05-25-2006, 11:35 PM
Time for a quick report to bring you up to date and then it's off to go fishing again for me. Dolphin offshore have been quite reliable. One day it's run out 9 - 12 miles to find them, on another day they are in 800 feet, and on yet another day they'll be found on the blue/green edge. During the week, if you find something large floating out in the blue, odds are good that it will be holding dolphin and you'll have it pretty much to yourself. On the weekend unless you are one of the first couple of boats to find something, then odds are that it will have been picked clean by the time you get to it. None the less, dolphin fishing is good.
Inshore, tarpon are still in high gear at Government Cut and in the Bay. Live crabs fished through the dusk period and after dark will usually get you several shots at the silver king. The fish have been in the 60 pound and up class. In the Bay, the fish are in the 20 - 50 pound class.
Friday (5/19) evening, the Karim family (Shahid, Melinda, Asha, and Paul) had tarpon on their minds as the goal. The tarpon had other thoughts on their mind. There were a few fish in the area, however, not like they had been. It seems like they were taking the night off. We worked the south and north sides of Government Cut and finally hooked a fish on the south side. The tarpon dumped a lot of line on its first run in toward Fisher Island. We were in hot pursuit, but not fast enough. The fish found an obstruction on the bottom and dragged the line through it. You don't have to guess that the main line parted and the fish won its freedom. That was our only shot for the evening so on this evening the tarpon won.
Saturday (5/20) morning was a catch our own bait and go dolphin fishing trip. Matt and Sharon Whitney and their friends Gary and Pam Scharf enjoy catching bait almost as much as the fishing offshore. We found the pilchards in Government Cut and the contest was on. During the competition, we caught plenty of bait and we headed offshore. The report from Larry and Bruce on Lady Lo was there was a very good weedline 12.5 miles out from Haulover. Before we got on that line, we all spotted two frigate birds working the surface and quickly had 3 fish in the box. As we moved down the weedline, the terns put us on a school of dolphin and everyone was hooked up with lots of fish swimming around the boat. The fish ate live pilchards and a 1/4 ounce Kaplan jig. After recovering from the first dolphin blitz, we continued moving south and found the terns again working over fish and got into the dolphin again. Everyone had a blast catching the fish and the whole experience was captured on video and digital cameras. Total for the 3/4 day trip was 30 fish caught, 6 released, and 24 kept for the fish fry. Back at Spinnaker Marina, we got an assembly line going for the cleaning process and it went very smoothly and quickly with everyone doing their part.
Saturday (5/20) evening the tarpon turned back on. Marc Thorne and his friend Rob were out to test their skills with the silver king. On the first drift, we had our baits stolen when the rod tips quivered just a bit. The next drift, we got a solid hook up and Marc was fast into his first tarpon. The fish made its way to the main channel and the safety of the deep water. Marc had to take some good natured ribbing from his friend Rob about working up a sweat and sitting down on the job. Marc got the last zinger in when he caught and released his first tarpon. Now it was Rob's turn. The next fish came unhooked with the fish's first jump. Then we got the solid hook up. While winding in the other line, it got wrapped around Rob's line several times and it took a bit of time to figure out which way to unravel it. Meanwhile, Rob's tarpon was none to happy and dumped about 1/2 the line off the reel before we could start chasing the fish down. With that amount of line out and the fish heading south to what I call the mountain area, the tarpon gained the advantage and once again we got cut off on an obstruction on the bottom. We got no more bites on the south side, so I went to the north side. The first drift over there had Rob hooked up again. Everything was going fine until the fish made its third jump. Hook thrown and a frustrated Rob. We moved to another area on the north side and our first drift there gave Rob a solid hook up and another chance. This time was the charm and we got the catch and release. Total for the evening was 2 for 5.
