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Fishing Reports for Local Area - Location |
    
Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 27
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005 - 12:35 pm: | |
Thought I had made an early June post but it looks like the post didnt make it up..we had 2 more days with 2 blue marlin releases then the avg swung toward the favor of the fish..we have missed 2 shots at hungry billfish and pulled hooks on 3 others..Plenty plenty dolphin and wahoo to make up for the lack of action on marlin but who is complaining..never thought we would have 4 days with 2 billfish releases this early in the season..Lately, we have been running a mix of bottomfishing, bluewater trolling and day and overnight tuna trips with great success..even made a fun trip with SW Sportsman reginal editor Pete Cooper Jr.before the Tropical Storm ruined last weekend..goal was to put Capt. Sonny on a marlin and Pete and I on a state record mahi on fly none of us got our wish that's fishing..ended up with two 70 and 60 pound wahoo for the effort.....Long week for me already and after 3 days I am placing myself on IR for the next week..ran an overnighter Monday and had great success with tuna..never really got great conditions for trolling but caught a 38 pound blackfin and a 30 pound cow dolphin dragging ballyhoo during the day..about 2 hours before sunset we put away the trolling gear and broke out the lighter live bait gear..and it was on, as fast as we could launch baits, singles and doubles til dark and then the porpouses moved in and made attemps to eat 60 pound tuna off the line..effectively put the bite to full stop..plenty flying fish about but nothing hitting them but porpouses so we came in early Tuesday morning..Wednesday I had the Geaux fish TV crew along with LA Sportsman Publisher Tony Taylor, Tyler Neely and David Montz as guest anglers..trolled skirted ballyhoo in scattered grass south of Medusa..non stop action on fish and non stop grass removal going on in the cockpit..ended the day with 2 thirty five pound wahoo and 8 legitimate bull dolphin..Sonny and Lance will be doing the boat driving this weekend while I recoup..looking forward to fishing one day in the UVI with my family this Monday..Enjoy the great weather..Other news..we just launched the 36 ft twin vee catamaran which from sea trial cruises at 33 knots and tops out at 40 knots - will have her in service the last week of June..Paradise Outfitters- 985-845-8006
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Damon McKnight (Super_strike)
New member
Username: Super_strike
Post Number: 11
Registered: 1-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 12, 2005 - 5:16 am: | |
Yesterday we had Mr. Chuck Whitfield and his son C.J. Bluewater fishing was the plan. The morning started out slick calm with a little roller and stayed that way all day which made for very easy running. Our first stop was to catch some live bait, we pulled up to the can and two big bull dolphin swam out. All it took was one cast with the gurgler and we got one on. The other one wouldn't touch the second bait we pitched to him. But he spit the hooks five minutes into the fight. After catching some live bait we headed 60 miles out to one of the floaters. 1st bait out we hooked into another bull dolphin that thru the hook on his second jump. That was two fish gone. Started to think it was going to be one of those days. Well, in the end we caught another bull dolphin and got him in the boat, Next two fish were yellowfin tuna about 65-70lbs. which we got in the boat as well. After that it went cold. We headed back north to find the rip which had been building up good in the afternoon, but when we got there it was scattered all over the place. Sometimes you can pull thru the scattered stuff and still pull out some decent fish. Yesterday it didn't happen, so we called it a day. Looks like the weather is shutting us down for a few days. Back out on the next calm day. By the way the new boat is an incredible fishing machine and very fast for a cat boat. So far the new Evinrude E Tecs are everything Bombardier said they would be. www.superstrikecharters.com
Damon McKnight/Super Strike Charters/1 800 318 1720 |
Brandon Carter (Captbrandon)
New member
Username: Captbrandon
Post Number: 15
Registered: 7-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 2:44 pm: | |
Burnin em up!
Burned em up this morning down the river!!! One stop is all it took.
Today was my first trip down the river in a while. I have been fishing out in Breton Sound and givig the trout a break down river. Well today there butt! I needed to see some different terrain so down the river we went. Came right out into the bay and stopped. Right there, no further. BAM! Fish on! FOr next couple hours it was a fish on EVERY CAST. Redfish and trout flying all around the boat. These guys from Mississippi had never before caught trout and reds this fast. We had our limit of reds in like 20 minutes and then began throwing them back culling out the trout. Throwing into the same hole we kept 60 trout and EASILY threw back 50+ redfish. All our reds were 17-20 inches, just perfect for grilling or frying. The trout werent beast, but solid keepers. OUr smallest trout was about 13 inches and the alrgest about 20 inches.
Everything was caught on Venice marina live shrimp under a OLDBAYSIDE PARADISE POPPER. This is the BEST cork EVER made. I cant tell you how good it is, you need to find some and try them.
Not real sure about this weekend, looks like its gonna be a wash down here. Already cancelled Saturdays trip and probably will pull the plug on Sundays as well. When all this passes, you can bet we'll be right back at it. This is the best action we've seen in 5 years. I've already logged over 4,000 speckled trout on my boat alone. Dont miss out. FOr those of you who are looking at Fall trips, you need to book them now. October and November are begining to fill up quick. I've even got a bunch of bookings for next year already! Dont wait and get left out. Venice is the place you want, need, to fish!
REEL SHOT GUIDE SERVICE 985-969-0810
******SORY ABOUT THE LACK OF PICS, MY CAMERA IS ON THE BLINK******* |
Damon McKnight (Super_strike)
New member
Username: Super_strike
Post Number: 10
Registered: 1-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 08, 2005 - 5:10 am: | |
Short on reports lately but definately fishing. This past Saturday we had the Lee Withers gang down for some rig fishing. We managed to pull out 20 red snappers most of them about 10lbs. with the exception of 4 or 5 around the 18lb. mark. But that was it. No other rig fish were caught. Red Snappes only. Sunday we opted to go west because of the strong southeast wind with the Howard Mabry group. They also wanted to fish the rigs but it was one of the slowest days I have seen in a while. We only caught a handful of fish in somewhat nasty conditions. Yesterday we took out Todd Oliver and crew from Jackson Miss. After some radar watching and weather figuring we left the dock hoping that the weather off of our coast yesterday morning wouldn't mess up the condition to bad. Well, right out the pass it was a steep 4ft. but nothing we couldn't handle. Once we hit blue water it laid down nicely and the rest of the day turned out to be beautiful. First stop of the day was for tuna, but none were to be had. We had the perfect live bait, which was very easy to catch, perfect water conditions, a few small ones busting around us, but we couldn't get one in the boat. Left there and headed south to find a neverending perfect rip. We trolled the rip for most of the day which resulted in 6 Dolphin. 1 big bull, a couple of near bulls, and some cows. Plenty of dolphin on the rip but most were on the smaller size. We din't really see much activity on the surface other than dolphin. Headed back out tomorrow to the rip. Looks like the weather is turning very bad this weekend, first time in a while. Will report tomorrow. Check out the pics.
www.superstrikecharters.com
Capt. Damon McKnight/Super Strike Charters/1 800 318 1720 |
Jerry LaBella (Agl01)
New member
Username: Agl01
Post Number: 20
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 22, 2005 - 5:39 pm: | |
Breton Is/Sound Reports,
Sat. afternoon Nolan Franz and I left out of Delta Marina in Empire and head to Quarantine Bay and onto Breton Sound. The weather was picture perfect with calm winds and partly cloudy skies. Water at the Island upon arriving was clean but low. Speckled trout were obliging but fishing was slow. That night we headed to one of the lighted rigs and could see feeding fish on the subsurface, but the weren’t striking our baits. We used lived cocahoes and various artificials. After an hour of fishing, we headed to another rig and began slowly catching large speckled trout and several bull redfish. Fish were mostly caught on live cocahoes freelineded with a small split shot weight. The tide was low and dead. Sunday morning we wadefished the island on a high incoming tide. Speckled trout were obliging and we limited out using Speculizers and various other artificial cocahoe minnow lures. The weather throughout the trip was perfect and very few other anglers were seen.
SEE PICS: http://www.jerrylabella.com/captains_log1.htm
Good fishin’
Jerry LaBella
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Jerry LaBella (Agl01)
New member
Username: Agl01
Post Number: 19
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 15, 2005 - 7:19 am: | |
Breton Sound/Island Report,
Friday afternoon Michael Jones, Arthur Wilamouseski and I left out of Venice Marina to fish Breton Island under partly cloudy skies and breezy winds. After making it to the island, the water was clean but the winds were a bit higher than what was forecasted. Fishing was slow but we had arrived late due to a steering repair that had to be made at the last moment. That evening we headed to one of the lighted rigs and the water was rough but fish were obliging at this particular rig. We started to catch speckled trout and a few bull reds with the use of live cocahoe minnows and different artificial minnow lure with ¼ oz. jig heads. The fish were not in a frenzy and seemed to be particular about how the bait was retrieved and presented. A popping cork with a live cocahoe fished 3 ft down on a ¼ oz. jig head seemed to work well for Michael Jones but it was still slow fishing and rough seas. Some of the trout went 4 pounds and the reds were all over 27 inches. The next morning we fished the island and many charter anglers were in the area. No fish were observed being caught early that morning but action picked up as the tide moved in around 10:30 am. The inside areas of the island yielded best catches and I observed 2 anglers doing well right before we decided to head in.
SEE PICS: http://www.jerrylabella.com/captains_log1.htm
Good fishin’,
Jerry LaBella
May 13/14, ‘05
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Damon McKnight (Super_strike)
New member
Username: Super_strike
Post Number: 9
Registered: 1-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 15, 2005 - 4:49 am: | |
Sorry for the lack of reports lately but I have been busy trying to get our new boat ready for the season.
This past Friday we took out Dana Coleman and friends. Although the weather wasn't exactly what it was supposed to be the fishing was still very good. We pulled up to our spot and right off the bat we picked up two yellowfin tuna and 1 blackfin tuna. After that it slowed down quick. We stayed around for about another hour and headed in to some closer rigs to fish for snapper and cobia. They did manage to get a few red snapper and mangrove snapper, 1 undersize cobia, and that was it for the day. The offshore fishing is really picking up since the last couple of weeks. The big yellowfin tuna are moving back in and yesterday a private boat caught a 525lb. bluefin. The Marlin and Dolphin are starting to move in on the rip lines and floaters. Around the rigs the cobia, snapper, and grouper are all over the place. It is that time of year again. You never know what your going to catch next. The weather has been nice, sunny almost every day, with a little more wind than expected, but still not bad. We have openings if anyone wants to see what real fishing is all about.
Capt. Damon Mcknight/Super Strike Charters
www.superstrikecharters.com or 1 800 318 1720 |
Brandon Carter (Captbrandon)
New member
Username: Captbrandon
Post Number: 14
Registered: 7-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 23, 2005 - 6:23 am: | |
How could you fish anywhere else!?!?!?!?
I am so lucky to wake up in Venice every morning! The lower delta is ALIVE with Speckled trout despite the river pumping mud everywhere. Dont get me wrong, its not easy to stay on the fish down here, but fishing every day has kept me on the pattern. And when your on it, your ON IT!
Yesterday I was ON IT! BIG TIME! Picked my guys up at about 6:30am and headed down the river. Talked to a couple of other Captains on the radio and decided to fish another lcoation. Right about that time I really felt like I needed to stop at this point in front of me that I havent caught fish on in a while. I pulled the throttle back at about 7:15 am and lines went out. At 7:16 four speckled trout where in the ice! At 7:30 am I got on the radio and told a few other guides, 'guys get over here!!!' I already had 25 trout in the box. At 8am when the armada arived I had 75 fine trout cooling on ice in the big CHAMPION. I was done at 8am!!! After my first cast I never picked up a rod, allowing my customers to catch all the fish while I baited lines, un hooked fish and kept the frenzy in FAST FORWARD! The knats where horrendous, so we got out quick and let the other guys have it. They didnt want to mess with the reds, but said lets just try one spot and catch a couple. Went over to one of my redfish holes and caught the biggest trout of the day! About a 5 pounder. I wish you all could ahve heard Hunter when he saw that fish! No reds so they said lets go!
Yesterday wasnt quite as fast, but did result in 100 trout by 10am! I had fished one spot and hadnt caught much. I was about to run over to another area when i got a radio call, 'GET OVER HERE!' I didnt wait around. I got over there! Instantly began picking up trout and it just heated up into a frenzy. Nothing huge, but all nice fish. Forgot my camera so i didnt get any pics.
Venice fishing can not be beat.....ANY TIME, ANY PLACE! Its not the most friendly place to fish for first timers though. I'm seeing more and more people down at the marina who have never fished Venice before and they have no idea what its like down here. It can be dangerous and TOUGH. Fishing here is a little different than in other areas. The river influence will through you for a loop as well as the way these fish move. You need to fish with somebody who has experience down here. That could be a friend, or a guide. Just be safe.
I cant gaurantee suicidal trout like the last few days, but I gaurantee a REEL SHOT at the fishing trip of a lifetime.
REEL SHOT GUIDE SERVICE 985-969-0810 |
Damon McKnight (Super_strike)
New member
Username: Super_strike
Post Number: 8
Registered: 1-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 06, 2005 - 11:31 am: | |
The fishing has been up and down the past week and a half. Lots of wind to slick calm and then Lots of wind again. Capt. Bob K. has been running f the boat for me while I prepare our new boat which should be ready in about a week. I forgot what that was like. On Monday we had Mr. Kris Thomas and family back out after the tuna. They caught a couple of Blackfin, some mackerel, sharks, and a bunch of creole fish. The tuna fishing was slow but everything else kept them busy. Yesterday, Mr. Jeff and friend drove down from Chicago to get in on all the tuna action we've had going on but the weather would not permit that. They decided on rig fishing instead and it turned out to be a good idea although it was very rough. They caught plenty of snapper (released) and other miscellaneous rig fish but the day ended with a bang. Jeff caught an 83lb. cobia and about a 20lber. in the last hour of fishing then they called it a day. He was caught on 20lb. test and took over an hour to get in; of course he was finessed, since it was the fish of the day. The weather has kept us from getting out today and tomorrow, but we will be back out on Friday. Will post then.
www.superstrikecharters.com |
Damon McKnight (Super_strike)
New member
Username: Super_strike
Post Number: 7
Registered: 1-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 28, 2005 - 5:02 am: | |
This past week was another good one. The weather was nice, I was able to leave in the morning just wearing a long sleeve shirt and not get cold. It was a little foggy on Friday morn. but not the worse I have ever seen. The fish bit all last week. except Fri. We sat out Wed. because of the forecasted weather and 22 knots of wind in the morning but on Thurs. we were back at with Mr. Steve Ackley and friends. The bite was immediate. First fish hooked up was a black fin tuna. After that it was every time. The guys finished the day at 11:30 a.m. keeping 2 yellowfin (90lbs. and 150.3lbs), 12 blackfin, and 2 amberjack. More meat than you know what to do with right here. Friday was a completely different day. All that was to be had was 2 black fin tuna. The group had to be back in early so we called it a day at 11:30. The boats that did stay out late said the bite never got going. That's Fishing. The wind has got us at the dock today. It is blowing hard down here right now. Most likely be back out on Wed. The tuna fishing will remain good, start looking for some huge catches of wahoo and grouper. People call all the time and say now that the tuna bite is just about done what else can we fish for. Well, the tuna bite is not just about over. April and May are just as good as the rest of the months for tuna, but we can also catch a variety of other fish besides tuna, not only that the weather is usually as good as it gets. Our new boat will be ready in about a week.
www.superstrikecharters.com
Damon Mcknight/Super Strike Charters  |
Jerry LaBella (Agl01)
New member
Username: Agl01
Post Number: 18
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 27, 2005 - 5:47 am: | |
Breton Island Report,
Arthor, Marius, and I left out of Venice Marina Friday afternoon to fish Breton Island. This was our first visit to the island since last year’s hurricane. The weather was calm under partly cloudy skies. After making it to Baptistte Collette, fog was locked in solid. Jeff at the marina told us one boat came back due to foggy conditions. Anyways, we made it out to the island and the fog cleared after about a mile out into Breton Sound. The island for the most part is intact. We only had to fish the portion at the south section. New cuts and deep holes have been formed due rushing tides from the hurricane. Sections on either end are washed out. This makes for great fishing, however. Places we once could wade fish are now too deep to walk. Water at the island was clean and about 66 degrees. We caught 36 nice specks that evening and the next morning the fog was locked in solid from the island all the way back to the pass. Nonetheless, we limited out on nice speckled trout that morning. Early Friday night, we limited out on big redfish, throwing back many. Reds are literally swarming under the lighted rigs this time of year, but you need heavy tackle to pull them from the rig structures. They hit any thing moving. This time of year if you head out from Venice to the island, make sure you have radar and are familiar with the area. See pics: http://www.jerrylabella.com/captains_log1.htm
Good fishin’
Jerry LaBella
March 26/
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Damon McKnight (Super_strike)
New member
Username: Super_strike
Post Number: 6
Registered: 1-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 21, 2005 - 7:37 am: | |
This past week down here in Venice has been nothing short of absolutely amazing. There weren't a whole lot of fish caught but the ones that were caught were, well are now records. Congrats. to Scott L., Hunter, and the angler who caught the #1 yellowfin in the state, and to Dr. Henry for catching the number 4 yellow fin tuna in the state. This is no easy task guys.
