Time once again to get caught up with the fishing adventures aboard Knot Nancy. The vast majority of my offshore fishing activity has taken place between the Miami Sea Buoy and the north end of Haulover Beach in water depths between 90 - 250 feet. All of the tarpon action has been at Haulover Inlet.
Offshore the action has been with dolphin (mahi-mahi), kingfish, bonito, and sailfish. Finding current on some days has been difficult to say the least. On others, it's been very strong. Regardless of what the conditions have been, we've managed to find fish of some sorts. Moving inshore, the tarpon action has been consistent and steady both during the late afternoon, during the dusk period, and after dark. During one trip, we finally got the shrimp run we've been waiting for and the tarpon action was hot and heavy on almost every drift.
Ben Skinner fished a half day and had sailfish on his mind, though any action would do. After loading up on pilchards, we ran a little south of Haulover and found we had a roaring north current. Conditions looked beautiful for sailfish. Despite the great conditions, the first action we had was with dolphin. We picked up and ran south and found even better conditions in shallower water. Once again we found dolphin. The sails never showed before the trip ended.
Gary and Ellen Latrell scheduled two days of fishing. The first day, we had a sailfish on briefly even before I could put the kite up. Gary got to see the fish thrash at the surface before it broke the leader. Then the dolphin action began. This was followed by kingfish. The south current on this day pushed us from the Twin Towers down toward the Miami Sea Buoy before the action died off. The NNW/NNE winds of 16 - 20 knots had us taking our time returning to the Twins area. As soon as baits went back out the action with kingfish started again. As fast as we put baits in the water the kings were attacking them. Both Ellen and Gary were having constant action while putting out their baits. We watched a sailfish surf down the waves after stealing a bait off one of our flat lines. It ignored our kite baits, however, a kingfish jumped on one of our goggle eyes and Ellen had fun catching up with the speedy fish after the line popped out of the clip. So far all the action was with surface baits. I put out the break away lead outfit and within less than 2 minutes, it saw action with kingfish and a very large rainbow runner each time I put the rig down. During the last 15 minutes of the first day, Ellen got her reward when a sailfish stayed hooked up on the lightest spinning outfit I had out. Twenty minutes later the fish was alongside and posed for several in water pictures before it was released to fight again on another day.
The next day with Gary and Ellen was an afternoon/evening trip. The wind switched to the East @ 12 - 22 knots. We back drifted staring in 250 feet. There was no current, just a healthy wind. When we reached 211 feet, Ellen couldn't hardly believe her eyes when a double sailfish came up on the kite baits. She went for the short pilchard bait only to have the other sailfish eat the long goggle eye outfit she had been watching and working diligently. The sail on the short kite bait just window shopped and went on its way. The sail on the long kite bait ate and gave us 3 terrific jumps before giving us back our hook. We had no further action on the kite, however, the mid-depth bait and flatline baits gave us action with kingfish and shark. Time to seek some tarpon action at Haulover. The first action came in the form of a jack crevalle. Then several bottom critters stole our baits. Gary got the first tarpon action and the fish threw the hook on its first jump. Within a minute, Ellen hooked up solid and caught and released her first tarpon. A few drifts later, Ellen's outfit got hit again. She wanted Gary to fight the fish. As soon as he picked up the rod, the fish jumped and once again gave him back the hook. That's how the evening ended and Gary says he'll be back to catch his tarpon the next time.
Walter Rodriguez fished an afternoon/evening trip facing some very heavy west winds that blew in the 23 - 31 knot range. The only action we saw offshore before heading in to tarpon fish was with an 80 pound hammerhead shark. Talk about your visual picture, this one had us both rooting for the shark to catch the goggle eye. Every time we thought the shark had caught the bait, it somehow managed to escape. The shark had to turn around and find the bait again. Each time it missed the bait, it got more and more aggressive. The bait finally tired out some and the shark finally took good aim and caught the bait. Now it was Walter's turn. The shark gave us several impressive runs and traveled back and forth across the stern several times before it released itself by rubbing through the leader. Since we were on the lee side of the beach, it was almost like a lake along Haulover Beach. We ended the evening with blueruners, ladyfish, and going 1 for 2 on tarpon.
Tom Milanette and Wes Moore took a break from their duties at the Miami Boat Show for an evening of tarpon fishing. On our first drift, Wes hooked up and caught and released his first tarpon. The second drift had Tom catching a tarpon. The next drift or two were uneventful. A move back up toward the Inlet after the tide had changed turned out to be the right one. Shrimp were flowing out the Inlet in just enough numbers to get the tarpon congregated and feeding readily. On the next four drifts, we hooked tarpon, including one double header, on each drift except for one. The last fish of the evening turned out to be the big one. Wes fought the 100 pound tarpon on a 20# spinning outfit and experienced the power and stamina of the mighty silver king. His persistence and constant pressure on the fish finally slowed the fish down. Just when he thought the fish was whipped at boat side, the tarpon took off and dumped 50 yards of line from the reel and made a terrific splashing jump. That's tarpon fishing. They never seems to give up and quit. Final total for the evening was 4 for 6 tarpon caught and released.
Jerry Dijkhuizen and Ryan Dirksz got in a half day offshore before the wind kicked up to over 30 knots. We found a nice blue edge straight out from Haulover and everything looked good for some great action. Before I could get the second rod clipped to the kite, both flat lines took off. Ryan caught his first saltwater fish ever and Jerry enjoyed catching his fish. Both were bonito. While putting Ryan's line back out, it got hit again and he caught another bonito. The next action came on the kite. An unknown and unseen fish grabbed the goggle eye on the short kite line and proceeded to get a free meal. A short while later, the short kit again saw action. This time the kingfish skyrocketed the goggle eye twice before hooking up. Jerry fought this fish. The final fish of the morning came on the break away rod and Ryan did the honors with the kingfish. By then, the wind was picking up to a healthy speed as we ran back to Haulover and TNT Marine Center.
That sums it up. Sailfish, kingfish, dolphin, bonito, and sharks offshore and plenty of tarpon just off the beach at the Inlets. Call me 305 965-9454 or email nkostyo@bellsouth.net to get in on the action.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters, Inc.
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net