Sunday (5/21) morning Patsy Rubenstein, her boyfriend Dale and their friends Dwany and Alex were out for a 1/2 day of dolphin fishing. We bought bait and headed offshore. At 9.5 miles, we found some heavy scattered grass. Slow trolling pilchards produced no action and very shortly, a frigate bird was spotted to our north. As we were headed in that direction, we found another frigate bird and followed it for a while with no results. Moving back offshore a bit, the terns put us on some fish. Trolling the 1/4 ounce Kaplan jig to keep up with the birds got us our first action and a few fish around the boat. We put 4 fish in the box before the others disappeared. We caught another fish trolling the jig and this time it was by itself. We ran back south and found some heavier concentrations of grass but no fish. Time to look out a bit further. We found a large buoy with lots of rope attached to it and dropped a 4 ounce jig down deep. We hooked something and hoped it would be a wahoo. We never found out what it was as the jig pulled when the fish was half way in. Out to 15.5 miles and nothing but a very clean ocean. Back in to find the first grassy area and we worked it hard with numerous other boats and found no other fish. The morning ended with 5 fish and a good taste of dolphin filets for both couples.
Monday (5/22) evening turned out to be one whale of a tarpon night both on the outside and in the Bay. Jim Lefevre picked this evening based on the tides so we could fish both areas. A very light wind that ranged from the ENE to ESE had us drifting very slowly. The only action on the south side was the rod twitch and stolen bait. The evening really got started on the north side. We made four drifts, had action on all four drifts and wound up going 2 for 3 before heading in to try our Bay spots. We only had to go to one spot. The first tarpon threw the hook on its second jump and this was after it slammed into a major obstruction. The next two fish cooperated more and we caught and released them, but not before one of those fish jumped and slammed into the bow of the boat. They've got to have some hard heads as it didn't seem to phase either fish. Total for the evening was 4 for 6 tarpon.
Wednesday (5/24) afternoon, George Morat wanted to catch a few dolphin for dinner. We ran into two schools of herring while running south to the range marker at Government Cut. We caught bait from each of the schools and finished off bait fishing at the bent range marker. Offshore we went and found a floating 55 gallon drum 10.1 miles out from the Miami Sea Buoy. We found the mother load of dolphin and had a blast catching fish in the 4 - 10 pound class. Most of the fish were caught by chunking up the herring and by casting the 1/4 ounce Kaplan jig. A few were caught with the whole live herring. We tried dropping the 4 ounce jig down deep in hopes of attracting a wahoo that might be lurking beneath the school of dolphin. We didn't get any wahoo action, but were happy with the dolphin. We caught our limit and released two fish. George got his dolphin dinner, Nancy got some fresh dolphin fillets, and several people at Spinnaker Marina are eating fresh dolphin this evening. Thanks George!!
That's it, we're up to date again. I'll be out dolphin fishing again in the morning and have several more tarpon trips before the end of the month. Call or email to book your trip and get in on the action.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
[signature]
Inshore, tarpon are still in high gear at Government Cut and in the Bay. Live crabs fished through the dusk period and after dark will usually get you several shots at the silver king. The fish have been in the 60 pound and up class. In the Bay, the fish are in the 20 - 50 pound class.
Friday (5/19) evening, the Karim family (Shahid, Melinda, Asha, and Paul) had tarpon on their minds as the goal. The tarpon had other thoughts on their mind. There were a few fish in the area, however, not like they had been. It seems like they were taking the night off. We worked the south and north sides of Government Cut and finally hooked a fish on the south side. The tarpon dumped a lot of line on its first run in toward Fisher Island. We were in hot pursuit, but not fast enough. The fish found an obstruction on the bottom and dragged the line through it. You don't have to guess that the main line parted and the fish won its freedom. That was our only shot for the evening so on this evening the tarpon won.
Saturday (5/20) morning was a catch our own bait and go dolphin fishing trip. Matt and Sharon Whitney and their friends Gary and Pam Scharf enjoy catching bait almost as much as the fishing offshore. We found the pilchards in Government Cut and the contest was on. During the competition, we caught plenty of bait and we headed offshore. The report from Larry and Bruce on Lady Lo was there was a very good weedline 12.5 miles out from Haulover. Before we got on that line, we all spotted two frigate birds working the surface and quickly had 3 fish in the box. As we moved down the weedline, the terns put us on a school of dolphin and everyone was hooked up with lots of fish swimming around the boat. The fish ate live pilchards and a 1/4 ounce Kaplan jig. After recovering from the first dolphin blitz, we continued moving south and found the terns again working over fish and got into the dolphin again. Everyone had a blast catching the fish and the whole experience was captured on video and digital cameras. Total for the 3/4 day trip was 30 fish caught, 6 released, and 24 kept for the fish fry. Back at Spinnaker Marina, we got an assembly line going for the cleaning process and it went very smoothly and quickly with everyone doing their part.