Our past week started out Tuesday with Jerry McNeil and family. We went to the rigs on Tuesday because of the wind. Plenty of red snapper, lane snapper, and red fish. The weather was horrible but they still made a day out of it. When you drive from North Dakota, it is hard to sit at the Marina all day. We were suppose to fish the next three days, but the weather would not permit. They fished inshore on Wed. and smoked the trout and redfish. Another weather day on Thursday, and we were back to the lump on Friday. Slick calm, beautiful day. It started out Hot and Heavy, first line out resulted in a blackfin tuna, then a small yellowfin, and then about 10 more blackfin. Then the beast hit. We had a huge yellow fin on that just about spooled us. After gaining all the line back I decided to chase him down since we couldn't budge him against the current. We were an hour into the fight and he started to come to the surface. The first time I saw him we were riding along side while he was swimming about 7-8ft. below. Out of gaff range. The first look I got at him my heart started thumping and my mouth dried out. Biggest tuna I had ever seen. 20 more minutes into the fight with his big head turning towards the boat, gaff in hand, the fish did one roll back and the floro. broke. There went that and a few more choice words to myself. This was no doubt the biggest yellow fin tuna I have ever seen. The big boys definately rolled through on Friday. On Saturday we were back at it again with Dr. Tom Mahan and friends. The action started out slow. We moved positions three times, it was rough, not much happening. With some hard work we finally got a good fish on. The drag was burning out and I thought to myself here we go again. With the big fish the day before and all the lines that were broke we played it safe and kept just enough drag on him to wear him out. Well, he didn't wear out very fast. Once I got a good look at him and saw he wasn't as big as I wanted him to be, we cranked down the drag and finally got him in. This one was a 110lb. yellow fin. That was the only fish of the day. It looks like the weather has got us in for a couple of days, but we will be back out on Wed.
www.superstrikecharters.com
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Brandon Carter (Captbrandon)
New member
Username: Captbrandon
Post Number: 13
Registered: 7-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 18, 2005 - 5:23 pm: | |
Not even the cold front could cool off the action in Venice!!
When I walked outside this morning and found ICE on my boat, I was kinda worried that my streak of GREAT fishing might end. Not to worry though!!
Took off and went in a different direction than I have been fishing for some reason this morning. It paid off though as we nailed the reds, finishing up a limit QUICKLY. With an entire morning still left I figured I might as well go catch some trout while I was at it. Made one quick stop to check a spot I havent fished in a while, and went to the trout MECCA!
Pulled in and started catching some nice trout. AS we worked around they got bigger, and bigger. Before we knew it, we were throwing 5 lbs trout in the boat! It wasnt fast and furious, but really steady. All four of my guys were in on the action, with occasional doubles and triples. We finished out day with 100 of the finest trout i have seen this season! What a day! LImits of both Redfish and Trout.
All our fish were caught on plastics under a cork. Opening night Mud Minnows(old Bayside) and Fearless Frank Deadly Dudely's did the damage. Today I worked a little closer to the shore, but not on the shore....about 30 yards out. the further out we got the smaller the fish were.
Venice is as hot as it can get. I can only imagine how its going to be latter this spring when the fishing is SUPPOSED to be good. DONT MISS OUT!!!!
For REEL SHOT at the fishing trip of a lifetime, book a trip with REEL SHOT Guide Service. 985-969-0810 |
Brandon Carter (Captbrandon)
New member
Username: Captbrandon
Post Number: 12
Registered: 7-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 14, 2005 - 7:56 pm: | |
And the fine fishing continues down in Venice! This is the best March fishing in a very long time and it shows no sign of slowing down.
The morning started off a little shaky as the river was socked in. It was bad, but not quite too bad, so we went. I dont think Capt. Jeff really wanted to, but we did. Its much safer running in packs so thats what we did. I led the way and thought several times I should have just waited, but we made it too our destination without any hitches. Capt. Shane and Bobby ran together and made it safely as well. All of the Venice guides are FINE boatsmen.
We all began in roughly the same area and began catching some nice trout. For some reason my boat was having trouble landing the fish. We were getting the bites, more than anybody, just couldnt ice the fish! Dont feel too sorry though, we ended our day with 65 trout. Nothing huge, but a couple of nice 4 pounders and NO thow backs.
All our fish were caught off the shorelines under a cork. Deadly Dudely's in Bloom moon and Fearless Frank did the trick. In the fog the bit was reall good, but once the sun came out and got bright the fish turned off. Then when the front came through and it got foggy again, the fish turned back on. IN fact thats when we caught our 10 biggest trout. Interesting. Again, the fish seemed to be holding just down currrent from the crab traps. I think the bait in the traps are creating a food chain. Water clarity is fair in several areas down the river. It should keep getting better as the river continues to fall.
On another note......I'm seeing allot of people down here that has never fished here before. They are coming here with their own boats, and no idea where to go and what to do. Everybody has to start somwhere, but please be carful and use some sense. I pleaded with a boat not to go down Pass a Loutre on Sunday. What did he do? He ran up on a flat and some friends of mine had to ruin their day of fishing to pull him off. Venice is a VERY TRECHEROUS place. Use caution, take things slow and go with somebody who knows about the area.
For a REEL SHOT at the fishing trip of a lifetime, book a trip with REEL SHOT Guide Servive. |
Damon McKnight (Super_strike)
New member
Username: Super_strike
Post Number: 5
Registered: 1-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 5:20 am: | |
Ah, the crazy weather forecasters. I am thinking someone paid them to forecast winds for this past week and weekend so everyone would go to the sportsman show. But, then again they give a wrong forecast for free every now and then too. On Friday we had Justin Hanes and friends down. With the expected forecast we chose to go grouper fishing and headed out to the hole. Plenty of grouper were caught, only three good keepers. The snapper on the other hand were thicker than ever with plenty of 10-15lbers. We were only fishing in 50ft. of water and they were biting on the surface so none of them were killed. They were in the exact same place we left them last snapper season. Hopefully they stick around. After wearing out plenty of fish we moved back into state waters and caught a lot of bull reds. Not sure how many.
We cancelled yesterday because of the weather forecast and saved 10 hours of driving for the group. We felt it was safer this way. Turned out to be calm offshore anyway. We will be back out on Tuesday and fishing for the next two weeks, weather permitting of course. Right now the weather forecasts have been inaccurate. Although the wind blew 20 knots on shore yesterday offshore was a different story. This happens a lot this time of year with the transition from Winter to Spring. The best way to figure out the weather right now is to wake up, if it isn't blowing, jump in the boat and go. I have tried a few different forecast companies lately and one of them is wilkens weather. It is expensive but somedays I would think worth it. Their biggest clients are the oil companies. I find the 48 hour forecast to be right on the money but so is NOAA's usually. The only difference is they can give you the forecasted wave height for any block in the Gulf. We still have some open days in April, mainly during the week. We are expecting our new 32ft. Twin-Vee Boat at the end of the month. It will be powered with twin 250 H.P. Evinrude E-Tecs. These boats are the ultimate charter boat for our area. I have fished in just about every boat you can think of, well you can see what boat I chose. Back at it Tuesday.
Capt. Damon McKnight/Super Strike Charters/1 800 318 1720
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Brandon Carter (Captbrandon)
New member
Username: Captbrandon
Post Number: 11
Registered: 7-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 12, 2005 - 7:09 pm: | |
Another day, another limit!! The trout fishing just doesnt get any better than this! Got an early start with my Georgia Boys and it wasnt long before they were MAUL DRAGGIN those trout just like ol louisiana boys! Had our 75 before 9am and went looking for some redfish. First spot yeilded several monsters, but only three keepers. Ran to an area I havent fished i while and BAM... OUr limit was done in les than 30 minutes. March fishing just cant get any better than this. This is some of the best early season action I have seen in several years. Hopefuly this is only a sign of things to come. Sorry for such a short report today. I'm dead tired after grilling bacon wrapped shrimp, tuna and grouper! YUMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!! Back on the water tommorow with the same guys. BTW, Capt. JEff took the other half of the group for me and they also had a limit of trout and reds. Nice job Capt. Jeff.....
FOR A REEL SHOT AT THE FISHING TRIP OF A LIFETIME, BOOK A TRIP WITH REEL SHOT GUIDE SERVICE.
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Brandon Carter (Captbrandon)
New member
Username: Captbrandon
Post Number: 10
Registered: 7-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 11, 2005 - 4:50 pm: | |
Somebody pour some water on these fish, they're on FIRE!!!
Had several clients call and try to book today, but I wouldnt book them because it was SUPPOSED to be a bad day. Well it was a bad day for the fish!
Spent last night at the Louisiana Sportsman Show in the Dome. While I was there Capt. Jeff and I decided to Make a little scouting run to see where we could find some fish in tough conditions. Eaves dropping on our conversation was the notorious Susan 'trout mauler' Gros. She promptly invited herself(well not really, but that makes the story sound better!). We got ourselves a LAZY start this morning, not even leaving Venice Marina until 8:30am. Ran down the river in relatively calm conditions. The weatherman was WRONG! It turned out NICE! First stop was all it took. WE made 2.5 drifts and we were done! Finished wiht 75 fine trout. The fish even ran slightly bigger today, but still no real sows.
Water conditions were fairly clear, decent movement, and mid 60's. Perfect conditions for some March Madness. Caught our fish in 3 feet of water drifting flats with Old Bayside Plastics under There new PARADISE POPPER. This is similar to the Cajun Thunder, but it has a TITANIUM wire that snaps back into position after being bent. THE FINEST CORK ON THE WATER!
We also got fancy and began trying some new Lures that we aquired from the show last night. Some really nice hard plastics that I'll tell everybody about real soon. VERY NICE LURES. I still need to fish them a little more though. We caught and released quite a few and then began moving around. Found some good concentrations of fish at several other locations as well. ITs as good as it can be right now in VENICE!!!
Dont miss out, book now, dates are going FAST! IN fact I'm already booking some FALL trips! For a REEL SHOT at the fishing trip of a lifetime, book a trip with REEL SHOT Guide Service.
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Brandon Carter (Captbrandon)
New member
Username: Captbrandon
Post Number: 9
Registered: 7-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 07, 2005 - 7:44 pm: | |
Another fine day of trout fishing down the river!!! Today brought the Tjulanders down for their annual trip. This year we had 6 total and had to inlist the services of Capy. Jeff Fuscia.
I told Jeff he would have his work cut out for him as this group has always had great trips with me. Well neither boat was dissappointed! I did my thang and Capt. Jeff did his as he usually does.
First thing this morning we were greated by a heavy fog as we hit the river. I pulled back and asked Jeff if he wanted to wait or make a run. I could barely see the other side of the river, so it wasnt totally socked in. About that time Capt. Shane came up the rear and we ran down in a three boat caravan. Nice team work. Its great to be able to work together like that. We made it to our location safely and began fishing..... I mean catching!
Right off the bat we began picking up trout, after trout after trout! If wasnt a every cast slam but a good steady pace that brought us to our 75 trout limit at about 11am. Nothing realy huge, but some good eaters for sure. They had a big fish fry planned and it looks like it worked out for them!
After the trout we caught about 10 reds and called it a day. Not too shaby! LIke yesterday we had a ton of fun. Both boats were within hollaring distance and you could tell! There was MUCH trash talking!!! Funny stuff!
Also like yesterday we fished flats and picked up our trout on plastics under a cork. Two interesting things I noticed..... First the fish wanted the cork popped really slow with long pauses. Second most fish were just down current of crab pots. Pay attention to the small things, thats what will change you from a good fisherman to a great fisherman.
Booked a bunch of trips this evening, so the books are getting even tighter. Dont wait around! For a REEL SHOT at the fishing trip of a lifetime, book a trip with REEL SHOT GUIDE SERVICE 985-969-0810
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Brandon Carter (Captbrandon)
New member
Username: Captbrandon
Post Number: 8
Registered: 7-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 06, 2005 - 5:39 pm: | |
Finally I got to go trout fishing!!! So far this year all my customers have wanted redfish so I have been catching redfihs, all thw while lusting for some trout action! Well today i scratched my itch.
We had 6 guys in this today, 2 from Louisiana and 4 of their friends from Oklahoma. I quized them and found the three that wanted to catch trout and gave the rest of them to Capt. Jeff! HAHA....
Made the ride down the river and to my little "secret" hole. Instantly began catching nice keeper trout, not spring sows, but good solid chunks. Drifting the flats off the points and pockets we plucked away at them. It was never every cast, but very steady. After a while we fine tuned our drift and I held us in the prime zone with the trolling motor. We quickly made our 100 trout and by 11am we were looking for some reds to throw on top.
MAde our way over to the shore line and began picking up some small 17-20 inch reds, perfect! We caught enough for the grill and made our way back to the dock.
Absolutly a GREAT bunch of guys to fish with. We laughed all day and had a fantastic time. Capt. Jeff came back to the dock with his guys smiling and stretching their arms out WIDE! Nothing like the pull of a redfish for a first timer!
As usual, we fished plastics under a cork. The trout seemed to want the pop a little slower and most of our bite were far from the boat. Seemed to be a little shy today.
The trout bite is HERE! Dont miss out. The fish arent everywhere, but they are here if you know where to look. The trout season is looking great if this keeps up. My days are filling fast so dont wait around.
For a REEL SHOT at the fishing trip of a lifetime, book a trip with REEL SHOT GUIDE SERVICE.....985-969-0810  |
Brandon Carter (Captbrandon)
New member
Username: Captbrandon
Post Number: 7
Registered: 7-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 05, 2005 - 6:25 pm: | |
Does it ever stop! ITs been a red tide down in Venice every day this year. Redfish after redfish after redfish!
Had a group in today from Jackson Ms to experience some world class CATCHING. I had told them about all the redfish we had been catching and that was right up their alley. Ran down the river to our first spot and as soon as we pulled up could see the fish pushing, but just couldnt get them to eat. After a while we managed a few including one big bull which sent high fives around the boat. Moved a couple miles away to another spot that has been producing. PIcked up a few more here as well, but it never would really turn on. I knew as the day went on it would get better with the rising tide bringing in better water. And that it did. Went back to our first spot and BAM! Nailed em.... Kept a limit of small ones for the guys to bring home for supper and released quite a few big boys. BIggest of the day was 34 pounds and had several others over 20.
Those of you who know me, know how much I like catching BIG trout, but these redfish have made some customers happy lately! If the customers happy, then I'm happy! Although I am having some trout withdrawls. I think tommorow I might get to go catch some.
