Venice Tuna fishing on fire? Mako Sharks show up in Venice as normal? So, the fishing has been hit and miss for several months in Venice. One day the Yellow Fin Tuna fishing is world class, literally we run out of fish box space and the customers say "No-Mas", let's go catch something else Captain.. Then like children on Christmas Eve all of us Charter Captains can't sleep that night anticipating the next day and sure enough the Grinch stole Christmas. Where did the Tuna go? What happened?
Well not this past week or let's just say we got two days back to back….. On Friday and Saturday Captain Eddie VanGordon fished the Glacier Bay for www.CajunOdysea.com.
On Friday he had a group from Killer Bee Bait and on Saturday he had the Nguyen group from Houston, TX.
On Friday Captain "One-Eye-Ed" knew exactly where to get started on the Yellow Fin Tuna and boy he was right, they were there thick. The trick was using Frenzy fluorocarbon and hiding the 7/0 Frenzy Circle hook inside the chunks. But what most people do not know is **TIP** when you are chunking if you will add menhaden oil to your slick you will increase the activity of the fish. Whether you know it or not, whether you see them or not most times when you are chunking there are fish working in your slick. If you add an attractant it will get these fish excited and aggressive. Killer Bee Baits produces a variety of menhaden oil that is second to none and we always use this product. Check 'em out!!! Killer Bee Bait Inc. produces and distributes frozen and shelf stable fish bait, chum, and oil products. The company's brands include Ribbon Fist, Killer Hoo's, Hookem, Moonshiner's, Chum, and Killer Bee's Menhaden Oil. The company is headquartered in Biloxi, Mississippi….. OH, and one last **TIP** on chunking, make sure to add a variety of bait to increase the activity. I like to take a bag of squid, cut them up and toss them in a 5 gallon bucket with about 2inches of Killer Bee menhaden oil, I let them soak and as I'm chunking I toss some cut, soaked squid ! This really works well for me !!
On Saturday the plan was the same the Nguyen group wanted fresh Sushi and Captain "One-Eye" new their address. OOOOOPPPPSSSS, where are the YellowFin? Another light switch day? After about 15 minutes on the spot, the deck hand for the day, Bryson Ball spotted a jumping Mako chasing an airborne King Mackerel. Then shortly after that Bryson spotted either the same Mako Shark or another one surfing in the face of a 4ft blue wave, this time the fish was closer and the crew got a GOOD look at the monster.
Being a seasoned Captain, "One-Eye-Ed" instructed a customer to get a King Mackerel out of the fish box and asked Bryson to cut this 3ft piece of bait in half. The Captian already had the "Mako-Rig" ready; all he had to do was add the bait. Captain "One-Eye" uses a Shimano 80 wide, on a Melton Tuna Lifter (CTL 5080WO-UB) spooled with Jerry Brown Hollow Core 130LB line then connected by Loop/Loop connection to a 20' wind on aircraft 700lb steel leader built by Jimmy Gilet @ Professional Sports in New Orleans and finally a hook the size you saw in "Jaws"….. OK, so it's ready, the Mako rig is now baited and two huge sharks have been spotted in the first hour of fishing. The crew is having a blast jigging and catching Blackfin Tuna, King's and other time filler fish, while Bryson cuts and chum's his fish killing heart out.
The moment of truth: Bryson looks into a wave and the 800LB Mako is eating in the slick!! Bryson grabs the ready and most deadly Mako rig on the planet and tosses the 10lb bait to the fish, sure enough the fish breaks out of the wave and goes straight down for the sinking mackerel. Wholly, $H!T, is all the crew can say as they watch the beast eat the bait. At this point everyone realizes they have the fish or maybe this fish now has them? As Bryson watches with anticipation the line is zipping off the 80 wide in free spool, the fish stops and Bryson knows the time is coming, the fish it absolutely totally eating the bait, 700lb steel aircraft cable and all. Captain "One-Eye-Ed" gives the go ahead and Bryson locks her down. Eddie eased the throttles in gear and the line comes tight Bryson sets the hook and the fish goes airborne !! It's here and now, it's really happening. The fish jumps, and jumps and jumps to no avail on his part. At one point Bryson remembers saying "look at that fat belly, that fish has a gut as wide as a California Red Oak" he could see the sagging in the fish's Jaw and just new this was a true trophy. Now the jumps had turned into tail walks, this fish was screaming across the surface like a Blue Marlin. Now the beast is ripping line from the 80 wide like it's a Zebco 303…. The charter crew suits up and the rod transfer is done. These guys are in good shape, they are great anglers but they are small guys, two of them hold the harness (that we have secured to a cleat) while one helps his buddy hold the rod.
The fight was epic, the beautiful blue color of this apex predator is shiny, beautiful and the black eyes are most mysterious. This really is a dangerous fish. The battle raged on for over 2 hours. Bryson recalls "there were times we had the fish close to the surface and in sight but every time we thought the fish was beginning to tire, it would peel line again."
At this point the sea condition had picked up and a small craft advisory had been put into effect, there was a massive rain and cold front approaching and the winds were forecast to increase over 40knots. There were other charter boats fishing around the CajunOdysea team, but they were leaving one by one. Each Captain offered assistance and stayed in radio contact as long as possible with Captain "One-Eyed-Ed"…. One by one they left and all alone in 4-6ft seas with increasing winds was this vessel, crew and this fish, each determined to wind the battle.
Finally, the moment of truth the big fish's dorsal fin was on the surface and the CajunOdysea team took this opportunity to ease beside the fish. "The fish was calm, not scared and continued to swim on the surface" remembers Bryson. Captain "One-Eye-Ed" eased the boat beside the fish; Bryson readied the Top Shot flying gaff that had been secured to the port cleat. It's now, the time is here? As Bryson recalls the thoughts in his head, he says to me, Michael "it's here all I've fished for and now it's here. This is the biggest fish I've ever seen alive!" as he goes on, "When I gaff this fish will it jump? Could it pull the cleat out or worse will it dig the corner of the boat into a wave face?" He clearly explains there was a calming voice in his head saying "Dear Lord, what is about to happen?" He does it- the gaff is sunk into the fish's gills and wholly hell breaks loose. The fish surges straight towards the depths and then WHAM the 20ft of ¾ inch rope slams taught, the cleat holds and Bryson recalls with clarity "the boat did in fact surge under, the "Y" on Yamaha went totally under water this fish has pulled the corner of the splash well into the sea." The Captain eases the Starboard engine in gear and the fish is caught and tangled like a spinning alligator in the rope "One-Eye-Ed" seizes the opportunity and continues to drag the fish backwards effectively drowning and killing the beast.
Un-able to load the fish into the boat with the weather quickly deteriorating the CajunOdysea team pulls the fish backwards onto the swim platform between the engines as far as it will go, then they tie it off with 4 ropes and bring the 26' Glacier Bay Catamaran to plane dragging the fish to Venice Marina.
Once at the Marina there is a crowd gathered and the fish quickly becomes the center of attention. Bill Butler, one of the owning brothers of Venice Marina has heard of the catch, he already has the scales and fork lift ready to get the fish up and weighed. Everyone works quickly and the final weight is 798LBS of pure Mako-Madness. The crew cleans the fish, baggies up the fillets and the jaws were removed from the head. This fish will feed many people and the memories of Saturday March 20, 2010 will remain etched in the minds of these fine anglers and crew for the rest of their lives.
For your offshore fishing adventure check out our team www.CajunOdysea.com
Best Fishes-
Captain Mike Gray
www.CajunOdysea.com
