for 1 for 6. Even though the tarpon won most of the battles, everyone really enjoyed and got to participate in a great night of tarpon action.
Saturday (2/26) was the first time I've had the opportunity to fish during the day since last Friday. Seth Braunstein from Wilmington, Delaware allowed for a day of fishing around his seminar schedule. Catching bait at Government Cut was quickly accomplished and we were off to the fishing grounds. N/ENE winds @ 3 - 6 knots gave us flat calm seas. There was little to no current till you got out to over 200'. The action could be described as slow at best. Slow trolling pilchards produced 5 dolphin in the 6 - 12 pound class. They were all released to grow bigger. Drifting gave us action on a few bomber size bonito that gave Seth's arms a good workout. They too, were also released. Inside of 110', the lack of current allowed the triggerfish to nip away at our baits. One managed to actually eat the bait and get hooked. Of course, we released it too. The highlight of the day was the 25# kingfish caught on a straight mono leader and live bait hook. You've got to get lucky once in a while.
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: 48
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 22, 2005 - 10:52 pm: | |
Between fishing and the Miami Boat Show, it has been a whirlwind of a week. Lets get right to the day by day activities.
Tuesday (2/15) evening, Haulover Inlet was the place and tarpon was the goal. Bill Skehan caught his first tarpon and Jim Lefevre added a few more toward his total of tarpon caught for the MET Fishing Tournament. Live shrimp was the bait and the total for the evening was 3 for 4.
Wednesday (2/16) evening the tarpon scene took a drastic down turn. It's as if someone threw a switch. We got not a single tarpon strike. The good news was that we did catch and release a very nice 15# jack crevalle in the mouth of the Inlet.
Thursday (2/17) morning we had W/NNW winds @ 3 - 7 knots. We had the kite up for part of the morning and it was a chore keeping the baits in a good position. Just as we were about to finally not have enough wind to keep the kite up, a sailfish paid us a visit. It pulled some line, made a jump, and threw the hook all with the line still in the kite clip. The remainder of the morning only produced 1 remora. Maybe tomorrow will bring us better wind conditions.
Thursday (2/17) evening we did the grand tour of the tarpon spots. Starting at Haulover, the tarpon took some revenge on me in the form of going 0 for 2. Next, the bottom critters picked on us and a lizardfish managed to get the circle hook and shrimp in its mouth and get caught. The next stop was in the Bay where Ben Jones got his first tarpon. Finally, we tried the south side of Government Cut where we saw no action. That made us 1 for 3 on tarpon this evening.
Friday (2/18) morning we started with NNW winds of 9 knots. The action started slow, however, when the wind switched to the NNE and blew as high as 16 knots, the sailfish came to life. First we saw some tailers go by out of range of our baits. Making a depth adjustment out to 140' quickly got us some action. First, we watched a sailfish swim up to a flatline bait and proceed to knock it off the hook and get a free meal. Next, Mike Rice worked over a nice sailfish with expert angling skills and it was released. Several drifts with no action and then a move back out to 140' had Ben Jones hooked to his first sailfish. This one put on the show of shows and used almost every trick it had to try and get away. Ben matched its every move and 30 minutes later we took a few pictures and sent the sail on its way wondering what just happened.
Friday (2/18) evening, we once again took the tour for tarpon. It must have been time for me to go through the quick release period with them as we went 0 for 1 at Haulover and 0 for 1 in the Bay. We saw tarpon feeding on shrimp at Government, however they just never found our baits.
Saturday (2/19) I was with Whitewater Boats at the Miami Boat Show for most of the day. That evening we did the tarpon tour again. Starting at Haulover with NE/E winds of 12 - 14 knots, we caught and released 1 tarpon on our first drift. After having gone 1 for 5 on the last two trips, it was a welcome relief to start out the evening 1 for 1. As it turned out, that was the highlight of the evening. All the boats that were fishing Haulover that evening caught 1 fish each. In the Bay, we never got a single bite and the same for Government.
Sunday (2/20) it was back to the Boat Show with Eagle Claw till 2 PM and Whitewater Boats till closing.
As you can see, there has been a slow down in the number of shots we have been getting on tarpon. It is not unusual for this to happen at some point in February. The only question is how long will it last. With the full moon period coming on this week, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll turn back on. I've got several trips scheduled this coming week, so 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: 47
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 5:24 am: | |
My last few trips have targeted tarpon and swordfish. We have had success with both species.
Saturday (2/5) evening we started off by running to Government Cut to try and hide from the N/NE wind @ 15 - 23 knots. The hiding was a success, however, the tarpon were not in the area. The next move was into the Bay to take advantage of the tide. Within 20 minutes an 80 pound fish had us very busy as we did battle around lots of obstructions. Gary outwitted, out foxed, and out pulled the tarpon and after a few pictures, the fish was released. Resetting several times produced no other action as we watched the water temperature falling like a rock. Time to run to Haulover and put out the baits. What seems like old reliable took place. First drift and within minutes Pete caught and released a 50 pound tarpon. That was our action (2 for 2) for the evening.
Tuesday (2/8) night the target was swordfish. We had a back up plan to fish for tarpon in the event the wind was to strong. We got the break in the wind we were looking for and made the run offshore in NE/ENE wind @ 9 - 11 knots. As total darkness came on, we were set up and waiting. The 2 - 3 foot seas and 3 foot swells finally overcame one of the anglers and the decision was made to finish out the trip fishing for tarpon. Our tip rod came in with a mangled bait. The first float came in and the sinker had fallen off and as the bait rose to the surface, it caught the line on the next float. We cleared the two lines and I had Joe continue to wind in as the line felt very heavy and was moving toward the stern of the boat. The sword came right to the boat, made a jump, and then took off on a great run. It was a see saw battle for the next 20 minutes before Joe finally was able to put the heat on the fish. It was his first fish, and the 60 pound sword was soon in the boat. By now the other angler was really feeling the effects of motion sickness and we were soon heading back to Haulover for some tarpon fishing.
Baits were put out and we caught and released a tarpon within minutes. Next drift and another strike. The shrimp were running with the outgoing tide and the tarpon were feasting on them. When the action slowed for a few drifts, we went down the beach and found action again. The two anglers took turns catching and releasing tarpon in the 40 - 50 pound range. We had our best action at Haulover thus far this tarpon season. Final totals for the night were 1 swordfish, 7 for 8 tarpon, and 1 bluefish.
Next week is the Miami International Boat Show. I'll be with Whitewater Boats (10 am - 4 pm) on Saturday, and both Eagle Claw Hooks (10 am - 2 pm), and Whitewater Boats (2 pm - closing) on Monday. Drop by and say hello and of course, we can talk 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: 46
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 02, 2005 - 9:55 pm: | |
Saturday (1/29) was a day for only the die hard sailfish angler. Winds from the east were at 22 - 23 knots for the better part of the morning. This gave us solid 6 - 8 foot seas with enough 10 footers coming through to keep you on your toes. By late afternoon, the wind came down to 15 knots and the seas seemed like a calm 4 - 6 foot. The best way to describe the sailfish action was FANTASTIC. Goggle eyes on the kite gave us all our action. Our total was 3 for 6. Throw in 2 dolphin, 3 bonito, and 1 kingfish and we had a well rounded day.
Sunday (1/30) was an about face of the previous days wind. SSE to SSW at 9 - 13 knots gave us some nice calm sea conditions. We fished some shallow water artificial reef structure with light tackle. Live shrimp on long shank hooks free lined and with a split shot produced several spanish mackerel, mangrove snapper, groupers, blue runners, amberjack, and triggerfish.
Monday (1/31) evening Ken and Cathy Fitch and their two delightful children Anna May and Conner experienced their very first charter fishing trip. Tarpon was our target and they did not disappoint us. On our first drift at Haulover, Ken caught and released his first tarpon. Two drifts later, Cathy caught her first tarpon also. After that, the fish shut off for the next several drifts. Conner suggested that I had picked the wrong shrimp for the job. I changed the bait to a larger more feisty one and it got ate by something that didn't hook up. The wind switched from the NNE to the North and the tide changed to an incoming, so it was time to try directly in the mouth of the Inlet. The moved paid off with two strikes on three drifts. The first threw the hook on its first jump. The last drift of the evening we got a solid hook up on an 80# tarpon that Ken made quick work of. By this time all the playing in the pool, sun, and 1/2 a Dramamine finally caught up to Anna May and Conner and they couldn't keep their eyes open any longer. Final tally for the evening was 3 for 4 tarpon in the 40 - 80 pound class.
Wednesday (2/2) evening it was back for another round of tarpon fishing. The Haulover area was the place. Jim Lefevre from Stuart, Florida is definitely a tarpon addict. His special guest this evening was Sue Cocking, the Miami Herald Outdoors Writer. Within 2 minutes of putting out the baits, we had our first fish hooked up solid. The 40# tarpon posed for a few pictures and was released. Several drifts later, we had a feisty ladyfish eat our shrimp. The conditions were right to fish the outgoing tide in the Inlet. Three drifts produced 1 fish caught and released, 1 fish that jumped off, and 1 fish that never bent a rod but jumped and threw the hook. The next stop was in the Bay where we had just enough of the right conditions to produce a 50 # fish that we caught and released. Our final stop of the evening was the south side of the south jetty at Government Cut. I didn't like how we were drifting so we reset for the final drift of the evening. Several minutes later, we were rewarded with a 20# tarpon that came to the boat quickly and then decided that something was wrong. It made several jumps including one on the opposite of the boat from Jim.
As you can see, the tarpon action is hot. Schedule your trip by giving me a call at 305 620-5896 or by email at nkostyo@bellsouth.net so you too can experience the great action of the silver king.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 45
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 9:10 pm: | |
Saturday (1/22) was a sailfishing day. Bait fishing was a slow pick and a very light NW wind and little to no current presented us with some difficult conditions. The good news was that several kingfish and a small shark kept us busy while waiting for some sail action. We watched a couple of boats around us catch sails, so we knew we were in the right area. The bad news was that on this day, the sailfish avoided us. The kingfish had to do for today and they are headed to the grill, broiler, and frying pan.
Tuesday evening (1/25), was tarpon fishing at Haulover time. The first drift produced a beautiful 60# tarpon caught on 12# line. What little wind we had died on the next drift and our baits sunk to the bottom and were devoured by bottom critters. Seeking current, we moved up to the Inlet where we marked numerous fish that weren't in a feeding mood. After several drifts, a small shrimp run took place and the dinner bell was rung. Two more hook ups and one tarpon released, plus a 25" long jack crevalle gave us some great action before it stopped. When the tide changed, another short shrimp run turned the fish back on. This time we went 1 for 3 on the small tarpon that came up jumping almost immediately, thus not giving the circle hook a chance to do its job. When the outgoing cold water from the Bay flooded the area, the tarpon left and it was time to call it a chilly evening. Final results were 3 for 6 on tarpon and 1 jack crevalle.
Wednesday evening (1/26) we fished both Government Cut and Haulover. Starting at Government, we caught a 50# tarpon on our first drift. After several more drifts with no hits, it was time to go back to Haulover. The fish were popping the surface and two drifts produced two more fish. 3 for 3 this evening, all on live shrimp.
Thursday evening (1/27) was another evening with little to no wind. Floats had to be used to keep the baits from going to the bottom and being eaten by the bottom critters. We stayed at Haulover this evening and had action from our first drift. At the end of the evening, of the 6 shots that we had, we landed and released 3 fish in the 40 - 70 pound class. All of our fish this evening we caught on live shrimp using 14# line on Pflueger G15L lever drag reels.
As you can see, the tarpon fishing is HOT!! If this type of fishing sounds fun or you've never done battle with the silver king, give me a call at 305 620-5896 and schedule your tarpon trip today. Don't miss out on this great action.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 44
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 5:13 pm: | |
The wind has been up and the wind has been down, so there have been many days for only the strong of stomach. The fishing has been excellent offshore for sailfish and kingfish and inshore for tarpon. Bait has been plentiful in the Government Cut area and the shrimp have been making strong runs at night.
Sunday evening (1/16), Randy Wong was in from Maryland. His goal was to catch some tarpon. We started at Haulover Inlet and hooked up on our first and second drifts. We caught one and broke a line on the other. Then after being hit by several waves in the 8 - 10 foot class, we decided to try the Bay. We caught the last of the right tide and had one fish on and pulled the hook. Next, we fished the south side of Government Cut. The north side was impossible as it looked like the Bonsai Pipeline with continuous rollers crashing across the jetties. The south side produced one caught and released tarpon before it was time to call it an evening. Two for four was the final results.
Wednesday (1/19), we fished the Monument area and found dolphin and sailfish under frigate birds. Add to that a few kingfish along with a triggerfish and remora to round out the day. The wind started out at 22 knots from the NE and dropped off to 6 knots by afternoon. All the fish were caught on pilchards.
Wednesday evening (1/19) it was back to tarpon fishing. We ran the big circle again starting at Haulover where we started out going 1 for 2. When the wind died to the point of not being able to drift, it was time to head south to Government Cut. Once again on the south side we got a bite on the first drift. The drift then died and after hooking the bottom, it was time to give the Bay a try. The water temperature was a cold 68.8 and we got one strike from a 35 pound fish that we caught and released. Final results for the evening was a carbon copy 2 for 4 just like Sunday evening.
Thursday (1/20), my group of anglers from Connecticut were looking to catch a sailfish as well as enjoy their last day of warm weather in the Miami area before returning home. They wanted some action first before trying for sails. With that in mind, we started at the Cuban Hole and got excellent action on kingfish. We stopped after catching 7 kings in the 6 - 8 pound class. Moving south, we set up for sailfish and that's when the wind died. With 3 flatlines and 1 downrigger line, we drifted offshore from 100'. At 140', two lines got hit and we had a double header sailfish going. One ran offshore and the other ran south. Both fish were landed, photographed, and released. The next drift added the final kingfish to reach our limit.
We've done some updates on my website www.knotnancy.com Take a look at the video gallery page were there are three new movies on kingfish, dolphin, and tuna action. The videos are fairly large, so DSL and Cable will get them downloaded the quickest. If you're on a dial up modem, be prepared for a long down load.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 43
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 6:34 am: | |
The easterly winds have come down enough so that it is fishable for tarpon at Haulover along the beach without getting beat up. It's been a long wait, however, last evening (1/10) the fishing turned out to be what every person who fishes for tarpon looks forward to.
Jim Lefevre from Stuart, FL wanted to do battle with the silver king on 8# line. Live shrimp were attached to Eagle Claw P170 8/0 circle hooks and we then set up our first drift. Our first strike came about 3 minutes later and Jim got his wish with a spunky 60# fish. After a half dozen jumps and 20 minutes, the tarpon earned its release and we set up another drift. Several drifts later, it was time to do it again. This time a 30# tarpon found our shrimp and when it saw the boat it decided that it was time to get out of Dodge, but not before jumping straight at us from a distance of about 10 feet. It hit the side of the boat and took off like a shot. A few minutes later, I released our second fish of the evening. On our next drift, the 8# outfit doubled over again with another 60# fish. We had to play some dodge 'em with the swim markers and soon had the fish coming toward us. Just like his little brother before, this fish also decided to jump at us head on. It slammed into the side of the boat with its head and gills above the gunnels, slimed the boat, dropped back into the water, and then took off on about a 60 yard run. Ten minutes later we got the catch and release. With our goal of catching at least two fish on 8# line accomplished, Jim decided that it was time to move up to the 12# line class. We made two drift before it was time to head back to the marina. Our evening ended going 3 for 3. We'll start with the 12# outfits on our next trip and see what develops.
This type of great tarpon action will continue until late June. It seems like a long ways off, but it will be here quicker than we all think. The fish will be get progressively bigger as we move through the season. Now is the time to schedule your trip so you won't miss out on the fun. Give me a call at 305 620-5896 or email me at nkostyo@bellsouth.net to reserve your date.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 42
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 02, 2005 - 7:19 pm: | |
If you like windy weather, then you haven't been disappointed for the past week. With a few hourly exceptions, the wind has been a steady 21 - 31 knots at Fowey Light. This kind of weather is definitely not for the weak of stomach. Like many other captains, I've had my share of cancelled charters. The good thing is that I've been able to reschedule all but one of them.