Most fish today were caught on plastic under a cork, but we did catch some tight lining jigs. Light tackle action at its best!
Dont miss out on Venice fishing. ITs only gonna get BETER and BETTER as we get into spring. A few more weeks the big girls will show up and you dont want to miss out on that!
For a REEL SHOT at the fishing trip of a lifetime, book a trip with REEL SHOT Guide Service.....985-969-0810
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Brandon Carter (Captbrandon)
New member
Username: Captbrandon
Post Number: 6
Registered: 7-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 03, 2005 - 6:26 am: | |
Tough condions the past two days down in Venice. But when its tough, the tough get going!
On Friday I entertained LA Sportsman writer John McQueen. ANd entertain I think is waht we did. I brought along my dad, brother and cousin....not many dull moments with this group. Not many dull moments with the fish either!
From start to finish, it was NON STOP redfish action. Even though the SW Pass gauge was showing 21-26knt the entire morning, we caught fish after fish. Kept our limit of smaller ones and released no telling how many more. It was text book high river, late winter downriver fishing, but you'll have to wait until next March to get all the secrets when the Sportsman come out.
ON Saturday I had paying customers, so where do you thinkI went! Well the wind ws still 21 out of the NE even though the forcast was for FAR less. Undetered we took off with yesterdays catch in my mind.
We pulled up to my little whole and BAM fish on. Caught 4 in a row and then NOTHING! I MEAN NOTHING! ZILCH! At 12pm I had 6 reds in the box and my head was raw from all the scratching! Finally I anounced, 'I've got a wild hair'. I went back to my original location but moved about 100 yards around the point, and where I havent fished before. After 5 minutes nothing. After, 20 minutes, our limit was done!!! And it didnt stop. For the next hour we caught and released reds up to 36 pounds. 4 over 30 and 4 over 20. Total we released another 40 fish to fight again. As we were picking up, one of my guys looked up at me and said, 'DONT YOU EVER PLUCK THAT HAIR!!!'
Both days most fish were caught on plastics under a cork in about 2 feet of water. ON Firday I did some damage on a MANNS BABY -1. Thats fun! The best thing, is that I havent seen another boat in WEEKS! I really like that....All to myself. Lots of fish this time of year, but not many fisherman.
Spring and summer dates are filling FAST and almost gone. Dont miss out. Give yourself a REEL SHOT at the fishing trip of a lifetime, book a trip with REEL SHOT Guide Service
985-969-0810
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Damon McKnight (Super_strike)
New member
Username: Super_strike
Post Number: 4
Registered: 1-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 24, 2005 - 12:16 pm: | |
Another excellent week of offshore fishing down here. The black fin tuna bite has been about the best as I have ever seen. The yellow fin tuna bite has picked back up and the wahoo have started to move back in again. On Tuesday and Wed. Capt. B. Kenney ran the Super Strike as I catered to Jason Cannon who has done some incredible fishing articles for us and I have fished with for about the past four years. He was the managing editor of Sport Fishing Mag. for about ten years and now he is on his own. He needed to get an article so we were glad to help him out. On Tuesday Capt. Bob had 25 blackfin for his group and yesterday he had several tuna and five wahoo. Great Job Bob K. Yesterday Jason C, two other capt.'s from the marina and myself went out to see if we could get a money shot(Huge Yellow fin tuna or Mako Picture) for Jason. The action started out hot and heavy with blackfin after blackfin and we needed some yellow fin action fast. Well we got it but not the right size. We had five yellow fin total which were all about 40-50lbs. We were looking for what we call the Hundo.(tuna over 100lbs.) We finally got him on and after about a five minute fight the hook pulled. We tried again but kept catching black fin. With the weather deteorating quickly with wind and rain and not really being able to get the right pics. anymore in this type of weather we called it a day. Jason got plenty of tuna pics and should get an article out of it. He is inshore today. For all of you Full Mooners that won't fish tuna on a full moon. The moon doesn't get any fuller than the past three days and the tuna fishing has been on fire. This year more than ever most people calling do not want to fish for tuna on a full moon. It sure is hard to follow when the fish are biting like they are right now. The best advice I can give no matter what the moon is and you think you know something, ask the capt. first. If he sais the fish are biting, don't worry about the moon or anything else.It looks like the weather is going downhill fast and looks bad for the next couple of days. We still have open days left the second week of March. The tuna and wahoo bite should still be good. www.superstrikecharters.com
Damon McKnight/Super Strike Charters/1 800 318 1720  |
Damon McKnight (Super_strike)
New member
Username: Super_strike
Post Number: 3
Registered: 1-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 21, 2005 - 7:33 am: | |
Where to start? I guess I will start with the fishing. Nothing to crazy or off the beaten path to report this week. Cancelled Thurs.-Sat. due to weather conditions and not a whole lotta fish being caught by those who were going no matter what. Yesterday we finally made it out with Warren Carro and friends. They caught 7 black fin, 1 A.J., 2 beeliners, and 2 kings. The big yella's seemed to have moved off the lump. There were a few caught but definately not like it had been. We should get a couple of more good runs with the big fish and then we will go back to our spring time techniques for tuna. The wahoo fishing is starting to pick back up again. We will be back out tommorow. The fog down here is very thick right now so if you are planning on fishing this week, make sure your radar is working. We still have open dates in March and April during the week. Don't forget Snapper season opens on April 21st. The grouper are already biting unbelievably good. But it is that time of year. Whatever you want to catch, we
'll put you on'em
Damon McKnight/Super Strike Charters/www.superstrikecharters.com
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Jerry LaBella (Agl01)
New member
Username: Agl01
Post Number: 17
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 20, 2005 - 5:42 pm: | |
Offshore Venice:
Saturday afternoon Arthur, Joshua and I left out of Venice Marina to night fish tuna at BP 109. Winds were high that afternoon under partly cloudy skies and a river stage near 11 ft. We entered the blue-water zone around 2 miles before the rig. No fish were caught until sunset. Fishing was slow and the flare on the rig was not burning. Winds increased over 20 mph that night with roller over 8 ft. high. Blackfin tuna obliged throughout the night, with a total of 8 caught. All tuna hit the diamond jigs. See pics: http://www.jerrylabella.com/captains_log1.htm
Good fishin’,
Jerry LaBella
Feb. 19/20, ‘05
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DUE SOUTH FISHING (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 17, 2005 - 6:36 am: | |
More tuna in the box from the lump. Tuesday, Ken Comfort with World Cat was on board. Things were a little slow but we managed to land a few. We were working 2 lines when one starting screaming and running towards the other line. Both lines took off and the the fight was on. It did not take long to figure out that one fish hit both baits. We got the 90lb yellow to the boat "quickly" with 2 circle hooks perfectly in the corner of his mouth. The last hookup was a nice fish with a fight that lasted for 1 1/2 hours. We saw some color then all of a sudden the line went slack, the hook came out. This would have been the big fish of the day going well over 150lbs as we got a pretty good look at him. The final results were 2 yellowfin and 7 blackfin.
Yesterday we got a late start trying to let the fog lift a little. We arrived at the lump around 10am. The bite was back on. It did not take long for the action to begin. It was kind of funny to be around so many boats and not see any but you could hear reels screaming everywhere including ours! Melissa had the big fish and completed the fight solo. The fish weighed 144 lbs. The next biggest fish was 139 lbs. With 4 yellowfin and 6 blackfin in the box everyone had enough and was ready to head in.
The weather dont look promising over the next few days but lets hope there is a change for the better.
Due South Fishing
337-256-1299
www.duesouthfishing.com
www.cajunfishingadventures.com
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Damon McKnight (Super_strike)
New member
Username: Super_strike
Post Number: 2
Registered: 1-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 5:43 am: | |
The weather gave us a little bit of a break last week. The fish are there when you can get out. On Friday we had Wade McDonald and friends. The morning started out Windy and I expected it to be at least 5's when we got out there but surprisingly it was only 2-3's and spread out some. Luckily the current was going with the wind. The bite started out slow and picked up at about 10:00 a.m. Our first black fin came into the boat, followed by two more. Then Mr. McDonald called it a day due to sea sickness at 11:00. Back to the dock for us. I found out later that day the bite really got hot at about 1:30 that afternoon. I was not surprised, usually the day after a front the fish are somewhat lock-jawed and don't bite until mid-late afternoon. Friday was definitely the coldest day I have fished all year.
Saturday was a completely different day. Mr. Lyle Russell and two close friends, that made fun of each other all day, finally got to come down and go fishing with us. The seas were slick calm and the weather had definitely warmed up from the day before. We got an earlier than usual start due to the expected crowd at the tuna fishing grounds. Our first yellow fin came in the boat 10 minutes after we started fishing. From there on it was slow but steady. We ended the day with 4 yellow fins and 2 black fins. The largest for the day was 114.0lbs. and the smallest was about 40lbs. It was a great day out on the water with perfect conditions. Mr. Russell will be back down to fish in two weeks.
One remarkable note about the fish on Saturday. We fought no fish longer than 7 minutes. Good thing too because of the amount of anchor ropes out there. The 114 came in the boat after 7 minutes of fighting this fish. On average this should take about 15-30 minutes depending on the angler and the stamina of the fish. This is very uncommon but I have seen days when the tuna just do not fight very hard. No drag was taken by any of the yellows, until I gaffed one in the gills and he took off with my gaff leaving the foam grips in each of my hands. But the gaff shot almost killed the fish instantly and the gaff and the fish were recovered. I do not know what would cause these fish not to fight at all. But in most cases when we happen to have these types of days the tuna are so full that when you clean them it looks like their stomach is about to explode. Do fish that eat more than they can handle in a short period of time fight less than one that is not very full, I do not know. This is the only visual thing I have seen that would differentiate the ones that give an all out battle to ones that barely fight at all. And I am just not talking about a stomach full; most tuna have a full stomach. I am talking about an unbelievable amount of undigested food. I talked to another Capt. that fished Sat. and he was telling me the exact same thing about the amount of time it took to get his 100lber for the day in the boat. I have noticed this over the past several years but only now my curiosity is starting to get the better of me. If anyone has the answer to this please let me know.
We cancelled yesterday and today due to the weather forecast, although yesterday the wind really didn't pick up until about 3:00 p.m. which means we should have fished yesterday. Back at it tomorrow.
Damon McKnight/www.superstrikecharters.com
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Damon McKnight (Super_strike)
New member
Username: Super_strike
Post Number: 1
Registered: 1-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - 6:23 am: | |
Incredible Tuna and Wahoo Fishing!
Once again it is that time of year when the big yellow fin tuna and wahoo move close to our shores to produce some incredible action. The wahoo so far have been averaging 50-85lbs. and the tuna have been in the 130lb. class with a few breaking the 180lb. mark. The weather has been beautiful with the exception of a few foggy days but so far this winter has been mild and great for getting offshore.
Most of our fish have been coming off of cut bonita but a fresh menhadden will work as well. Most of the wahoo have been eating just about any type of plug you put in front of their face. Rapala, Stretch 30, Mirro-lure, Braid, and Yozuri have been the bait of choice. If you want to try for a 100+lb. wahoo then live bait fished King Mackerel style will usually do the trick.
We are putting our heavy tackle to the test right now and it is doing good. Our fishing outfits consist of Duel 6/0 and 4/0 wide reels on Cape Fear 80-130lb. stand up rods. The reels are spooled with Suffix 80lb. and 60lb. mono. The 60 is lighter than I like to fish but some days the tuna are line shy and this helps with your hook-up ratio.
We will be fishing everyday that the weather allows so stay tuned for more reports. We will be doing a T.V. show with Americana Outdoors which will air on Fox Sports and OLN. I will post exact dates and times after we film.
Capt. Damon McKnight/www.superstrikecharters.com/ 1 800 318 1720
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Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 26
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, January 15, 2005 - 9:00 am: | |
Great trips continue at the secret tuna spot..fished the last two weeks with great results..same story remains - the humans still hold the unfair advantage on the tuna and if you can get through the bonita, sharks and kings you will score..in the last 3 trips it didnt matter what time we started, where we anchored or how many other boats were out there...bonita are a problem - if memory serves me..we have been able to get baits through about 5-10% of the time and on 50% of those instances we got strikes on big fish..amberjacks, blacks and yellows..heck Darryl even got a gag grouper the other day with no more than 100 feet of line out,,lots of big fish seen and plenty brought home each afternoon..think our best yellowfin is in the neighborhood of 160 pounds though most fish are in the 100-130 pound class..but what I saw yesterday takes the cake....the bonita were so thick around the boat that they were eating everything we threw in the water..no matter what the size chunk, we couldnt get it through the swarm to the tuna..when a coke can baccidentally blew overboard the bonita went into frenzy mode..attacking it from below about 15 of them at a time..it sounded like popcorn popping as the can would get knocked clear out of the water for about 1-2 ft of air before the next multiple impacts microseconds later..this went on for about 30 seconds before a 150# class yellowfin took a swipe and missed..the swirl left behind filled the can partially with water..now the bonita couldn't knock it out of the water, and when Mr. Longfins came calling the second time he gulped it down..or at least we never saw it again....made us think to try putting a hook in one.tried to repeat with a Dr Pepper can, but had no takers...we were one of 4 boats yesterday and we had our slowest day of the week 2 yellows and 8 blacks..if this continues, the bonita will shift the unfair advantage back to the tuna side of the equation..Last Monday we had two boats go out and after searching high and low and all over the map for wahoo with no luck we made out way to the secret tuna spot to find a dozen boats..I got on anchor for about an hour before the waves took their toll on my crew and we headed in early with one tuna to show..Capt. Sonny stayed late and picked up 2 yellows and 2 blacks from in between the shark attacks he only had 2 anglers on his trio and they were staisfied..Tuesday we had Shane Mayfield and Tony Taylor out to shoot the newest instalment of Louisiana Sportsman's Geaux Fish Tv ..arrived at the secret tuna spot about 9am as the first boat..couldnt beleive it..we had fish in the chum from start to finish..I think we stayed for 3 hours fighting fish around the boat the entire time..final tally was 4 yelowfin in the 100 pound class and one balckfin which was released..probably had enough footage for a 2 hour show, feel sorry for the editor..at one point we had 5 fish working behnd the boat..we could have walked on them..its funny to watch the bonita scatter when the monsters come rolling through..Wednesday Sonny went out and clobberd them again..I stayed at home to do some maintenance and winter cleaning...I had planned to do a fun flyfishing trip out for dolphin, but the weather pushed us to Friday..I got a report from a friend at the Offshore drilling rig crew at Cajun Express that a school of bull dolphin was spotted around the platform ..several fish over forty pounds, but they would all have to wait for us a few more days as the crew decided weather would be a factor. Thursday we went back to the secret tuna spot and had a good day for tuna fishing and a stellar day for shark fishing..couldnt keep them off the line, the non-desireable species too..did get 3 jumps out of a mako before losing him for good..the spinners, sharpnosed and blacktips ate us up..we managed 2 yellows and 3 blacks before leaving early to go look for wahoo..and to no avail there either..Friday, I assembled the diehard fly fishers 10 plus crew of Gary Parish, Joe Cerise and Susan Gros..Delrio wimped out due to 4-5 ft seas and I didnt bother calling sneaky Pete due to the forecast..I was going no matter what..the thought of breaking the dolphin recored for fly being the main motivation..got to the Cajun Express only to find two 20 pound dolphin..guess someone had culled the herd or they moved off..managed to catch and release one on my 10 wt before we went into chum and drift mode..everone got to fight one blackfin and one football yellowfin before we decided to head closer in..at stop 2 we had nothing but large yellowfin in the chum..one fish well over 120 and as you would expect, Susan got him to take a fly on 16 pound tippet..think she survived the first run, but nothing else..Gary and Susan also got two other takes on big fish only to break the tippet..I stayed on the controls awaiting the surprise visit from another dolphin but it wouldnt be..with time running off the clock, Susan was able to get another fish on, surviving not only the first run, but two encouters with running gear, she wouldn't let me keep the engines running, so we did the majority of her 2 hour and 20 minute fight from a dead boat..with the sun setting we finally gaffed her fish..it weighed 40 pounds on her boga, but since I had to help get the line out of the snag by hand it will not count for record consideration..while we were out playing with our fly rods, Sonny had Cliff Laborde and famuily on the Albemarle..they had 6 yellowfin early in the day..Both boats went out again on Saturday with great results..more blackfin than yellwofn although Willy and Jeff Fuscia had a yellowfin in the 150 pound class..bluewater has moved out of the 93 block again early in the week and it was 25 miles out of South Pass..it was cobalt blue and 75 degrees at the Lump but with this noth wind it will probably move further south agaion ..still a might bit rough in the clean water, about solid 8 ft the last 2 days..like we'll get back out on this Wednesday..Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006 |
Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 25
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 09, 2004 - 10:37 am: | |
Man was I ever wrong..found the fish right where we left them Saturday and this time we were prepared..I had a score to settle for having to look so hard for them in previous trips..Looking back and talking with Darryl, it was probably for our best day catch ever..sure we have caught alot of yellowfin in the same day but not eight 100-130 pounders and quiting at 1:30 pm!!
