04-30-2005, 03:14 PM
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
[signature]
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
[signature]