This will be my last update until October. I'm having a surgical procedure that will keep me off the water until then.
We are in the long hot days of summer. That means that fishing tactics have to be changed to put together a good catch. The dolphin season has been for the most part disappointing in our area. It started out good and once again when it should have kicked into high gear, the bottom fell out. We've had a lack of weedlines and floating debris. Even the birds have not ventured offshore in large numbers. Those that have found fish have found small ones that either wouldn't eat or were below the legal size limit. Yes, there have been some good catches, however, dolphin fishing has been very hit or miss.
In on the reef, it's been bonito and kingfish, AJ's on the wrecks, and some blackfin tuna along with a few sailfish. The change in tactic for the hot days has been to fish the baits deeper on break away leads, downrigger, and bottom rods. The best action we've seen has been in the 130 – 250 foot range.
Tarpon fishing has been excellent in the Bay. It just requires adjusting the hours you fish so that you can take advantage of the best tide conditions. The fish have been in the 15 – 40 pound range and are putting on a great aerial show as well as pulling extremely have. It's gorilla tarpon fishing at its best to keep them away from the structure they are trying to cut you off with.
Robert Oldin and Mike got into some outstanding tarpon action in the Bay. Normally the land to hook up ratio with Bay fish is about 50%. The circle hooks and anglers did an outstanding job and we finished the evening with a 4 for 4 record. Way to go guys.
Ash Suresh and Jeff Moyle came all the way from Australia on a business/pleasure trip. Tarpon action was on the pleasure part of the trip. We had to fish much later hours to catch the tide. We had a shot at 3 fish. Two of the fish hooked up and we landed and released one of them. The third fish bent the rod, however, the hook didn't find the mark.
Brian Spann and his son Jordan saw plenty of arm pulling action with bonito. At one point, we had four fish hooked up at once and neither angler had a chance to catch their breath between fighting fish.
Fred and Michael Gates along with Benjamin Siboni got in some kids fishing trip action as well as offshore action. Benjamin was visiting from France. He spoke very little English, however, fishing is a universal language that all anglers understand. We anchored up in 25 feet of water and put out the chum bag. It didn't take long before we had lots of fish behind the boat. Michael and Benjamin fished the bottom catching yellowtail snapper, triggerfish, and grunts just as fast as they could put baits in the water. Fred freelined his baits and caught yellowtail snapper, mangrove snapper, and a giant bluerunner. It didn't take long before everyone's arms were tired and we ran out to finish the trip. We caught a bonito fairly quickly and then had to wait a bit before we were rewarded with a nice blackfin tuna.
Debbie Currier and Wade Robinson saw plenty of action on their half day trip. The flatlines and downrigger shined on this day. Bonito and kingfish kept Wade busy pulling in fish and Debbie busy with the camera. The bonito were of the bionic size and would not give up. The kingfish gave Wade plenty of steaks and fillets to take home as they weighed in at 13 ½ and 18 pounds on the scale back at TNT Marine Center.
Lewis and David Carroll along with Lloyd Wruble saw lots of tarpon on their trip. David and Lewis used fly tackle and Lloyd used jigs on a spinning outfit. The fish were moving through in singles, doubles, and triples. Everyone got fish to bump their offerings, but no strong takers. As the movement slowed down we set up to use live bait. Before I could pin the bait on the second outfit, David hooked up with a beautiful 30 pound tarpon that jumped numerous times and buzzed plenty of line off the reel. Lloyd got video of the fight as David brought the fish alongside for release. I took my bath as the fish exploded while I was releasing it and got soaked.
Michael Richmond, Andrew Arnold, and Mike Bess had dolphin fillets on their mind as we headed offshore. We had a flat calm day and found several slicks with weed in them. The third line that we worked in 850 feet gave us our reward. Both slow trolled baits got hit and the action started. Almost as quickly as it started, it ended. Then a rain storm pushed offshore and it took about a half hour for it to move through. Another weedline produced nothing. The next line had us hooked up again, but one fish threw the hook on its first jump and the hooked pulled on the other fish while we waited to see if there were any buddies following them. The final action of the morning came in the form of a very large tripletail that was hanging out around a large plastic livewell floating in the weedline.
That brings me up to date. Check back in October when I get back out on the water. In the meantime, give me a call or send me an email to get that date booked to get in on the Fall action.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters, Inc
305-965-9454
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
