Venice Offshore Fishing
Venice Offshore Fishing
Saturday marked the opener of Red Snapper season, and we had the Tom Maher group of twelve down from the "show me state" - Missouri. I met the guys for lunch Friday afternoon then made sure they had their fishing licenses before sending them to Ms. Charlotte's for a good nights rest.
At 5:30 a.m. Saturday, Capt. Bill Delabar and Capt. Hunter Caballero had their 32-foot Twin Vees locked and loaded as we pulled away from the Venice Marina dock.
I deckhanded for Capt. Bill and we discussed a game plan with our crew. Since none of them had ever landed a tuna, we decide to run long and see if we could get them on a few yellowfin first, then head back in to pick up and easy limit of red snapper.
Live bait was almost impossible to get, although I did get one lonely hardtail on a FRENZY sabiki. We headed out with a few mullet I had hauled down and hoped for the best.
Upon our arrival at the rig, there were a couple of boats hooked up. We drifted and started chumming and quickly landed a rainbow runner. A few minutes later, Trent Coward was casting a FRENZY Angry Popper when a fish exploded on the topwater lure. I grabbed the gaff as Bill shouted "skipjack!" You can't get a better bait for yellowfin, so we knew our luck was about to change. As we chopped the fish up for chum, offers of "I'll give you $100 for a PIECE of that skippy" crackled across the radio.
Those fishing nearby could only watch as we put a quick whipping on EIGHT yellowfin tuna.
The seas continued to build, so we left the yellowfin biting in search of calmer water and headed to East Bay. We were surprised to find that the chop there was pretty bad too. It only took two stops to boat 20 red snapper and a lane snapper, as well as released about 100 snapper that were slightly undersize. Luckily, we were in pretty shallow water, so the fish easily swam back down.
On the way in, we called Capt. Hunter and crew who had caught their snapper first, then made a run out to the West for tuna. It was pretty rough, so they had to cut their tuna expedition short and head back, arriving a few minutes before us. They had a nice catch of red snapper and two yellowfin tuna.
Capt. Hunter and Capt. Bill cleaned their catch as the customers exclaimed, "What are we going to do with all this fish!" After filling up two 150-quarts and a couple of smaller ice chests, they headed upstairs to "Crawgators Grill" for some fresh seafood, cold beer and to share fish stories.
I spoke with Tom today and he told me "You sure made twelve guys VERY HAPPY. We've never experienced anything like this so we'll be back"...and I'm sure they will!
If you would like to schedule a trip on a FAST ~ WIDE ~ COMFORTABLE 32-foot Twin Vee with one of the TOP CAPTAINS in Venice, give me a call and I'll handle all the details.
May is booking up fast as are June and July, so better get a date or be left at the dock when the fishing is on fire.
REEL LOUISIANA ADVENTUES ~ SUSAN GROS ~ 504-329-7335
"FISHING ADVENTURES WITH SOUTH LOUISIANA'S MOST PRODUCTIVE & PROFESSIONAL GUIDES"