Had the Superior Trolling Motor gang from Lafayette of Rory Marse, Steve and Ted Lyons and Randall Brown, my old Oilfield pal back in my days at Schlumberger - who has also traded a career in the patch for a fishing related venture...They arrived last night following my oil change locked and loaded..these guys brought three 148 coolers all loaded with ice..after making bait relatively easy we decided to move up our departure time to allow for an early arrival..heck we were expecting fog anyway..so who needs daylight..caught 14 mullet, fueled up at the commercial dock and made our way down Tiger Pass without a hitch; Upon hitting the open water I regreted not running the river, and for sure those trying to nap below; Still some pretty steep rollers left over from the days squalls making for an ineteresting ride..arrived at the scene at 6:45 and immediately turned a double on live mullets..then another one..all 100 pound class fish..it was starting to look like a slaughter but after 3 pulled hooks the bite tapered to slack..tried pulling baits to no avail..piddled around for 2 hours eating Rory sandwiches and downing some red bulls..about noon the flying fish went crazy and so did the tuna..about a mile off the rig..set up in the middle and picked up 4 more yellowfin on 4 consecutive bites..headed in early loaded down..in fact we had trouble holding speed in the troughs with all the extra weight..weather has cancelled us the next few days and we'll be heading out with the same anticipation next break..Paradise Outfitters..985-845-8006
Fog has been a factor last few days..Tuesday I did a yacht delivery to New Orleans and it didn't fully burn off until late morning and it was thickening in the river by 3 in the afternoon..I couldnt see much but white on the road either..be safe..
Man was I ever wrong..found the fish right where we left them Saturday and this time we were prepared..I had a score to settle for having to look so hard for them in previous trips..Looking back and talking with Darryl, it was probably for our best day catch ever..sure we have caught alot of yellowfin in the same day but not eight 100-130 pounders and quiting at 1:30 pm!!
Had the Superior Trolling Motor gang from Lafayette of Rory Marse, Steve and Ted Lyons and Randall Brown, my old Oilfield pal back in my days at Schlumberger - who has also traded a career in the patch for a fishing related venture...They arrived last night following my oil change locked and loaded..these guys brought three 148 coolers all loaded with ice..after making bait relatively easy we decided to move up our departure time to allow for an early arrival..heck we were expecting fog anyway..so who needs daylight..caught 14 mullet, fueled up at the commercial dock and made our way down Tiger Pass without a hitch; Upon hitting the open water I regreted not running the river, and for sure those trying to nap below; Still some pretty steep rollers left over from the days squalls making for an ineteresting ride..arrived at the scene at 6:45 and immediately turned a double on live mullets..then another one..all 100 pound class fish..it was starting to look like a slaughter but after 3 pulled hooks the bite tapered to slack..tried pulling baits to no avail..piddled around for 2 hours eating Rory sandwiches and downing some red bulls..about noon the flying fish went crazy and so did the tuna..about a mile off the rig..set up in the middle and picked up 4 more yellowfin on 4 consecutive bites..headed in early loaded down..in fact we had trouble holding speed in the troughs with all the extra weight..weather has cancelled us the next few days and we'll be heading out with the same anticipation next break..Paradise Outfitters..985-845-8006
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Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 24
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 06, 2004 - 1:23 pm: | |
Spent all last week in Venice doing year end boat and equipment maintenance..waited until Friday for the weather to break and after re-launching the boat Thursday afternoon I was ready to trade a greasy wrench for a baited pole.. It's always tough to come off a 7 day weather layover, but we started in areas we had caught fish the trips before the blow..Had Jeff Milton and the Sylvania crew looking for tuna..spent the majority of the day looking for bait netting 2 mullet and 4 hardtails..didn't matter..for the 5 hours we spent waiting for the bite all we had was one small yellowfin and one blackfin to show..missed one big strike around 3pm and reluctantly headed north in search of jacks..and fortunately they were hungry..we found them at the 7 mile rigs about 150 yards off the platform on the NE corner of 49..they hit everything we threw at them and in 45 minutes we had caught 7 fish without losing one..diamond jigs, dead mullet and tuna bellies..didnt matter..I got back to the cleaning table and talked to a captain friend of mine who was down on himself for only producing one nice yellowfin, 2 stout grouper and a couple jacks..though he gave it his best effort I think he allowed the unrealistic expectations of his customers to get him down..some times the fish bite like mad and some days there is nothing you can do to find a single strike and some days, despite all preparation things still go wrong..given the weather and the fact that it was a long time since anyone had fished I think both of us had a sucessful day..Saturday the bite was wide open for us and just about everything went wrong..I headed out with good friend Rick Blount his daughter Casey and Ryan and Bill Flanagan on Bill's 37 Bertram for our annual year end fishing trip..we couldn't make up our minds what we wanted to fish for so we packed a little of everything..someone had stolen the large fish box so all we had was a deck box with 120 pounds of ice..could only find 7 mullet but since we only needed 4 fish to make the day we ventured off to new territory with medium confidence..first stop yeilded a big zero..a single barracuda bite left us 5 good baits and one near dead one..upon stop 2 we had a double on deployment..the first fish broke off on the run and the second at the leader after a 40 minute fight..upon tying up a new leader I found that the gap between the shank of the hooks and loop of the eye was sufficient enough to allow for a plier like effect if more than 20 pounds was applied to the 90 pound leader..even with a power snell the line would break against the sharp edge of the hook..a closer inspection of the pack revealed a bad batch..switched over to J-hooks while Doc searched his supply for better hooks and had 2 more misses..and when last bait flew off the hook upon deployment, things started to look pretty grim..put out a spread of 2 Braid baits short on 50 pound chair tackle and two skirted ballyhoo with birds long on each of the riggers on 30 pound tackle..at this point one fish would have made the trip but instead we were blessed with old time tuna action..hadn't seen a bite like this on trolling biats for many years..we made 6 passes in the next 4 hours hooking a fish on every pass..ended up with 3 very nice yellowfin from 90-150 pounds..the first fish in the box was a nice 110 pounder on a braid plug, fish number 2 was the samllest fish of the day, again on a plug..pulled a hook on 30 pound tackle on pass number 3 and broke off the next 2 fish on the 30's on the long baits..not sure if Bill will bring them on the next tuna outing but I think the fish did us a favor..the final fish hit at 3:00pm on the short plug and ripped half the spool on the first run..14 year old Casey settled into the chair while dad helped her crank - neither of them knew what they were getting into and from my view from the helm, it looked like alot of forced family fun..2 hours later we sunk the gaff into a 150# class fish that would test our collective engineering abilities in order to cool him and his two friends in an undersized cooler with 2 1/2 bags of ice..bottom line is we got the job done and everyone who got to fight a fish is sore today..I got to drive so next time I may get a turn on the rod..so long as the wrench's collect rust for the next few months I wont care..hope to get back out this week if weather allows..the way the bite has been, I doubt very seriously if we'll find them in the same place..hadn't worked for us this fall..last stretch of trips we ran in late November we found our fish at Moxie and in open water 2 miles south of Moxie, but not this week..not sure where we'll start looking next trip.... Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006
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Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 23
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - 10:20 am: | |
Headed out last Friday expecting calm seas and great fishing..first day back in a while (12 weather days in a row)..headed south to the Cognac Platform and found fast moving green water..plenty of porpouses too..the ride out was not nice and I had one angler looking green before we arrived on the scene..tried everything..live bait on the surface, on the downrigger and even trolling a spread of wahoo and tuna baits..fish just weren't out there..I made it about a mile south of the platform pounding through a rather steep headsea looking for better conditions before the ringleader asked if we could turn north for shallow water and the prospect of catching a limit of grouper...Since we had spent 40 minutes making bait we had to at least try for amberjacks at the 7 mile rigs..could not beg, buy or steal a bite..headed in a little closer to try and catch a few grouper on strip bait..man can I tell you about a wide open red snapper bite! I knew they would bite best after Nov. 1..it honestlly hurt to release some of the fish which bettered 10 pounds but rules are rules..caught one undersized grouper before calling the trip at 1:30..nice to get home early but it hurt to come in with a skunk!! Saturday looked to be much more promising..headed off to the deepwater platforms with nothing but chum..could not catch any live bait to save our lives..It really killed me to know we let 12 mullets go on the way in the previous afternoon..but thanks to a high seas horse trade with another captain we at least had something to try..traded a wahoo plug for 10 pinfish and we were off to Medusa..gradual change from green to blue water about 4 miles inside the platform but no life on the rig..spent 4 hours chumming up sharks and seeing no fish before we made the run north to try and salvage the day with jacks or beter....about 2pm we spotted a school of big yellowfin working some unfrotunate mullet in nasty green water..put out a half live pinfish and immediately hooked up a school sized fish of 50 pounds..caught back up with the school and tossed a popper into the mix..and as luck would have it we scored on a much larger fish..fought the fish from 2:30pm to 5pm going through all three anglers, breaking a reel seat and nearly the line during the battle..ah the 1,000,001 uses for electrical tape..sunk the gaff in the beast just before sunset and headed for the house..if we had hooked the small fish on the popper and the big fish on the standup tackle we might have had less cooler space but under the circumstances no one was complaining..just shows you the power of prayer as I had literally just finished a good one about 30 seconds before hooking the first fish..I heard the rest of the fleet struggled for a bite too except for Darryl who released 2 blue marlin in the same day!Sunday I took off and had a pretty interesting trip on Monday..I had 3 human cranes and it made the diffrence when the bite was on..Left early morning with Gary Betsill and his two boys, Matt and Mike..I got one look at them at the dock and wondered if we would get up on plane..Gary is the shortest of the family at 6'4" and both of his boys could play center for the Hornets..and these guys can fish..Gary runs charters over in the panhandle and his boys share the deck duties when not in school...none of them had ever caught a tuna, any tuna, but these guys would prove to be excellent tuna fisherman by days end..the day started off foggy and calm and picked up to a 15 knot chop with overcast skies by days end.. we struggled to make bait down river netting 8 mullet in 2 hours..(didnt want to go offshore empty handed since it has been impossible to catch hardtails lately)..anyway..got off to a slow start..the fish have been feeding late in the afternoon, at least I assume that since both our last trips we didn't put a fish in the boat until the later part of the day..we hit just about every rig in the Gulf..bluewater was 40 miles out of the pass with no defined color change or grass..we passed up Cognac and Lena without wetting a line- both showd clean green water but no signs of life..went one for 3 at Mars picking up our smallest fish of the day a 100 pounder for Matt which he beat in 15 minutes - which incidentally would prove to be the longest fight of the day (more due to the fact that I had the gaff yanked from my hands..no matter, we could have done that all day long and still would have come out ahead..these guys know exactly how much pressure to put on a fish and they never let the rod unload..caught 5 skipjacks on poppers to pass the time while we were waiting for the bite that never happened well offshore..anyway we were headed in late with the hope of making one last stop and at 4 pm we found ourselves on a bite..went 3 for 3 on a 100 pound fish, 120 pound fish and a 130 pound fish, boating all three of them in less than 30 minutes..the average fight time was about 7 minutes..the average wait time between bites was about 1 minute..all in all a great day and if I had my choice I would rather all the action come right in the 4th quarter..hoping to continue the streak of come from behind wins all season..<a href="http://www.paradise-outfitters.com"> Paradise Outfitters </a> - 985-845-8006
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Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 22
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 12:53 pm: | |
Lots of surprises this week or short week as it turned out..really had hoped to run the entire week with our scheduled trips before the next front but it came early...after hearing stories of acres and acres of huge yellowfin from Sonny and Darryl on Sunday (They had 2 fish on 6 bites - 140# and 120# yelowfins), I had Kevin Ford of Geaux Fish TV accompany me with Mike and William Miller, and David Montz on the Cabo. After reaching the grounds we didn't see any sign of life..decided to put out a four line trolling spread to cover some water ..it never happened for us (or anyone else that day).., but while we making bait, we saw a big mako at the transom of the Balancing Act - we sped over to capture the memory on film..the fight lasted 45 minutes after which Jeremiah Sablatura's 250 pound mako was secured to the transom..we stuck around for another hour with no bites before we left to go pursue some grouper..David really wanted grouper before we left the dock and I was looking at another shot at beating the world record for yellowedge grouper since the big fish I caugh on Oct 30th did not count for either state or world record consideration as I handed the rod off to gaff my own fish while it was floating on the surface..rules are rules..anyway..the grouper bite was wide open for the 90 minutes we tried..we had 12 good bites and landed 7 groupers and one red snapper..we were using 16/0 circle hooks to cut down on red snapper bycatch and it worked..the final tally was 6 yellowedges 10-15 pounds and one 60 pound warsaw..I went 2 for 4, David went 4-4 and Mike Miller went 1 for 4..William went 0-0 - and I let him hear about it too! We figured out that David has the proper build for a successful grouper fisheman..tremendous upper body strength with a low center of gravity from all the junk in his trunk..anyway he caught the big warsaw Monday..it had 3 sets of hooks in it's mouth...Tuesday I had Judge and Chad Edwards, Bart Belaire and Mark Piazza of Abbeville..I tried to cancel on Chad but he informed me that the wind would be light enough to make the trip and he came anyway..he was right and I was wrong..don't think it blew over 12 knots until the afternoon..we stayed close just to play it safe..never more than 10 miles out..slow roll out of the east..conditions looked great..tons of mullet, bluegreen water within 5 miles of the pass..worked one school of blackfin picking up one on a jumbo mullet..not sure how he swallowed it..tons of sharks too..not the good kind..never saw any yellowfin and by 2pm we decided we would go look for jacks or better..the amberjack were thick and hungry for mullet..picked up the limit rather quickly, playing with the rest of them until we ran out of live bait..fished bonita slabs on bottom and picked up a 65 pound warsaw and 3 nice gags..Mark's grouper put the trip over the top for me, although a 150 pound class yellow is something I haven't seen since the summer and really had my heart set on..according to reports from Darryl and Sonny who found the schools Sunday; the big fish have been balling up mullet in open water..find the bait balls and you find the fish..of course it helps when it's flat calm..not sure when we'll see that again..Plenty of great pictures to share from the last 3 days, should have them posted on my website tonight.. Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006
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Jerry LaBella (Agl01)
New member
Username: Agl01
Post Number: 15
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 08, 2004 - 6:08 pm: | |
Venice offshore Report,
Sat.. evening Arthur Wilamouski and I left out Venice Marina to fish the spillways of SW Pass. Weather was great under clear skis and light winds. The river is still dirty with little action in the passes. Late that evening we headed to SW Pass and into West Bay to fish for white trout and redfish. The water was clean in the area. There were plenty of white trout and reds at one of the rigs in 28 ft of water. We fished most of the night with a light in the water and the trout were thick with an occasional bull redfish intervening. Cut white trout was the bait of choice. Next morning we headed straight to the marina and went home with a 150 qt. ice chest full of trout and reds.
