04-26-2003, 06:08 AM
Take your pick, offshore or inshore, the action is great. Offshore, the dolphin have shown up as well as the blackfin tuna. There are still plenty of kingfish for those seeking them. Inshore, the tarpon action has been hard to beat for the most part.
For our Wednesday evening (4/23) tarpon trip, ENE/ESE winds @ 7-13 mph gave us a very pleasant drift. The action at Government Cut started during the dusk period and continued for every drift throughout the evening. Keeping a shrimp on the line was nearly impossible due to the bottom critters. This didn't matter though because all of our strikes from tarpon came on live crabs. The fish were in the 70-90 pound range and by the end of the trip, we were 3 for 5.
We continued to have nice sea conditions for our Thursday (4/24) morning trip. The ENE/E winds @ 10-14 mph gave us a moderate rate of drift. Michael Oshry from Hewett Harbor, NY wanted to catch some eating fish. We started just south of Haulover Inlet with the thoughts of kingfish. On the second drift, we caught an 8# king. The next drift we got a double strike with one of the two fish hooking up. By the way it was fighting, we weren't certain of what it was. After about 20 minutes Michael pulled a very nice 24.5# blackfin tuna to boatside where I gaffed the fish. For the last drift of the morning, I ran out to 400' and put out the baits. When we came in to 345', the 12# plug outfit hooked up and the chase was on. The bull dolphin dumped half of the spool on the Pflueger PFL66 reel spooled with 12# Cajun Red Lightnin' line. In the process, it made 10 tremendous greyhounding jumps. Back at Spinnaker Marina, the fish weighed 39.5 pounds. Dolphin, tuna, and kingfish was definitely on Michael's menu for dinner.
We were expecting to have some more great tarpon action on Thursday (4/24) evening's trip. The tarpon, however, had something else in mind. From the time we got to Government Cut until sunset, we saw 2 fish roll. After it got dark, they seemed to disappear. Must have taken the night off. Late in the evening, I went into the Bay in hopes of finding a few fish despite it being very late in the tide. The first spot was loaded with fish. We quickly caught one and then they got finicky. They would follow the bait and some rolled on it, but would not take it. I quickly ran to another spot were the tide was flowing a bit stronger. We hit paydirt and caught another one. That made us 2 for 2 for the evening and we were pleased with the results.
Michael Oshry was back on Friday (4/25) evening for some tarpon fishing. He brought along several outfits that he wanted to break in. I baited one with a shrimp and the other with a crab. A strong south wind @ 15-22 mph had us using a sea anchor to slow our drift down. Now normally, the fish eat fairly reliably during the dusk period. They are, however prone to being very unpredictable. We caught two fish on each of two drift about 30 minutes before the dusk period. After it got dark, we got another one. We had no bites during the dusk period. Michael then wanted to try for some in the Bay to see that method of fishing for them. Within minutes of anchoring up and putting out the baits, we caught and released a 40# tarpon. About 25 minutes later, we caught and released a 50# fish. That made us 5 for 5 for the evening. Two of the three fish caught at Government Cut ate crabs. The other fish and those caught in the Bay, ate shrimp.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
[signature]
For our Wednesday evening (4/23) tarpon trip, ENE/ESE winds @ 7-13 mph gave us a very pleasant drift. The action at Government Cut started during the dusk period and continued for every drift throughout the evening. Keeping a shrimp on the line was nearly impossible due to the bottom critters. This didn't matter though because all of our strikes from tarpon came on live crabs. The fish were in the 70-90 pound range and by the end of the trip, we were 3 for 5.
We continued to have nice sea conditions for our Thursday (4/24) morning trip. The ENE/E winds @ 10-14 mph gave us a moderate rate of drift. Michael Oshry from Hewett Harbor, NY wanted to catch some eating fish. We started just south of Haulover Inlet with the thoughts of kingfish. On the second drift, we caught an 8# king. The next drift we got a double strike with one of the two fish hooking up. By the way it was fighting, we weren't certain of what it was. After about 20 minutes Michael pulled a very nice 24.5# blackfin tuna to boatside where I gaffed the fish. For the last drift of the morning, I ran out to 400' and put out the baits. When we came in to 345', the 12# plug outfit hooked up and the chase was on. The bull dolphin dumped half of the spool on the Pflueger PFL66 reel spooled with 12# Cajun Red Lightnin' line. In the process, it made 10 tremendous greyhounding jumps. Back at Spinnaker Marina, the fish weighed 39.5 pounds. Dolphin, tuna, and kingfish was definitely on Michael's menu for dinner.
We were expecting to have some more great tarpon action on Thursday (4/24) evening's trip. The tarpon, however, had something else in mind. From the time we got to Government Cut until sunset, we saw 2 fish roll. After it got dark, they seemed to disappear. Must have taken the night off. Late in the evening, I went into the Bay in hopes of finding a few fish despite it being very late in the tide. The first spot was loaded with fish. We quickly caught one and then they got finicky. They would follow the bait and some rolled on it, but would not take it. I quickly ran to another spot were the tide was flowing a bit stronger. We hit paydirt and caught another one. That made us 2 for 2 for the evening and we were pleased with the results.
Michael Oshry was back on Friday (4/25) evening for some tarpon fishing. He brought along several outfits that he wanted to break in. I baited one with a shrimp and the other with a crab. A strong south wind @ 15-22 mph had us using a sea anchor to slow our drift down. Now normally, the fish eat fairly reliably during the dusk period. They are, however prone to being very unpredictable. We caught two fish on each of two drift about 30 minutes before the dusk period. After it got dark, we got another one. We had no bites during the dusk period. Michael then wanted to try for some in the Bay to see that method of fishing for them. Within minutes of anchoring up and putting out the baits, we caught and released a 40# tarpon. About 25 minutes later, we caught and released a 50# fish. That made us 5 for 5 for the evening. Two of the three fish caught at Government Cut ate crabs. The other fish and those caught in the Bay, ate shrimp.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
[signature]