Offshore Venice, LA. Report - Snapper, Scamp & Cobia
We put together a last minute fun trip with Capt. Bill Delabar and our good customer, John Lamey of Moss Point, MS. last Wednesday.
I transported some special Myrtle Grove live baits consisting of pinfish, finger mullet, croakers and pogies in a big ice chest in the back of my Suburban. Surprisingly, I didn't lose one of them on the trip down even without a pump.
The original plan was to target tuna, but the relentless East winds dictated otherwise when we made the run downriver that morning. The three of us agreed since this was supposed to be "fun" that we would stay close and target bottom species rather than take a beating in the rough seas. From the reports that came in over the radio, with just a handful of blackfin tuna being caught that day, we made the right call.
There were plenty of quality red snapper in East Bay as well as West Delta, and I actually got my limit on the first drop. Bill and Johnny had a few chuckles watching me tussle with two really nice snapper on a double rig. Since we were fishing shallow water rigs in 40-80 feet of water, it was easy to release the ones we didn't want. Johnny Lamey got the snapper of the day -- a nice 17 pounder while fishing right up against one of the rig legs. As always, you have to "go where they live" to catch the big sows!
After boxing our limits of red snapper, some lane snapper, a scamp plus some other assorted fish, we let Bill jump in to have some fun with the speargun.
He free dived several of the shallow platforms and shot a nice 40-lb cobia in spite of less than ideal visibility. Bill said he had a 60-pounder swim right up to him, along with several others but the low vis made it a difficult shot.
Johnny and I released a number of big bull readfish, some monster white trout and of all things, a ribbon fish that ate a pogie...WEIRD!
Wonderful day with some great guys. I can't wait to try out the "Stacy's Spicy Scamp Taco" recipie from this month's Louisiana Sportsman Magazine "BurstFactor" article. Everything I learned from those guys certainly paid off when targeting the scamp.
Well the winds are finally starting to die down a bit to let us get back at the yellowfin tuna. I have a big group coming down to fish inshore and offshore Wednesday and Thursday this week, so hopefully we will get some revenge on those elusive tuna.
Still some great dates open in October, plenty in November and December.
If you are planning on fishing the Midnight Lump in the 2008 season (Jan-March) it is not too early to schedule your date, especially if you need a Saturday.
Give me a call and I will take care of everything.
REEL LOUISIANA ADVENTURES ~ 504-329-7335 ~ SUSAN GROS
www.reellouisianaadventures.com