See pics: http://www.jerrylabella.com/captains_log1.htm
Good Fishin’,
Jerry LaBella
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Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 21
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 9:14 pm: | |
Pretty increadible finish for us this week..Indian summer appears to be over and honstly it is fine with me..need a few days off to reconnect with the family and tie up all the loose ends left undone..seems like everytime we recover from a equipment breakdown we get rewarded by the Almighty with smooth transitions and bountiful catches for passing the trial..First trip out was with a group of docs one of which was my brother in law..think it set the tone for the week..great weather and easy fishing..limits of snapper everyday, at least 10 grouper, wide open tuna bite and a first for us..back to the dock before 4pm everyday..Did get one day off in between work making an Island recon mission with good friends Pete Cooper and David Bell..Tusday we had 8 blackfin, one 120 pound yellowfin, 3 grouperand 24 red snapper..Wednesday I had Ed Hodgens and his family for a snapper and grouper trip..after 3 years we were finally able to coordinate our schedules..of note were quality grouper (20-30 pounds) and the largest snapper we caught during the season a 34 pounder..we needed to get Beth's dad Jim on a snapper for his 80th birthday present and we did just that over and over..Beth even caught a 20.5 pound scamp..final tally was 10 grouper, 24 snapper, 6 blackfin tuna and one aj..Thursday I had planned to fish with the Butlers on a busman's holiday but missed the boat in a communication mix-up..smoke signals just don't work like they used to..I was able to save the morning by geting permission from Mrs. David Bell to go out and see what Ivan did to our beloved hotspots..glass calm day..sad to report that Gosier Island is nothing more than a sandbar about the size of the fuel dock..we made it there about high tide to see enough landing strip for a dozen pelicans..Breton looked relatively unchanged with a few deeper holes than we ever expected (some 8 ft)..we spent about 4 hours fishing or relaxing in the shade..got on 2 seperate hour long bites that resulted in 25 trout, 4 redfish and 3 flounder for me..David and Pete also caught some quality fish on his fly tackle (and went back for more the next day)..Also you may have heard David shouting loudly all the way in New Orleans as he got in the rhythm late in the day and couldn't contain his excitement..think I saw him catch 7 two pound trout in 7 consecutive casts at one point, my ears are still ringing..think the total was about 60 trout, 4 flounder at the dock..highlight of the day was a 20 minute fight on a bull red I fought on a stolen rod..went to bed early but vividly recall a dream I had of breaking the Gulf record for yellowfin tuna that night..a 265 I think it was..anyway Friday morning I awoke refreshed looking forward to fishing with my old pal Tom Harmon and family..Tom knows his stuff so I didn't bring a deckhand, nor was one available as both Sonny and Darryl were out on other trips..we only had to hit one spot to make the trip for me..fished out west at places I hadn't hit in some time..it was the first time this season that we fished bottom structure and it paid off tremendously..the first few fish to hit the deck were groupers..nice ones..we were fishing in 310 ft of water in an area known as the rockpiles..they were also holding a few snappers..Tommy and his dad took turns hooking fish for the guys while I watched the boat..the drift was very light and the wind and sea nil..I came down off the bridge to make a drop..I got into something that nearly bust my guts..there wasn't time to hand the rod off or even put on a fighting gimbal..as it was all or nothing to get this fish out of its hole..when it broke the surface I nearly freaked..wasn't sure if it was a snowy or a yellowfin or yellowedge grouper but I new it was a state record or even a world record..turns out it was a yellowedge grouper and at 57 pounds beats the all tackle world record by 16 pounds!!so my dream was partially true..right idea, wrong species..as of today it is pending..picked up a few more smaller yellowedges and made a run to a nearby rig to finish off the snapper and jack limit..only found 2 jacks all day and went in early with an impressive load..final tally 8 yellowedges, 1 medium warsaw, 24 snapper, 2 scamps and 2 aj's..Saturday I had the Bracken family and we went straight back to the old honey hole..still plenty of yellowedges but very few snapper and several monsters we never stopped..I have to admit, I got on the rod 4 times and lost 4 fish..30-40 pounds of drag too..one broken leader, one straightened 13/0 circle hook and two breakoffs on the ledges..I resigned the fact that it wasn't my day and gave up, though I let it bother me most of the day..we actually had to work for the fish Saturday, ran south and trolled a little while with no luck..the blue water had moved in from the previous days and I even saw a few nice yellowfin in open water..tried chumming as well but couldn't get any attention..spent the remainder of the day shy 15 snapper..drifted the Lump and didn't even get a nibble..ran back into the delta and fished bottom structure I hadnt tried in 2 years..last stop proved why we are sometimes a 4th quarter team..in 45 minutes and 5 drifts we had our limit along with a few scamps..two of the fish were over 20 pounds and about a half dozen fish proved to be too much for my tackle and anglers..at least we'll know where they are for next season..Sonny and Willy took out the Cabo and chased tuna..don't know what the total was but they were in early with plenty of red meat..like in previous days they lost all the monsters..0-3 in all with 3 mediums as a consolation prize..they fished tuna again today with my old neighbors from Slidell, the Peytons, and were back at 2pm..more due to sea conditions than anything else but plenty of tuna fish were caught to make the trip..will post all the pictures of this weeks adventures in the photo section..hoping I can talk a few out of the stands and blinds to come fill some weekday trips this month..we are nearly 90% wide open in terms of availability for fall tuna and grouper/aj fishing.. Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006 |
Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 20
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 10:35 pm: | |
What a week of great weather and fishing and mechanical and scheduling challenges...tuna and snapper still the big story although I even spent a few hours trout fishing Friday while waiting on engine parts that never arrived..The week started out great with business as usual on big tuna, snappers and groupers..big bait equals big fish for all three species..had the best catch of the career for the Monday overnighter and the momentum carried through the week..Pretty increadible overnight trip with the Tidwell/Clements group despite pretty miserable weather conditions..stuck it out anyway since we had past the point of no return by mid day..the fishing was great in 2 hour spurts..managed the limit of snapper in 2 hours with 5 fish over 25 pounds the rest decent pan sized to baby sows..then we ran south for an evening of tuna fishing..man did we struggle and man did it get rough in the blue water..nothing but blackfins for hours and total whitewater..tried just about everything too..finally at 3am it broke open and we went 5 for 8, the largest fish a solid 120 the rest 80-100 pounds.one even got mangled by the prop and kept on fighting another 10 minutes..morning came and everyone got a turn on a big fish so wee decided to head in with 20 live baits to spare..made a stop to try an pick up some AJ's and settled for 2 along with 5 grouper the largest a 60 pound warsaw..probably the best catch we have ever recorded for a combo trip..even thought the fishing only lasted 7 hours we needed all Tuesday afternoon to recover..Wednesday morning broke with even better weather setting the stage for the snapper slapper challenge between my good friend Andy Wilson and Lake Texoma striper guide Joe Brown..Andy bet me he could catch a mangrove on a slapper and he proved it to be correct..I enjoyed my crow and oyster gumbo that night..the bite was steady with Darryl, Joe and I catching our share of trophy fish while Andy played around with the panfish..he had a little more trouble with the brutes..he only fishes light tackle..nothing more than 20 and 30 pound test on his bass rods..he was the first person on any of my boats to land a large yellowfin on bass gear..Thursday was a carbon copy of Wednesday in terms of weather and the Reach Technolgy group was treated to some fine snapper fishing..we had 15 fish over 20 pounds in one hour..the largest fish cracked the 30 pound mark..the remainder of the limit was filled with chateaubriand for two and single serving sized fish and a few barely legal gags..made for an early day..Friday morning we awoke to find failed fuel pump on the Cabo and cracked transmission slave on the Albemarle..managed to get both groups off in time on loaner boats while I arranged for the delivery of parts..went and killed 20 trout with Jimmy Gringo while I awaited the various deliveries from South Florida's finest suppliers of parts in a pinch..guess they didn't call Brown since I am still waiting..Both Darryl and Sonny had good catches with the Mark Uberecken and Daniel Carter groups respectively..D made a drive by at the snapper grounds picking up a limit of every size ruby red before heading long for tuna..the first fish was a big boy..went through all 4 anglers before pulling the hook 1:15 into the fight..they ended up with a 90 pounder but got back just after dark..Sonny's group had no luck with tuna early on Friday but saved the day with a limit of snapper and a few grouper on the way home..couldn't tell you where the rip is but bluewater was 40 miles to the east and the snapper and grouper are on the bottom of every rig in the Gulf..we have a cancellation for an overnight trip so we now have Thursday and Friday available..Sonny fished today on a loaner boat and clobbered the fish..not sure which color and size but I suspect more big red ones..he and Kevin Aderhold are taking our Mon/tuesday group out on an overnighter tomorrow..will post the results later.. Will be posting the pictures from this weeks trips in the photo page next few days.. Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006 |
Brandon Carter (Captbrandon)
New member
Username: Captbrandon
Post Number: 5
Registered: 7-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, October 20, 2004 - 7:43 am: | |
Another NICE day down in Venice.... The water is a little messed up still but if you look around some decent water is available... The fish are a little scattered as well...
Went long for the bulls and they didnt show up today. The tide was just ROARING and just shut them off. After we had spent most of the morning waiting the bulls out we finnally went fishing! Nothing fantastic, but relatively steady action almost everywhere we went. Ended up with around 25 or 30 trout and 10 reds. Also had a HUGE 5+ pound flounder!
Had an absolute ball fishing with these guys the last couple days and they had a great time as well. They fish with me in the fall each year and looks like they might be adding a Spring trip next year. The scenery and adventurous feel of Venice drove them wild taking pictures.
Most of the best water is back in the coves especially to the lee sides. Right now we are pretty much fishing a early spring type pattern. Look for the clean pockets and fish plastic under a cork. If you get few bites stick with it and work it over.
On another note, I recieved and email that I thought I would post. Its from Merrily Dunn. For those of you who dont know her, she and her partner are one of the only women only teams on the redfish tour. She is also a full time guide over in Florida. I have had the opportunity to fish with her several times here in Louisiana during the IWFA LAdies Tournament. She is first class angler and LOADS of FUN!!!!Hopefully she draws my boat again next year.....
Hey all, I've fished with Capt. Brandon during the IWFA Reds and Specks Tournament
this past June out of Cypress Cove in Venice and can attest to his knowledge of where the
fish are! He put me and my team-mate for Day 1 on the bull reds! We were restricted to
8# or 12# test Andie line per the IGFA rules and we got to impress him with our skills
using artificials and the 8#. WOW, what a blast and a challenge, too. While most of the
gals were fishing for as many trout as they could hook, he opted for these big fish! You
won't be disappointed!
Merrily
P.S. Did I mention I finished 5th...darned trout!
Thanks for the kind words Merrily..... YOu Gals were a blast to watch as you cuaght those big bulls on 8 pound line!!! 22 ya'll caught wasnt it??? Now that was impressive. And congratualations of finishing in the money with Mrs. Suasn Gros at the Venice Redfish Tour.....
Capt. Brandon Carter
985-969-0810 |
Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 19
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 17, 2004 - 8:46 pm: | |
Went down to Venice Thursday night with every intention of going redfishing at the rocks. Both groups scheduled for Friday came in from out of town and cancelling altogether looked to be the call mid week but not in the internary due to extensive and expensive non refundable travel arrangements..very surprised to wake to 5 kts of wind or not so surprised in the wake of the weatherman's recent hotstreak of precise predctions...made the decision to run poast the rocks and out a little further offshore to fish for snapper instead of redfish..we made it offshore to find 1-2 ft seas, but stayed close to home so as to avoid a prolonged beating if the 30 knot forecast reared it's ugly head..never happened or at least not until we were done for the day. Both capt Sonny and I were able to get on an easy limit of school snapper and a few grouper..in fact 12 grouper for Sonny and his group of the Ellis family, Mom and Dad and the two kids; Thomas and Alexa age 6 and 8 respectively had a ball with the whole experience caWching thier limit of training fish..next year we are already talking tuna and marlin for them....I had 3 big kids with me all with an average age of 55, but for all our effort and edge in experience we were outfished in terms of quality..look as though the atmoshpre has finally stabilized..bring on the high pressure and keep it over us!..For Saturday, it only got better..Had both boats out with a group of great guys and gals from Shreveport..this is the 4th time they have fished with us and they always have a great trip..we got to the spot and had our limit in 90 minutes..the smallest fish was 8 or 10 pounds with an average of 18 pounds for all 24..it took me 1 hour to clean them..picked a bad day to fish without a deckhand, but all the preparation the night before paid off..we spent the rest of the morning tied alongside watching Capt. Sonny's crew finish thier limit..we assumed the the role of heckling them from anything from technique to well..I am not sure it is fit for print..with thier limit in hand we took off for home and found 10 acres of pogies with kings, jacks, sharks and everyother trash preditor in full attack formation..it was a sight for video..think we got 5 minutes of it..tried to find some grouper in shallow water and came up empty..great weather, company and fishing..all prayers answered! Sonny and Casey are out today and hopefully will have a decent report for tomorrow..pretty sure they went bottom fishing too..I have a 24 hr combo trip leaving tomorrow..plan to fish a little of both and come back the next day..Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006
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Jerry LaBella (Agl01)
New member
Username: Agl01
Post Number: 14
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, October 04, 2004 - 6:59 pm: | |
Venice Fishing Report,
Arthur Wilamouseki, Tim Mulmore, and I left of out of Venice Sat. afternoon to fish the inside and coastal areas for redfish, white trout and croaker. The river was on the murky side as it had taken a jump since Ivan. The South Pass mud lumps were our first stop with nothing going on there. The water was clean but rushing with current. After moving to South Pass, we began to catch nice sized croaker with a few white trout in between. Bait of choice included cut squid and croaker. The South Pass was choppy under partly cloudy skies but the water was cleaner than the interior areas farther north.. Next morning we headed to SW Pass where redfish were swarming with a few bull croakers. Later we moved into West Bay and fished the nearby rigs in 25 ft. of water where nice sized white trout were obliging along with a few Spanish mackerel.