On New Year's Eve (12/31/04), George and Nancy Andrews from Ketchikan, Alaska were visiting Miami to bring in the New Year and for George to catch his first sailfish. After checking the latest wind conditions, Nancy opted to skip the trip. They are both used to fishing in some quite nasty conditions, however Nancy didn't want to take the chance with the sea conditions. George and I ran down the inside to Government Cut and proceeded to fill the livewell with pilchards and herring. We worked our way slowly out to the Cuban Hole in a very big choppy and confused sea. Several of the waves didn't have backs on them and the 6 - 8 foot drop kept us on our toes. Once there, the first pilchard out got hit before we could get the second bait pinned on. The action was fast and furious for the first 20 minutes before settling down a bit. Just before noon, we moved out to deeper water to sailfish. By this time, we had 3 kingfish and a bonito in the box and had either pulled the hooks or had our mono leader chopped by numerous other fish.
There was a nice blue edge in 120' just outside of the Cuban Hole. We slow trolled two pilchards in the ever increasing seas. At 130' we got our first sail bite and missed the fish due to the hook being turned back into the bait. We re-baited and moved back to 120' and started out again. I told George that I've had sails and dolphin chase baits to the surface only to have birds pick up the bait before the fish could catch it. We were being followed by birds and had already released two that became to friendly with our baits. At 160' I turned back inshore and looked around to check the lines. Sure enough, a sailfish was chasing a bait and a bird picked it up. I jerked the bait away from the bird and another picked it up. I once again jerked the bait away from the second bird and opened the bail. The bait swam off and I handed the rod to George. Line peeled off the reel and he closed the bail and set up on the sail who had stayed in the area determined to catch the bait that kept getting away. The fish kept working its way offshore and the seas got bigger and more confused. The aerial show was a combination of everything that a sailfish will do. The angler won in the end and after some pictures, the sail won by getting released to fight again another day. CONGRATULATIONS George your first sailfish was a dandy.
Friends Brian Wilson from Pembroke Pines, Jeff Kahn from Coral Springs, and Bruce Kaminer from Paramus, NJ started the first trip (1/2/05) of the new year with a bang. It was an almost carbon copy of the New Year's Eve trip with just a few exceptions. The first being that the wind was only blowing 17 - 19 knots. The second was that it was an afternoon trip. Once again, we ran down the inside to Government Cut to catch bait. It took 2 drifts and bait was accomplished. Next stop was the Cuban Hole to catch some kingfish for the grill. The fish were a bit deeper today and we got all our hits in the 103 - 115 foot range. We put 5 fish in the box and pulled the hooks on one other fish before deciding to concentrate on sailfish. Moving about a 1/4 mile north of the area, we started in blue water in 120 feet and worked our way out to 160. I made the turn to start back in and just like 2 days ago, the sailfish chased the bait to the surface and ate. This time, there were no birds to bother our bait. Jeff took the rod and it took a few moments before the fish realized that something was wrong. Then the fireworks began. Half the line disappeared off the reel and in the process, it make a half dozen tremendous leaps before settling down and sounding. It only stayed down for a short time before coming up and making one last run of about 50 yards. After pictures, the fish was released to go on its way and Jeff had his first sailfish under his belt. At this point, it was time to show mercy on one of the seasick anglers who hung in there despite being sick from the time we started kingfishing. The decision was made to call it a day. Back at Spinnaker Marina most of the kings were filleted and one was cut into steaks for the planned fish fry.
We sent 2004 on its way with a great trip and we welcomed 2005 with another great trip. I'd like to thank everyone who made 2004 another great year for me. Many wonderful people fished with me for the first time as well as the fantastic people who fish with me on a regular basis. To each and everyone of you I say THANK YOU. To those who attended my seminars at fishing clubs and various retail stores, I hope I was able to pass on some useful knowledge to help make your fishing trips more successful. I'm looking forward to another great year of fishing in 2005. See you out there.
Captain Dave |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 41
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 22, 2004 - 2:41 pm: | |
The first good cold front of the season has done exactly what everyone expected it to. On the offshore scene, sailfishing and kingfishing has improved dramatically. Meanwhile, back inshore, tarpon have flooded on to the beach at Haulover. Now it is just a matter of getting out there and enjoying the fishing that South Florida has to offer.
Aboard Knot Nancy, we have been catching sails and kingfish. Our best day was the day before the arrival of the cold front when we went 3 for 4 on sailfish at the Monument Buoy in the 75 - 150 foot range. Our hits came on both the kite (1) and flatlines (3). We had action on every drift that day. The sails were the only fish that wanted to stay hooked up. Two hooks were pulled on kingfish, one kingfish bit through the wire leader at the boat, one dolphin jumped and gave us back our hook, and the line broke on another unknown fish. On several other days, it was kingfish action in the 75 - 130 foot range. The Cuban Hole has exploded with kingfish and getting your limit is simply a matter of putting out a few baits. Whether you drift or anchor, the action is hard to beat.
Be sure to dress warm for the chilly mornings and evenings and if you're prone to motion sickness take whatever remedy works best for you as the seas have been up.
I'd like to wish everyone a safe, happy, and healthy Holiday Season and tight lines with lots of fish on the end of your strings in the New Year.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 40
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 15, 2004 - 7:58 pm: | |
As I am writing this report, we are experiencing our first good cold front of the season. This should really jump start the fishing that has been up till now very good. The king and spanish mackerel fishing off the Haulover area has been fair. With the dropping water temperature it should drive more bait into our area and the fish will be following. I expect to see some crazy kingfishing when the large schools flood into the area. Also with the cold weather, pilchards should show up once again in Government Cut. Following them into the Cut will be spanish mackerel. As you are catching your bait, be prepared to go through several sabiki rigs as a result of cutoffs. While you're bait fishing, put out an outfit with a pilchard attached to a long shank hook and you could start the day by putting a few of those tasty toothy critters in your fishbox.
Sailfishing offshore has been well worth the effort mostly from Government Cut to the south. We've caught some in the Haulover area, however, nothing like they have been down south. With the windy weather, you'll have no problems with flying your kite(s). Find the current and color change and you'll get your reward for your effort.
There have also been enough dolphin around to make it interesting. The schools are traveling south and for the most part are not hanging around very long. When you find them, you'll get a couple hooked up and the rest of the school will continue on their way. We've been finding them in the 300 - 400 foot range. Most of the time, birds will give them away, so keep your eyes open.
Inshore for tarpon, we've been getting mostly one shot per evening south of Haulover. This changed on our last trip (12/14) when the numbers increased to three. Once again with this cold weather, it should get the shrimp moving and it could get real wild on any given night. The fish we have been getting are in the 30 - 60 pound class which makes them a perfect target for 8 and 12 pound class tackle. Don't forget, to improve you hookup ratio, use Eagle Claw 2004EL or P170 hooks in the 7/0 or 8/0 sizes.
Now's the time to book your trip, so give me a call at 305 620-5896 or email me at nkostyo@bellsouth.net Let's get out there and catch our fair share of fish.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 39
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: 
Votes: 2 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 09, 2004 - 9:56 am: | |
During the past three days, we've covered the gamut with different types of trips. The species of fish has ranged from seatrout to swordfish. Here is a brief run down on each trip.
Sunday night (12/5) we took the plunge offshore to fish for swords. Douglas Russell, his two sons, and a family friend were in South Florida for a vacation. After catching a few bluerunners, we headed offshore in a sloppy choppy sea. While putting out the second bait, the first bait got hit and Douglas was quickly winding on a less than happy swordfish. Once the fish realized that something wasn't right, it proceeded to start dumping line off the 80W at an alarming rate. Doug went from the bow to the stern, back to mid-ship and then back to the stern. After 15 minutes and half a spool of line, the hook pulled and everyone was very disappointed. We reset the lines and made our first drift without any further action. About half way through the second drift, Doug called the trip as a very seasick other angler had hung in there for as long as he could and wasn't improving any.
Monday afternoon (12/6), Ted Philchuk took his 9 year old nephew, Sam on his first fishing trip. The seatrout and jack crevalle were being cooperative in the Bay and Sam now has the fishing bug.
Tuesday (12/7) was an afternoon/evening trip with Tom Mathias and Ange Sireno. Putting a kite bait next to a turtle got us an nice schoolie size dolphin. With no further action in the area, we headed south with the Sea Buoy as our goal. We never made it that far. Off 65th Street, we found a large weedline with birds working on it. With baits out slow trolling the weedline, I spotted several birds to our north working the surface very hard. In came the baits and a quick run to the area where we saw a sailfish chasing bait. The first bait thrown into the area got eaten by a bird. The second bait wasn't touched. We then spotted the sail to our south and slow trolled baits in that area with no results. I set up a drift with a couple of flatlines and a downrigger line. There wasn't enough wind to fly the kite. The downrigger line popped free and Ange was fighting his first sailfish. Twenty minutes later we took pictures and released the fish. The next hit came on the downrigger again and this time it was a kingfish. By now it was time to head inshore for some tarpon fishing. On the first drift after getting everything organized, the 20# Pflueger Contender G30 took off and the 45# tarpon gave Ange all he could handle. We took pictures and then released the fish. After a few more drifts, we called it a day and headed back to Spinnaker Marina to fillet the dolphin and king. It was a day of ones, however, we covered the major species that most anglers seek.
Knot Nancy has just been equipped with a new set of twin 2005 Yamaha 200hp HPDI engines from Bob Hewes Boats. She's ready for another great winter season of fishing in the South Florida area. The days are starting to fill in, so give me a call and schedule your trip. Lets get out and catch some fish.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 38
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 05, 2004 - 7:05 am: | |
The air temperature has come down a bit and we've had a few mild fronts come through. This equates to the beginning of the winter season. That means sails and kings offshore, some dolphin still mixed in with them and inshore it means TARPON. Afternoon/evening trips are the way to go if you want the best of both worlds. That's exactly what Jeff and John did on Friday. During the offshore portion of the trip in the Haulover area, we caught kingfish, a shark, and had a mystery fish grab a bait, pop the release, and let go before we could get to the rod. The tarpon portion of the trip had to be cut short due to a busy schedule by my two anglers. On the first drift, John learned about the other fish that might grab a bait, when he caught a blue runner. Talk about your swordfish bait. The next drift, the clicker screamed as a tarpon ripped line off the reel. The action lasted about 10 seconds before the hook pulled and left John almost breathless. I could tell from his reaction that he was hooked on tarpon fishing. Two more drifts and two baits knocked off the hook by smaller non-tarpon type fish. At 7 PM, we had to get back to Spinnaker Marina so they could make their commitment. Despite the fact that we went 0/1 on tarpon, the encouraging news is that the fish are in the Haulover area and are feeding.
Last night we fished for gogs in preparation for an upcoming Billfish Tournament. They ate real good for our first three drifts and we now have plenty of bait caged and ready for the tournament.
We found a problem with the contact page of my website. The problem has been fixed and the page is now working correctly. I apologize to those who encountered this problem. Please contact me again with your request and I'll do my best to accommodate you.
The Holidays are getting much closer, so don't forget that angler on your list. Get them a gift certificate or book a date for them. Speaking of bookings, dates are beginning to fill in, call 305 620-5896 or email nkostyo@bellsouth.net to schedule your trip. Don't miss out on the great fishing that South Florida has to offer.
It's time to go fishing, see ya out there.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 37
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 27, 2004 - 2:11 pm: | |
For the past two days, there has been a general lack of current along Miami Beach inside of 200'. On Friday we had a few goals to accomplish. The first was for my customer to learn where and how to catch live bait at the various times of year in the Haulover and Government Cut areas. The herring were thick at Government and it didn't take long to fill the live well. Next, it was learning how to rig kite rods. This to went very well. We were able to barely keep the extra light kite up for about an hour before the wind died off to almost nothing. Fishing off Key Biscayne, we found no current and an offshore drift. Same conditions at the sea buoy. Out in 400' we picked up some current, blue water, and still drifted offshore. We didn't even have a bait get nervous the entire morning. Live chumming didn't help and the morning passed by very quickly. The lessons learned about bait were going to be put to good use the next day.
Saturday (11/27) morning, Fabio and Molly Nick from North Miami Beach wanted a relaxing few hours on the water to get away from the business life. We picked up some bait from Mike on the Greenline and headed out Haulover Inlet. We were greeted with NW wind and swells pushing in from the E/SE. This made for some very sloppy sea conditions. It felt like we were in a washing machine. Like yesterday, we had no current and an offshore drift. Today, however, we caught a large spanish mackeral off the downrigger in 118' of water. Moving offshore to 300' got us some blue water, north current and continued sloopy seas. Both Fabio and I spotted the working birds to our north at the same time. A short run to the area that the birds were working and while putting out baits to slow troll, we got into a school of dolphin in 360'. The largest was a 10# cow, with the other 7 fish in the large schoolie size. Once the school left, we got no hits the remainder of the morning. Despite the sloppy seas, Fabio and Molly were able to relax and enjoy some good South Florida fishing.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 36
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 22, 2004 - 10:47 pm: | |
For the past three days, we've fished the Triumph Reef to Fowey Light area between 90 - 200 feet. The dolphin and kingfish action was very good. Sailfish action was fair. Almost all the fish were caught using the kite with pilchards, herring, and goggle eyes.
Friday (11/19) we found plenty of north current south of Fowey Light. The dolphin were cooperating and we kept three and released three. Because we were sailfishing, we paid the price on kingfish for using straight mono leaders. We did manage to put one in the box and had about 6 cutoffs. Despite the good looking conditions, the sailfish managed to avoid us.
Saturday (11/20) we once again found very good conditions south of Fowey. The current was screaming to the north and the water was blue. We got 2 shots at sailfish on the kite. We hooked both fish and released one. The hook pulled on the second sail after about 5 minutes. That was a real disappointment. Then we had a looker that showed itself for a moment and decided it didn't want any of our baits. Add to that 2 more dolphin and another king in the box plus another half dozen king cut offs.
Sunday (11/21) the current was just trickling to the north. Our first sailfish came at just after 9 AM. While fighting the fish, we watched another grab a kite bait and rip it off the bridle. The sail was released after an intense fight that took us around the boat several times. Then the kingfish invaded us. Once again we put one in the box and got cutoff by at least a half dozen more. Later in the morning, we started talking about getting a triple header. It wasn't long before we got our wish in 118 feet of water. The only trouble was that it was a triple header of 8 pound dolphin. All 3 went into the box. About an hour later, I saw of bunch of flying fish get spooked and we got another triple header of dolphin in 118 feet of water. Three more 8 pound fish were added to the fish box. A short will later, two more dolphin and this time we released them.
That's how our three days of fishing the Ft. Lauderdale Billfish Tournament went. We had great weather and a lot of fun. Overall, fishing was quite slow on Friday, picked up a bit on Saturday, and with the short day on Sunday it was fair. The highlight of the tournament had to be the first ever Fly Fish Division. Three teams worked very hard to try and be the first to catch a sail on fly. On Sunday morning Billy Pate and his team got the job done. Congratulations to all the winners. The Billfish Tournament season has started and we're looking forward to the next one.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 35
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 6:27 pm: | |
Peter Spina from NY, Rich Bodmer from NJ, John Cooley from Delaware, and Mark Anderson from N. Miami, got together for an afternoon of fishing in Biscayne Bay. The wind from earlier in the week had dropped off giving us smooth conditions on the bay. Our first stop produced several jack crevalle caught on 1/4 ounce Kaplan jigs. At the second location we hit pay dirt with sea trout and jack crevalle. By this time, we had switched over to the Cajun Thunder with live shrimp. The action was fast and steady with everyone catching numerous fish. Mark switched back to the Kaplan jig and continued to catch jacks and sea trout. As the trip was drawing to a close, I decided to troll the edge of the channel with Kaplan jigs while heading back toward Spinnaker Marina. The jigs had barely been put out when both rods got hit and we caught bluefish. Out with the jigs again, troll 100' and more bluefish. We did this 4 times before leaving the area where the bluefish were holding.
To sum up the afternoon's fishing, we used 4 and 6 pound spinning outfits with 1/4 ounce Kaplan jigs in pink/white and chartreuse/white as well as Cajun Thunder floats with live shrimp. The 30 seatrout, 10 jack crevalle, and 8 bluefish that we caught were all released.
Don't forget your Holiday Fishing Trip Gift Certificates. It's a great why to give a gift to that special angler in your life whose has everything. Give me a call 305 620-5896 or email nkostyo@bellsouth.net for details.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 34
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 5:43 pm: | |
South Florida Fishing Club members Tim Gipe and Murray Feigenbaum had not had the opportunity to fish together for quite some time. They decided that today (11/2) they needed to change that.
