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Offshore there continues to be a mixed bag of fish. Kingfish have been running hot and cold. Sailfish please many anglers when there is north current. Bonito tire out many arms. Mutton snapper is a great table fare for those who work the various wrecks. Amberjack will definitely test your stamina and strength. Dolphin have made their springtime appearance. Blackfin tuna fishing has been happening most of the winter with smaller fish. They are now beginning to get bigger.

Inshore, the shrimp have been making some mild runs and that makes for some excellent tarpon fishing. The fish have ranged in size from 40 – 140 pounds.

Kip Kerr, Jeff Beckham, and Rick Perry caught bonito, snook, and tarpon at Government Cut and in the Bay.

Bob Moore and Andre Anastasi caught their limit of kingfish as well as blackfin tuna and bonito.

Manny Ariza and Rafael Rodriguez Ariza each caught their first tarpon at Government Cut. We took a DNA sample on one of the fish.

Jim Lefevre got back in form quickly by catching two tarpon on his trip to Government Cut. We got a DNA sample on both fish.

Mike Harris, Mike Connel, Andrew Martini, and Chris Basile saw the tarpon action explode on their 6 hour tarpon trip. The shrimp made a good run and the tarpon were there to feast on them. By the end of the evening, we had 9 shots and successfully landed 5 tarpon. One of the tarpon donated a DNA sample.

Mike Harris, Mike Connel, and Sean Hardiman fished the next evening. This time we caught and released 2 of the 3 fish hooked at Government Cut and 3 of the 4 fish we hooked in the Bay. We took a DNA sample on 4 of the tarpon.

Manuel Lecoca, Olivier Claux, Frederick Newman, and Thierry Bodson had to wait out the tarpon on their evening trip. Before the tarpon action started, we caught and released Spanish mackerel and bluerunners. It was getting toward the end of the trip when the tarpon turned on. The first fish put on a great show and each angler fought the fish when it got in the deep water of the main channel. The second fish was a little smaller, however, it too made it to the main channel and required the strength of all the anglers to get it to boat side for DNA sampling and release. DNA samples were taken on both fish.

The family of Tony, Sheryl, and Iszak Morgan saw plenty of action offshore with bonito, kingfish, dolphin, blackfin tuna, and bluerunner.

Eric and Randy Eichin saw action with 3 tarpon at Government Cut. The first fish jumped off on the first jump. A quick reset and we hooked up again. This time Eric fought and landed the fish. When the south wind calmed down after dark, we moved and Randy hooked up with his first tarpon. At first he thought it was a small fish because it was moving toward us so easily. The reason was it was heading for the deep water of the main channel. Then Randy realized he had something big on. The battle kept going back and forth. The battle wore on and neither the fish or Randy wanted to give in. Slowly the tide started turning toward Randy. When the fish finally came alongside, it was a whopping 140 pound fish. Nice going Randy. You pick on a real brute of a fish for your first tarpon. We took a DNA sample on one of the tarpon.

Gustavo Almanza, Isnardo Mojeron, Mario Rodriguez, and Robert Orosco saw action with bonito, barracuda, and kingfish. We had a sailfish on for a short period of time till it wore through the leader and released itself.

Eric Eichin was back for another tarpon trip. This time with his father, Don. Once again we had some stiff south wind and had to wait till it got dark for the wind to calm down. The trip was almost a carbon copy of the previous trip with his brother Randy. We had shots at three fish and landed two. The big one this time was 100 pounds. We took a DNA sample on one of the fish.

Todd Pierantoni, Mike and Andrea Brenner wanted to fish in the calm protected waters of the Bay. They were glad they chose to fish inshore as the wind was blowing 13 – 19 knots. All they wanted was action and lots of it. The first area we fished produced no action as did the second area. The third spot was the charm. By the end of their half day trip we had caught and released 30 jack crevalle in the 2 – 4 pound range using 8# spinning outfits.

Jim Lefevre, Bugs Nilles, and Bill Seiler had one whale of a tarpon trip. We started at Government Cut where we went 5 for 6 on live shrimp. We also had one tarpon on the Berkley Powerbait Rattle Shrimp. It threw the hook after several jumps. Before we headed into the Bay, we also caught and released two very large ladyfish. In the Bay, the action continued with 4 shots of which we landed and released 2 tarpon. That’s a final total of 7 for 11 for the evening. We also took DNA samples on 3 of the tarpon.
Dave and Paul Rusilko saw tarpon action both at Government Cut and in the Bay. We were 1 for 2 at Government and 1 for 1 in the Bay. Paul used his fly rod and got 2 fish to bump his fly, however he did not hook either fish.

Three days of fishing with Brad, Stu, and Harold Coren, and Brad Kiassman produced action with kingfish, bonito, barracuda, cero mackerel, hammerhead shark, and dolphin.

We are now caught up again with the fishing action aboard Knot Nancy. I have days open in April so all you need to do is call and book a date to get in on the action.

For those who do not have access or missed my latest Aquatic Adventures segement on CBS4 the local CBS affiliate in Miami, here is the direct link.

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/03/25/aquatic-adventures-government-cut -tarpon-fishing-fishing-reports-32511

Captain Dave Kostyo