SEE PICS: http://www.jerrylabella.com/captains_log1.htm
Good fishin’,
Jerry LaBella
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Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 18
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 9:33 pm: | |
Went out Thursday with a half crew..unfortunately we lost two guys the night before so Dave and Jason and I hired Capt. Darryl on his brother Tim’s cat..Looking forward to a relaxing day with the intention of catching a dolphin or tuna on the fly or even tussling with a warsaw grouper..It was nice to play customer for a change and took special pleasure in harassing Darryl by playing evil customer...found a nice remnant of a line about 40 miles out with every intention of running out to catch some tuna and returning later for fly rod fodder...we never did make it but I later talked to a guiy who caught some dolphin on it and hooked a blue marlin..we went tuna fishing at the neareast rig and had plenty of action in 2 hours on tuna going 6 for 10 on yellowfin..at one point there was a school chasing my popper..by the time I had the fly rod ready they were gone..made 3 drifts with chum, never got a strike..made the decision to run north to try for big grouper but got eaten alive by amberjacks..couldn’t get anything past them.so we called it early..Friday was a wide open bite on the bottom fish..never seen such a bite and never seen such quality with red snapper..we had 250 pounds on 10 fish with out largest missing 30 pounds by 6/10ths and numer two went 28 pounds..needless to say it made for an awesome catch as they were the first two in the boat..the remainder of the limit wasn’t to shabby nor were the grouper, the largest a 35 pound warsaw..the other half of our crew decided to out after the tuna with Capt. Sonny and came home with two decent yellows; a 120 and a 90 pounder along with 5 smaller school tuna and a 6 man limit of AJ’s..Darryl took another group out on his brother’s boat and had only one 60 pound yellow and 4 schoolies before the bite shut off in traffic, they headed for shallow water a little earlier than usual picking up a yellowfin grouper and a mix of jacks and red snapper..not sure what is causing the wide open bottom fish bite but I like it! Talked with Roland Martin about our catch who said he needed some big snapper for a show he was shooting..I gladly agrred to oblige him by taking him back to the area we fished..but since he had the faster boat I made him follow us out..and it was yet another increadible snapper haul for both of us along with some surprise cobia.. The bite was wide open from the start..when the dust settled a mere 90 minutes later we had 2 cobia, 1 aj, 1 gag grouper and 20 red snapper up to 28 pounds..we only had 5 well over 20 pounds today but no one seemed to mind..it was now 10am and the idea of heading in early to watch the Tigers was doused with hopes of chasing tuna..attempts to make live bait were futile with the exception of 6 hardtails..not enough to merit a 90 minute boat ride south, so we ended up bouncing from rig to rig looking for brown fish..managed 2 more nice cobia and one small scamp in the remaining 5 hours..couldn't seem to locate any jacks..funny how it turns on you just as quick..Roland had the same action with his crew making a great show with 6 snapper over 20 pounds, the largest 28 pounds..Sonny's group did catch two school tuna and a few AJ's...Took today off to give our thanks to the Almighty and do maintenance..Sonny will be heading out in the morning to see what is left of the snapper population with a group we have for the next few days....Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006 |
Jerry LaBella (Agl01)
New member
Username: Agl01
Post Number: 13
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 7:04 pm: | |
Breton Is is now in 3 sections after Ivan hits main section. |
Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 17
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 28, 2004 - 8:26 am: | |
Good to be back in business although we had hoped for better weather and fishing conditions following the hurricaine but at least we have a place to come back to..feel for those that dont...in Venice, some things expected, others not..plenty of debris in the passes and offshore and a few rigs missing or damaged , a lot of floating debris, mostly timber offshore but none holding preditors as of yet..Had the JGID/Woodall group from Atlanta for the first part of the week..Monday we made a few passes alongside trees in blue water with no results..managed 2 wahoo (25 and 60 pounds) and a dolphin in the junk although we didn’t get out in bluewater until 2pm, spent the early part of the day looking for bait which was tough everywhere and tuna which were NO where close in..and since we could not locate any tuna in the places of last week we went south looking for life..blue water was 40 miles out of South Pass Monday with just a gradual color change and no rip..had 4 strikes catching the 3 aforementioned fish missing another wahoo..and a good one from what I could see..it was not calm, but we went as far as Medusa making one lap and beaming the sea home to Tiger Pass..probably 4-6 in the green with an 8 thrown in out in the blue water..too rough to do anything but troll downsea..Sonny and Bill had the other half of our group and they too struggled with tuna finally going the distance and catching 2 yellowfin20 and 60 pounds..they could only find one jack on the return trip...spent the next 3 days fishing for bull reds at the rocks downriver..despite 20-40 knot winds we managaed to release 60 reds per boat per day..most of the fish were 20-30 pounds taking a few minutes to land on light tackle..we even fished the return of Ivan on Thursday and somehow managed to make an offshore trip Friday with the Jim Williams group..thought I might have overestimated my fuel (400 gals) and ice (350#) and underestimated the winds and seas for the outing - wrong on both accounts..got out 2 miles past South Pass and the seas were running 2-3 ft..got as far as Cognac and was surprised to find cobalt blue water and 4 ft seas..out went the spread..nothing..not much grass or debris either..water was pushing hard to the north about 2 knots but no decent line of grass or trash at the color change..trolled every rig between Cognac and 93..All in blue water with all but one wahoo to show for 6 hours of labor..the wahoo came off a diving bait at Lena had the intention of staying the night and glad we did..not much life in the blue water except for tons of flying fish at least not until the sun set....probably saw a thousand flying fish for the whole trip..many landing on the deck and some htting bodies before the tuna showed up to devour them..just before dark the bite busted wide open with larger tuna being located and successfully baited with live flying fish and hadtails..caught a total of 12 yellowfin in 4 hours keeping 9 fish in the 80-90 pound class..made the decision to head and gut most of the fish so that we would have enough ice to cool them properly..since we really had no more space but a drink box and plenty of time we decided to try and pick up one or two snapper s and a smaller yellowfin that hit a live hardtail on the bottom..thought it was a grouper by the way it was fighting but everyone was surprised to see the tuna splashing at the end of a bottom rod..fished an hour with no sucess before we made the decision around midnight to idle in toward Tiger Pass arriving at sun-up.from what I could tell the bluewater moved in 30 miles from 5 days before..it was well inside Cognac and 93..happy hunting...Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006
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Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 16
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 11:04 am: | |
Pretty increadible tuna bite the end of last week..had the Broussards and Cloptons from Lake Charles area Friday..the bite was fast and furious in the 3 hours we fished with the final tally at 11 yellowfin..only kept 4 big ones and 4 schoolies releasing 3 of the fish boatside by cutting the leader..we even had 4 fish on at one time which we turned successfully with some fancy 2 and 3 stepping..obviously this bunch has been to the weekend fais do do at Harris' Restuarant..stopped off at one rig to catch one small keeper grouper before arriving safely home at 2pm..I can't recall ever seeing so much bait in green water this fall..herring, hardtails, pogies and juvenile bonita..seems like the bite will last as long as the bait hangs around or gets consumed...In other news..Willie "one jump" Miller took the Cabo to Florida this week along with pal Richard Creed and dad, Mike Miller..they went 2 for 5 on blue marlin and kept 3 tuna in the 2 days they fished..Willie said the blue water was in between the beer can and the ram, although it will likely be blue, white and bloody at Port Eads by week's end with the approach of Hurricaine Ivan.....www.paradise-outfitters.com - Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006
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Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 15
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 07, 2004 - 12:46 pm: | |
Capt. Sonny and Darryl had a great week while I took some time off..Darryl had 6 yellowfin on a recent overnighter..Sonny had a white marlin, 2 bull dolphin, 2 wahoo and several yellowfin and blackfin tuna this week, including 6 yellows and 10 blacks the night before we left..For my my first day back was another come from behind last minute victory in the 4th quarter..it certainly helps captain and crew avert near disaster trip!!..Just got back to do an overnight trip with 5 days of rest under my belt..man was I ready to go..from the reports I had been reading and hearing about through the coconut telegraph I was excited and optimistic..got to the dock Monday morning to be held off by thunderstoms for 90 minutes, no big deal..Willie had the Cabo ready and waiting, and there were at least 2 marlin and 8 tuna a few dolphin and a few amberjacks waiting for us..made bait very easily, thanks to capt harvey's scouting report - greenies and coin sized blue runners and speedos aplenty..60 perfect baits..headed SW looking for the billfish bite in the Canyon..nothing doing..but at least it was flat calm and cool..made passes at Medusa, Mars, Usra and even by a 20 ft long tree!! Not one strike, not one fish seen..very little bait..water made a slow transition from blue green to blue 3 miles past Medusa and there was a remnant of a SW/NE running grass line and slick..pulled on it most of the afternoon..nothing for our effort and anticipation! Well at least there would be plenty of tuna waitng for us at Sonny's tuna hole..darkness came and nothing seen but a rather comfortable looking pile of flying fish and squid under the flare..not one tuna spotted at Mars or Ursa..managed to catch two 20 pound yellowfin on glow jigs down deep, along with a few blackfin for bait..anyway, around 11pm we decided to run back to Medusa where we had seen plenty of medium sized tuna while pulling the big baits..I was very frustrated and bitter at this point and even made a comment to Willie that at least I should be happy that the weather was perfect (calm and cool with a bright harvest moon) and the boat was running great..shortly thereafter the seas and winds picked up and we found ourselves in a very choppy 3-4ft headsea..about 3 miles from Medusa the spreader lights took a stutter step, went dim and bright and then faded into darkness..this signifying that something was amiss with the generator..no big deal I have plenty of experience with a 5kw Westerbeke having taken mine apart on many a dark and steamy night at sea and at the dock, sometimes minutes before a trip...went to raise the deck hatch..nothing but a strange rumble..no big deal..just add ATF and we should be in business..nearly got sprayed by the ram as the seal burst with he first inch of altitude..given the conditions I made the sarcastic outburst..'great..who needs lights and AC to catch fish anyway'.. ...made it to medusa, salt glazed and confused, finding it difficult to confirm the presence of tuna amid the whitecaps or even more befuddled to re-rig for different methods in total darkness..it wasn't looking good..made the decision to climb between the engines for a little recon, generators are always mounted in the most accesable places in mid sized boats..anyway, it was proabaly a clogged fuel filter or block in the fuel line..determined that the run solinoid was creating problems which with one tap of a hammer put her in perfect sync..this after the entire fuel line was purged in the 10 minutes before that revelation..man did that feel wonderful..on my back, rocking in 3 ft seas, laying down in a bath of Bilge Monster excrement (warm deisel/saltwater and oil mop residue and broken cable ties)..at least the small victory was therapuetic..but the return of lights didn't make it any easier to catch tuna..didn't even get one strike, chum, live bait, jigs, poppers rubber flying fish - to which the reamining faithful on deck called flying squirrels..after conceeding the obvious defeat, we made the decision to head north to try some bottom fishing; wasn't in the plan but thankfully I had grabbed 5 rods just in case before leaving the shed..problem was we only grabbed a single pack of 16 oz weights before we left the dock so we could catch 1-2 amberjack as planned.. ...if we had been on the albemarle it wouldn't have been so much a grave situation..as I have a reserve of 6 of everything that would rival most tackle wholesalers stock..anyway we were locked and loaded for big game but short on bottom fishing tackle..plenty of rods, but just about enough material to make 6 bottom rigs with 2 weights in reserve..stop number 1 was a total bust aside from one 20 pound gag and a 15 pound red snapper on 10 drifts..I had talked the place up too much and it yielded about a dozen undersized red snapper and plenty of little fish taps..a first! About halfway through this little adventure I noticed that the seal below the tuna door was leaking..a quick inspection of the deck fish box proved that all theice had melted and our measly catch of 5 fish was in jeopardy of spoiling.. About daylight the sqaulls pounded us and we made our way to a famous AJ hole more for protection from electric shock than anything else..those that braved the heavy fresh water rinse were rewarded with all the sharks and barracudas they could stand..1 each..not looking good at all..I looked at Brett Graham for the last time, and not this time not to curse or to apologize..but to rally the team for the game winning drive..with a near full livewell I think I surprised them by punching through the weather and heading back to the south..we were going to put at least one AJ inthe boat or die trying..her's whhat we had to work with..5 functional poles with 100 pound power pro, 4 heavy weights and 4 bottom rigs left and 2o baits..first drop yeilded the first of many jacks followed by 4 more grouper (the largest a 64 pound warsaw) and 6 snapper to 18 pounds..headed in with our heads up..what a turn aroud..I was even surprised but acted like it was all part of the master plan..we even had to use our drink box and ice from the bait coiller to ice the new additions to the fish box. and to think I had contemplated walking away from it all the night before..Never!!!and now I can afford that new camera and digital video recorder instead of having to refund the fare..look out Kevin Ford and John Jackson! Should be the last time I have to wait for pictures of it all..we even caught anoter huge warsaw grouper yesterday <a > Paradise Outfitters </a> ..985-845-8006  |
Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 14
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, August 27, 2004 - 10:46 am: | |
Just got off the phone with Capt. Sonny who fished on the Albemarle today with Willie "one jump" Miller. Old one jump was on his game today and they were able to T/R a white marlin on a rip 20 miles out..turned out the marlin was never actually hooked but tangled in the leader..whatever it takes..shows you why you miss a few of them..anyway after a short fight the fish was photographed and tagged and sent packing..the bite was hot on ballyhoo for the fish that actually found the hooks today..with 1 yellowfin, 2 blackfin, 2 bull dolphin and a wahoo making thier way into the box..they will be out again tomorrow..Darryl and Chris went further on the Finatic with Shane and Buddy. They were gone long the last few days picking up 2 blue marlin and 17 yellowfin..they even bagged a 35# wahoo while high speed trolling at 17 knots on the way out...sadly one of the blues expired and they had to handline it in..it weighed 418 pounds 18 hours AD..if there is a bright side; it is that the reel was spooled with 100 pound line and it was the smaller of the two they caught..they also had two run-offs swordfishing by MC 486 last night but pulled hooks on the hook-set..no telling what it was on the other end but the strikes were very close together and the leader was chaffed well past the hook..they were using live bridled hardtails one above the themo at 175' and one below at 250'..we had marked the break at 200 ft the last few tries..should have more to report tomorrow..Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006 Check out more pictures and info ONLINE! |
Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 13
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - 2:55 pm: | |
Man its officially a blurr for me..been gone 8 straight days and some nights on the water..did not miss the computer which along with the digital camera are broken anyway ..maybe the cell phone will croak too....on to the fishing..the billfish bite was wide open early last week as expected with the influx of fresh blue water and bait..I said to the guys that I was expecting good things out of the trip but never expected so much action in 12 hours..had 6 billfish bites last Tuesday and tagged 2 blues one of which came off a double on each rigger bait..even released a 200 pound Mako which hit a marlin bait off the transom..had him on the leader twice but couldn't get the flyer throught the leather before he cut through the mono..not sure where we would have put him anyway..the rest of the time was pretty much business as usual..long runs, floaters live bait and chum..all in all 32 yellowfin tuna (50-110#) 1 rainbow runner, bull dolphin made it to the cleaning table between Darryl, Chris and myself..could barely stand yesterday or remember all the names except for yesterday's group with Albert Holeman, who is one of those guys who has to catch a Marlin..tried taking the day off but Albert got wind of the wide open bite on bills last week and drove all the way down from Tuscaloosa to cash in..as it would be the beautiful rip that he and I had heard of was reduced to scattered grass in bluewater 35 miles offshore..set a 7 line spread in open water with only cuda to show by noon..about that time Albert retired to the AC for a nap..not 2 minutes later the right rigger exploded with what looked to be a small blue or large white.. Darryl did the best he could to clear lines and keep the fish on while Albert made his way into the chair..missing all the acrobatics in the 45 seconds it took for him to respond to the excitement..settled in for a short fight on heavy tackle just as we got control of the fish it came up greyhounding straight toward the boat (with no sight of the leader in tow)..fish on fish off..finished the day with our limit of jacks on the way in..next time..Darryl is out today and Sonny the next few days..I am catching up on sleep and bills..posted a few pictures from customer cameras that were waiting in my inbox..Paradise Outfitters..985-845-8006 Or check us out ONLINE!  |
Due South Fishing (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 12:08 pm: | |
Where to begin? We fished overnight trips on Thursday, Friday and Sunday!!! Thurday night we made a long run south west. Put the baits out to do a little trolling before dark and in no time marlin on. The fight did not last long as he spit the hook. Five minutes later something just destroyed the Yummee flying fish chain. When night came, so did the storms. We spent most of the night running from them but we did put 2 yellows and 6 blacks in the box.
Friday night we had a complete crew of tuna virgins. Headed to a different spot tonight and we we arrived at the rig around 5 pm the tuna where busting. Put out the trolling lures and were hooked up to yellow fin. The first two where on the smaller side and had to be released. Got set up for the top water action for the night. The tuna where chasing the flying fish everywhere. These guys were in amazement at the power and speed of these fish. There was steady action the whole night. We landed 1 yellowfin and 6 blackfin. We had broke off another 3-4 yellows. We know it is going to happen from time to time on the spinning tackle. They hooked foul hooked the biggest yellow and it took over an hour to land. This fish actually fought himself to death. The baits of choice at night were chug n spits and yummee flying fish. As morning came, we put the trolling lures back out and nothing had changed. Every pass we had a knock down. We landed 10 yellow fin in the morning but 8 of them were 22"-26". We also had a good dolphin come up and hit the tuna buster lure from Carolina Lures. We caught yellow fin, black fin and dolphin on this one bait. Final catch for Friday night was 13 yellow (10 released), 6 black and a dolphin.