We were greeted with E/ESE 16-19 mph winds and no current. While working our way out to our first location, we changed course to investigate several frigate birds that were working the surface hard. Our reward was 1 dolphin in the box and the frigate birds disappeared. Working from 125' out to 600' produced 1 barracuda. Our next stop was the Twin Towers in the 110' to 200' range. As soon as we put out our first flat line, we added another dolphin to the box. Working our way south with kite and flatline baits produced 1 bait chopped in half. While running back toward the Haulover area, we spotted several more frigate birds working the 200' area. This time, it was a small shark. By now, the frigate birds had worked their way south and once again were hitting the water hard. A quick run to the area and we hit pay dirt. A patch of grass about 2' in diameter was loaded with hungry dolphin in the 5 - 8 pound class. Tim and Murray were in dolphin heaven. The action was fast and furious and the fish hung around us instead of moving off quickly as they mostly do at this time of year.
To sum up the days fishing, with the exception of 1 fish caught in 110', all of our action took place in the 200' - 210' range. We worked the area between the north anchorage buoy and 88th Street. Our catch included 1 barracuda and 1 shark, both released and 11 dolphin kept for dinner. The frigate birds were definitely our friends today as they put us on all the fish except the barracuda.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 33
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, October 11, 2004 - 10:17 am: | |
It certainly is nice to get back out on the water and do some fishing. Fall weather is definitely in the air and with it comes some wind that has had its effects on my trips.
On the first trip, we ran straight out from Haulover Inlet to 250'. The blue water, north current, and an E wind @ 15 - 20 MPH were just the conditions I was looking for. Out went two flatlines and the downrigger. I had just plugged in the kite reel when the bow flatline took off and we were hooked up to a sailfish. Twenty minutes later, the sail posed for boat side pictures and was released. The seas got the best of one of the anglers before I could finish resetting the flats and downrigger again. After running back inshore and spending about 20 minutes on solid ground, it was time to finish the trip in the Dumbfoundling Bay area. True to form, the tarpon showed themselves often, however, were not in a feeding mood. Moving further north and checking out the canals, resulted in 1 snook release before we called it a day.
Winds of 25 knots plus resulted in my next trip being cancelled.
Saturday, we went out to take pictures for a sailfish article I am writing that will appear in the Winter 2005 edition of the South Florida Sport Fishing Magazine. The pictures were of set ups and rigging. On the first drift, while setting out the first bait, a toothy critter chopped us off. We finished some of the pictures and reset to 300' to concentrate on the kite pictures. By the time I got the kite up, we were interrupted by a dolphin on the bow flatline. A few more pictures of kite rigs and another interruption by a school of dolphin. We kept three and didn't put any other baits out so we could finish with the pictures. Two drifts, three dolphin, and lots of pictures and we went in to grab lunch.
Sunday, was a full day of wade fishing at Marco. The fish were much more cooperative than back in September. The open Gulf as well as the newly formed sandbars and channel produced a wide variety of fish. During the course of the day, six different species of fish were caught. The action included jack crevalle, ladyfish, flounder, whiting, spanish mackerel, and bluefish. We also used numerous types of artificial baits, all of which produced fish. While the morning produced some nice fish, the afternoon gave us quantities of fish. Double and triple header action was very consistent until the porpoise moved into the area. The action should continue to be very good through October, so give me a call and schedule your trip before it's to late to take advantage of this type of fishing.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 32
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 29, 2004 - 2:28 pm: | |
Nancy and I returned from our yearly vacation to Marco just in time for Hurricane Jeanne. Now, enough is enough with those darned hurricanes. We don't like you, we don't want you, and please tell any of your future relatives to stay away from Florida you are just not welcome. The only welcome hurricanes are those from the University of Miami. I have become way to proficient with putting up the shutters and then taking them down. Miami has been very fortunate in that we have not had a direct hit. The wind that we have experienced with the passing of each hurricane has not been much worst than an afternoon thunderstorm with the exception that the wind and rain lasted for a longer period of time. The highest hourly wind reading I saw at Fowey Light with Hurricane Jeanne was 49.5 mph with gusts to 55 mph. Damages in Miami we very minimal with a few trees blown over, branches blown off trees, and some power outages. The weather has cleared, the seas have calmed down, and it's time to get back to fishing in our area. For those who have planned their vacation to Miami, there is no need to even consider canceling. Come on down, everything is just like you remember it from your last vacation.
The fishing in Marco so far this wade season has been OK. Many of the sandbars have shifted, the Gulf is still a bit on the muddy side, but clearing more each day, and some of the most productive holes in past years now have very few fish. With all this less than good news, the bright side is that new holes and channels have opened and are beginning to hold fish. The variety of fish are still there. Each cast with the Kaplan 1/4 oz jig in pink/white or chartreuse/white could catch a catfish, ladyfish, jack crevalle, seatrout, pompano, or snook. This kind of fishing also will help you improve your casting, jigging, and light tackle fishing techniques as 4 and 6 pound test line will handle most any fish you'll hook. Fly fishing enthusiast too, can enjoy the variety and openness this area has to offer. On Monday (9/20) Fred & Eileen Clark and Faye Naylor joined me for some fast and furious action during the morning. Everyone caught multiple fish, and Faye caught her first several fish using a jig. It didn't take her long to get the hang of the jigging technique and the cooperating fish made it that much more fun.
On the last day of our vacation, a larger stretch of the Gulf had cleared up. With this improvement, came schools of snook cruising in the surf no more than 20' from the shore. Talk about your opportunity for fly fishing. The thing to remember is that the season is a short one. By the first week in November, the water temperature will drop enough so that it will become to uncomfortable for wading. Give me a call at 305 620-5896 or email at nkostyo@bellsouth.net for more information or to book your wade fishing date.
Meanwhile, back on the Miami side, the fall fishing season started as if on queue. The mullet runs are taking place. Tarpon, snook, jacks, and sharks are having a field day feeding on them. Sailfish are cooperating offshore, as well as some dolphin and kingfish. Dates in October are starting to fill in, so don't hesitate and lose out on the good fishing action. If you're planning on coming on down for the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show, you might want to consider coming down a day or two early or staying a day or two afterwards and get in a fishing trip also.
Now is also the time to start thinking about booking your trip for the winter tarpon and sailfish season. A very popular way to target both species is with an afternoon/evening trip. You get to sleep in, fish offshore for sails in the afternoon and then come inshore to challenge the mighty tarpon during the evening. And speaking of winter, the Holiday season will be upon us again very shortly. Don't forget to order your Fishing Trip Gift Certificate for that special angler in your life. Contact me early so you can get the dates you want.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 31
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 09, 2004 - 5:56 pm: | |
Hurricane Frances came and went and once again the Miami area dodged another direct hit. We did get our share of windy weather. The highest reading I saw from Fowey Light was sustained winds of 51.75 mph with gusts to 56.25 mph. The folks further to the north did not fair as well and many are still without power and phones.
After being off the water for many days, it was time to get out and do some reel testing today. There have been some dolphin and the good news is that they have been in quite close. Inside of 600' has seen all the action. Also, there have been a good number of sailfish in the area.
Our search for live bait took us to two different locations. In each, there were loads of medium size sardines. Despite using the 3/8" mesh net, lots of the baits got gilled up in the net. After cleaning out the net from the first throw, we moved to location number 2 that had an even larger concentration of sardines. There were also some good sized pilchards mixed in with them. One throw and we had plenty of bait and another gilled up net. The gilled baits were used as chum and they finally did the trick.
There was a very good current edge in about 320' off of Haulover Park. By our third drift, we had drifted north to the north end of Golden Beach. We watched a small shark swim up to and all around the boat and not eat a bait. It finally lost interest and moved on. Chumming heavy with both dead and live sardines finally did the trick in 340' and Bruce Newman was hooked up solid with a very feisty 4' long sailfish. It put on a great aerial show both at a distance and up close to the boat. After releasing it, we made one more quick drift and decided to call it a day.
There is decent fishing action, however, we'll have to wait and see what Hurricane Ivan is going to do. Lets hope it makes a turn away from Florida and gives everyone a break.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 30
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 22, 2004 - 9:23 am: | |
This past week, our trips were of an exploratory, snook, and late afternoon nature. Fish were caught on all the trips with some being better than others.
The exploratory trip had us checking out numbers for various rock piles, wrecks, rubble, and modules. The numbers were accurate to within 1/100 on the GPS. We fished several of the areas using both a drift and anchor method. The results were good with fish ranging from grunts and triggerfish and moving up to lane and mangrove snapper as well as cero mackerel. We also had several fish get us back in the structure and cut us off.
The snook trip was for a half day at St. Lucie Inlet. Catching both sardines and greenies (herring) did not take very long and with both livewells full, it was time to go snook fishing. At location number 1, the tide was still trickling out. The action was almost instant and by the time the tide changed and the fish shut off, eleven (11) fish in the 24 - 36 inch range had been landed and released. The water at location number 2 had cleared up and schools of snook could be seen cruising across the bottom. After anchoring, the first two baits out got immediate action and then the fish shut off. Continued effort resulted in no action, so with a dwindling bait supply it was time to catch more bait. It only took about 15 minutes, and we were back at location 2. This time a drift method was used and the large fish (40 inches) of the morning was caught and released. Once again the fish shut off. Moving on to location 3 resulted in no action. Anchoring up at location 4 got us action of some type on almost every cast. The snook (16 - 24 inches) were much smaller at this location. With all our bait used up, it was time to call it a morning. The final results were 23 snook caught and released.
The late afternoon half day trip required a lot of searching for just a few fish. Starting at Haulover Inlet in 150 feet and no current resulted in a triggerfish caught on the bottom drift outfit. We didn't even know we had the fish on till the outfit was reeled in to check the bait. The next stop was in 180 feet at 77th Street at the north end of North Shore Park and still no current. Once again the bottom drift outfit got all the action and 2 large bluerunners were caught and released. Continuing south, the Twins area was next. This time there was good current in 120 feet, however, there was no fish action. By the time we reset to try again, the current had moved out to 320 feet. At the Miami Sea Buoy, the current was ripping north. A school of bonito crashed the live chum and a flat line hooked up. The downrigger ball was raised to the surface after popping the line loose from the clip. The thought was to get another fish on the downrigger line as it came up. It was a good idea, however, the outfit with the fish on crossed the rising downrigger line and when it came tight, the hook pulled. Once again by the time we reset, the current had moved offshore. The final move was to the Cuban Hole area. By now, you've probably guessed, NO CURRENT and NO ACTION.
We'll be out again this coming week. Will we find current and better action?? Check back next week and see. Meanwhile, my website www.knotnancy.com has had a make over. There is a new look and more information to read, so check it out when you get a chance and drop me a line at nkostyo@bellsouth.net
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 29
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 12, 2004 - 5:32 pm: | |
Dolphin action offshore has turned into a very hit or miss proposition. The westerly winds of last week have finally taken their toll on the dolphin fishing. There have been some very good weedlines loaded with bait fish. A good number of floaters have been passing through our area. With all this good structure being found, the vast majority of it has not been holding fish. Once the wind settles back into a SE flow, the action should improve. Meanwhile, in on the reef, if the current is flowing strong on the day you fish, the action will be good for kings and bonito. When there is no current, everyone will struggle to put together a decent catch.
Sunday (8/8) was a half day of dolphin fishing starting at 9:00 AM. We were greeted with S/WSW winds @ 8-14 MPH and once we crossed over into the blue water we encountered large swells from the NE. At 7 miles we worked a weedline with no results. At 9 miles another weedline gave us the same results. At 12 miles, we found a very nice weedline with lots of large patches. Slow trolling pilchards did the trick. The fish were spread out and the strikes came one at a time. We had a total of 5 strikes, we hooked 4, kept 2 in the 5-7 pound class, and released 2 that were under size. The encouraging thing about today's fishing was the size and number of weedlines that we found.
Tuesday (8/10) was a pay your dues type of day. ENE to SSE winds @ 3 - 10 MPH gave us smooth seas. Large pilchards were readily available and a few throws of the castnet filled the live well. The first stop was 160' south of the Cuban Hole. The conditions presented us with no current, very light wind, and dirty green water. It was necessary to bump the boat in and out of gear to create a drift. At 142', the downrigger line got hit and we caught a bonito. With no further action, it was time to run offshore in search of some dolphin action. Working three decent weedlines between 5 to 21 miles out gave us a big fat zero. Sitting on a line with live bait still gave us no action. We found lots of birds working an area that was loaded with hundreds of large jellyfish, but no dolphin action. Running back to the reef, we worked the south end of the anchorage area and pulled the hook on an unknown fish on the bottom drifting rod. Moving up to the Twin Towers area, we scored a nice 10 pound kingfish on the downrigger in 115'. The next drift had us hooked up once again on the downrigger and this time it was a pesky remora (still no current). Even live chumming did little to give us any action. As soon as we get some current back into the area, the fishing should pick back up.
It's summer time fishing, and with the heat, comes a few words of caution. Now, more than ever, don't forget the sun screen. Next, make sure you have plenty of fluids to drink. Even if you don't feel thirsty, make sure you drink plenty of water and sports drinks to replace the water you loose from perspiration. And if you want to beat the heat, then fish after the sun goes down.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 28
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 6:00 pm: | |
Today was another half day of dolphin fishing. Dan Samuelsen and his father-in-law, Dave Good both from Illinois along with Dan's brother-in-law, Jon Good from Michigan had never been fishing in any kind of saltwater until today. Dan had read all about dolphin fishing and was eager to try it.
We headed offshore from Haulover Inlet with a good supply of small to medium pilchards. At 6 miles we stopped on a large raft of grass. The baits got hit immediately by some very small dolphin. We caught and released 6 fish and moved on. At 10 miles the dolphin juniors went out to troll in some heavy scattered grass with no action. At 14 miles, a frigate bird had us chasing it for about 20 minutes before it flew up so high we lost track of it. At 20.2 miles it was time to start heading back in without finding any birds or anything to fish to. It was beginning to look like one of those pay your dues day. At 18 miles more trolling in heavy scattered grass still gave us no action. At 16.8 miles we came upon a turned over hard bottom inflatable with the motor still attached. A private sportfishing boat had all anglers on board hooked up. They yelled over for us to come closer because there were plenty of fish and they had caught all they needed. Throwing out two baits where we had stopped, got us instant action. Dan, Dave, and Jon were all hooked up and doing the dolphin weave and bob as they followed their fish around the boat. As soon as I gaffed one, another was hooked up with ease. All the fish were in the 6 - 10 pound class. When they moved on, we went back to the upside down inflatable and got back into the fish again. In between dolphin bits, we also caught a 3 pound bluerunner and a very large triggerfish. When the action stopped, it was time to start heading shoreward again. Another mile of running and Dan spotted a piece of wood. Out went a bait and in came the peanut size dolphin again. We caught and released 6 fish and moved on.
The morning passed by very quickly and back at Spinnaker Marina, as the eight dolphin were being cleaned, jack crevalles, mangrove snappers, and a 50 pound tarpon put on a show at the shaded cleaning station. The dolphin fillets were headed to the kitchen and a feast was being planned.
Summing up the morning, 20 fish were caught with 8 fish being kept. If this kind of action sounds fun to you, give me a call and lets set up a date to get out and find them dolphin.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 27
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 4:45 am: | |
Saturday (7/10) fishing out of Haulover Inlet for dolphin left a lot to be desired. At 6.5 miles we found scattered grass that we worked for several passes up and down the line. Next, we found a large board that held only tripletail. Dropping a jig down deep several times produced no strikes nor did it raise any fish from the depths. Finally, as we slow trolled live pilchards toward another floating object, we got our reward. There weren't many, however, we put three schoolies in the 4-5 pound range in the box. Continued working of the area produced nothing.
Moving south, we came upon several frigate birds and a dozen terns working the surface. The frigates moved on and we continued to follow the terns and watch them diving on busting fish. Trolling did not give us any strikes. A live bait tossed toward the busting fish finally got us a hook up. The fish turned out to be a rainbow runner. Working the birds for about 15 more minutes produced nothing. Continuing south and then offshore showed us a very clean ocean. Time to try the reef.
Slow trolling baits from 450 in to 220 was uneventful. Setting up a drift, a bait was put down 80' on the downrigger. At 210', the downrigger rod popped and didn't hook up. At 190', the downrigger popped again and the fight was on. Everything was going OK until the fish made a second run. That's when the hook pulled. At 120' we got one good jump from a barracuda before it bit through the leader. That's how the morning ended.
