Offshore and Inshore Action Off Miami, FL

[knotnancy 10]

Let’s start with the offshore action. After a giant surge in sailfishing that had anyone who could put a livebait in the water catching numerous sails, the action has settle back to moreof what normally takes place in January. How much action you’ll see on any given day depends on the wind andcurrent conditions as well as what part of the coastline you’re fishing. Be prepared to make a move should the actionheat up somewhere other than where you’re fishing. A good run of kingfish had everyone lickingtheir chops as it was like numerous years ago when you got the kings chummed upand the action was fast and furious. Throw in some mutton and grouper action to round things out. Just remember that grouper season is closedso you’ll have to release these tasty fish.<o:p></o:p>

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Inshore, the tarpon action has run the gamut from cold to hot. A few of the cold fronts have played havocwith the water temperature. If youfished on any of those night, the tarpon were hard to find if not almostimpossible. When the water temperaturewarmed back up, the tarpon were back in their usual locations in huge numbersand feeding very well. The fish havebeen averaging in the 30 – 80 pound range. The shrimp have been running at Government Cut, however, I have not yetseen any shrimp action up at Haulover.<o:p></o:p>

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Brad Coren’s dad, Stewart made a visit to South Florida and of coursethey had to get in a day of fishing together. A few throws of the castnet had plenty of live pilchards in thelivewell. We anchored up in 115’ andstarted chumming. It didn’t take longbefore the baits were getting hit as fast as we could put them in thewater. The kingfish bite was on. We kept our limit, threw back some, andmissed the hook up on several. We movedto try for some different species. Thefirst move gave us a bonito on the downrigger in 190’. The last move of the morning saw action onthe bottom rod with an amberjack.<o:p></o:p>

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Steve Schuman and Steve Drazin caught tarpon and mangrove snapper atGovernment Cut. As soon as the tideturned, the tarpon disappeared.<o:p></o:p>

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Alexander and Gabi Boesl also saw tarpon action at GovernmentCut. Alexander was amazed at how hardand for how long the tarpon could fight. Just when he thought the battle was coming to an end, the tarpon wouldtake off on another attempt to free itself.<o:p></o:p>

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Jerry Halsten’s 17 year old son Olin had always dreamed of catching atarpon. That dream became a reality ontheir evening tarpon trip. The 16 – 20 knotwind from the NNW/NNE had the channel at Government Cut a bit on the sloppyside. The fish didn’t mind and about 2minutes after putting the first bait out, neither did Olin or Jerry. Olin was in to his first dream tarpon. He did an outstanding job of fighting thefish and soon had it along side for a DNA sample before being released. The action continued with Jerry catching amangrove snapper, then a tarpon. Olin’sturned yielded the largest tarpon (80 pounds) of the evening and Jerry added anothervery large mangrove snapper. It’s alwaysamazing how smooth the waters seem to become when fighting a fish.<o:p></o:p>

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This year I am continuing to take DNA samples of tarpon for the TarponGenetics Program http://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/tarpon/genetics/recapture-study During 2011, I was one of the top ten personsto take DNA samples. I will continue to participate in this research program asthe tarpon action heats up in 2012. Iencourage everyone who fishes for tarpon to get a few of the sampling kits. Here’s another link where you can get all theinformation you’ll need about the program http://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/tarpon/genetics<o:p></o:p>

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Give me a call or send me an email to schedule your trip. It’s that easy to get in on the great action weexperience every winter and spring off the South Florida (Miami, Miami Beach,Key Biscayne) coast.<o:p></o:p>

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Captain Dave Kostyo<o:p></o:p>

Knot Nancy FishingCharters, Inc<o:p></o:p>

305-965-9454<o:p></o:p>

www.knotnancy.com<o:p></o:p>

nkostyo@bellsouth.net