Tarpon fishing continues to be consistently outstanding. They've made the switch to live crabs and the big tarpon are here. They are running in the 90 – 120 pound class with a few even larger. If you've ever wanted to do battle with a large tarpon, now is the time to do it.
Offshore, there are a variety fish to be caught. They include sailfish, kingfish, dolphin (mahi-mahi), mutton snapper, blackfin tuna, amberjack, bonito, and barracuda. With this kind of variety, there is something there for most every anglers taste. Dolphin are being found anywhere from the blue/green edge out to as far as 18.5 miles. All the other species I've mentioned are in the 80 – 160 foot range.
Gary Edge and Teresa Hill had one mission in mind. That was to get Teresa her first tarpon. It didn't take long. As a matter of fact, we hooked up on our first drift. The fight began and it was a matter of surviving the initial run and beating the fish to the deep water. The battle went back and forth as the tide pushed us westward in Government Cut. We got the catch when the leader touched the rod tip, however, both Teresa and Gary wanted a good close up picture. That's when the hard work began. Every time we got close to getting the picture, the tarpon would take off and dive back down toward the bottom of the channel. It continued that way for the better part of an hour before Teresa was finally successful and we released her 120 pound tarpon.
Shaun Hoskins and Lu Vines skipped the offshore portion of their trip due to the windy weather. They instead opted for the evening tarpon portion where we could hide some from the east winds of 13 – 16 knots. The decision turned out to be a very good one. Shaun was the main angler and he had his hands full fighting some very stubborn tarpon in the 90 – 120 pound class. The last fish of the evening just didn't want to give up. It stayed in the shallow water on the south side of Government Cut and ran straight in toward Fisher Island. Just like Teresa's fish, every time we got close, the tarpon would just flip its tail and take off on a 50 yard run. We did finally release the tarpon and Shaun had a 3 for 4 night he won't soon forget.
The father and son team of James and John Brigagliano combined for mutton snapper and barracuda offshore. Inshore, John hooked the meanest, nastiest, hardest fighting tarpon I have ever seen. The fish changed directions on us 5 times in the first 3 minutes. It then ran into the deep water where it ran offshore against the incoming tide. This wasn't good enough for the tarpon. It came out of the channel and ran to the jetties on the north side. From there it went offshore and around the end of the north jetty. The tarpon made several long runs and finally gave us some half hearted jumps at the surface. It turned inshore and we followed it toward the beach. For those who are familiar with the area, it is a good distance from the tip of the north jetty to the third and fourth swim markers. The fish made it all that distance and ran inside of the swim markers before turning back offshore. It then made a powerful run toward the two anchor buoys. It was at this point that it found the line holding the south most anchor buoy and proceeded to cut us off. Needless to say, John was very disappointed after battling the fish for so long and such a long distance. We had time for one more drift, however, we didn't see any more action.
You've heard me say it before and I'll say it again, family fishing is fun. The Traassanchez family found out how much fun it can be. Daniel and Susan along with their daughters Samantha and Alexandra had only fished inshore for small fish up to this time. That all changed on their first trip offshore. We had very light wind with no current. We fished some deeper wrecks with the bottom rod and the downrigger. Samantha was successful in pulling up a very nice size amberjack. Alexandra caught the largest kingfish of the day. Mom and Dad caught bonito and added another kingfish. We had several fish get us back in the wreck no matter how hard the girls pulled on them. At the end of the day, they had plenty of fish for several meals and lots of smiles and memories.
Jerry Scala and his sons, Nick, TJ, and Luke had one whale of a time with trying to get a tarpon to the boat. Everything was going just fine with the first two fish we hooked and then the fish would make another jump and throw the hook. The third fish was a story unto itself. We watched a fish jump 40 feet behind the boat and not a single rod bent over. Moments later, the fish jumped again and the spinning outfit slammed down as the fish came tight and threw the hook. As I reeled the line in, it tangled with another outfit that we still had out. Before I could untangle the lines, that outfit got hit and we had a solid hook up. We opened the bail on the spinner and let it take line as we followed the big fish. We got the tangle back to us and I was able to clear the line. The tarpon ran toward the jetties then turned and ran south. All the time, it was moving into shallower water. All the boys took turns fighting the fish and even Dad took his turn. The 100 pound tarpon was as stubborn as they come and everyone was tired out before we released the fish.