Last night was simply crazy! Before midnight the action was steady but mostly blackfin. Then around midnight, some one rang the dinner bell as the BIG yellowfin started rolling right beside the boat. Every cast of the yummee flying fish and top waters produced a "blow-up". Here were these 100 lb+ fish and we were fighting them on spinning gear. To say the least, they won a few of the battles. We were completely spooled 3-4 times and broke off just as many. It got so bad they said they were not going to cast any more because they might hook one!! These have fished many other places and they said they never knew it was like this in Venice. This will be their only desination from now on. Ended last night with 4 yellows in the 80lb range and 9 blackfin.
The tuna bite is hot right now!!
Give us a call to get into the tuna action
Capt Chris
337-256-1299
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Brandon Carter (Captbrandon)
New member
Username: Captbrandon
Post Number: 4
Registered: 7-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - 12:49 pm: | |
Boy the weather wasnt pretty down in Venice this morning. HUGE cells out to the east and west and scattered boomers in between. We made the best out of what we had and caught a pretty quick limit of really nice reds. Perfect eating size. All our fish were caught in one little area on the west side of the delta. We were throwing live shrimp just because I filled the live well in hopes of catching some trout, but live bait isnt a neccesity for these reds. The water was very dirty also, so dont be afraid to try a spot with sub par water clarity.
I really wish I could have gotten back out to my trout bite, but a monster cell full of lightening sat right on top of the field I have been fishing. No way I was taking that chance in open water with my customers. Sometimes you just have to be smart.
Tommorows a different day and hopefully we can get back on the trout bite. Not many days available for july, but still some nice days open for August. Its also time to think about those fall trips. October and November in Venice can be beyond belief!
To have a REEL SHOT at this GREAT action in Venice, Book a trip with REEL SHOT Guide Service. 985-969-0810
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Brandon Carter (Captbrandon)
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Username: Captbrandon
Post Number: 3
Registered: 7-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - 12:41 pm: | |
WOW, Can the fishing down in Venice get any better!!!
Today was one of those days that everybody should get to experience at least once. At 8:30 this morning, we used our 175th live shrimp and we had 94 trout laying on ice. Does it get any better than this!!!
None of our trout were extremely big. All were between 13 and 22 inches with no throw backs. As it has been for the last several weeks live shrimp on a carolina rig did the damage.
Yesterday the trout acted a little bit finicky, so after several stops, we decided to see if the redfish would be a little more cooperative. After 16 minutes, we had a 3 man limit of redfish in the boat. That's right 16 minutes!!! I've seen some pretty fast redfish limits, but this might have been the fastest ever.
The fishing down in Venice is just absolutely incredible right now. This pattern should continue through August. Just 3 or 4 days available in July and a handful in August, so book your trip soon!!! It's also time to book those fall fishing trips, so don't wait around, give yourself a Reel Shot at the Fishing Trip of a Lifetime, Give Capt. Brandon Carter a call at 985-969-0810!!!
www.rodnreel.com/reelshot |
Brandon Carter (Captbrandon)
New member
Username: Captbrandon
Post Number: 2
Registered: 7-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - 12:38 pm: | |
I've been resting the last tw days, but I'll be back in full force tommorow. Before I go back down the river, I figured I would put up a couple pics and give a little report on the fishing down in Venice.
Fishing has been GREAT everywhere down in the delta. Early morning limits and near limits are the rule right now. This isnt just guide talk, its reality! I promise its that good right now. This is by far the best action and most consistent action we have seen this year. Virtually every structure in 10 feet of water or more is covered in trout. I've been fishing the west side primarily, but only because its a closer run than crossing the river and running down. The fish are out on the east side as well though.
Most fish are being caught on carolina rigged live shrimp, but mnay days I felt like I could have caught them on plastic. When you have customers counting on you to produce, I go for the most consistent producer. None of these fish are real trophies, but no throwbacks whatsoever. As it has been, leave EARLY!!! The early moring bite is the most intense of the day and then you cna get out of the heat!
Redfish have been just plain lousy! QUick limits pretty much everyday. And I mean QUICK! The longest it has taken me in the last couple weeks to limit out on reds it 1.5 hours. The Quickest, 16 minutes! Its incredible! The best thing is that they are all in the 16-22 inch range. PERFECT FOR EATING!!! But if you want BIG reds, we got those to!! It just doesnt get any better than it is right now!!!
Take a look at the couple pictures I have below and see for yourself! Dont wait around and miss out. I've got some open dates and I can also set you up with Capt. Jeff if I am booked. He's been hammering the trout also. So give us a call for a REEL SHOT at the fishing trip of a lifetime... 985-969-0810 www.rodnreel.com/reelshot
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Brandon Carter (Captbrandon)
New member
Username: Captbrandon
Post Number: 1
Registered: 7-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - 12:35 pm: | |
Boy this west wind has really slowed things down in Venice!! But thats it, just Slowed. Still lots of fish coming in, just not like it was last week. Trout catches from 20-40 are pretty common east of the river and redfish are all over the shorelines to the east. Almost everybody has a limit of reds everyday right now. The winds should settle down and get a little more "normal" allowing the fish to turn back on like they were. The Faux Pas Tournament will be this weekend so most of us will be fishing for that looking for some BIG mammas!!! I've got a few tricks up my sleeve I'll be trying out!
One thing that we have noticed this year is that the fish are staying on the shoreline allot more than normal this late in the summer. Normally by now the only trout on the shorelines are little schoolies, but lots of keeper trout are still holding shallow. This tells me that those fish are commited to coming to the inside this year. The past couple Falls have been a little sporatic with the fish not deciding to come in until a little later than normal. I think its going to be different this year! A bad Fall day in Venice is still great, but if it really turns on!?!?!?!? Watch out!!!
Before we even make it that far, we have Septmeber. Sight casting to redfish in the passes and ponds!! Now thats some fun redfishing. These fish are aggresive and STRONG!! Also, September is when the fall run on flounder really gets going. Big doormats will be laying on the bottom at nearly any cut, drop off, or hump. 7+ pound flounder are a real possibility and 4-6 pounders are common!!
Dont forget about the August trout bite either. Still lots of action on the rigs and wells throughout August. The fishing is very underrated in the late summer, but usually is something to remember.
My books for the rest of the year are filling up quickly. I cant gaurantee you a limit of trout or a 7 pound flounder, but I Gaurantee I'll give you a REEL SHOT at the fishing trip of a lifetime!
REEL SHOT GUIDE SERVICE 985-969-0810
www.rodnreel.com/reelshot |
David Ballay (Venice_outdoors)
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Username: Venice_outdoors
Post Number: 1
Registered: 7-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 01, 2004 - 7:16 am: | |
VENICE OUTDOORS REPORT
Had a great week. Captains Brandon and Brent Ballay took Mom and Dad out fishing Monday and Tuesday. The Bull Reds (up to 30#) were eating up our TopDogs. We had Saltwater Sportsman Magazine writer Pete Cooper on board. Pete needed photos of Bull Reds for an upcoming article; you'll be seeing it soon in the magazine. He got all the pictures he needed, but the Bull Reds and Jack Crevalle got a couple of his TopDogs. Capt. Brandon even got a 7# Speck on a cocahoe jig.
The next day, we headed to California Point and mauled the Specks. We released over 100 and kept enough to fulfill a few promises of fish for a few friends. They hit cocahoe jigs under a cork or tandem cocahoe jigs without a cork. We worked the flocks of seagulls to find the fish.
Capt. Brent fished the Mouth of the Mississippi River yesterday and had 82 Specks in the 1 to 3# range. His 83 year old angler caught most of the fish out of 4 anglers.
Cobia, Snapper, Amberjack, King Mackeral, Yellowfin Tuna, White and Blue Marlin have kept the offshore fishermen busy lately.
Until next time,
CAPT. DAVE
http://www.veniceoutdoors.com |
Jerry LaBella (Agl01)
New member
Username: Agl01
Post Number: 9
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 9:30 am: | |
Breton Island/ Sound Report,
Friday evening Mike Martina and I left out of Venice Marina and headed to Breton Island. The weather was very nice with light winds and clear skies. Water at the island was clean with good visibility. The water temperature was 82 degrees. Fishing was NOT good that evening but plenty of bull redfish and some nice speckled trout at selected lighted rigs in Breton Sound at night. Sat. morning inside the island on and incoming tide, speckled schooled trout obliged in good number but some were under size. Dolphins were schooling and feeding in the area and this is where the specks were located. With the water warming, school trout will be plentiful but a moving tide will be needed. Early fishing will be imperative because after 9:30 AM the fishing shuts down for the most part in the surf. It picks back up again late evening if the tide is moving. See other pics:
Good fishin’
Jerry LaBell
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Capt Chris (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 7:18 am: | |
Well it has been a while since our last post but we are still here and catching fish. It is just that with the wind and seas they way they are we have been catching specks and reds!! The trout action has been steady with some catches of 6-7 lbs trout and that is only going to get better as we move into May. Redfish have been unbelievable as we have been in shallow ponds picking the reds we want to hook. We have made a few tuna trips this month we fair to good results. The blackfin plentiful with mid size yellow fins mixed in. The tuna action is fixing to pick up along with the dolphin. It is not far until those big blue fin roll though and all you here on the radio is "something just spooled my 80?" Cant wait for the offshore fishing to be in full swing for the summer. Sometimes I just sit and think of how rich the fishing grounds in Venice really are. In one day you could catch - tuna (yellow, black, blue), snapper, amberjack, dolphin, marlin, specks, reds, bass and on and on!!! Venice is amazing and I would not trade it for the world. We have first class acommodations for up to 31 people. So give us a call to catch some fish. Specks, reds, tuna or snapper just give us a call and we will put you on them
Capt Chris 337-256-1299
www.duesouthfishing.com
www.cajunfishingadventures.com
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Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 12
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2004 - 7:16 am: | |
Records fell in late April, some state and others purely personal..after much effort we were finally able to convert a decent yellowfin tuna on fly on April 10th..the fish were boiling around the boat in groups of 5-12 at a time..first to hook up was Chip Metz and from the looks of the it 10 feet from the boat, I am guessing an 80 pound fish..fish on fish off..if they survive the first run things usually look up, then you get to look forward to gaffing it if it doesn't break of pull the hook..funny thing is, Chip's fish came back for more with the fly and leader streaming from his mouth...next to hook up was David Coinget who lasted a little longer than Chip before the all too familiar break off on the 1st run..Roger Del Rio was next in the rotation surviving the first run and some quick manuevering until a 45 pound yellowfin came to the gaff in 75 minutes..Gary Parish was able to pick up 2 blackfin although Mr. Big never came cruising for him today..lost the school not long after fighting Rogers fish then we went looking for a world record aj didn't take long..while the rest of the gang toyed with kings and bonita Frank Genusa got ahold of a nice jack..after a 45 minute fight the fish came to gaff at nearly 26 pounds beating Roger Del Rio's state record by 3 pounds..got back on the slick and David Coignet hooked a larger fish only to loose him as he dug 280 feet into the hardbottom..the fish never even knew it was hooked until about 5 minutes into the fight after which he made his 3 minute run to freedom...lost them shortly thereafter and decided to go look for mangroves never did get the big ones chummed up as there was a supply boat at the G-spot with his engines in gear..decided to get home early to weigh the fish..and here's where God shows up again, delivering the coastal flyfisherman's heaven on Earth..4 mies from Tiger Pass we came across 2 acres of frenzied bull redfish feeding a mass of rain minnows..when I say they were thick, they were running into the boat, litterally..sounded like someone dropping 10 dozen bean bags on the deck of the boat..wait until you see the pictures..talk about a screensaver..red and yellow on green, you could have walked on them...there had to be hundreds..seen that 3 times in ten years..once off Horn Island with Tarpon mixed in and in Breton Soundafew years back...only problem is everyone had put there gear away..Roger was the only one with a fly stil on a rod and before he could make a cast a 31 pound bull grabbed the bait as it dangled off the transom..I ran to the bow with a spinning rod and slung it into the pile and immediately hooked a jack..while we fought our two respective fish while the school scattered into groups of 10-20 and we were never really able to set up again...Roger released his fish 20 minutes later..There just aren't enough hours in the day but no one was complaining...later that night Darryl and I ran the boat up to the shipyard for it's annul check-up..First trip back with the Ambling Group..here is the report in Ricky Mestayer's words..."Scott, We had two days (April 15/16, 2004) of fantastic fishing. I did not believe that we could top last year's (April 2003)experience but we did. Sorry that you had to miss this trip. Captain Sonny did an outstanding job for us. He is a great asset to your company. Yellowfin Tuna action was hot. Everybody caught a large tuna. Mine went about 45 pounds. What a fight! We also caught eight Rainbow Runners. On our way in we stopped to try for Amberjack. We all caught huge Amberjack. My wife Becky caught one that weighed 60 pounds. She's still talking about that fight. The fish almost pulled her overboard. We had great action all day. The next day we went back after those big Jacks. Caught four big Amberjacks and Kings and Baracuda and Sharks. What a smorgasboard. We had decided earlier that we wanted to go tangle with the Big Bull Reds at Southwest Pass. The Bulls were there and the action was hot. 20-30 pound Redfish on every cast. Sonny gave me a spinning rod with 12 pound test line to fight the Reds. It took me 25 minutes to bring my fish in. Everyone (Ricky and Becky Mestayer, Kelsey Varnado, Jeremy Moore, Josh Summers and Mr. Moore) had a wonderful experience. Will be back next year for our annual fishing trip with Captain Scott and Captain Sonny. Sincerely, Ricky Mestayer" Always nice to receive emails like that..Been catching a few bottom fish this week on the few days we braved the 4-6 footers..I have yet to make a snapper trip since taking 10 days off for a variety of reasons..can't wait to get after them..Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006 Check us out online at by clicking HERE!
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Jerry LaBella (Agl01)
New member
Username: Agl01
Post Number: 8
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 24, 2004 - 2:59 pm: | |
Breton Island Report,
Friday afternoon Mike Martina and I left out of Venice marina to wade fish Breton Island. Winds were high as we made our way out into Breton Sound under overcast shies. Fishing was slow at the island with stained water from high SE winds. Few specks caught but all were nice. Next morning winds were higher and tide was incoming. We managed to land a dozen large speckled trout inside the island area. Water was stained but had good visibility. Purple/chart tail Bayou Chub minnows did the job.
See pics: http://www.jerrylabella.com/captains_log1.htm
Good fishijn’
Jerry LaBella
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Capt Chris (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 1:57 pm: | |
It has been a while since my past report. We have been hitting the trout hard but have made a few trips offshore after tuna. The tuna fishing had slowed but is back in full swing. We have a few overnight trips and a day trip with good catches. At night, yellowfin on poppers and yummee birds and all the blackfin you can stand on diamond jigs. During the day, you need to get a livewell full of hardtails and slow troll them around the rigs. Marlin are beng spotted as the water heats up and this will also bring the dolphin in! Snapper season starts next week and the season looks good. Huge snapper have been caught while fishing for grouper and amberjack. We do have some spots open starting April 26th for offshore.
Inshore the specks have been tearing it up. Limits coming within hours most days. Reds and some flounder being caught while trout fishing.
