03-14-2002, 04:31 AM
At some point during the tarpon season, the fish go into the mode of showing themselves in abundant numbers during the daylight hours and then when it gets dark they high tail out of the area to parts unknown. That is exactly the mode they have been in since Monday. On that day/evening we had winds of E @ 18. On our first drift during the daylight, we hooked a fish that ran, made a jump, ran again, made another jump, and as it began to run again, the hook pulled. Then, no more marking fish, rolling fish, or strikes. When conditions got right to fish the Bay, we went inside and had to search hard to find some fish. The first tarpon we hooked cut us off on an obstruction. The next threw the hook on its fourth jump and the final fish of the evening got away on its first jump. Definitely a very frustrating evening. We hope we got the hook throws out of our system for a long time to come. Wednesday evening had us fishing in SW winds with calm water. Just like Monday, the fish were marking and rolling all over. Our first drift produced a strike and thrown hook. Then the tarpon disappeared when it got dark. A couple of drifts later a large ladyfish was hooked and landed. How long the tarpon will continue in this mode of disappearing after dark is anyone's guess. We can only hope it doesn't last too long.<br><br>Captain Dave Kostyo<br>Knot Nancy Fishing Charters<br>305 620-5896 Charter<br>305 732-2628 Beeper<br>www.rnfl.com/knotnancy<br>nkostyo@bellsouth.net<br><br>