Saturday (5/20) evening the tarpon turned back on. Marc Thorne and his friend Rob were out to test their skills with the silver king. On the first drift, we had our baits stolen when the rod tips quivered just a bit. The next drift, we got a solid hook up and Marc was fast into his first tarpon. The fish made its way to the main channel and the safety of the deep water. Marc had to take some good natured ribbing from his friend Rob about working up a sweat and sitting down on the job. Marc got the last zinger in when he caught and released his first tarpon. Now it was Rob's turn. The next fish came unhooked with the fish's first jump. Then we got the solid hook up. While winding in the other line, it got wrapped around Rob's line several times and it took a bit of time to figure out which way to unravel it. Meanwhile, Rob's tarpon was none to happy and dumped about 1/2 the line off the reel before we could start chasing the fish down. With that amount of line out and the fish heading south to what I call the mountain area, the tarpon gained the advantage and once again we got cut off on an obstruction on the bottom. We got no more bites on the south side, so I went to the north side. The first drift over there had Rob hooked up again. Everything was going fine until the fish made its third jump. Hook thrown and a frustrated Rob. We moved to another area on the north side and our first drift there gave Rob a solid hook up and another chance. This time was the charm and we got the catch and release. Total for the evening was 2 for 5.
Sunday (5/21) morning Patsy Rubenstein, her boyfriend Dale and their friends Dwany and Alex were out for a 1/2 day of dolphin fishing. We bought bait and headed offshore. At 9.5 miles, we found some heavy scattered grass. Slow trolling pilchards produced no action and very shortly, a frigate bird was spotted to our north. As we were headed in that direction, we found another frigate bird and followed it for a while with no results. Moving back offshore a bit, the terns put us on some fish. Trolling the 1/4 ounce Kaplan jig to keep up with the birds got us our first action and a few fish around the boat. We put 4 fish in the box before the others disappeared. We caught another fish trolling the jig and this time it was by itself. We ran back south and found some heavier concentrations of grass but no fish. Time to look out a bit further. We found a large buoy with lots of rope attached to it and dropped a 4 ounce jig down deep. We hooked something and hoped it would be a wahoo. We never found out what it was as the jig pulled when the fish was half way in. Out to 15.5 miles and nothing but a very clean ocean. Back in to find the first grassy area and we worked it hard with numerous other boats and found no other fish. The morning ended with 5 fish and a good taste of dolphin filets for both couples.
Monday (5/22) evening turned out to be one whale of a tarpon night both on the outside and in the Bay. Jim Lefevre picked this evening based on the tides so we could fish both areas. A very light wind that ranged from the ENE to ESE had us drifting very slowly. The only action on the south side was the rod twitch and stolen bait. The evening really got started on the north side. We made four drifts, had action on all four drifts and wound up going 2 for 3 before heading in to try our Bay spots. We only had to go to one spot. The first tarpon threw the hook on its second jump and this was after it slammed into a major obstruction. The next two fish cooperated more and we caught and released them, but not before one of those fish jumped and slammed into the bow of the boat. They've got to have some hard heads as it didn't seem to phase either fish. Total for the evening was 4 for 6 tarpon.
Wednesday (5/24) afternoon, George Morat wanted to catch a few dolphin for dinner. We ran into two schools of herring while running south to the range marker at Government Cut. We caught bait from each of the schools and finished off bait fishing at the bent range marker. Offshore we went and found a floating 55 gallon drum 10.1 miles out from the Miami Sea Buoy. We found the mother load of dolphin and had a blast catching fish in the 4 - 10 pound class. Most of the fish were caught by chunking up the herring and by casting the 1/4 ounce Kaplan jig. A few were caught with the whole live herring. We tried dropping the 4 ounce jig down deep in hopes of attracting a wahoo that might be lurking beneath the school of dolphin. We didn't get any wahoo action, but were happy with the dolphin. We caught our limit and released two fish. George got his dolphin dinner, Nancy got some fresh dolphin fillets, and several people at Spinnaker Marina are eating fresh dolphin this evening. Thanks George!!
That's it, we're up to date again. I'll be out dolphin fishing again in the morning and have several more tarpon trips before the end of the month. Call or email to book your trip and get in on the action.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
[signature]