If you're looking for plenty of action, it's been hard to beat the 100 - 200 foot depth range all along the South Florida coast. Yes, there has been a good improvement in offshore dolphin fishing, however, its still been inconsistent. In the meantime, the action in the above mentioned area has been steady and consistent. Put out your spread of baits at various depths and it won't be long before the action begins.
Fabio Nick needed a day off from his busy work schedule. A half day trip was just what he needed. With one throw of the castnet, we had more than ample bait to fish and do some heavy live chumming. The bottom rod and break away mid-depth rod saw almost all the action. By the end of the morning, he had caught several kingfish, even more bonito, mutton snapper, and barracuda.
Ray Young wanted to learn a bit about fishing the area. A half day trip turned out to be just the ticket. We started with a bonito, followed by a mutton snapper, and then a vermillion snapper. The middle portion of the trip was very uneventful. Almost at the end of the trip, we caught a lone dolphin in 175 feet. The northwesterly wind had us drifting offshore, so we continued out to deeper water. In 240 feet, the action began with a double hook up of dolphin. The school followed the hooked fish up to the boat and we managed to hook a few more before the remainder of fish moved on. The fish were all in the 8 - 10 pound class.
Derrel Hurst, Dwight Fiore, and Joseph Fiore combined to catch bonito, skipjack tuna, and kingfish on their half day trip.
Chelsea, Robert, and Dan were part of a large group that were split among three boats. They were here for a meeting and had a free day to go fishing. There was a good natured competition going on amongst the group for the largest fish and most fish. We ran straight out from Government Cut and started in 110 feet. A west wind was pushing us offshore. In 160 feet both the mid-depth and bottom rods hooked up and we landed 2 kingfish. The next drift we had to wait till we hit 200 feet before another kingfish ate the bottom bait. The mid-depth rod scored the largest kingfish on the next drift and finally a barracuda ate a flatline bait. We then dropped on several wrecks with no results before going back on the drift. I marked a wreck in 230 feet and we dropped on it and immediately hooked up with an amberjack. We had the fish up to the boat and on the leader before it decided to head back down to deeper water. Once the leader slid through my hands and the line came tight, the leader wire popped through the eye of the hook and the fish released itself. The 3/4 day trip came to an end all to soon and back at the dock, we learned that we had caught the most and largest fish. Lots of pictures were taken as the group celebrated a great day of fishing.
As you can see, the best action still comes on the bottom and mid-depth rods. Once the water temperature begins to cool down, better action will return to the surface baits as well. All of the action above took place between the Cuban Hole to just north of the Twins. It won't be long before we get a Fall run of mullet to spice up the action both inshore and offshore. The Winter sailfish and tarpon seasons are just around the corner. The major kingfish runs should begin before then along with spanish mackerel action. Now's the time to get your dates booked so you won't miss out on any of the great fishing we have in the Miami area. Give me a call or send me an email. It's just that easy.
See you on the edge.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters, Inc.
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net