As I sit here and write this report, the wind is still blowing 30 mph with higher gusts and rain squalls are coming through. Tropical Depression/Storm Debby is taking her time leaving the area. I'll definitely be glad when she's gone so things can get back to normal. In the meantime, it's time once again to get caught up with the action aboard Knot Nancy.
Conditions: Wind from S/SSW @ 16 – 18 knots. Strong north current on a well defined blue/green edge. Lots of grass trapped on the edge.
Paul and Jennifer Allegra start their trip off with a 20# blackfin tuna caught by Paul. The baits went back out using a slow troll method to maintain our position on the edge. First the right flatline got hit, then the left. It had us guessing was it bonitos, blackfin tuna, or maybe something else. What appeared to be a turtle head popped up near Jennifer's line and we thought she had hooked the turtle. Her line took off, but we concentrated on Paul's fish. As we closed in on his fish, we saw that it was a cobia. After putting his fish in the fish box, we started chasing down Jennifer's fish. When we caught up, much to our surprise, it was a large cobia. It was also welcomed aboard and put in the fish box. When things calmed down and we took pictures, we discovered numerous teeth marks across the dorsal fin area of Jennifer's fish. Apparently a shark had grabbed the fish near the surface and lifted just the head of the fish out of the water. That's when we thought we saw a turtle head. The fish got away from the shark, but not from Jennifer's angling skills.
Conditions: Wind from SE/SSW @ 9 – 13 knots. Strong north current with good blue water. Incoming tide during evening portion of trip.
Pete and Annmari DiPino fished an afternoon/evening combo trip. The afternoon portion of the trip started out slow until around 6:00 pm. The action started with 3 bonito caught on the flatlines. We ran back south to get back into the good blue water conditions. The next hit came on the bottom rod. The line rose rapidly and up came a sailfish. Pete caught that fish and we ran back to the general area where I had originally set up. A flatline got hit almost immediately and Annmari was fighting her first sailfish. Pictures alongside the boat and back again. Another flatline hook up and another sailfish. Pete caught this fish and we went back again. Another flatline and Pete released the fourth sailfish of the trip. It was now time to head in for some tarpon fishing at Government Cut. The baits went out and it took a drift or two to zero in on the fish. The live crab did its job and Pete caught an 80# tarpon to finish off the evening.
Conditions: Wind from E @ 9 – 11 knots. South current with green ugly water.
John Gutekunst, Jose Mazariegos, and brothers Jason and Shawn Alexander fished a ½ day in the morning. They were looking for any type of action with hopes of taking home some fish to eat. With the south current, I concentrated in the deeper water with emphasis on the bottom and downrigger rods. It paid off both with the action and eating fish. Everyone caught fish with all the action coming on the bottom and downrigger rods with the exception of a dolphin (mahi-mahi) on a flatline. Final score was 2 kingfish, 1 dolphin, and 5 bonito.
Conditions: Wind from E @ 13 – 17 knots. South current with green ugly water. Numerous weedlines running east to west.
Michael Cohen, Tom Reese, Gary Roddatz, and Paul Fleisher fished a half day in the late afternoon. The east/west weedlines made it very difficult to keep the lines clear. The action was very slow to start with only a bottom bait getting chopped in half. I started slow trolling offshore between the weedlines. When we reached 250', a flatline got hit and we landed and released a sailfish. We continued working the area with no further action. I moved back in closer off the hotels on Key Biscayne and set up a drift. The bottom rod came through for us and we finished the trip with a 36# amberjack that we kept for smoking. Much to our surprise as I cleaned the fish there were no worms in the fillets.
Conditions: Wind from NE/E @ 12 – 14 knots. Tide outgoing and incoming during the trip.
The father and son groups of Mike and Will Little and Eddie and Travis Frizshell fished a ¾ evening tarpon trip at Government Cut. The evening started off with Travis catching his first tarpon. Then Eddie also caught his first tarpon. We then missed several fish before Will finished off the evening with another catch and release. Final score for the evening was 3 for 6.
Conditions: Wind From N/ESE @ 0 – 5 knots. No current and green water.
Bill Parr and David Cansler fished a ½ day morning trip. With little to no wind, drifting produced nothing but flatline baits swimming around the boat and the bottom and downrigger baits tangling with each other. I started slow trolling and marked some fish on the recorder. The downrigger popped and we caught a kingfish. Next it was a bonito. We moved south and slow trolled over numerous wrecks. The downrigger popped again and this time it was a large jack crevalle weighing in at 15 pounds.
Conditions: Wind from ESE/SW @ 8 – 10 knots. Outgoing tide during the evening.
Tate Chatfield and Kara Snook had their first tarpon fishing experience. The action started quickly with Tate catching and releasing his first tarpon. I was also able to get a DNA sample of the fish. Then as quickly as it started, the fish moved out of the area. We fished other areas with no further action. Final score was 1 for 1.
Conditions: Wind from NW/NNW @ 3 – 12 knots. No current and green water.
Dave Paines, Bradley and Marie Jennings, and Ana Mercea fish a ½ day during the morning. The first area we fished produced no action. I moved to the wreck area off Key Biscayne and dropped baits on several wrecks. The first wreck produced no action. On the second wreck, we caught and released an amberjack. Then a second one. We had a third fish coming up and pulled the hook. Then the action shut off on that wreck. We continued wreck hopping with no further action.
Conditions: Wind from NE/ENE @ 10 – 14 knots. South current with green water and lots of grass.
Jason and Brittany Bennett and Will and Kayla Stone fished a ½ day in the morning. We loaded up with herring and set up our first back drift starting in 200 feet. The bottom rod got hit first. Then we had 3 of our 4 kite lines get hit. It was mass chaos with going around the boat and over and under each other. The end result was 4 large bonito. The baits went back out and this time there was a large explosion on the left short kite bait. We got a solid hook up. The fish fought deep and in circles. When it came up, it was an 18# blackfin tuna.
Conditions: Wind from ENE/E @ 18 – 20 knots. Incoming and outgoing tide during the evening.
Shawn Nicholson and Veronica Surbrent fish a ¾ evening tarpon trip. The strong ENE/E wind had us fishing the south side of Government Cut. The fish were rolling around from the time we got there and were in a feeding mood. The action started quickly and Shawn caught and released fish number 1. When we got into the dusk period, the action got red hot with fish on several drifts in a row. Plenty of action but the hooks just didn't want to find the right place to stay in. At the end of the evening, the final score was 2 for 7. The tarpon evened the score on us on this evening.
Conditions: Wind from ESE/SE @ 11 -17 knots. Incoming tide during the evening.
Joel Reid, Jeff Lilly, and Ed Vermolen caught a break in the weather two days after the original date they wanted to fish. Before it got dark we caught and released a tarpon that took us for a tour of South Beach. After that we had no further action despite working numerous areas. Final score for the evening was 1 for 1.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters, Inc
305-965-9454
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
