12-25-2005, 11:34 PM
Happy Holidays everyone. Another year is about to come to an end and we're looking forward to a fresh new one. Before we send 2005 out the door, we've
got another full week of fishing both offshore and evenings for tarpon.
Tarpon fishing at Haulover Inlet has been excellent. There have been a few shrimp in the water and when you find them, you'll find the fish. Mixed in the with tarpon are plenty of large ladyfish and winter time bluefish.
Offshore, we've been battling mostly westerly type winds and either south or no current. The sailfishing has been running hot and cold. Kingfishing has
been the same. There have been enough dolphin around to make things interesting.
Let's get to the daily action report. Wednesday (12/21) was an afternoon/evening trip. Mark Rubert, his son Sam, and son-in-law Casey were spending some quality time together doing what they like to do best. That is "FISH". Sam started things off with a sailfish that was caught on the kite. Next it was Casey with a small shark. Advance forward to the evening and that's when the action kicked into high gear. We went 4 for 4 on tarpon in the 50 - 60 pound class and added 4 ladyfish while waiting for those tarpon bites.
Thursday evening (12/22), Mark was back for more tarpon action. This time he was with his brother-in-law John, and John's son David. Just after dark, the first tarpon ate and 15 year old David was hooked up with a not so happy 80 pound tarpon. It was a see saw battle all the way. We got the catch and David wanted a closer look at the fish. After 40 minutes, the tarpon had beat him up pretty good and he handed the rod to his Dad for another 5 minutes before we released the fish. Next, it was John's turn and he did battle with a nice 60 pound tarpon. By the next drift, David had recovered and was ready for another fight. We got a bonus, when both rods got hit and we were into a double header. Mark had one fish and David the other. Both fish got landed and released and we finished the evening going 4 for 4 again.
Friday (12/23) was an afternoon/evening trip with Bruce and Karon Nunes, their friend Bill and his son Billy. The afternoon portion of the trip was a bit disappointing. We watched a sailfish chase the short kite bait for a little while and then just disappear. A flat line bait got hit and stripped off the hook and despite all the live chumming I was doing, we had no other action. Tarpon fishing more than made up for the slow afternoon of offshore fishing. Everyone got to fight and release a tarpon. They were in the 50 - 60 pound class. Between the tarpon fights, we caught 4 ladyfish and 2 bluefish. The tarpon were spread out from the Inlet to the almost far south end of the tarpon hole.
Shari Kwitney purchased a gift certificate as a birthday present for her husband, Leon. We did that trip on Saturday (12/24) morning. Leon wanted to learn more about how and where to fish in the Government To Haulover area both inshore and offshore. We started with inshore locations and worked our way south to catching bait at Government. Offshore we went and the bite was on for kingfish just north of the Cuban Hole. The flatlines never got touched. Every hit was on the downrigger. Leon and his daughters boyfriend, Grant barely had a moments rest between bites. The fish were in the 75 - 160 foot range. We kept 2 kings and released 2 undersized ones before we moved north to learn more locations to fish. Leon was not concerned with how many fish we caught, he wanted to learn as much as he could during our trip. At the third location, we put out some baits for about 15 minutes before the sea conditions got the best of Grant. One of the deep baits got cut off behind the hook and with Grant not feeling very good, we headed in to calmer water. Back at the dock, we discussed knot tying, hooks, and building leaders.
Saturday evening (12/24), I had a tarpon trip with Tim Burrel and his brother Mark. We had mostly light south wind and it got calmer as the evening progressed. The tarpon action slowed some this evening and it was late in the trip before we got our first solid hit. The tarpon came up jumping almost immediately and threw the hook. This got everyone's enthusiasm up again and we reset over the area. It took several more minutes, however, we got the hit we wanted and Mark did a splendid job of fighting his 80 pound tarpon. That made us 1 for 2 and that's the way the evening ended.
I'll be out everyday next week. I'll do my best to try and put up a report somewhere about mid week. January is just around the corner and the fishing will only get better. The January days are beginning to fill in, so don't get left out. Call and book your trip to get in on the action.
