The cold fronts we've been experiencing have kicked the kingfishing into high gear. The first outstanding run of kingfish has been long awaited and very welcome. The fish are averaging 8 30 pounds with some even larger. Mixed in with the kings have been large bonito and some blackfin tuna. Working offshore a bit deeper and the sailfish have been cooperating nicely along with some mahi-mahi.
Meanwhile on the inshore scene, tarpon fishing remains hot. As of my last trip, there has not been a shrimp run yet, however, that could take place on any evening. When that happens, the action will get even wilder as the tarpon will be feasting on them.
Elvin and Kileann Uhlenhopp from Minnesota left 0 degree temperatures to enjoy a break from the cold. They found out that it does get chilly in South Florida and they had to buy some heavier clothing to go along with their shorts and short sleeve shirts. After loading the livewell with pilchards, our goal was to find some eating fish. With the wind blowing from the NW/N @ 11 14 knots, we fished the 75 95 foot range and found immediate action with kingfish. Throw out a scoop of live pilchards and kingfish immediately started busting on the surface and all the baits we had out on rods got hit. The action was fast and furious and kept everyone running from rod to rod. In no time, we had our limit of kingfish. Moving out a bit deeper, the bonito took over the scene. Both anglers were amazed at how hard the bonito pulled. We ran out further to try for some mahi-mahi with no success. We moved back in closer to help Kileann settle her stomach. Slow trolling two flatlines and a deep bait on the downrigger produced our biggest fish of the day when the downrigger line took off and line screamed off the reel in an alarming manner. The fight went back and forth for about 10 minutes. Elvin finally got the upper hand and much to our surprise we had to release a 25# kingfish since we were already limited out. That fish hit in 190 feet. The final fish of the day was also caught on the downrigger and turned out to be a bonito that was also released. The final count was 8 kingfish of which we kept 6 and 4 bonito of which we kept two.
Maurico Ruiz, Kevin Cummings, and Pete Ryan had tarpon on their minds. The cold front was due to come through on that evening. The wind was from the SW/WNW @ 15 20 knots. That made for perfect conditions to drift the area for tarpon. On the second drift, two of the three rods got hit and the hook ups were solid. Both fish were landed and we got DNA samples from them before releasing them. Two drifts later we hooked a single tarpon that was slightly larger. It put on a good show and as it came alongside, made a final jump slamming into the side of the boat and the hook pulled for a clean release. Then the front came through and it started to sprinkle and then it got heavier. All three anglers agreed they didn't want to fish in the rain and we called it an evening and headed back to TNT Marine Center. Final count for the evening was 3 for 3 with everyone catching and releasing a tarpon.
We are already getting our share of cold fronts coming through our area. While the temperatures drop to what we consider cold for South Florida they don't stay down for long and what they really do is make great fishing even better. Call or email me to schedule your trip and take advantage of the great fishing we're having.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters, Inc
305-965-9454
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net