Fishing Report for Venice Louisiana and Guatemala:::::
Two years in a row former Strike Zone Charter Captains win the biggest cash prize at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic. Last year it was Capt. Jason Buck and this year Capt. Mike Gordy. Both of these captains started out with me on the 40' Strike Zone many years ago. They are not only great fisherman but are super guys.
I would like to Congratulate Capt Mike Gordy and the crew of "Four Reel" for their big win in the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic. Capt. Gordy's crew took home the biggest cash prize ($287,000)...NOT A BAD DAY AT THE OFFICE....
I did not get to fish the tournament...So I did the next best thing.....I took my 2 1/2 year old son, Christopher Thomas on his first overnight blue water fishing trip...of course his mother came along to make sure dad did everything right and to catch the fish. We also invited our neighbors Brent and Renata Mahana and their son Charlie. This was their first blue water fishing trip also.
Capt Kevin and Seth did the honors as we took the 55' Strike Zone Too down the river at 4:30 pm on Saturday. Trying to find out who was winning the tournament and cooking steaks going down the Mississippi River.
We got out of South Pass to Capt. Kevin's Red Snapper honey hole to find the snapper very hungry. My little man was doing good checking out the Red Snapper. After a short time the sun was starting to go down but the moon was so bright it never got dark. Capt Kevin had us pick up the lines and we were off to go Sword Fishing. He had marked on his GPS the spots that he had caught Sword Fish in the pass so their was no wasting time looking for a good drop off. As soon as we got to the spot Seth had the lines in the water....Everything was rigged so professional that I was impressed. The seas were dead calm but the current put us in a side sea. It was not rough but for first timers it would have made them sick by morning so we had the crew pick up the line and headed back to Port Eads for a good night sleep. Capt. Kevin and Seth really wanted to fish for Sword BAD....
As 5:00am rolled around Capt. Kevin had the engines fire up and the boat headed Southwest....again flat seas....we ran forty miles out looking for something to fish on....nothing but small patches of grass. We then went to a floater to find one of my other former captains working the Yellowfin. It was Capt. Hunter. Capt Hunter's picture is on my business cards for being the crew that caught the largest Yellowfin in the Gulf, 240.4 lbs. on our charter boat the Stress Management. He was having good luck catching Yellowfin . We were trolling around the rig looking for a Marlin. NO luck so we pointed the boat to the west in search of a rip line. 10 miles later ..Nothing....small patches of grass...at that point Capt Kevin said let go north and hopefully the rip has formed.....after 10 miles of trolling north their it was.....a good rip with lots of current, bait and birds working.....By now my neighbors thought we were crazy to spend this much money and time to go boat riding. It was 3:00 pm and no fish in the boat other than the Snapper we had caught the night before. After five minutes on the rip line ,BAM ...the right rigger was off...Big Bull Dolphin....after 30 minutes on the line we had four Dolphin and a Wahoo......It was time to go.....but My wife, Laura and Capt. Kevin said let's troll to the next little spot of grass.....It never falls.....Seth went APE SHIT....I thought he cut his arm off.....MARLIN MARLIN MARLIN and sure enough a big 400 to 500 lb Marlin jumping like crazy...Seth had watch him hit all six baits before he feed him on the flat line.....What a show he put on for the crew.....Brent jumped in the fighting chair for his first fight of a Marlin.....the line screamed out as the Marlin keep taken line....we finially got him calmed down and started to fight this big animal...we started to back down and get some of the line back as he went crazy again...Brent was doing a good job on the fish but all at once the line went limp and he was off to fight another day.....
This was a great trip and my little man did real good...He didn't get to fight a fish but I promise he knows what a fish is ..NOW
Guatemala: I had two charter captains from the USA fishing Monday in Guatemala, William Hitch from Mandeville and his friend from Carolina. They were fishing 20 to 25 mile from the marina and were targeting Blue Marlin. They had one hook up and two more in the baits. They also went 3 for 8 on the Sailfish. On Saturday we had some locals that party until 9:00 am when they departed the marina. They had a great time with Capt. Tyson. They had 3 Sails and 31 Bull Dorado. The Dorado are will in shore and the Blue and Black Marlin or on their tails.
I have the 39' open Saturday and Sunday and the 55' open for a 24hr Sunday and Monday...the seas or 1 to 2 for the next seven days.....We have some openings for the trip to Guatemala in July~~~~~GIVE US A CALL~~~ 225~279~3800 or Capt. Randy 985~966~2666
STRIKE ZONE CHARTERS LOUISIANA & GUATEMALA
www.strikezonecharters.net
