05-28-2003, 09:43 PM
Weather has been playing an important factor in when and how long we have been able to fish without getting wet and safety from lightning. Fishing in general has had its ups and downs in the area from Haulover Inlet south to the Monument Buoy just south of Key Biscayne.
Thursday (5/22) and Friday (5/23) were both washout days as my customer did not want to fish in the south winds at 20+ knots and the heavy rain storms.
Saturday (5/24) was an afternoon/evening trip. We started with a kingfish off Government Cut where there was no current and dirty green water. Next, we had to run inshore to seek the safety of hiding under the 5th Street Bridge till the wind, rain, and lightning subsided. As is typical with South Florida weather, it took about an hour for the skies to clear. Running back out, we found blue water in 290' where we caught and released a small dolphin. While running in to tarpon fish, we were stopped and inspected by the FWC. They were very polite and courteous and we were on our way in a few minutes. For the remainder of the trip, we fought no wind to light wind and constantly changing directions. We had 2 tarpon on by the end of the evening.
Sunday (5/25) we fished from the Twin Towers south to the Monument Buoy. Slow trolling off the Twins produced no action. Moving south to the southern end of the Anchorage found us drifting offshore despite a light SE wind. In 110' a sailfish ate our pilchard and ran under the bow quicker than my angler could get from the stern to the bow and clear the line. The end result was that the 12# line parted as we watched the sail make a beautiful jump inshore of the boat. The deep bait produced a few kingfish, and then the action died. Running south to the Monument Buoy, we found pretty blue water but no current until later in the afternoon. Once again the deep bait got all the action. We missed a few hook ups and caught another kingfish. All afternoon, we kept a close eye on the thunderstorms that were heading our way. They never made it and by the time we ran back to Haulover Inlet, the storms had rained themselves out.
Monday (5/26) was a half day in the morning. We left Spinnaker Marina at 8:15 am and ran out to 130' off the Twin Towers. What difference a day makes. The water was almost purple and the current was ripping to the north. When we reached 124', rods started bending over. We quickly put an 8# bull and two 6# cow dolphin in the fish box. Running south and setting up again gave us action on both the deep and flatline baits. This time it was two bonito. The action slowed and moving back north toward Haulover Inlet saw us hooked up on the deep bait again. This time it was a kingfish. The final action of the morning was a large remora. My two anglers had never seen one before and had to take pictures of old sneaker head before releasing it.
Tuesday (5/27) was another half day, but this time it was offshore for some dolphin fishing. The reports I had been hearing were very mixed. Ten boats would go offshore in search of dolphin. Three boats would find them. Of the three, two boats would catch a few. One boat would slam them. As for the other seven boats, they would come home disappointed but looking forward to doing it again. We fell in the category of the two boats that found a few. From about 8 miles out, there was mostly scattered grass. The slicks also had scattered grass. Two boards and a 3X3 foot square of Styrofoam had no fish around them. We found fish under some birds and hooked up 2 and missed one. The others didn't stick around. After running south to the Twins, I ran back north and found better organized scattered grass off Hallandale. It looked great with lots of bait under the grass and trash, however, the dolphin were not to be found. On our run back to Haulover Inlet, I spotted a large piece of wood. The fish came up and we hooked another one with the remainder of it buddies leaving the area quickly. Despite what sounds like slow dolphin fishing, it is much better than what was going on at this same time last year.
If you have noticed from all my trips on the reef area, most of the strikes have come on the deep baits. Putting bait down deep will become more and more productive as the warmer and then hot weather continues to come on. Another thing to remember is that during the hot weather of summer, the kingfish will move out deeper. You can expect to get bites in the 180 to 220 foot range. If you want to beat the heat, then try night fishing. With calm comfortable seas and swordfish feeding best at night, now is the time to book your trip and beat the heat while doing battle with old Xiphias Gladius.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
[signature]
Thursday (5/22) and Friday (5/23) were both washout days as my customer did not want to fish in the south winds at 20+ knots and the heavy rain storms.
Saturday (5/24) was an afternoon/evening trip. We started with a kingfish off Government Cut where there was no current and dirty green water. Next, we had to run inshore to seek the safety of hiding under the 5th Street Bridge till the wind, rain, and lightning subsided. As is typical with South Florida weather, it took about an hour for the skies to clear. Running back out, we found blue water in 290' where we caught and released a small dolphin. While running in to tarpon fish, we were stopped and inspected by the FWC. They were very polite and courteous and we were on our way in a few minutes. For the remainder of the trip, we fought no wind to light wind and constantly changing directions. We had 2 tarpon on by the end of the evening.
Sunday (5/25) we fished from the Twin Towers south to the Monument Buoy. Slow trolling off the Twins produced no action. Moving south to the southern end of the Anchorage found us drifting offshore despite a light SE wind. In 110' a sailfish ate our pilchard and ran under the bow quicker than my angler could get from the stern to the bow and clear the line. The end result was that the 12# line parted as we watched the sail make a beautiful jump inshore of the boat. The deep bait produced a few kingfish, and then the action died. Running south to the Monument Buoy, we found pretty blue water but no current until later in the afternoon. Once again the deep bait got all the action. We missed a few hook ups and caught another kingfish. All afternoon, we kept a close eye on the thunderstorms that were heading our way. They never made it and by the time we ran back to Haulover Inlet, the storms had rained themselves out.
Monday (5/26) was a half day in the morning. We left Spinnaker Marina at 8:15 am and ran out to 130' off the Twin Towers. What difference a day makes. The water was almost purple and the current was ripping to the north. When we reached 124', rods started bending over. We quickly put an 8# bull and two 6# cow dolphin in the fish box. Running south and setting up again gave us action on both the deep and flatline baits. This time it was two bonito. The action slowed and moving back north toward Haulover Inlet saw us hooked up on the deep bait again. This time it was a kingfish. The final action of the morning was a large remora. My two anglers had never seen one before and had to take pictures of old sneaker head before releasing it.
Tuesday (5/27) was another half day, but this time it was offshore for some dolphin fishing. The reports I had been hearing were very mixed. Ten boats would go offshore in search of dolphin. Three boats would find them. Of the three, two boats would catch a few. One boat would slam them. As for the other seven boats, they would come home disappointed but looking forward to doing it again. We fell in the category of the two boats that found a few. From about 8 miles out, there was mostly scattered grass. The slicks also had scattered grass. Two boards and a 3X3 foot square of Styrofoam had no fish around them. We found fish under some birds and hooked up 2 and missed one. The others didn't stick around. After running south to the Twins, I ran back north and found better organized scattered grass off Hallandale. It looked great with lots of bait under the grass and trash, however, the dolphin were not to be found. On our run back to Haulover Inlet, I spotted a large piece of wood. The fish came up and we hooked another one with the remainder of it buddies leaving the area quickly. Despite what sounds like slow dolphin fishing, it is much better than what was going on at this same time last year.
If you have noticed from all my trips on the reef area, most of the strikes have come on the deep baits. Putting bait down deep will become more and more productive as the warmer and then hot weather continues to come on. Another thing to remember is that during the hot weather of summer, the kingfish will move out deeper. You can expect to get bites in the 180 to 220 foot range. If you want to beat the heat, then try night fishing. With calm comfortable seas and swordfish feeding best at night, now is the time to book your trip and beat the heat while doing battle with old Xiphias Gladius.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
[signature]