Sunday (7/11) the dolphin fishing made a drastic turn around. Once again fishing out of Haulover, we found scattered grass lines at 6.5 miles. The juniors went out and within minutes the red/black produced an 8# bull. Putting out live baits produced 3 more fish of equal size. We put 2 of the 3 in the box and pulled the hook on the third. At 7.5 miles, both the red/black and yellow/green juniors produced dolphin. This time the fish were of the peanut variety and we kept one and released numerous others. Moving on, the next group of fish was found at 19.2 miles out. It was strictly catch and release at this point since my group had all the fish they wanted with the first 4 fish we caught. The action was fast and furious and when it slowed down, it was time to run back in and finish the trip on the reef. We made one stop while running in when we found a flock of birds working over what turned out to be the smallest dolphin we saw all morning. Two fish were caught and released and we continued running in to the Sea Buoy. Sum total of the dolphin catch was 4 fish kept and 21 released.
Two drifts from 210' in to 140' gave us 1 miss and 1 pulled hook on the downrigger 80' down, a bonito and triggerfish on the bottom rod, and two chopped off baits on the flat lines. All the action took place between 175 to 205 feet.
As you can see, the action can be great one day and turned off the next. For the most part, all of our action has been taking place between 6.5 and 10 miles out with one exception. The fish we caught at 19.2 miles were in an open clean ocean. There is still time to get in on the dolphin action, so give me a call and lets schedule a trip to get in on the action.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 26
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 6:31 pm: | |
Today was one of those days that dolphin fishing fanatics dream about. Calm seas and no wind made running and gunning a pleasure. Add to that some large pieces of wood floating, heavy scattered grass areas, and birds that were working over schools of dolphin and you have the making of a great morning of dolphin fishing.
After catching bait (herring) just south of Haulover Inlet, we started the run offshore. At 7.5 miles we found a large board with nothing around it. I dropped a 1 1/2 ounce white T&M pilchard jig down deep and was rewarded with bringing up a school of 5 - 10 pound dolphin. Jim Lefevre and Joe McGivern quickly hooked up fish and the fun began. Then the larger bull (20.5 pounds) showed up and ate a herring on a 15 pound plug outfit. We kept some fish and released some before the school moved on.
Continuing offshore, we found several birds working a heavy scattered grass area at 12 miles. Slowed trolled herring soon had everyone hooked up again. Once again, the fish were in the 5 - 10 pound class. We added several more fish to the box and moved on once again. By now, we were straight out from Haulover.
Our next action was at 13.9 miles out and once again the birds put us on fish in a heavy scattered grass area. Since the birds were moving quickly, the dolphin juniors went out so we could cover more area and keep up with the fast moving birds. We watched as about a dozen fish came greyhounding in on the juniors. The red/black got hit and after reeling the fish in, it was released. We caught and released another small peanut before beginning to head back in.
During our run in, we found and worked a board, floats on a rope, styrofoam buoy on a rope, and a large hunk of styrofoam with none of these items holding any dolphin. Under the floats on a rope, we found a large school of tiny dolphin that were about 6 inches long. With as fast as they grow, it won't be long before they will get to a decent size.
If you want to get in on the action, give me a call and lets schedule a trip and get out and catch 'em.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 25
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 01, 2004 - 4:13 pm: | |
If it's dolphin that you are in search of, be prepared to do lots of running. There has been little to nothing to fish to off the Haulover area. When you find a group of birds, spend some time following them. That has been the key to our success for the past few trips.
Meanwhile, inshore the tarpon are still cooperating for the most part. Government Cut and live crabs are still the ticket. We have had strikes on each of our last three trips and have hooked up and caught fish on two trips.
Saturday evening (6/26) we had to wait till late in the dusk period for our first tarpon bite. Our next bite came during our last drift of the evening. Michael Oshry from Hewett Harbor, NY caught and released both fish that were in the 70 pound category.
Sunday morning (6/27) Michael Vincent treated his Dad, Sandy to a half day of dolphin fishing. Also along on the trip was Faye Naylor and Warren Colozzo. The wind conditions had picked up to E/ESE @ 13 - 19 MPH. The search had us running out as far as 19.9 miles from Haulover Inlet. Once we got beyond 5 miles, the ocean was a beautiful blue with nothing to fish to. Michael's great eyesight finally picked up a group of about 5 birds working the clean ocean. They split up and we continued to follow the group of 3 birds for about 20 minutes. It paid off and we had the school of dolphin all around the boat. Everyone got in on the action. By the time the fish moved on, we had a good catch on board and had also released numerous other fish. Like all half day trips, the time seemed to pass by all to quickly. Back at Spinnaker Marina, while I cleaned the fish, everyone got to see the show as I threw the scraps to the tarpon.
Sunday evening (6/27) was the one evening that the tarpon decided to take the night off. We got one half hearted strike from a small tarpon that came up jumping after pulling about 5 feet of line off the reel. When a fish does this, the hook is usually thrown and this time was no exception. On our next drift, the rods barely wiggled and both crabs were gone. That was the sum total of the action for the entire evening.
Monday evening (6/28) it was back to Government Cut for some more tarpon fishing. After last night's lack of action, I wasn't sure what to expect. Scott, Frank, Jeremy, and Red were ready to do battle with the silver king. Just after sunset, Frank hooked up and found out what tarpon fishing is all about. Just when he thought he had the fish whipped, it made a 100 yard run. His friends caught the expression on his face on film and there was lots of good hearted ribbing going on. The fish was released and now it was Jeremy's turn. The next drift, he was hooked up to a fish of the same size. His fish was much more cooperative and it only took about 10 minutes to release the fish. On the next drift, Scott connected with a larger fish and the fight was on. His fish had no intention of giving up without one whale of a fight. We headed north to the jetties before the fish turned west toward Fisher Island. Then it was south toward the range markers. We came close to touching the leader several times only to watch it disappear when the fish ran off 50 yards of line. Now it was time for pay back for all the ribbing on the first two fish. The camera kept flashing while catching all of Scott's facial expressions. By the time we had worked our way south of the range markers, 40 minutes had passed. Scott's hard work paid off and the catch was made.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 24
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 3:31 pm: | |
Dolphin fishing continues to be excellent. The trend for the past several days is that the fish have been in much closer. Also, some very good news is that for the past two days, we have been finding much better weedlines and large weed patches versus only scattered grass areas and scattered lines. Although I have run out as far as 20 miles, all of the dolphin action I have found has been in the 5 1/2 to 11 1/2 mile range. All of my trips have started by running SE from Haulover Inlet and have covered the area as far south as Government Cut and north to Hollywood.
Saturday's (6/19) half day trip with Fred Jager, his daughter Priscila, and two business associates had us finding the fish twice during the morning. The first time was in scattered grass 11 miles SE of Haulover. After making a run out to 20 miles and finding a very clean ocean, we moved back toward the Government Cut area. At 10 miles out from the Sea Buoy, we found several birds working the ocean surface very hard. Out went the dolphin juniors and within minutes we were hooked up to an 8# bull. Several buddies followed him to the boat and we added 3 more fish to our catch. We had no more action after that despite finding a very large weed patch area off of the Twin Towers.
Sunday's (6/20) half day trip was Santiago Abraham treating his Dad to a Father's Day dolphin trip. Also along was his Mom and a friend. All the dolphin activity took place between 6 1/2 to 7 miles out. The first area was a larger weed patch by itself. The action was fast and furious for a short period of time. The next area was a large weed patch mixed in amongst a scattered grass area. At this patch, the action was intense. Afterwards, we searched to the south and out to 12 miles and found only light scattered grass areas and no further action.
Monday's (6/21) trip was of the afternoon/evening variety. Tom Mathias, his wife Debbie, daughter Morgan, and business associate Jim Wurth from Denver, Colorado wanted to catch some dolphin for a fish fry and then challenge the might silver king after dark. At 12 miles out just south of Haulover, we worked a very good weedline with no action. Running south in search of better conditions, a free jumping sailfish had us trying to bait it. The sail showed itself several times, however it never could seem to find our baits. Continuing the search, another weedline was found and the juniors went out. At about the time that the line was beginning to break up, the red/black junior got hit and Jim boated an 18# cow. Back to the line and trolling north with it produced nothing. Moving back south along the opposite side of the line, several birds put us on a school of fish and by the time the action stopped, we were off Hollywood. While running to Government Cut to tarpon fish, we found 3 very large patches within a half mile area. The first area gave us a few fish, the middle area held none, and the third area gave us a few more. It was now time to give full attention to tarpon fishing. The drift was so slow that we had to use floats to keep the baits from snagging bottom. Bug spray was a welcome relief to keep the mosquitoes and no seeums away. Finally, we got the hit we were looking for. Jim got his first taste of fighting a large (110 pound) tarpon that didn't know the meaning of quit. We hooked up on the south side, the fish ran to the main channel where we went back and forth across the channel several times. Next it was avoiding a tug pulling a barge and several boats making their way both in and out of the Cut. The fish then decided to take us on a tour of the north side of the jetties. By now about an hour had gone by and Jim had touched the leader several times only to see the fish swim away at will. It was time for reinforcements to take over. Morgan got her turn pulling on this stubborn fish. Her goal was to get the leader to touch. Several times, it came close only to disappear as the fish made another powerful run away from the boat. This only made her more determined and it paid off in the end. She got the leader up in to the rod and the celebration began after releasing the fish.
Dolphin season has kicked into high gear and we are getting very close to the end of our tarpon season. Give me a call and we can do either or both. The action is GREAT!!!
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 23
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 6:39 pm: | |
After a week off from fishing, I was ready to get back out on the ocean. All the trips I had scheduled since Sunday (6/13) have been dolphin trips. It has been a good news bad news situation. The good news is that there are plenty of dolphin in the area. The bad news is that they have been anywhere from 11.5 - 24 miles out. That means that you're going to burn some fuel in your search for these tasty blue/green/gold beauties. With gas prices up the way they have been, be prepared for sticker shock when refueling after a day of dolphin hunting.
On Sunday (6/13) Eileen, Sandy, and Dana fished for a half day. They wanted some dolphin, however, all they needed was 2 fish each. We had to do some searching for bait as it was very scarce in the Haulover area. We ended up at the crooked range marker and caught herring. Running straight out from Government Cut, we found the first group of fish about 15 miles out. After catching a few, the school moved on and so did we. Next, at about 20 miles, we finished off catching the 6 fish we needed and caught and released a few more. Eileen caught all her fish using a 6 pound spinning outfit and a jig. We finished the trip by running back in to the reef area and catching 1 of the 2 bonito we hooked up and releasing 1 ever pesky remora.
Monday (6/14) Al Trudeau and his friend Diane from Nashua, NH started 3 days of dolphin fishing. We found the bait in Haulover Inlet and caught an ample supply of pilchards. While running offshore, we got to see some of Mother Nature's beauty in the form of water spouts. Not just 1, but 3 that touched down on the ocean surface and 3 others that didn't quite make it. The sun was at the right angle on one of them and we could see the water being drawn upwards through the funnel in to the clouds. Continuing offshore, we found birds working in a heavy scattered grass area at 23 miles. It only took a few minutes of trolling the dolphin juniors before we had our first strike and brought the school up to the boat. It was then catch and keep some and release some. About the time the school was loosing interest and moving on, we got hit by a rain storm. We decided to run in to the reef and finish the day. The action included a missed hook up, 1 kingfish on the downrigger and 1 triggerfish on the downrigger in two drifts.
Tuesday (6/15), it was day two for Al and Diane. To have more fishing time, we bought pilchards from Mike on the Greenline out of Haulover. Today we found the scattered grass area at 17.8 miles out of Haulover. The dolphin juniors did their magic again and we soon had a gaffer size bull in the box. Moving south, we found a frigate bird that put us on a decent size school of large schoolies and small gaffer sized fish. We kept what we needed and released the rest.
Wednesday (6/16) the wind and seas picked up just a bit. At 11.8 miles out, we found 6 frigate birds working the area. Trolling put us on a fish in a hurry. We then followed the birds around for about a half hour with no results. As we started to run further offshore, we found a floater and it held fish. Each time we came back to it, we had action. Finally, we lost it and started drifting the area. In no time, the dolphin found us and the rod bending action continued. Then a sailfish swam by in a hurry and we couldn't get a bait to it. Our last move of the day had us finding another floater that held several fish and a small brown shark. We kept 8 fish and released 16. The fish were a mixture of schoolies and gaffers.
Inshore, the tarpon are still biting strong and mixed in with them have been some healthy size permit. We are fast coming to the end of tarpon season. I have dates available, so give me a call and lets go catch some fish.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 22
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 6:45 pm: | |
The wind has finally started to come down to a more civilized speed. The action offshore continues to consist mostly of dolphin, kingfish, and blackfin tuna with a few sailfish around. The dolphin action could be anywhere from the blue/green edge on out. The tuna show up each day somewhere along the coast in the 100-200 foot range. The area north of the sea buoy has had some fairly consistent action. Meanwhile, the tarpon action inshore remains steady. Live crabs will get you your fair share of strikes.
Thursday evening (5/20), Terry Duhamel from Camarillo, CA wanted to catch his first tarpon. He didn't want quantity, he wanted quality and he ended up getting more than he ever dreamed of. Just before dusk, we had a fish eat the bait and run straight at the boat. When Terry finally caught up to the fish, the circle hook pulled. On the next drift, we watched another boat hook up and immediately chase their fish to the main channel. A few minutes later, the bow rod took off and we were on. The fish ran straight offshore and made two jumps before circling back toward Fisher Island. It ran straight in to the swimming beach and then toward the south end of the island. Along the way, it made several more jumps before going around the end of the jetty at the south end of the island. It was headed toward Norris Cut and then changed direction and moved back to the jetty. It worked its way along the jetty and then back to the swim area before beginning to head offshore again. Terry wanted to try and get a good boat side picture. We had the fish up to the leader al least 6 times and of course, each time it just took off at will before we could even get the camera in position for a shot. Terry quickly learned about how tarpon get a burst of energy by coming to the surface and gulping air. The battle continued and we were now getting close to going to the main channel. Finally, the fish was not able to get up for air and we were able to get about a half dozen shots before the fish got its head and released itself. Terry could not believe how hard a tarpon fights. He told me that he has caught marlin to 400 pounds and they never fought as hard as the 100 pound plus tarpon he had just battled for over an hour. With the big fish in the books, he is now ready to catch several smaller ones.
On Saturday (5/22) the day was started with learning about where and how to catch bait at various times of the year. With an ample load of bait, we started off Key Biscayne in 250 feet. The water was a beautiful blue color, however, there was no current. With no current, the fishing was less than exciting. There were a few kingfish and bonito caught. Those that ran offshore found dolphin in the 3-4 pound category.
Sunday morning (5/23) was a half day trip to introduce a young angler to his first saltwater fishing trip. Alex Olarte said that he liked riding roller coasters so the E/ESE wind @ 18 mph was made to order. Alex and his Dad, David along with another friend were ready for some steady action. The best way to capture a young anglers interest is with steady action. They don't care what the fish is as long as there are plenty of them. We anchored up on one of the many near shore patches and it didn't take long for the chum to get the fish going. By the end of the trip, we had caught and released 5 different species of fish and lost track of how many individual fish we caught and released. On the way back to Spinnaker Marina, we also got to see several large iguanas in the trees along the canal.
Today (5/30) was my first opportunity to fish since the seas have calmed down. What a pleasure it was to be able to run where ever I wanted to in comfortable sea conditions. We started our day by catching bait at Government Cut. The pilchards were thick and between Eileen and Fred using the sabiki rigs, Faye and Michael unhooking the baits, and me throwing the net, it didn't take long to load the live well.
Catching some dolphin fish was the first order of the day. In 1150' straight out from Government cut, we found a weedline and started working south along it. While trolling dolphin juniors, we spotted fish in the weeds and immediately threw our some pilchards for chum. The fish came to the boat and all 4 anglers were hooked up. We took 4 fish from the first group including Eileen Clark's 22 pound bull.  Back to the troll and we saw more fish working in the weed line. This time we took only 2 that included Faye Naylor's 10 pound cow. After another half hour of trolling and not finding any other fish, we moved back toward shore and fished the reef area the remainder of the day.
