07-12-2004, 11:50 AM
Saturday (7/10) fishing out of Haulover Inlet for dolphin left a lot to be desired. At 6.5 miles we found scattered grass that we worked for several passes up and down the line. Next, we found a large board that held only tripletail. Dropping a jig down deep several times produced no strikes nor did it raise any fish from the depths. Finally, as we slow trolled live pilchards toward another floating object, we got our reward. There weren't many, however, we put three schoolies in the 4-5 pound range in the box. Continued working of the area produced nothing.
Moving south, we came upon several frigate birds and a dozen terns working the surface. The frigates moved on and we continued to follow the terns and watch them diving on busting fish. Trolling did not give us any strikes. A live bait tossed toward the busting fish finally got us a hook up. The fish turned out to be a rainbow runner. Working the birds for about 15 more minutes produced nothing. Continuing south and then offshore showed us a very clean ocean. Time to try the reef.
Slow trolling baits from 450 in to 220 was uneventful. Setting up a drift, a bait was put down 80' on the downrigger. At 210', the downrigger rod popped and didn't hook up. At 190', the downrigger popped again and the fight was on. Everything was going OK until the fish made a second run. That's when the hook pulled. At 120' we got one good jump from a barracuda before it bit through the leader. That's how the morning ended.
Sunday (7/11) the dolphin fishing made a drastic turn around. Once again fishing out of Haulover, we found scattered grass lines at 6.5 miles. The juniors went out and within minutes the red/black produced an 8# bull. Putting out live baits produced 3 more fish of equal size. We put 2 of the 3 in the box and pulled the hook on the third. At 7.5 miles, both the red/black and yellow/green juniors produced dolphin. This time the fish were of the peanut variety and we kept one and released numerous others. Moving on, the next group of fish was found at 19.2 miles out. It was strictly catch and release at this point since my group had all the fish they wanted with the first 4 fish we caught. The action was fast and furious and when it slowed down, it was time to run back in and finish the trip on the reef. We made one stop while running in when we found a flock of birds working over what turned out to be the smallest dolphin we saw all morning. Two fish were caught and released and we continued running in to the Sea Buoy. Sum total of the dolphin catch was 4 fish kept and 21 released.
Two drifts from 210' in to 140' gave us 1 miss and 1 pulled hook on the downrigger 80' down, a bonito and triggerfish on the bottom rod, and two chopped off baits on the flat lines. All the action took place between 175 to 205 feet.
As you can see, the action can be great one day and turned off the next. For the most part, all of our action has been taking place between 6.5 and 10 miles out with one exception. The fish we caught at 19.2 miles were in an open clean ocean. There is still time to get in on the dolphin action, so give me a call and lets schedule a trip to get in on the action.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
[signature]
Moving south, we came upon several frigate birds and a dozen terns working the surface. The frigates moved on and we continued to follow the terns and watch them diving on busting fish. Trolling did not give us any strikes. A live bait tossed toward the busting fish finally got us a hook up. The fish turned out to be a rainbow runner. Working the birds for about 15 more minutes produced nothing. Continuing south and then offshore showed us a very clean ocean. Time to try the reef.
Slow trolling baits from 450 in to 220 was uneventful. Setting up a drift, a bait was put down 80' on the downrigger. At 210', the downrigger rod popped and didn't hook up. At 190', the downrigger popped again and the fight was on. Everything was going OK until the fish made a second run. That's when the hook pulled. At 120' we got one good jump from a barracuda before it bit through the leader. That's how the morning ended.
Sunday (7/11) the dolphin fishing made a drastic turn around. Once again fishing out of Haulover, we found scattered grass lines at 6.5 miles. The juniors went out and within minutes the red/black produced an 8# bull. Putting out live baits produced 3 more fish of equal size. We put 2 of the 3 in the box and pulled the hook on the third. At 7.5 miles, both the red/black and yellow/green juniors produced dolphin. This time the fish were of the peanut variety and we kept one and released numerous others. Moving on, the next group of fish was found at 19.2 miles out. It was strictly catch and release at this point since my group had all the fish they wanted with the first 4 fish we caught. The action was fast and furious and when it slowed down, it was time to run back in and finish the trip on the reef. We made one stop while running in when we found a flock of birds working over what turned out to be the smallest dolphin we saw all morning. Two fish were caught and released and we continued running in to the Sea Buoy. Sum total of the dolphin catch was 4 fish kept and 21 released.
Two drifts from 210' in to 140' gave us 1 miss and 1 pulled hook on the downrigger 80' down, a bonito and triggerfish on the bottom rod, and two chopped off baits on the flat lines. All the action took place between 175 to 205 feet.
As you can see, the action can be great one day and turned off the next. For the most part, all of our action has been taking place between 6.5 and 10 miles out with one exception. The fish we caught at 19.2 miles were in an open clean ocean. There is still time to get in on the dolphin action, so give me a call and lets schedule a trip to get in on the action.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
[signature]