10-18-2004, 02:22 PM
Cooler air temperatures in the morning, bait in the Bay, and some type of action on almost every drift. Sounds like Fall fishing to me, and that's exactly what it is.
A couple of throws with the castnet and we were on our way with a livewell full of pilchards. Eileen Clark and Faye Naylor have been looking forward to this trip ever since Hurricane Charley paid their section of Florida a visit on the day before we were suppose to fish. E/ENE wind @ 10 - 13 MPH gave us pleasant sea conditions. The first color change edge we found was in 200' just north of Haulover Inlet. Within minutes, the downrigger set at 60' produced a small kingfish. So small, that it was less than 24 inches and we released it. Don't forget that the minimum size to keep a kingfish is 24 inches from the lower jaw to the fork of the tail. Another drift and another downrigger strike. This time it was a bonito that also got released. Moving out to 300' produced some surface action in the form of skipjack tuna.
While doing seminars throughout the South Florida area, one of the things I talk about is reading and paying attention to the conditions and fishing accordingly. This item came into play while moving out to set up our third drift. The plan was to start in 300'. It got changed drastically when I spotted a frigate bird circling and then diving about a 1/2 mile to the NE of us. As we arrived in the area, a scoop of pilchards was thrown over and baits were slow trolled. The frigate bird moved off and soon joined another inshore of us. Changing techniques again, baits were rehooked for drifting, the downrigger set, and the sea anchor deployed. Faye decided to take a nap. Within minutes, both flat lines were hooked up to dolphin, the frigate birds were diving off our stern, and Faye's nap was cut way short. The action started in 425' and continued until we got to 198'. After putting 7 fish in the box, we started releasing the rest. By this time, we were in the middle of the Sunny Isles area. Moving back out to 400', we set up again for the last drift of the morning. Eileen told Faye to take a nap again. Darned if it didn't work again. Both flat lines got hit and we landed 1 out of 2 skipjack tuna in 325'. Faye went back to her nap and after I checked the bow flat line, I made a comment about it was time for the downrigger to produce again. The words were barely out of my mouth when Eileen yelled "DOWNRIGGER." We pulled the hook on that fish and reset the bait. At 225', the downrigger went off again and Faye fought a dolphin, while we watched our chummers being busted off the bow. The stern flat line took off and Eileen pounced on it. Several more fish were hooked and released. Now the talk was the 100' pattern. As we approached 125', as if on queue, we hooked and released two more dolphin. And that's how the morning ended. The action was great and so was the variety of kingfish, bonito, 2 skipjack tuna, 7 dolphin kept, 7 dolphin released, several missed hook ups, and a couple of pulled hooks.
Yes, that's Fall fishing. If you'd like to get in on this kind of action, give me a call and let's go catch some fish. Who knows what species of fish the next strike might produce.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
[signature]
A couple of throws with the castnet and we were on our way with a livewell full of pilchards. Eileen Clark and Faye Naylor have been looking forward to this trip ever since Hurricane Charley paid their section of Florida a visit on the day before we were suppose to fish. E/ENE wind @ 10 - 13 MPH gave us pleasant sea conditions. The first color change edge we found was in 200' just north of Haulover Inlet. Within minutes, the downrigger set at 60' produced a small kingfish. So small, that it was less than 24 inches and we released it. Don't forget that the minimum size to keep a kingfish is 24 inches from the lower jaw to the fork of the tail. Another drift and another downrigger strike. This time it was a bonito that also got released. Moving out to 300' produced some surface action in the form of skipjack tuna.
While doing seminars throughout the South Florida area, one of the things I talk about is reading and paying attention to the conditions and fishing accordingly. This item came into play while moving out to set up our third drift. The plan was to start in 300'. It got changed drastically when I spotted a frigate bird circling and then diving about a 1/2 mile to the NE of us. As we arrived in the area, a scoop of pilchards was thrown over and baits were slow trolled. The frigate bird moved off and soon joined another inshore of us. Changing techniques again, baits were rehooked for drifting, the downrigger set, and the sea anchor deployed. Faye decided to take a nap. Within minutes, both flat lines were hooked up to dolphin, the frigate birds were diving off our stern, and Faye's nap was cut way short. The action started in 425' and continued until we got to 198'. After putting 7 fish in the box, we started releasing the rest. By this time, we were in the middle of the Sunny Isles area. Moving back out to 400', we set up again for the last drift of the morning. Eileen told Faye to take a nap again. Darned if it didn't work again. Both flat lines got hit and we landed 1 out of 2 skipjack tuna in 325'. Faye went back to her nap and after I checked the bow flat line, I made a comment about it was time for the downrigger to produce again. The words were barely out of my mouth when Eileen yelled "DOWNRIGGER." We pulled the hook on that fish and reset the bait. At 225', the downrigger went off again and Faye fought a dolphin, while we watched our chummers being busted off the bow. The stern flat line took off and Eileen pounced on it. Several more fish were hooked and released. Now the talk was the 100' pattern. As we approached 125', as if on queue, we hooked and released two more dolphin. And that's how the morning ended. The action was great and so was the variety of kingfish, bonito, 2 skipjack tuna, 7 dolphin kept, 7 dolphin released, several missed hook ups, and a couple of pulled hooks.
Yes, that's Fall fishing. If you'd like to get in on this kind of action, give me a call and let's go catch some fish. Who knows what species of fish the next strike might produce.
Captain Dave Kostyo
Knot Nancy Fishing Charters
305 620-5896 Charter
305 732-2628 Beeper
305 965-9454 Cell
www.knotnancy.com
nkostyo@bellsouth.net
[signature]