Robert Blakely and Jason and Austin Wyrick started their trip off with some dolphin fishing. We found lots of scattered weed and no fish. Then a frigate bird was spotted. We followed the bird around for quite a while and we got our reward. Jason caught his first dolphin and we added two more fish that were following. Two more times, the frigate bird found fish and each time the fish were gone by the time we got into the area. A second frigate bird was found and this one did nothing but fly around looking. We ran back in and put out the downrigger and a couple of flatlines. The first downrigger bait got hit and the kingfish cut the line above the wire leader. The second bait down hooked up solid and Jason caught his first kingfish.
Shaun Hoskins and Lu Vines were back for a second trip. This time the weather was much more cooperative and we started with some offshore fishing. The first strike came on a flatline while slow trolling back out to deeper water. The fish was giving Shaun fits and we soon found out why. The blackfin tuna weighed in at 30.5 pounds later that evening when we got back to TNT Marine Center. The next strike also came slow trolling. It was a small dolphin and was released. We moved further south and set up again. The downrigger was getting constant action, however, we just couldn't keep the hook in the fish. This happened several times. Then a flatline got hit and it turned out to be a 29 pound kingfish. We then added another kingfish to the fish box that also hit a flatline. Before heading in to tarpon fish, we watched as numerous blackfin tuna exploded around our boat but did not find any of our baits. We had enough time left to do 4 drifts. We hooked and landed a tarpon on our first and third drifts to top off the evening.
Lewis Carroll and Benny Khoudari saw action on their tarpon trip during the daylight hours. Benny was the featured angler as he had never caught a tarpon before. That changed on our second drift. Benny found out that catching a tarpon involves a lot of winding and then some back breaking work once the fish settles down. His fish made it to the deep water and the fight got even harder. With persistence, the fish was finally released. On the next drift, the light was fading as we got later in the dusk period. Once again we hooked up and Benny was fighting his second tarpon. This fish was larger than the first one and fought even harder. Lewis spelled Benny for a while and the fish once again made it to the deep water. Lewis got the fish up to the boat side so Benny could get a closer look before we released the fish. That's how the evening ended going 2 for 2.
The half day trip with Michael Smith, Shaun Legacy, Adam Anderson, and Tony Song saw the group of friends catching several kingfish and bonito along with dolphin.
Michael Belfonti along with Maria and Joshua Hage wanted to stay in the calm waters of the Bay. Joshua was on his first fishing trip and wanted to catch anything. By the time the 4 hour trip was over, Joshua had caught and released 3 of the 6 barracuda we hooked up and also added a small kingfish.
Brothers Steve and Matt Todd were looking forward to their tarpon trip. The wind was blowing from various directions ranging from south to west northwest @ 8 – 15 knots. Before it got dark, we saw several fish rolling up ahead of the direction we were drifting in. Our first hookup came after dark just as Steve started to wind in his bait so we could reset another drift. Matt had never caught a tarpon before so he took over the rod and got right into the fight. The fish pulled plenty of line off the reel as we were in hot pursuit. Then the fish played down and dirty by hugging the bottom then running under the boat as we caught up to it. The tarpon then made several jumps and started gulping air about every couple of minutes. After each gulp, the fish got a burst of energy and Matt watched line melt off the reel. After all the pictures were taken that Steve wanted, the fish was released. By then, the wind had done an almost 180. We set up for that drift and after a couple of adjustments to our drift, Steve got his chance. The bow rod came to life and Steve got to work. We had some weather beginning to close in on us and we kept the pressure up on the tarpon. It responded by making strong runs and several beautiful jumps. We increased the drag and the fish just kept going. More drag and the fish acted like it didn't even faze him. Even more drag and now Steve was really starting to feel it as well. The tarpon finally came alongside for a few quick pictures and the 120 pound monster was released to fight again.
That brings me up to date once again. I'll be fishing a variety of trips over the next several days, so check back to see how we did.
In the meantime, give me a call or send me an email to schedule your trip to get on the great fishing that we are having off the coast of the Miami/Miami Beach and Key Biscayne.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters, Inc
305-965-9454
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