Our drifts covered the 100 - 170 foot range and we had action on each of the 4 drifts that we made. At 2 pm, the wind picked up enough to fly the ex-light kite with 1 line. Every line that we had out saw action. At one point, all 4 anglers were hooked up at the same time. Everyone caught and released bonito. Eight in the 6-12 pound range was the final count on the bonito. Michael Vincent caught and released his first sailfish while Eileen caught all the action on video. And finally we were visited by the every pesky remora on 2 occasions. Throw in a cut off on a mono leader and a broken leader wire after a 10 minute battle with an unseen fish and you have a good days fishing offshore.
On the nature side of the day, we saw two loggerhead turtles, iguanas on the way in, and baby herons testing their wings.
Although the dolphin fishing was not on fire today, it was well worth the run offshore to search for them. This type of fishing should remain good well into July. On the reef, there should be a fair number of kingfish and sailfish. For the light tackle enthusiast and fly fishermen, large schools of bonito are not far off. When you run into the day when other types of fishing are slow, the hard fighting bonito can save the day, get your arms to aching, and put smiles on everyone's faces.
Don't forget the MET Booster Banquet coming up on Thursday, June 10, 2004. You can check my website at www.knotnancy.com for more details, or give me a call. Don't miss out on the great silent auction and live auction items as well as great fishing trips.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 21
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 9:08 am: | |
Sunday (5/16) was another day for those with a weak stomach to stay on shore. On previous trips I have been able to fly a heavy air kite. Today it got stepped up to the ex-heavy kite with wind from the east @ 23 - 25 MPH. Fishing for a half day in the Haulover area, we found the blue/green edge and ripping north current, south of Haulover in 150'. As you moved north, it pushed out to 200'.
Eileen Clark and her grand daughter Tiffany Kempisty were back for another day of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Their friends Ellie Miller and Faye Naylor joined them to complete the all girls trip. Within 5 minutes of putting out the baits, the bait on the long kite got eaten and Ellie was fighting an unknown species that was pulling hard and running deep. When here arms gave out, she turned the rod over to Faye. The fight continued and just as Faye was showing signs of fatigue, the fish came to color and we saw that it was a blackfin tuna (23 pounds). Just seeing the fish was all the boost Faye needed and shortly thereafter, I gaffed the fish and brought it aboard. Meanwhile, a flat line rod took off and Ellie was standing closest to it, so she gave her arms another workout before turning the rod over to Tiffany. It was becoming quite apparent that today was going to be tag team day. Tiffany fought her fish around the boat till it came to color and we saw that we had a bonito (12.5 pounds). As for Eileen, she was getting all the action on video. After all this action, everything settled down for the next few drifts. Even with a sea anchor, the drifts were fairly short. I moved back south of Haulover Inlet to about 71st Street for the last drift of the morning. We started the drift in 205' and when we got to 180', the pilchard on the kite got eaten and it was Eileen's turn to do battle. The fight had all the characteristics of a blackfin tuna. Eileen slowly worked the fish closer to the boat and soon we all saw that it was another blackfin tuna (24 pounds). Once back inside of Haulover Inlet, we took pictures that can be seen on my website at www.knotnancy.com , then click on the fishing report link at the bottom of the page.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
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Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 20
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 09, 2004 - 7:06 am: | |
The good news is that the dolphin are here and they are in close. The bad news is that the wind is still kicking and you need a strong stomach to handle the sea conditions. Throw in some blackfin tuna, kingfish, and sailfish and you have offshore spring time fishing in Miami.
Today (5/8), Frank Jones treated his friend Leann Moore to an offshore trip for her birthday. Up to this time, Leann had only fished from shore and she was excited about her first offshore fishing trip. The wind has been blowing for what seems like almost forever, and today was no exception. We headed out Government Cut with the wind from the E/ESE @ 18 - 20 MPH. Working the area off the Hotels on Key Biscayne gave us steady action on dolphin in the 3 - 15 pound class. All our strikes were in the 190-300 foot zone with the exception of a cero mackerel (105') and every drift produced some type of action. Today the flatlines out performed the kite about 2 to 1. Leann caught the biggest (15#'s) and second biggest (10#'s) dolphin, both on the flatlines. Frank took all the strikes on the kite and landed 2 of 3 dolphin and a 5# cero mackerel. Toss in a few more dolphin caught on the flatlines and there were enough fillets for several meals. Like all fishing trips, the half day trip seemed to end all to soon and they are both looking forward to their next trip. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Leann!!
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
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Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 19
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 07, 2004 - 1:51 pm: | |
TARPON fishing is on fire. The full moon phase is what was needed to get them silver kings going again. On the night of the full moon (5/4), the shrimp ran as soon as it got dark and the fish were up on the surface having a feeding frenzy. The next night (5/5) we got in on the action and once again the tarpon put on the feed bag once it got dark. Our first two strikes resulted in the tips of the hook getting crushed and losing the fish after a good run. The third strike was the charm and we took the tour of the main channel before releasing the fish. The fourth and fifth strikes were a double header and we landed and released both fish. The sixth and seventh strikes were single fish that were also landed and released. So, after a slow start, we came on strong and ended the evening going 5 for 7. The fish were feeding from the time we arrived at the south side of Government Cut until the time we left. Everyone who was fishing on Wednesday evening had at least one fish on. All our strikes came from the dusk period on and were on live shrimp. Other boats were also getting strikes on crabs, however, none of our crabs got touched. It didn't matter to us as we had both baits covered. Thursday evening (5/6) was a repeat of Wednesday. As we get further past the full moon stage, the shrimp should become more scarce and the tarpon will then show more of a preference for crabs. Only time will tell if they stay in the area in larger numbers. Past history shows that the fish are consistent until late June.
There is still time to get in on the action, so give me a call so you can experience the thrill and power of the mighty SILVER KING.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 18
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2004 - 8:46 am: | |
For most of the week, the windy weather gave us sea conditions that only those with a strong stomach would want to fish in. The fishing action ranged the full gamut from a struggle to good fishing. Dolphin are showing up with a bit more consistency, there have been decent size kingfish on some days, the sailfish action has been spread out over a wide area and if you stopped in the right place, the action has been great, bonito have been filling in while waiting for other bites, and the tarpon fishing has been excellent with the fish showing a definite taste for crabs on the outside and shrimp in the Bay.
Tuesday (4/13), the Sagsveen family decided that the combination of rain storms and windy weather was not a day they wanted to fish. With a Thursday night opening, we rescheduled for a tarpon trip.
Wednesday (4/14) we fished in wind conditions from the NW/NNW @ 24 - 31 MPH. Just north of the hotels on Key Biscayne, we got into a double header of bonito that kept Fabio and Jason Nick busy. Putting the baits back out, the short flatline popped from the clip when we reached 130'. The sailfish crushed the bait, spit it back at us, swam past the stern of the boat, and showed no interest in another bait we tossed at it. The next hit turned out to be a large houndfish. By this time the wind had reached a steady 30 MPH and Fabio decided it was time to head in.
Wednesday (4/14) evening, Doug Gamlin and his girlfriend Deborah Judy were looking to challenge some tarpon. By now, the wind was coming from the WNW/NW @ 23 - 26 MPH and the sea conditions on the south side of the jetties at Government Cut were very fishable. Try as we might, the fish were absent from this area. Once it turned dark and the tide started out, we ran into the Bay. The action was hot and consistent. Within minutes of setting up, Doug had a fish on that we released. Next it was Deborah's turn and she showed the 50# tarpon who was boss. Back to Doug and he landed and released another tarpon. The final fish of the evening was also landed by Doug. Deborah got the big fish of the evening and was giving Doug some good natured ribbing about catching the biggest fish. All the action in the Bay came on live shrimp.
Thursday (4/15) evening the Sagsveen Family experienced their first tarpon trip. On our first drift, Rob hooked up and we proceeded to work our way to the main channel. Just before the fish went over the drop off, we got the official catch of the leader touching the rod tip. With the catch out of the way, the drag was tightened and Rob found out about fighting a large tarpon. His great form and constant pressure soon whipped the 120# tarpon and after a 45 minute battle it was released. Back to the south side and no more action during the remaining daylight hours and first drift after dark. Once again, it was time to head into the Bay. Liz was next up and very quickly she got two great jumps out a 30# fish before it threw the hook. We watched several fish make a pass at our baits and not take them. Then a 70# tarpon gobbled the bait down and Liz was winding frantically to keep up with the fish. It made 2 great jumps, ran toward the bow of the boat and abruptly changed directions toward the stern. Next it ran about 30 yards before coming up again in a 6' high twisting and cartwheeling jump that pulled the hook despite Liz's best effort. AMAZED is the only way to describe Liz's reaction. Next it was Joey's turn. He had a fish pull the bait down, however, it didn't connect. All this time, Dad (Paul) was enjoying watching his children doing battle and giving moral encouragement. He was heard to say that he was glad that it was Rob and Liz on the fish rather than him, because his back was hurting him just watching them. Joey will be first up on their next trip. Hang in there Joey, your time is coming.
Friday (4/16) morning, Bob and Lisa Larsen from Arvada, Colorado wanted a half day of fishing for dolphin. The wind was NE @ 17 - 23 MPH. Catching bait was accomplished quickly with both Bob and Lisa amazed at how the bait would eat a sabiki rig. They had never used the rigs before and got the hang of it very quickly. Off we went straight out from Government Cut to 220'. During the first drift, the seas got the best of Bob. He hung in there and we set up a second drift starting in 300'. We heard of a few dolphin being caught from under a turtle, some king action, and lots of bonito south of Fowey. Bob's condition was not improving any, however, he still hung in. At 170' Lisa saw the sailfish shortly after I did. It knocked the herring off our long flatline. I quickly rebaited and threw out another herring. Just as the bait hit the water, the deep rod got hit and the sailfish was hooked up and none to happy about it. Lisa grabbed the rod, I cleared lines and the sailfish jumped several times, tailwalked in circles and charged the boat before reversing directions and heading seaward. This was Lisa's first sailfish and teamwork between us soon had the fish in photo range. Bob worked the camera and it wasn't long before we got some great shots of Lisa's first sailfish caught on 12# Cajun Red Cast Line and the new Pflueger Contender 7550 size reel. By now, Bob went as far as he could and we headed in for some calmer water. The south side of Government Cut was still too much for him, so we headed back to Spinnaker Marina via the Bay. Lisa still could not get over the fact that she had caught a sailfish, but she had the pictures to prove it. They are both looking forward to another trip with thoughts of calmer sea conditions next time.
Saturday (4/17), Nancy and I celebrated our 22nd anniversary. This is one of two days during the year when I do not schedule a charter. We took a Bay cruise (no rods on board) during the late morning and early afternoon. Saturday evening we continued our celebration by dining at her favorite seafood restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale. The years have gone by quickly and I'm looking forward to the next 22 years.
Sunday (4/18) we rescheduled our trip to next Sunday in hopes of getting calmer seas for Fred and Eileen Clark's grandson to take his first offshore trip in the Atlantic Ocean. I hope the weather Gods are listening. Sunday afternoon Nancy and I joined other members of the South Florida Fishing Club (SFFC) for a BBQ in conjunction with their Club Sailfish Tournament.
That brings me up to date. I've got both tarpon and offshore trips scheduled for this coming week. I'll keep you posted as soon as I can. I also have a few days available the remainder of April. Give me a call and lets go catch some fish.
Dolphin, sailfish, or tarpon, take your choice they all are being very cooperative. Throw in some kingfish, and what more can you ask for? Pleasant sea conditions, north current, and some good blue/green edges have given us the good offshore fishing. A good shrimp run on the night of the new moon gave us outstanding tarpon action.
Monday (4/19) evening was the night of the new moon. It gave us the same fishing action for tarpon as took place on the night of the full moon earlier this month. The shrimp ran and the tarpon were there to feast on them. Jim Lefevre from Stuart, Florida had one whale of a night. It started with the first drift and continued throughout the evening and included 1 double header. With NE/E winds @ 16 - 21 mph, we used the sea anchor to slow our drift down. Despite the windy conditions, we could see the tarpon blasting the shrimp off the surface. We had a total of 9 hook ups, 8 of which were on live shrimp, and 1 on a live crab. Of those 9 hook ups, we landed and released 7 fish ranging in size from 70 to over 100 pounds. In between tarpon bites, we also release 2 ladyfish that went 3 pounds apiece. It was hard to leave this kind of action, however, as I say, "All good things must come to an end", so we said goodbye to the action and headed in with visions of more tarpon pulling on the ends of our lines.
Wednesday (4/21) was a full day offshore. Our goal was two fold. One was to test ride in the 28' Whitewater, and the other was to catch a few dolphin for dinner. James Joiner from Coconut Creek was the angler and the first order of business was catching live bait. We ran the outside from Haulover Inlet to Government Cut so James could get a feel for the ride of the Whitewater. Next, it took some searching, but we found the herring inside Government and caught about 4 dozen baits. We started in 225' off the Monument Buoy and at 160' we caught and released 2 small dolphin. With good north current, the next drift was set up in 340'. It didn't take long before we had a school of decent size schoolies around the boat. We kept 3 and released 3 more. We ran out to under a frigate bird, which resulted in no action. Moving out to 400', we caught a 10# skipjack tuna. By now we were just south of the Miami Sea Buoy and heading north fast. Our next action came in 310' when a sailfish ate the herring on the kite and gave James a good workout after it realized that something was wrong. He made several laps around the boat before I released the sail. Setting up again, this time we slow trolled down a weedline with no results. Back to drifting and just before crossing the blue/green edge, we caught and released another dolphin. Back out to the blue water and another drift. I was live chumming and chunking with the dead baits when we saw a larger dolphin swim by the boat and eat our chunks. Quickly throwing out a live bait resulted in the dolphin eating it and missing the hook up. Another bait thrown out and by this time the dolphin found one of the flatlines we already had out and we added a 12# dolphin to the fish box. One last drift resulted in no further action and it was time to head back to Spinnaker Marina and fillet some dolphin for dinner. Both goals for the day were accomplished.
With the springtime dolphin season starting, the thing to remember is that you do not have to make long runs offshore to find the fish. On most days, the action will be in 400' of water and less. With fuel prices going up like they have, save your fuel money now for later in the summer when longer runs offshore will be necessary to find the mahi-mahi.
Depending on what section of the coast you are fishing, the reports range from a struggle to some very good fishing. The springtime variety is definitely there with dolphin, kingfish, sailfish, and blackfin tuna. The inshore action for tarpon has cooled down dramatically. The size of the fish that are there is very good, however, the number of shots is not. Most evenings, we are having to wait until late in the dusk period before we have our first opportunity.
Saturday (4/24) evening, as I mentioned above, we got our first and only fish late during the dusk period. The 110 pound fish ate a live crab and gave my angler all he could ever ask for. The jumps and screaming run toward the main channel had everyone on board jumping with excitement. Once in the Cut it became a slug it out battle. After 45 minutes, we had the pictures we wanted and I released the fish. The brief bite that took place had another boat getting 2 shots during the time we were fighting our fish. Then all became quiet.
Sunday (4/25) morning, Fred & Eillen Clark from Ft. Myers took their 12 year old grandson, Jacob Whitney on his first fishing trip in the Atlantic Ocean. The E/ESE winds @ 14 - 18 MPH gave us some bumpy seas, but Jacob had no problems with it as he likes riding roller coasters. Our goal was to catch Jacob's first dolphin. On the first drift off Haulover, we had a sailfish eat the bluerunner on the kite. Everything went well until Jacob came tight on the fish. It made its first jump and gave us back an empty hook. Then at 162', a flatline got hit and we had the dolphin on. The fish made about 10 jumps to everyones delight. After putting the dolphin in the fishbox, Jacob remarked about his arms and hands being tired from the fight. We all know how quickly our young children recover and within minutes he was ready for some more action. The next drift gave us a double header dolphin and Fred fought one while Jacob muscled the other fish in. With the morning over, we headed in and Jacob is already talking with Grandma and Grandpa about his next trip.
Monday (4/26) evening it was back to tarpon fishing. Once again, our first fish came late during the dusk period. Jim Lefevre's guest, Captain Rafael Apellaniz from Puerto Rico made quick work of the 60 pound tarpon, his first in Florida, but not before it made its way to the main channel just as a freighter was going out. Then the action got quiet for a long time. Late in the evening, we went over to the north side of Government Cut. The last drift before heading in did the trick and Jim worked his magic and showed the 80 pound tarpon who was boss. Both fish ate live crabs.