See you out there.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
[signature]
got another full week of fishing both offshore and evenings for tarpon.
Tarpon fishing at Haulover Inlet has been excellent. There have been a few shrimp in the water and when you find them, you'll find the fish. Mixed in the with tarpon are plenty of large ladyfish and winter time bluefish.
Offshore, we've been battling mostly westerly type winds and either south or no current. The sailfishing has been running hot and cold. Kingfishing has
been the same. There have been enough dolphin around to make things interesting.
Let's get to the daily action report. Wednesday (12/21) was an afternoon/evening trip. Mark Rubert, his son Sam, and son-in-law Casey were spending some quality time together doing what they like to do best. That is "FISH". Sam started things off with a sailfish that was caught on the kite. Next it was Casey with a small shark. Advance forward to the evening and that's when the action kicked into high gear. We went 4 for 4 on tarpon in the 50 - 60 pound class and added 4 ladyfish while waiting for those tarpon bites.
Thursday evening (12/22), Mark was back for more tarpon action. This time he was with his brother-in-law John, and John's son David. Just after dark, the first tarpon ate and 15 year old David was hooked up with a not so happy 80 pound tarpon. It was a see saw battle all the way. We got the catch and David wanted a closer look at the fish. After 40 minutes, the tarpon had beat him up pretty good and he handed the rod to his Dad for another 5 minutes before we released the fish. Next, it was John's turn and he did battle with a nice 60 pound tarpon. By the next drift, David had recovered and was ready for another fight. We got a bonus, when both rods got hit and we were into a double header. Mark had one fish and David the other. Both fish got landed and released and we finished the evening going 4 for 4 again.
Friday (12/23) was an afternoon/evening trip with Bruce and Karon Nunes, their friend Bill and his son Billy. The afternoon portion of the trip was a bit disappointing. We watched a sailfish chase the short kite bait for a little while and then just disappear. A flat line bait got hit and stripped off the hook and despite all the live chumming I was doing, we had no other action. Tarpon fishing more than made up for the slow afternoon of offshore fishing. Everyone got to fight and release a tarpon. They were in the 50 - 60 pound class. Between the tarpon fights, we caught 4 ladyfish and 2 bluefish. The tarpon were spread out from the Inlet to the almost far south end of the tarpon hole.
Shari Kwitney purchased a gift certificate as a birthday present for her husband, Leon. We did that trip on Saturday (12/24) morning. Leon wanted to learn more about how and where to fish in the Government To Haulover area both inshore and offshore. We started with inshore locations and worked our way south to catching bait at Government. Offshore we went and the bite was on for kingfish just north of the Cuban Hole. The flatlines never got touched. Every hit was on the downrigger. Leon and his daughters boyfriend, Grant barely had a moments rest between bites. The fish were in the 75 - 160 foot range. We kept 2 kings and released 2 undersized ones before we moved north to learn more locations to fish. Leon was not concerned with how many fish we caught, he wanted to learn as much as he could during our trip. At the third location, we put out some baits for about 15 minutes before the sea conditions got the best of Grant. One of the deep baits got cut off behind the hook and with Grant not feeling very good, we headed in to calmer water. Back at the dock, we discussed knot tying, hooks, and building leaders.
Saturday evening (12/24), I had a tarpon trip with Tim Burrel and his brother Mark. We had mostly light south wind and it got calmer as the evening progressed. The tarpon action slowed some this evening and it was late in the trip before we got our first solid hit. The tarpon came up jumping almost immediately and threw the hook. This got everyone's enthusiasm up again and we reset over the area. It took several more minutes, however, we got the hit we wanted and Mark did a splendid job of fighting his 80 pound tarpon. That made us 1 for 2 and that's the way the evening ended.
I'll be out everyday next week. I'll do my best to try and put up a report somewhere about mid week. January is just around the corner and the fishing will only get better. The January days are beginning to fill in, so don't get left out. Call and book your trip to get in on the action.
See you out there.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
[signature]