10-25-2001, 12:52 AM
Lessons, fun, and a first were on the agenda for today's trip. The Lesson: Luis wanted to learn where and how to catch live bait in the area from Government Cut to the south. We visited numerous places to catch bait and caught enough herring and blue runners for a days fishing. The Fun: After spending 3/4's of the morning on the bait lessons, it was time to have some fun and catch some fish. The lessons continued with rigging rods and putting out live baits. Luis put out the first bait and while I was putting out the second bait, it got hit and the kingfish action started. While Luis was fighting the fish, the first bait hooked up and it was time for the over and under game to keep the lines from crossing. Both fish were landed and we had a great start with an 8 and 10 pound kingfish. The First: One of Luis' goals was to catch a sailfish. On our next drift, that goal became a reality when he caught his first sailfish. Once again, as on my last trip, we caught a small one. This time it was a 4 footer. While I ran the boat, Luis revived the fish and watched with great admiration as the fish swam off. We then ran offshore and found a very promising weedline in 950'. We had action with some small dolphin that could not eat the herring that we were slow trolling. Next it was a toothy critter(s) that chopped our baits in half and never came bait for seconds. Back to the reef for a final drift and we watched as a blue runner out ran another small sailfish that gave up the chase. We beat the thunderstorms back to the ramp and loaded Luis' boat on his trailer before the rains came. The kingfish are chopping and sailfish are cooperative, give me a call and lets go catch 'em.<br><br>Captain Dave Kostyo<br>Knot Nancy Fishing Charters<br>www.rnfl.com/knotnancy<br>305 620-5896<br><br>