We're at the time of the year when the afternoon/evening trip becomes very popular. You get to sleep in, head offshore in the afternoon for action on dolphin, sailfish, kingfish, and blackfin tuna, then as dusk comes on, head inshore for some tarpon action. It's the best of both (offshore and inshore) worlds. If this sounds good, give me a call and lets get out and get in on the action.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 17
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2004 - 12:25 pm: | |
It's been another whirl wind week. The wind was very cooperative till Wednesday when it switched to a westerly direction and has remained that way through Saturday. This usually means tough fishing conditions for all. Lets get to the day by day happenings.
Tuesday evening we experienced a dramatic slow down in the tarpon action. The wind was from the E/SE @ 6 - 10 MPH. We used both shrimp and crabs to catch 1 tarpon and 1 mangrove snapper. We tried the Bay, however, the tide was to far gone and the wind was pushing us against the tide.
Wednesday morning off the Haulover area, it was the dead sea. No current, green water, and no fish. Live baiting had the remora's and triggerfish molesting our baits. The sunny day and light wind from the south and then west were the highlight of the morning.
Wednesday evening, the wind made the switch to the WSW/W @ 17 - 27 MPH. Once again the tarpon were hard to come by. We caught and released a spanish mackerel and ladyfish before we finally hooked up with a tarpon using a crab for bait. It made a tremendous first run, dumping about 3/4's of the line off the reel. Tom was making good progress gaining the line back when it went slack. Our first thought was that the hook had pulled. When the line was reeled in we found out that the tarpon had cut off the leader in one of the many rock piles in the area.
Thursday morning the wind continued from the WSW/WNW @ 16 - 20 MPH. Our plan was to start with some tarpon fishing and then run offshore to catch a few kingfish. The tarpon were in their usual place and rolling on the south side of Government Cut. Putting out both crabs and shrimp had us making numerous drifts with 1 bluerunner as a result. We got our opportunity when the shrimp got eaten and the drag screamed. Before Steve could get to the rod, it was all over. We had experienced the same results as Wednesday evening, a cut off leader in a rock pile. Them tarpon seem like they are getting educated on how to release themselves. Meanwhile, a friend called and gave me a report that the kings were snapping straight out front of Government. Running inside, we quickly caught a few dozen pilchards and headed offshore. On the first drift, the deep rod produced a 3# bluerunner. The next drift nothing. Moving south a bit, we tried again and when we got out to 220' we had a school of small dolphin up to the boat. We caught and released 1 and played with the other before the half day trip came to an end.
Friday, I fished aboard Warrin Peace with owner Warren Blanck and team members Pam Marmin and her son Frank during the first day of the Yamaha/Contender Miami Billfish Tournament. We started just south of the Monument Buoy and fish from 100 - 170 feet. Nice blue water, however, there was no current. The wind was from the w/nnw @ 8 - 20 MPH. Frank drew the first hit and we released a sailfish. Then Pam caught a bonito. About an hour later, it was Frank again with his second sailfish. Meanwhile, Pam caught a nice dolphin for supper. Action died for us until we moved to just south of the Twins. We immediately got hit by some big bonitos. And finally, Frank caught a 10# kingfish that ate the GI on the kite. The two sailfish were good enough to put Frank in second place angler and the team in 5th place.
Saturday evening the tarpon turned back on. Wind of S/WNW @ 10 - 31 MPH had us using a sea anchor to slow our drift down. The tarpon definitely showed a preference for live crabs. Our first fish came late during the sundown bite period. The 100# tarpon took us to the Cut where we had to dodge a Cruise ship leaving the port. We got some good pictures and released the fish while Jose massaged his cramping muscles. Next drift it was Charles Humble's turn and he made quick work of a feisty 70# fish. Then the fish turned off on the outside, but it was time to go into the Bay. We set up and within 5 minutes, it was Jose on a very spirited 50# tarpon that took him around the boat several times. The next fish threw the hook on its first jump. A short time later, Charles had his hands full with a 40# tarpon that had him doing laps around the boat also. We ended the evening with 2 for 2 on the outside and 2 for 3 in the Bay. The fish outside ate crabs and in the Bay they ate shrimp.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 16
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 25, 2004 - 5:52 pm: | |
To say it is windy would be an understatement. Three of my trips have been cancelled so far this week and it looks like a fourth might get postponed till some time in April. The good news is that we were able to get in two tarpon trips so far this week and both were very productive.
Tuesday evening we hid the best we could behind the south jetty at Government Cut to protect us from the NE/ENE wind @ 23-29 MPH with higher gusts. Conditions were very fishable when using a sea anchor to slow the drift down to a reasonable rate. The fish we fought stayed away from the rough water of the main channel. For that we were very thankful. The rushing incoming water around the tip of the south jetty was very sloppy. There was a small shrimp run and the tarpon were blasting them off of the surface for a short period of time. We hooked up three fish and landed two in the 80 - 90 pound class. The 90 pound fish jumped a total of 8 times and the 80 pound fish jumped 5 times. They had me holding my breath each time I saw them jump and my angler counted them.
On Thursday in the very early AM, we fished odd ball hours to catch the tide and fish in the Bay. We started at midnight and fished till 4 AM. Despite the ENE/E @ 23-29 MPH wind, the area we fished was quite calm. The fish also were very cooperative and live shrimp produced 5 strikes of which we landed and released 4 tarpon.
The tarpon fishing continues to be on fire whether it is outside or in the Bay. If you are willing to fish some strange hours, the correct tide conditions are important for a successful trip, then hiding from the wind in the Bay is no problem. Don't let windy conditions ruin an opportunity to get in on the great tarpon action. Give me a call today and schedule your trip.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 15
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 21, 2004 - 5:43 pm: | |
With the exception of one day this past week, we have seen some very windy weather. To fish offshore, you have had to be willing to take your lumps. Inshore, we have been able to hide some from the wind and fish in fairly reasonable conditions. Sailfish action remains steady. The encouraging news is that the kingfish have shown up in fair numbers and in the spring time sizes. Some very good news that many anglers have been waiting for is that the spring time dolphin action has started.
This past Tuesday evening, the wind was from the SSW @ 12-23 mph. The tarpon didn't mind at all as we went 2 for 2 on the south side at Government Cut. When the tide got right, we moved into the Bay and were 1 for 1. The action picked up back on the outside and after 1 drift, a rain storm hit and we called it an evening.
Wednesday was the first light wind day in a while. It started from the NW @ 20 mph and switched to the ESE during the day and dropped to 3 mph. We spent the day between the Cuban Hole and the Monument Buoy and caught kingfish to 12 pounds.
Friday we had NE/E winds @ 13-17 mph. It was a day for a variety of fish. In 120 - 140 feet off the Cuban Hole, we caught kingfish and bonito. Moving offshore, we caught dolphin in the 280 - 310 foot range. The nuisance fish for the day were the numerous remora that molested our kite baits and flat lines in the 140 - 250 foot range.
Friday evening, we battled NE/ENE winds of 18-24 mph while tarpon fishing. Our efforts rewarded us with a keeper mangrove snapper and ladyfish. We moved to the calmer Bay water and got the reward we were looking for. A beautiful 50# tarpon keep all four anglers busy taking turns fighting it. With the tarpon's release, they were satisfied and we called it a successful evening.
Saturday evening, the wind continued from the ENE/E @ 21-29 mph. Our first drift had Larry hooked up to a very spirited 75# tarpon that took us in to the main channel just as a cruise ship was heading out. We started on the south side at Government and the battled ended with the tarpon cutting us off on the chain of the red marker in front of Miami Beach Marina, but not before we got the official catch of the leader touching the rod tip. Back out to the windy conditions and several drifts later, it was Mike's turn to fight and released a much more cooperative 40# fish. It was just about time to try the bay tarpon. On the way in, we got stopped as part of the Homeland Security. Once anchored up, we waited for about 15 minutes till the tide got right. The baits were put out and very shortly there after, Larry was hooked up. The fish out maneuvered Larry and cut itself off on the engines. Twenty minutes later, we all watched a large fish roll on the bait and miss it. Then another police agency who had Customs agents riding with them rafted off to us and conducted another Homeland Security check. We still had baits out and as luck would have it, the large fish ate our shrimp and proceeded to make a none stoppable run. We were still rafted off, so I could not pursue the fish. We kept increasing the drag hoping to turn the fish. Ultimately, the increased drag straightened out the hook and the fish released itself. The inspection was concluded and although disappointed, Larry was satisfied that our inland water's were safe.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 14
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 14, 2004 - 5:48 pm: | |
This past week has been one whirlwind for fishing. If you like sailfishing, it has been EXCELLENT. If you like daytime tarpon fishing, it has been EXCELLENT. If you like evening/night time tarpon fishing it has been EXCELLENT.
Monday evening, Adam and Bob went 3 for 5 on tarpon on the south side of Government Cut. Adam's comment was that it was like swordfishing except with scaled down tackle. He now has another type of fishing where he doesn't need sunblock.
Tuesday evening, Jim also went 3 for 5 at the same place. The highlight of the evening was the fish we hooked up at 9 PM and fought for 2 hours. It took us west in the main channel up to the cruise ship area. We never saw the fish nor did it jump. It fought deep the entire time and it seemed like it didn't even know it was hooked for the first hour. After 2 hours, the line parted and we were only disappointed that we didn't get to see the fish. It was a great warrior and put on a great battle.
Wednesday it was offshore for some sailfish action. We put our first baits in the water at about 1 PM. Our first fish was on a flatline. The second on the kite.
Thursday we made it offshore a bit earlier. The air waves were full of anglers reporting double and triple hook ups. Fish were being caught on tackle from 4 pound test up. All of our action came on the kite in the form of single strikes. The good news was that we had 5 opportunities. The bad was that our hook up ratio was terrible. We ended the day catching 1 of the 5 fish.
All the action on Wednesday and Thursday took place from the Miami Sea Buoy south to the Monument Buoy. The depth ranged from 100 - 130 feet. The interesting thing about Thursday was that the vast majority of the action was taking place in the powder blue water, not the hard blue.
Friday morning, Paul wanted some tarpon action. Once again the south side of Government Cut came through. There were lots of fish rolling both in the main channel and on the south side. We started on the south side and caught 1 of the 2 fish we hooked. Dropping a bait deep in the main channel produced a large keeper grouper while lots of non feeding tarpon were rolling all around us.
Saturday it took us until 3 PM before we got our reward with sailfish. The action was not quite as good as in the mid week time frame and it was much more spread out. Our reward was a double hook up on the kite with goggle eyes.
Saturday evening was probably the most disappointing of all trips this week. The wind had picked up to 21-24 mph from the east. The south side of Government gave us quite a bit of protection. We had 2 tarpon on briefly. The disappointing thing was that they both threw the hook after coming up and jumping immediately after taking the live shrimp.
The wind was too high for my Sunday customers, so I got the day off to perform some much needed maintenance and catch up some on my sleep.
The fishing action is great. Give me a call so you can get in on it. I've only got a few days open in March and April is filling up fast. Don't delay and get left out. Also, for you dolphin enthusiasts, in April you can expect some of the largest fish of the season to start showing up. See you out on the rip.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 13
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 01, 2004 - 6:27 am: | |
Tarpon fishing continues to be consistent during the late afternoon and evening hours. Both Haulover Inlet and Government Cut are producing, so the choice is up to you as to where you want to fish. A live shrimp drifted on a P170 7/0 circle hook with 12 feet of 50 pound mono leader attach to 18 inches of double line with a knot to knot connection will have you in business.
Thursday evening (2/26) Billy Green, his dad, Arthur, and friend Alan Weinstein got together for a relaxing evening of tarpon fishing. We started at Haulover Inlet with the first two drifts producing nothing. The wind was from the west @ 20-29 mph, however, with all the large buildings on the beach blocking it, we had a great drift speed and almost calm seas. The third drift was the one and Arthur was hooked up to 70 pounds of a not to happy silver beauty. Some great angling skills along with plenty of patience and Arthur soon had the tarpon boat side with the 12 pound outfit. Two drifts later it was time for Alan to do battle. This time it was a 50 pound tarpon and Alan skillfully fought it to boat side for release. The next drift we got what started out as a weak strike from a ladyfish, but quickly turned into a tarpon hook up for Billy. The 40 pound fish put on a great aerial show at boat side and Billy soon had it whipped. That's the way the evening ended, 3 for 3, as we headed back to Spinnaker Marina.
Sunday evening (2/29) we left Spinnaker Marina an hour earlier than usual. I was playing a hunch based on my last trip to Government Cut. With an East wind @16-26 mph, we hid behind the jetties of the south side. The hunch paid off with Joe McGivern catching and releasing a 60 pound tarpon on our first drift. From the next drift on till after dark, we had no other hits. We also tried the rougher north side with no success. With good tide conditions, we moved into the bay and set up. Within 20 minutes we got our reward from a very spirited 30 pound tarpon. As this was a learning trip for Joe, we tried several more spots, but no one was home. We were back at Spinnaker by 9 pm happy with going 2 for 2.
The tarpon are here and will continue to be consistent through late June. For the effort put in, the reward is normally very good. Give me a call and we'll schedule a trip so you can feel the power and admire the beauty of these silver packages of dynamite.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 12
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 11:35 am: | |
Between the Miami International Boat Show and tarpon fishing in the evenings, I have been on the run since my last report. In general, the tarpon fishing has run the gamut from great to a struggle. One night, Haulover Inlet is hot, the next it is Government Cut, and on yet another, both Inlets are hot. There is no way of predicting with Inlet it will be, so flexibility and the willingness to run from one to the other will improve your chances of a successful night. The one constant is that live shrimp is the bait of choice.
On Wednesday evening (2/11), we got a late start due to a mix up on where we were supposed to meet. Our first drift was made well past the dusk period and resulted in no strikes due to grass getting on both baits. The next had us hooked up with the fish releasing itself on the third jump. Another drift and another strike. This time the fish dumped almost 3/4's of the 12# line off the Pflueger PFL 66 reel before we could get the other line reeled in. It ran north to the Inlet, then through the Inlet, across the flats area, across the Intracoastal, over to Oleta Park, and finally north along the park. The 100# tarpon never jumped once and never gave us a good opportunity to take its picture. We touched the leader to the rod tip numerous times, however, we were looking for some good pictures. The fish finally caught the line in a bottom obstruction and released itself. The next drift we put the 20# outfits out and hooked a 70# fish that was much more cooperative with smiling for the camera. Our last drift of the evening had us taking boat side jumping shots of a very feisty 50# tarpon.
Thursday evening (2/12) had us starting late again due to our groups being stuck in traffic while trying to get to the marina. Moments after putting out the baits, we were hooked up and after a spirited battle we released the 60# tarpon. Then the wind died and along with it the tarpon shut off. We caught 2 ladyfish and a mangrove snapper and searched up and down the beach for the tarpon. They were no where to be found. At Haulover Inlet, we got a double hook up of what we first thought were tarpon, however they turned out to be jack crevalles of 15 and 10 pounds.
Friday evening (2/13) we were faced with the same no wind conditions. Outside at Government Cut, we had no action. In the Bay, were had a fish on momentarily before the hook pulled. Back out to the main channel and we caught a 5# mangrove snapper. I tried the south side with no action. Back to the north side and before the boat settled into the slow drift, we were fighting a very lethargic 80# tarpon. It seemed to be content with just slugging it out along the bottom. After finally working the fish up toward the boat, it came to life and made several beautiful water clearing jumps and several dives under the boat. The fish smiled for the camera several times before we released it.
Saturday evening (2/14) it was back to Haulover Inlet. We once again hooked up on the first drift and released a nice 70# tarpon. Next drift we got a ladyfish. On the third drift, we got one jump from a tarpon and then the other rod got hit and didn't stay hooked up either. Every drift after that resulted in releasing a ladyfish. The tarpon seemed to have vacated the area. The evening ended with 1 for 3 tarpon and 6 ladyfish.
Starting tomorrow evening (2/17) I'll be back out tarpon fishing in the evenings and also doing several daytime trips offshore. I'll also be at the Bass Pro Shops Spring Classic on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I'm scheduled to do a sailfish/tarpon seminar at 10:00 AM on Sunday (2/22) morning. Come on by and learning about doing what I call the best of both worlds trip.
Monday (2/23) evening at 7:00 PM I'll be doing a tarpon seminar at the Miami Outboard Club.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 11
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 21, 2004 - 4:38 pm: | |
For most of the week, there has been a lack of north current in the
Government Cut to Haulover Inlet area. This has presented a challenge to
put together a good offshore catch. One bright spot was the good
kingfishing in the Cuban Hole area.
Meanwhile the tarpon fishing in the Haulover area finally turned. Prior to
Wednesday, two shots per evening was the average. That changed Wednesday
evening when we got five shots. Here's the day by day break down.
Wednesday evening (1/14) - wind from the West @ 11-20 mph. The evening
started slow, however, we were seeing lots of rolling fish. It was just a
matter of time before they would turn on. Up until our last two drifts, we
had our usual two shots. Drifting in front of the south jetty with an
incoming tide gave us another 3 shots on two drifts. Live shrimp was the
bait of choice.
Thursday (1/15) was big boat day. We left the dock at 11:00 am and fished
with wind from the SSW/NNW @ 0-16 mph. At 1:05 pm, we released a sailfish
just north of the Twins that hit a sardine fished in the riggers in 103'.
That turned out to be the highlight of the day as we got no other strikes.
We were not looking for kingfish, however, the word was that they were solid
at the Cuban Hole during the morning.
Friday morning (1/16) - wind from the WNW/NNW @ 7-15 mph. We quickly caught
several dozen herring at Government and ran out to the Cuban Hole to catch
kingfish. Slow trolling produced 1 strike on the downrigger. We got to see
the fish before it made a strong surge at the boat and pulled the hook.
More slow trolling produced nothing, so I set up a drift starting in 75'.
Every drift produced 1 kingfish in the 90-110 foot range.
Friday afternoon (1/16) - wind started from the West and switched to the NE
@ 0-3 mph. We refortified our bait with pilchards and herring and went back
out front. We quickly got 1 kingfish and then it got tough. Moving south
to the hotels off Key Biscayne, we watched loads of skipjack tuna busting on
bait. High speed trolling with small Billy Baits produced 1 tuna that was
released. Back out front of Government Cut, the downrigger produced a
beautiful 20# yellow jack that was caught on 12# Red Cajun line. As we were
pulling in our baits at the end of the trip, we watched a sailfish chasing
the chummers I had thrown out. We stayed for a while longer, but the sail
never found our baits.
Saturday (1/17) Anthony Cisneros and his wife Jennifer from Salida,
California flew in a day early to get in a fishing trip prior to going on a
cruise. Jennifer got the hang of catching pilchards with a sabiki rig very
quickly and was out fishing her husband. We moved to another area of the
Cut and added a couple dozen herring. We started slow trolling out front
with no strikes. A drift through the area produced a bait chopped in half
behind the hook when we reeled in the downrigger rod. Moving out to 300'
and north to the Sea Buoy, we put out our flatlines, downrigger, and kite
baits. In 140', the downrigger popped but failed to hook up. In 85', we
caught a dolphin on the kite. Next drift, we started in 400'. At 146'
another dolphin ate a kite bait. In 103', the bow flatline, stern flat
line, and downrigger all hooked up. Anthony had a fish on that was running
hard and while we moved toward it, Jennifer reeled in the other two fish
that turned out to be very larger triggerfish. Then a school of about 15
dolphin swam out from under the boat. Jennifer caught one. The short kite
bait had another on. Anthony was doing laps around the boat while I cleared
other lines, released Jennifer's dolphin, and pulled in the kite. What had
been a very slow day had suddenly turned into lots of commotion. Anthony
worked his fish closer to the boat and we soon saw that it was a sailfish.
The fish pulled hard and make great runs, however, it never jumped once. We
released it after taking some great photos. That's the way the 3/4 day trip
ended. Every fish we caught was a first for two great anglers. And,
Jennifer is ready to go bait fishing again.
Sunday (1/18) evening tarpon fishing at Haulover Inlet. Stephen Mras and
April Wakeman from Fullerton, California were hoping to be able to catch a
break in the weather so they could get out and do some swordfishing. Their
back up plan was to go tarpon fishing. With the wind from the W/SW @ 15-23
mph, they opted for the tarpon trip. Minutes after putting out the live
shrimp on 12# outfits, we saw several fish roll in the area and we got a
solid hook up. April fought a very stubborn 75# tarpon for about an hour
before it was released. The next fish was a 30 pounder that Stephen made
quick work of. The third fish of the evening was a 60# fish that gave
Stephen more of a work out. In between tarpon, we also caught and released
2 ladyfish.
Tuesday (1/20) evening, the shrimp ran at Haulover Inlet and the tarpon
turned on the feed bag. Jim Lefevre from Stuart, Florida picked on the most
stubborn 100# tarpon that I've seen in a very long time. We fought the fish
up and down the beach for 1 1/2 hours. During this time, the closest we
came to getting a catch was to see the double line knot break the surface of
the water next to the boat for a moment. The strain of the fight finally
took its toll on the light line and it broke. During the entire fight, we
watch loads of shrimp pass by the boat in the spotlight. Resetting our
drift had us hooked up again with in minutes. This time we released the
fish after getting a catch. And so it went the entire evening. Our last
couple of fish were caught up at the Inlet and we finished the evening
hooking 5 fish and landing 4.
The tarpon have moved into the Haulover Inlet area solid. We can expect
good action every evening for the next several weeks. Give me a call and
book your date so you can experience this great action with the mighty
Silver King.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 10
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 07, 2004 - 4:15 pm: | |
Happy New Year everyone!! This is the time of year when I become very nocturnal in my hunt for tarpon. For the past three nights, it has been
just that, a hunt. Tarpon have become scarce in the normal winter time locations where they hang out. Lets break it down evening by evening.
Sunday evening (1/4/04) presented us with E/ESE wind @ 14-18.5 mph. When we arrived at Government Cut, we watched numerous tarpon rolling on the surface as well as marking them on the recorder on every drift. The bad news was
they had lockjaw. If that wasn't bad enough, it got worse when the tide changed. They totally disappeared from the entire area. Checking several Bay spots produced the same results. The evening ended with no hits, no runs, and no errors.
Monday evening (1/5/04) the wind died down to E/SE @ 6-11.5 mph. Perfect wind conditions to fish the Haulover Inlet area. Several changes became very obvious. First, the 3 swim markers at the south end of the area have been moved from a 14' depth in the 5'. Second, the run off from the beach restoration that took place during the summer changed the depth of all the
swim markers from about 10' to 6'. If the sea conditions are rough, it is now necessary to wind in the baits well outside of the markers as the waves curl and crash much sooner. With the light wind, the conditions were perfect for drifting the entire tarpon hole area. With the 8# outfits out, we were hoping for a moderate size tarpon. On the third drift, we hooked,
landed, and released a very large ladyfish (commonly referred to as a poor man's tarpon) of 3 1/2 pounds. Moving to the Inlet itself, we made several drifts and marked fish on the first drift. Once again we had no takers. This was beginning to look like a repeat of last night. We moved back down the beach and set up a drift south of 96th Street. Finally, the 8# outfit
doubled over with the right one. The hook up was good, the 35# fish was a perfect size for the tackle, and the fight was on. After releasing the fish, my angler and I breathed a sigh of relief as we set up a final drift
for the evening.
Tuesday evening (1/6/04) it was back down to Government Cut. With an approaching cold front, the anticipation was high that the tarpon would turn on the feed bag. How wrong we would be. The NE/ENE 7-10 mph wind gave us another calm night with slow but steady drifts. Five boats were spread out over the entire north side area. A perfect size bluerunner for swordfish
ate one of our shrimp. We marked tarpon and watched them roll, but once again they had lockjaw. We checked the south side and main channel and found none. The only thing left to do was run back to Haulover and give it a try there. The second drift had us watching an area to our south were we thought we were seeing fish roll. I glanced back at our rods just in time
to see the left one do the severe bend as a tarpon hit. The 50# tarpon was a perfect ending to another otherwise frustrating evening of tarpon fishing.
The slow down can't last forever. The cold fronts that will be coming through our area could get the bait up and moving and that will improve tarpon fishing dramatically. I'll keep you posted.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Boat
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 9
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 29, 2003 - 3:39 pm: | |
Sunday (12/28) afternoon/evening trip. Leaving Spinnaker Marina at 1 pm, the plans called for catching bait, fishing offshore till about 5:30 pm, and then finishing the trip by tarpon fishing at Government Cut. Guy Rock from Wilton Manor had his two brothers John & Pat Killingbeck from Canton, Michigan, and son Jack Stroming from Demorest, Georgia visiting for the holidays.
Catching herring at Government took no time at all. With the live well loaded with shrimp and herring, the run off shore was a slow one as the seas were quite sloppy from the ENE/E wind @ 18-23 mph. The first stop was just north of the sea buoy in 200'. Even with the sea anchor out, the drift was a short and uneventful one. Starting the second drift in 225', produced the same results as the first. The third drift was to be the one. Running south to straight out from Government, we started in 300'. A large cargo freighter leaving the port passed to the outside of us and blocked the wind for about a minute. Just as the wind began to pick up, the stern flat line took off and John was hooked up with his first sailfish. The fish made several great jumps and a powerful first run before sounding. From that point on, it was a slug 'em out tug of war. Pat was on the video camera, Guy was giving taunting encouragement to his younger brother, and Jack sat up front taking it all in. The struggle continued with the fish staying deep and slow but steady progress being made. Several times we had the double line up to the surface only to have the fish sound again. It was becoming quite apparent that the fish was either foul hooked or tail wrapped. The hook up was at 4 pm and finally, after a 1 1/2 hour battle, we confirmed our suspicions. The fish came to boat side foul hooked in the side above the pec fin. With the video camera going and camera flashes popping, I immediately started pulling the tired warrior through the water to revive him. After several minutes, his tail was moving strongly as he fought me. John gave him an admiring pat on the side as I sent him on his way to give another angler on another day the same great thrills that John had just experienced.
Time for part two of the trip. The water at Government was a lot calmer. The live shrimp did its job on the first drift and Jack pulled on a 35# tarpon that put on a great aerial show for us at boat side. For the next four drifts, we marked fish, after fish, after fish with no takers. I added a split shot to one of the lines to get the bait down just a little. It didn't seem to be working either. The only thing to do, was to try again. Sooner or later, the fish had to turn on. Another drift, more marked fish, and finally, the line with the split shot up on the bow got hit. It was a race to the rod between Jack and Guy with Guy winning out. A short run with several jumps and Guy figured he was also fighting a smaller fish until it came to life and made a sizzling 100 yard run. The tug of war was on. First the fish was winning. Then Guy was winning, no it was the fish, no it was Guy. And so it went, back and forth. It was hard to tell who was tiring first. The 100# tarpon made a huge jump close to the boat and the adrenalin surge that Guy got was more than enough for him to finish off the fish. More camera flashes and video tape and Guy released his first fish of the season.
Give me a call and lets book a trip so you and your family can experience this kind of action. After all, FAMILY FISHING IS FUN!!!
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 8
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 26, 2003 - 4:07 pm: | |
The most frequently asked question that I have had lately is "Are the tarpon
in yet?" After this evening's trip, I can definitely say the answer is YES.
With the wind blowing E @ 20-24 mph, I decided to go to Government Cut. The
live well had a good supply of large shrimp and all the rods were rigged and
ready. Our first six drifts gave us no action. On the seventh drift, I
marked some fish and it didn't take long before we were hooked to an 80#
tarpon. After releasing the fish, we set up again, marked some fish, got a
strike, and missed the hook up. For the next three drifts, we marked fish
and had strikes shortly there after. By the end of the evening, we were 2
for 5. Even after several jumps and lots of pulling, them tarpon sure know
how to throw a hook. That's what makes tarpon fishing so challenging.
The winter tarpon season has kicked into gear and runs from now till late
June. Now is the time to schedule your trip to do battle with the mighty
Silver King. If you're looking for a fish that pulls hard, never seems to
want to give up, puts on a great aerial show, and will test your angling
skills and physical stamina, then the tarpon is exactly what you're looking
for. Give me a call to book a date and lets go have some fun pulling on a
tarpon.
Tuesday night (12/23/03) we headed offshore in the big boat to do some
swordfishing. Bill Borkan from Eastern Shores was looking for his first
swordfish. He has caught all the other billfish except for the sword and he
had high hopes that this would be the night when he would complete the list.
With 5 baits out, we began the wait. Several boats reported good action
with fish to over 200#'s. Many other boats reported they were still
waiting. The tinker mackerel showed up and 4 baits were added to the live
well. We made a move back south and put out the spread again including one
of the mackerel. At about 9:15 pm, the tip rod that was down about 80' with
a squid took off and we were hooked up. It was mostly give for about the
first 10 minutes. Bill kept steady pressure and soon the fish give in to
it. My mate, Joe McGivern, put the flying gaff in the fish and in through
the door it came. There was lots of hand shakes, back slapping, smiles, and
it seemed like Bill's feet were above the deck for several minutes. We had
no more strikes that night, but we got the fish that we needed and the ride
home seemed like a very short one.
Wednesday afternoon (12/24/03) we left the dock, once again on the big boat,
earlier so we could fish the reef area prior to heading out for swords. The
3 remaining tinker mackerel from last night were swimming happily in the
live well. We slow trolled 2 bluerunners and 1 mackerel. In 175' just
north of Haulover Inlet, a large kingfish skyrocketed the mackerel and
missed the stringer hook. Another mackerel and this time an unknown fish
grabbed it and missed all three hooks we had in the bait. The final
mackerel was saved for swordfishing. About ten minutes after it got dark,
the middle jug with the mackerel on it, went under and popped back up. Bill
started reeling and felt nothing. Mean while, the jug on our deepest bait
went crazy. Then we saw our LP light go streaking across the surface. The
middle jug was the bait that got hit, but the line broke. As the fish swam
past our deep bait, it caused that jug to go down. Shortly after setting
out the baits again, we developed engine trouble. We decided to call it a
night and limped back home.
Friday (12/26/03) half day trip in the morning. Fernando Ramos, his cousin
Nelson Garcia, and co-worker Luis Palma all from Miami wanted to catch their
first sailfish. We bought pilchards and goggle eyes at Haulover Inlet and
headed out. Half way through the first drift, the wind switched from NNW to
NNE. After resetting, a friend who was fishing off the Sea Buoy gave me a
call and said he had just released a sailfish. We ran south to just north
of the buoy and put out our spread (pilchards on the flat lines and
downrigger, and goggle eyes on the kite) of baits. In 102', a small dolphin
tried eating our short kite bait and only succeeded in killing it. Shortly
thereafter another dolphin ate the long bait and it was kept for dinner.
Back out to 200' and reset all the baits. The action began at 119' toward
the north end of the anchorage area. A sailfish ate the long kite bait and
gave it back to us on its third jump. At 115', another sail ate our short
bait and this time Fernando was hooked solid to his first sailfish. Nelson
was busy being the official photographer while Luis was giving moral support
and moving rods out of the way as Fernando made several trips around the
boat. The 6 1/2 foot sail posed for boat side pictures and was released as
everyone was celebrating.
The last drift of the morning started in 130'. In 94', another sailfish
attacked the long kite bait and it was Luis' turn to feel the fight of a
sailfish. It took about 4 laps around the boat before the sail gave in to
the pressure. We got another good close up look at a sail at boat side and
released it.
The half day trip end way to soon for everyone. On the way back to
Spinnaker Marina, the battles were fought again and visions of dolphin
fillets for dinner were discussed by 3 happy anglers.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 7
Registered: 8-2003
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 10, 2003 - 7:07 am: | |
The fronts are coming through on a steady basis. It's the time of year when 3-5 foot or higher seas are the norm. Anything less is considered a calm day. Kingfish and sailfish with a few dolphin and an occasional tuna become the predominant and sought after species. Inshore, the tarpon will make its strong winter showing to feast on shrimp. The question is when will they make that showing?
On Monday (12/8), Jim Sebastiano and Paul Dana from the Bradenton, Florida area got to experience some good kingfish action. The wind was N/NW @ 9-17 mph. There was a roaring south current and green water. Our second drift off Government Cut produced a large remora. Not the greatest of starts, however, it got the skunk out of the boat. We moved north to the middle of the anchorage area where we found the fish. The bow rod got hit first, but after a brief fight the hook pulled. Next it was the downrigger with an 8# king. Another drift produced nothing, so we slow trolled out to 400'. The
results were 1 bait chopped in half and several other nervous baits. Back to the anchorage area and this time we slow trolled two flatlines and 1 on the downrigger. Steady action started almost immediately with Jim catching a 12# king, then Paul adding another 8# fish. We released another fish, pulled the hook on another, and had another knock the bait off. The last hit of the trip came on the downrigger and after an intense 15 minute battle, Paul landed his 20# king on a 12# spinning outfit. All our fish were caught on herring in the 75-105 foot range.
Monday evening (12/8) was a see if the tarpon are in yet trip. By now, the wind had switched to the E and picked up to 14-21 mph. The wind combined with the incoming tide had us flying in to Haulover Inlet. Moving down the beach slowed our drift dramatically. Usually at this time of year, the fish will average in the 30-50 pound range with an occasional larger one. Our one and only strike of the evening turned out to be the larger one. The 100# tarpon made a short run, jumped twice, made another short run, made a spectacular cart wheeling stretched out jump, and then threw the hook. After a couple of more drifts, we had enough rock and rolling and came in. We answered the question, YES there are tarpon on the beach. Now all that has to happen is for the wind to calm down some to allow us better conditions in which to catch the silver king.
Tuesday (12/9) was a big boat day. With the wind from the E @ 14-21 mph, it was to be a day of ones. After catching herring at Government Cut, it was off to the anchorage area to see if the kings were still cooperating. The first bait was put in the water at 1:00 pm. We caught one king. The next move was north to 88 street where we finally found some good north current. After the current pushed us north of Haulover, we ran back to 88 street and reset. The short kite bait got hit (105') and we fought and released a sailfish. While fighting the sail, we saw a large group of birds working a grassy area to our north. We ran to the area and added a large spanish mackerel. We tried trolling the dolphin juniors in the 150-400 foot range and caught and released 1 bonito. As the sun was setting, we called it a day and made the run back to Haulover Inlet.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 5
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 27, 2003 - 10:44 am: | |
The weather for wade fishing in Marco during the past week has run the entire gamut from sunny to windy to showers to fierce thunderstorms. One of the amazing things about this fishery is that you'll be sight casting to fish that are swimming amongst the bathers on the beach. The fish could be a snook, redfish, pompano, or jack crevalle. The tremendous changes that can take place each year makes fishing the area very challenging. Four days of fishing from 7:30 am till noon netted the following: 20 jack crevalle, 23 seatrout, 3 whiting, 2 snook, 2 redfish, 1 pompano, and 1 bluefish. All of the fish were caught with 4 & 6 pound spinning outfits using a variety of jigs and plastics. The entire area is loaded with bait and as soon as the Gulf water temperature drops a few degrees, the ladyfish and spanish mackerel should move in and add to the variety of fish being caught.
I have some openings, so if you'd like to experience this style of fishng, give me a call and lets book a trip.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 4
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 14, 2003 - 5:46 pm: | |
Every year prior to starting my wade fishing trips in Marco, I spend several days fishing the area and finding the new holes, ledges and bars that will hold fish. Some years, the changes are very subtle. Others years the changes can be quite drastic. This year was one of those drastic years. The area where last year you could reach a sand bar during low tide by wading out several hunderd yards to it is now totally above sea level for a distance of about 1 mile. To the outside of this new strip of land, a new sand bar is forming. An area that held a very productive hole is still there, however, with the formation of the new strip the water flow to the hole is completely cut off from the open Gulf. East of the hole was an island that went under water at high tide. It has now washed away and is only exposed for an hour on each side of the low tide. All these changes are what makes this area a great and challenging place to fish.
On Saturday (9/13) I spent the morning exploring the new area. I found some great places for fish to hold in and areas where they flood in to with the rising tide. For the snook enthusiast, there were lots of them roaming up and down the beach. If you want to catch them with jigs or plastics, you'll have to fish early and late or hope for an overcast stormy sky. If the sun is shining bright, then they get very picky. The way to overcome this is by using fly tackle. Also roaming the area were a fair number of jack crevalle. Using a 4# spinning outfit will give you a great challenge, especially when the larger ones grab your offering. The pompano are there and willing to take a jig. The sum of my morning's fishing was 1 pompano, 8 jack crevalle, and getting frustrated by at least a dozen picky snook that wouldn't eat.
On Sunday (9/14) the morning started with 1 ladyfish and then progressed to site casting to a 5# jack crevalle followed by catching and releasing 8 smaller jacks in the deeper water of a channel. When the tide changed and started coming in, the snook flooded into an area as if like clock work and once again were picky in the bright sunlight. There is still more area to explore. I'll be doing that between now and the end of September.
Although the numbers of fish caught were no where near like they will be later in the month and through October, the signs are encouraging for a very good year. The place is loaded with mullet. The small pilchards and herring are flowing through in massive clouds. The large schools of ladyfish and jack crevalle will soon follow and have a field day feeding. The snook and pompano will continue to roam the area and increase in numbers. The new grass areas will help attract some nice size sea trout and spanish mackerel will invade the deeper channels.
Now is the time to schedule your trip, so give me a call and lets go get in on the action.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
pop (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 02, 2003 - 9:00 pm: | |
YOU POST TOO MUCH |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 3
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 02, 2003 - 1:47 pm: | |
As we left Spinnaker Marina on Sunday morning, the wind was almost nonexistent. This was a welcome relief from the way it has been blowing for the past several days. Our first order of business was to show 11 year old Matt Berish the large iguanas that nest in a group of trees on the way out of the canal to the Bay. They did not disappoint us. It was also Matt's first fishing trip off shore in the saltwater. To say the least, he was very excited.
A short run to one of the bait spots had us watching the terns and pelicans having a field day as they fed. The bait schools were easily spotted and one throw of the net had me struggling to pull the net in the boat. With bait accomplished we headed off shore in search of dolphin. The run out to the blue water was a rough and sloppy one despite the wind being down. Once we reached the blue water, the seas calmed down and it was quite comfortable for running and gunning. We found several groups of birds working before we found the right ones. We broke the ice and put 1 fish in the boat. We dodged numerous rain storms and noticed that the wind was picking up. Some more running and a larger group of birds put us back on the fish. It required trolling amongst the birds with the dolphin juniors to get them going. The school followed their hooked buddy to the boat and the action began. Eileen and Fred Clark along with Eileen's brother, Stephen Berish and his son Matt were all hooked up at once. The school didn't stay around too long and we added a few more fish to the box. So far, all of our action was taking place in 800' off the Twin Towers area. Each time the action stopped, we ran back south to find more birds, troll the juniors, and hook up more fish. The wind continued to pick up. The final school we hit was the largest and the one that hung around the longest. Eileen was busy casting and catching dolphin on a jig and 6# line. Matt had his hands full with the largest fish of the day and Dad was helping him. Fred was hooking up and having a blast. I was busy with landing, unhooking, rigging, and putting out another bait. And so it went until the school moved on. While we cleaned up the mess in the boat, I put out 2 baits. About the time the cleaning was done, Matt hooked up and was catching more fish. This happened twice and while I cleaned up for the last time, no baits were put out as we had enough dolphin.
Matt wanted to catch a barracuda, so off we went to find some larger baits to use. While catching the cuda baits, we also caught a nice size mangrove snapper that got added to our catch. Within a couple of minutes of putting out the large bait, a large barracuda crashed it. The hook up was short lived as it bit through the leader wire. Try as I might, I could not get another bite. Before running out to 200', we stopped at another bait spot and caught and released several small AJ's and another mangrove snapper. Out in 200', we made two drifts in some sloppy green water with no current. Despite some very heavy chumming with pilchards, we got no hits.
Our days catch was 17 dolphin in the 3 - 8 pound class, 4 amberjacks that were released, 2 mangrove snapper (1 released), and a great fish story about the barracuda that got away.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 2
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 24, 2003 - 6:56 pm: | |
The weather has finally settled in to its normal summer time pattern. Warm and sunny days, calm seas, and dodging afternoon thunderstorms has become a daily event.
Fishing in general has taken on the usual pattern for late August. One day you do OK, the next is a struggle, and the third is a great day. Fishing early in the day and late in the afternoon is the best way to beat the heat and improve your chances of making a good catch.
Between Government Cut and Haulover Inlet, there has been some kingfish activity in depths from 100' out to 270'. The key is to cover ground and fish your baits deep. If you just want some rod bending action, then catching barracuda has been most reliable. They will range in weight from about 5 pounds to over 20 and give a great account of themselves when you use light (6-12) line. For those who are looking for dolphin, the good news is that they are still out there and there are some larger ones coming through. With this heat, they can get a bit finicky with their feeding during the heat of the day.
On Thursday (8/21), we took advantage of the good barracuda fishing and had a ball catching fish to 25 pounds. While we were catching larger baits for the barracuda, we also got into a bunch of small AJ's that we were catching on 6 pound line and jigs.
Today (8/24), we started the day with bait fishing lessons and then ran out to 130' off Government Cut. Green water and no current soon had us slow trolling our baits to cover some ground. We had a herring chopped in half, but did not hook up. With the great weather and calm seas, we ran offshore in search of dolphin. Some dynamite weed lines failed to produce for us. We ran out as far as 14 miles and the weed lines became heavy scattered grass. Turning back towards shore, our plans were to head in to do some dropping on some wrecks. At 10 miles out, we found another outstanding weed line that was filled with boards and trash. We just couldn't resist the temptation and had to give it a try. Slow trolling pilchards along this line gave us our reward and we spent the remainder of the trip catching 15 dolphin in the 4 - 10 pound range. Most of the fish were feeding on the very finicky side and required a lot of work on the part of my 3 anglers to get them to feed. We watched a large bull swim around us for 25 minutes and refuse everything we offered it. We finally got the 2 cows swimming with it to eat and added them to our fish box. The bull finally lost interest and swam away. Once again persistence paid off and rewarded us with a good catch.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo (Knotnancy)
New member
Username: Knotnancy
Post Number: 1
Registered: 8-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 18, 2003 - 2:53 pm: | |
We are in that time of year when the trips are not coming fast and furious. Its time to perform maintenance on the boat and rest up a bit from the winter time pace.
Prior to the tropical wave coming through we were catching tarpon and jack crevalle in the bay and a few kingfish on the reef. The dolphin fishing offshore has been hit and miss depending on the day and weather conditions. Yesterday (8/17), we fished for a half day and started on the reef. Three drifts between Haulover Inlet down to the Twin Towers had us still waiting for our first hit. Mike Grimm's uncle Dave Grimm was visiting from Pittsburgh. Along with Dave were his two sons 13 year old Lanny Goerman and 9 year old Austin Goerman. This was the first time fishing in the saltwater environment for the boys. We heard of a few dolphin being caught offshore, so we made the run out to 14 miles SE of Haulover and found a large well defined weed line. Trolling the dolphin juniors produced a strike that had Lanny working hard to wind the fish in. A few fish followed their hooked buddy up and Austin got in on the action. The boys were definitely showing signs of dolphin fever. Can you blame them?? With all the jumping and pulling the fish were doing, they were both in fish heaven. The expressions on their faces were worth their weight in gold. Dave was busy with the camera and Mike was doing a great job of helping me with all the cock pit activity. As quickly as it started, it came to an end. We trolled some more and caught a bar jack and as I was winding in the juniors to head in, a small dolphin chased it up and we caught and released it for the final fish of the morning. To sum the morning up, it was another fine example of FAMILY fishing is FUN!!
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 13, 2003 - 8:30 pm: | |
Subject: FINALLY, Dolphin in the Haulover Area
The GOOD NEWS is that the dolphin have finally shown up in the Haulover area. It actually started on Monday and has been fairly consistent since. One day they are in the 400-500 foot range, the next they are out 8 miles, and still on another day 12 miles out. The key has been birds and scattered grass areas. The size has been varying from grasshopper to large schoolies. Just remember that if you come across a school of the small ones, take 1 or 2 and then search for some larger ones. Give the small ones a chance to grow and reproduce.
On Monday (6/9) we did the small bottom fish thing. With three children on board, constant action was needed to keep them busy. As is usual, the youngest boy caught the most fish. Even Dad and his associate were having a tough time keeping up. By late morning, everyone was getting tired and exhausted from pulling in fish and the heat. What did we catch? Grunts, triggerfish, small yellowtail snapper, and wrasse. It put smiles on their faces and the excitement was contagious. It's a great way to get small children excited about fishing.
Thursday (6/12) my customer had a cold and only had 2 hours of sleep after flying in to Miami and meeting his wife. Bait fishing was a bit on the tough side, however, we finally got enough pilchards to do the job. Even with seas of 3-5 feet and SE winds @ 15-20, he was dozing off while we were running. A bonito kept him busy for a while on a 12# plug outfit. Next, it was the downrigger and a fish that dumped 3/4's of the line before the leader broke. There was major chaffing from rubbing against the fishes body. Another downrigger strike, but this time we didn't hook up and then a nice 5# dolphin ate the kite bait. We called it an early day so Brian Tracey from Fort Wayne, Indiana could get back to his hotel and get some much needed rest. The Chef at his hotel prepared the dolphin for dinner.
On Friday (6/13), a much rested Brian was ready to fish. We started in 400' off the Twins and when we got to 390', his wife caught another 5# dolphin that could have been the twin of the one Brian caught yesterday. Then in 290', the downrigger got hit. During the fight, we got rained on, had to pull the kite in, and his wife caught another dolphin that had hit the kite bait. Brian's fish finally surfaced and it was a 20# blackfin tuna. They were certainly going to keep the Chef at their hotel busy preparing dolphin and tuna for dinner again this evening.
I'll be doing a seminar at the FishStocks event tomorrow (6/14) and Sunday (6/15). Then, it will be tarpon fishing tomorrow evening, dolphin fishing on Monday, and back to tarpon fishing on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. I'll keep you posted.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
Captain Dave Kostyo
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 10:09 pm: | |
Subject: Excellent Tarpon, Dolphin Still Scarce
Continuing on from my last tarpon report on June 3rd, we once again went tarpon fishing on the evening of June 4th. What a difference a day can make. On the 3rd, we worked hard to get one tarpon strike and one tarpon caught. The evening of the 4th was a tarpon fishermen's dream come true. We got our first bite within 3 minutes of putting out the live crabs. Jeff Arenson was in a fight with the likes of a fish that he had never even dreamed about. After a 38 minute battle, and having traveled well south of the southern range markers, the hook pulled. We ran back and set up another drift and in short order had another tarpon on. Tom Mathias released this one in short order and the third drift had us trying to hook a fish that ate the bait and ran past the bow of the boat before Jeff could get the rod out of the holder. The fourth drift had Jeff hooked up again and this time he got the release, but the hook pulled before we could get the fish up for a Kodak moment. One drift without a strike and then we were hooked up again. This beast knew exactly where it wanted to go and ran straight for the deep water of Government Cut. To sum it up, we made 7 drifts, hooked 5 fish, and released 2.
The next night, June 5th, was another eventful tarpon trip. Randy Wong was hoping to beat his best tarpon (100#) to date. Lots of fish were rolling and expectations were high. With nearly no wind, we were using floats to keep our baits out of the bottom. By our third drift, the sun was setting and the wind picked up just enough to remove the floats. Randy's outfit slammed over before we even settled into that third drift. 130 pounds of tarpon came cart wheeling out of the water in a 6' high jump and then made a sizzling run for the deep water. After a few heart stopping moments around one of the channel markers, the fish moved to the north side where it remained throughout the rest of the fight. Lots of pictures were taken and even some jumping action shots were made. By the time the fish was released, we had time for one more drift. We got the strike, but much to our surprise, a large ladyfish had eaten our crab. CONGRATULATIONS Randy on making a personal best catch.
Friday, June 6th, we fished a half day offshore. We left Haulover Inlet in search of dolphin. And we searched and we searched and we searched. At 16.5 miles, we turned south and searched some more. We heard no encouraging news from anyone on the radio. One angler said he was 26 miles out and had not seen anything. With a limited time to fish, we decided to run back in to fish on the reef and stop only if we saw something good. A flock of petrels caught my attention. We worked the area and saw and caught nothing. We found a huge ball of material used to wrap boxes to pallets. It was loaded with bait, but not a dolphin in sight. This dolphin fishing is getting to be downright disappointing. Back on the reef, and the downrigger produced a nice 8# kingfish. Next a remora, and finally a bonito. A half day goes by very quickly especially when you run offshore in search of dolphin.
The heavy rain, lightning, and thunder over the coastal area had my customer for Saturday, June 7th canceling. Tomorrow is Nancy's birthday, so there are plans for lots of things. None of which are fishing. That will have to wait till Monday.
Dolphin fishing in the Haulover area has been very disappointing so far this season. Most anglers are having to run way south to Fowey Light and then run offshore to catch a few fish. I have not heard or seen anyone who has done well fishing from the Haulover area in their search for this colorful and tasty fish. They could flood into the area any day now so keep the faith.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net |
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