Offshore the dates are booking fast for the summer. We have 2 boats available for offshore and 13 for inshore fishing. We have first class accomodations for up to 31 people. Pool, hot tub, meals and beer!!!!!!!!
www.duesouthfishing.com www.cajunfishingadventures.com
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Jerry LaBella (Agl01)
New member
Username: Agl01
Post Number: 7
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2004 - 6:47 am: | |
Breton Island Trout Explosion,
Tim Mulmore, Frank Hill, and I left out Venice Marina Friday afternoon and headed to Breton Island. The weather was great under clear skies and light winds. Water cleared up to clear green half way to the island from Baptistte Collette. Tide was very high upon arriving thus we fished the close areas near guts on the backside of the island. First spot yielded 20 trout between 11/2 pound to 3 pounds. The second spot we tried was a big 0. The third spot proved to be a trout explosion for 2 hours straight, with 3-inch glass minnows sporadically spraying out of the water in flight of hungry trout jaws. We were in the middle of the feeding frenzy. Trout so thick that if you dangled your lure in front of you, you hooked a trout. That evening we limited out on very nice speckled trout and a few redfish and came straight in the next morning. The bull redfish were also among the feeding frenzy. Fish were hitting cocahoe minnow lures on 1/4 oz.- 3/8 oz. jig heads in any color..
See Pics: http://www.jerrylabella.com/captain's_log1.htm
Good fishin’
Jerry LaBella
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Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 11
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2004 - 3:09 pm: | |
Pretty increadible tuna fishing this week with a few grouper, aj and wahoo mixed in, plus the largest mako I have seen in my career...Friday we got a late start and planned to take advantage of the weather with our 3 man charter of Russ Gran, Terry Lucket and Steve..the tuna started out slow but finished quickly with all but one of 9 yellowfin tuna from 30-80 pounds coming in the boat in 3 hours..the second to last fish was attacked by the biggest mako I have ever seen to date..he was an easy 12 feet long and as thick as a 55 gallon drum after talking with Dan Luke we think the fish was between 500-600 pounds...we were able to get 3/4 of the tuna to the boat where we teased the beast for about 10 minutes before we hooked him up on a waiting shark line..funny thing is the fish never even knew it was hooked..for 20 minutes he swam along side the boat as if to mock us..slowly he swam off taking about a foot of line every few seconds..after getting 100 feet away he figured it out and made a monster run coming loose in the process..figured he broke off but actually it turned out that he bit through a double strand of 300# aircraft cable halfway up the bite leader..after thinking about it it was probably for the better..talked to a long line buddy who said the hinge of the jaw is like a bolt cutter either that or he raked it with his incisors..that's a new one on me..heard Kevin Beech had one bite through a stainless stell hook years ago..after the dust settled it was kind of bittersweet...thought we were going to get him..had the jaws promised to my son before it all began...and probaly for the best that it got off without killing anyone..not sure where we would have put him for the remaining 14 hours of the trip either..and even more, I am not sure how the photographer missed him..we got one picture at the transom but you cant tell what is exactly..we do have 2 really clear shots of the gunnel..he stayed with the boat for about 5 more minutes bumping along side it making a few more laps before swimming off for good and instead of being steel blue in color he was almost yellow in color..anyway he or she is still out there so be careful where you tuna fish..
At about 7pm we pulled up and set out a 3 line swordfish spread..made a drift for 3 hours getting one run-off on the long line..turned out to be a 20 pound escolar...looks like a cross between a tuna and a king mackeral with china white flesh and yellow eyes..also got a blackfin on the short line before calling it to go bottom fishing..picked up one 40 pound aj and 2 scamps 10-20 pounds...weather was superb best I have seen this year..
Thursday was a day trip and the yellowfin bite was early and strong...had the 4 J's and 2 B's from Slidell for a tuna trip..made the hike again and it proved to be the right call from the start..steady singles and doubles on yellowfin from 10am until noon..ended up keeping 7 from 30-60 pounds before the bite wained..finished the day with jacks..all in all a great time..funniest thing was watching 150 pound Justin fight a 150 pound yellowfin on a spinning rod..saw the fish hit right next to the boat..didn't last long..
Wednesday sort of kicked things off on the tuna, in fact we were having so much fun we decided to stay out overnight...Had Capt. Eric and Joe from Ft Lauderdale out yesterday for a fun day of fishing..the all charter boat captain crew was looking forward to pefecting our kite fishing but it was too windy in the morning and too light in the afternoon..think I will invest in a better arsenal..trolled east along a 10 of a rip 7 miles south of the Lump for most of the morning seeing only scatered bait and porpouses..not one strike...should'nt be long before the bulls and bills show up..anyway..the outriggers and fighting chair will be the next off day project..water was cobalt blue and 71 degress..Have to say my new radio antenna is working better than expected..I could hear boats making passing arrangements in Port O'Connor Texas and even talked to a longliner buddy 63 miles to my south..(the guy who loaned us medical gear to fix a barracuda bite that killed my quest for a 40 pound dolphin on fly last November) He said he was fishing the edge of the (Uncle Vic's) loop 110 miles south of the river where he missed 8 bluefin on a single set..evidentally he had a 600 pound fish snap his bandit gear after getting the drop line off the long line..anyway..shouldn't be long before they head north before exiting the Gulf for good but they are here..he was setting along a bluewater current rip with 76 on the south side and 72 on the north side..
On to our report..the yellowfin bite was steady for us with Eric and Joe requiring no coaching from at all..went 8 for 9 on 30-80 pound school fish ..at 7pm we were pretty much done...never did get a bite at night..we broke out the fly tackle for the last fish but it was not to be..lost 2 tippets and 5 flies in the process... one fish I had one for a good while got loose after the 2/0 hook broke at the shank....will have to be for another time ..plenty of blackfin released..even Darryl got to feel the rush of hooking a tuna on fly...he's hooked now too...At 10pm it was still glass calm and we let the boys get some sleep as we travelled to the grouper grounds..about 2 am it started kicking up but we decided to make a few drops..first fish in the boat was a 19 pound scamp, followed by 40 pound jacks..but no big grouper n the boat..had a possible lbut lost it when the drag on the 9/0 reel burned up..can't seem to keep a 9/0 in business for more than 2 weeks..good thing we have plenty of them..taking the day off to catch up on rest today (Sunday - will be back at it in the morning) Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006 Check us out online by CLICKING HERE!  |
Capt Chris (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 02, 2004 - 6:22 am: | |
The seas remain rough but if you watch close you can get offshore. We made it out the other night for a few hours. Pulled up to the rig just after dark to find tuna busting the surface. The first drift produced a black fin and a 70lb yellow fin both on top water with spinning tackle. If you have never caught tuna on top water with spinning tackle, it is simply amazing. The second drift was about the same but the yellowfin was a lot bigger and after a long fight the line broke. You could have caught 1000 blackfin if you wanted to. There were a number of time that the 4 customers would drop diamond jigs and all would hook up to a black fin. After about 3 hours of fishing, the wind turned out of the NW and started to get rough. We made the decided to head home.
We have been having great success inshore. The speckled trout are really starting to school up. Most of our boats that go out are returning in a few hours with limits of trout. A lot of the fish are around 2 lbs with some going up to 4 lbs. This month and next is the time to catch the 8-9 lb trout. Many times these are caught on top water. Catches of redfish many good also.
We have over 15 boats available for inshore fishing. We also have to boats available for offshore charters. WE have first class lodging for up to 31 people with meals, pool, and hot tub. Everything is taken care of for you all you have to do is catch fish and enjoy yourself
www.duesouthfishing.com
www.cajunfishingadventures.com
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Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 10
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 22, 2004 - 12:42 pm: | |
Pretty fine week for Paradise Outfitters boats in Venice, Louisiana..weather was perfect and the fish were plentiful, dumb and hungry..Started off the week with a 166 pound yellowfin after a 3 hour fight..had missed 5 other larger fish before we got the solid hook-up on him. Next day was spent bottom fishing where we caught 5 gag grouper 10-20 pounds, 2 scamps and all the amberjack we could stand. Next day Capt Sonny took the same crew tuna fishing and I entertained another party..after making bait we set up side by side chumming and live baiting on the rip..the blackfin were thick as theives and we each boated a dozen in less than 2 hours. I also had one decent yellowfin about 75 pounds and Sonny's crew boated two yellows. Tried trolling for wahoo but with no luck. Saturday I had a group that entered the winter tournamnet an good thing they did..ended up wining in the wahoo (71.9#), grouper(10#) and placing in the shark (11#) and wahoo(50.5#) categories..we had a limit of amberjack, a few blackfin, one blacktip shark, 3 wahoo from 72-40 pounds and a 10 pound scamp on the day...Took Sunday off and Darryl and Sonny came in with 10 blackfin tuna..all 20 pounds or more...Paradise Oufitters - 985-845-8006 Check out our WEBSITE!  |
Jerry LaBella (Agl01)
New member
Username: Agl01
Post Number: 6
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 20, 2004 - 1:18 pm: | |
Breton Sound/Island Report,
Friday afternoon Tim Mulmore and I headed out of Venice Marina and onto Breton Island to wade fish. Upon arriving the water was 69 degrees under light winds and clear skies. It was at first slow fishing with an occasional speckled trout being caught fishing chartreuse cocahoe minnow lures with ¼ oz jig heads. Things started to get better, however, when I went to a top-water plug with a trailing white curly-tailed grub tied to the back hooks. Speckled trout went crazy hitting both the top-water plug and mostly the trailing grub. That night, since the winds were very light, we headed to our secret bull redfish rig were as usual they were tearing up the water’s surface, gulping down bait fish. Seagulls were dive bombing under the lights of the rig as well, taking advantage of the bait being dispersed across the surface. Most of the redfish were released while only the smaller redfish were kept. It was very difficult catching redfish under 27 inches. ½ oz gold spoons with heavy surf rods and spinning reels controlled the redfish away from the rig structure once they were hooked. In many cases you could pick out the redfish you wanted to catch simply by casting the gold spoon in front of its face. In some cases they were so close to the boat all we had to do was dangle the lure over the side and we hooked a redfish. Next morning we wade fished and caught a few more speckled trout and then headed in. All in all we had a nice mess of speckled trout and several nice redfish, not to mention sore arms.
Good fishin’
Jerry LaBella
SEE PIC: http://www.jerrylabella.com/captain's_log1.htm |
Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 9
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 3:24 pm: | |
It has been a while since I had the plaesure of posting a decent set of reports..bad weather for most of the winter has kept us at the dock and slow fishing has frustrated us on the days we got out..last week put an end to both..started off the week with grouper and tuna and fishinshed strong with the same..bad news is a few snapper were hungry for live bait and we had to release 8 back to the water with limited prospects for survival....the smallest 15 pounds and the largest pushing 40 pounds...arguably the largest red snapper I have ever seen and 5 weeks too early to brag on..the fish measured 38 inches total length and was probably 10-12 inches between the eyes..he had a mouthful of jewelry..the picture doesn't do it justice..and sadly thats seems to be the only good thing about landing it..you know the end result and it too frustrates me that we aren't allowed one incidental catch when we are targeting something else...after about 3 hours on Saturday catching 5 gag grouper from 10 - 46 pounds we headed foI the Lump..when we crossed into the bluewater..we had wished we had packed a few kayaks as the standing waves in the current topped 6 feet along the edge..made our way to the Lump with a wahoo spread with no luck..arrived 2 hours later with time to make one drift..picked up a blackfin with one minute of soak time..then two kings before the one we were looking for swirled on a bait..one hour later we had a 131# yellow in the boat..settled in for the bumpy ride in very happy that things turned out better than expected..Thursday we never made it to the tuna grounds but had plenty of fun with scamps, gag grouper and limits amberjack. Two of the scamps were over twenty pounds..Friday we had grouper and tuna all caught in the same place with the largest gag 30 pounds and the largest tuna 131# (the first of three tuna weigheing 131# to the ounce on 3 consecutive days). Capt. Sonny and Darryl went yesterday with two anglers finishing early with 3 gag grouper and two yellowfin weighing 75 and 131#...all fish have been taken using live goggle eyes which showed up strangely about a week ago..we have been catching the tuna drifting live baits or from a kite on anchor...
Back at it again tomorrow for more of the same Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006 <p>For more info and pictures check out our WEBSITE!   |
Capt Chris (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 7:31 am: | |
The tuna fishing is on fire!!! Back on the water yesterday with a group from Florida. The lump action was slow so we picked up anchor and headed south. Boy was that a good move!! The action was non-stop with black fin and yellowfin. We put four yellowfin in the box between 80-100#'s!! That is a lot of tuna filets. The weather may pick up four the weekend so we will head offshore when it lets up. The wind does not slow us down in the marsh. The waters are warming up and so is the speck action. The topwater speck action is right around the corner. We are catching a good number now but it will only get better. Redfish can be caught on a regular basis. We have first class lodging for up to 31 people with cook, pool, hot tub and keg on the pool deck!!!
www.cajunfishingadventures.com
www.duesouthfishing.com
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Capt Chris (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 11, 2004 - 12:34 pm: | |
Report:
Things are really starting to pick up. The action for mule topwater speckled trout has already began. In April and may, limits of specks come easy. The redfish are constant as you can go any day and have reds pull on the end of your rod. The tuna fishing is in full swing and marlin, dolphin and snapper season right around the corner. We have first class accomodation for up to 31 people with pool, hot tub and full time cook. Venice is the #1 fishing destination in the world.
www.cajunfishingadventures.com www.duesouthfishing.com
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DUE SOUTH FISHING (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 10, 2004 - 7:44 am: | |
Had a good day on the water yesterday with Brian and his group from New Iberia. The bonito quickly came into the chum and it was not long after that the yellows showed up. First good strike resulted in a short run before the hook came out. The second strike came and this was a good fish. We were pulled across the lump with this one only to have part the line after an hour. Third strike, we hand fed the bait and watched him take it. Again we were taken across the lump and were fearing another chaffed line. Well after hour and half the fish was brought to gaff. The line was chaffed badly about 10 feet from the hook. The fish weighed in a 143 lbs. This brought us into the afternoon and the seas building, we decided to head in. Not a bad fish to catch for your first yellowfin. Will be back on the water Thursday with a group from Florida. We will start out at the lump but may run offshore to see what is happening.
Capt Chris
337-256-1299
duesouthfishing@yahoo.com
www.duesouthfishing.com |
Jerry LaBella (Agl01)
New member
Username: Agl01
Post Number: 5
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 07, 2004 - 8:54 pm: | |
Breton Sound/Island Report,
Saturday evening Tim Mulmore, my daughter Tammy and son-in-law Tony and I left out of Venice Marina to fish Breton Island and some of the lighted rigs at night. That evening after arriving at the island we found the weather to be calm and the water very clean. Using queen-sized cocahoe minnow lures in the black-back/silver flake/chartreuse color with ¼ jig heads, we managed to catch 10 big speckled trout. After sunset we headed to one of our secret bull-redfish rig. Shortly after anchoring near the lighted area, continuous hookups were made, boating one redfish after another on every cast. Tim and I just netted the fish and unhooked them for Tammy and Tony as they reeled in amazement at how many redfish were being landed. The next morning Tim and I wade fished and caught another ½ dozen specks and 4 redfish. The water was on the low side with no movement. We came back to the launch early with a mess of big redfish and 15 big specks. Water temp was 65 degrees and with better tide movement we would have caught many more trout.
Good fishin’
Jerry LaBella
See Pics: http://www.jerrylabella.com/captain's_log1.htm |
due south fishing (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2004 - 6:23 am: | |
Report:
Wind, Wind, Wind!!! The seas continue to be rough and look to stay that way through the weekend. Looks like there will be fishable days coming up early next week. The tuna should still be on the lump and the action should be good. If you have never fished here, the yellow fin tuna this time of year average over 100 lbs!!! Not a whole lot of time left before the tuna or in transition to water further offshore. The run will be a little longer but good catches of tuna can be had into april. Also in April, the billfish start to appear along with the dolphin. The big trout on top water are about to heat up. Yesterday 2 of our guides caught about 20 4 lbs specks on top water. The reds are always there to be caught.As you can see, when the weather pattern is stable, there are many species of fish to be caught in Venice.
Capt Chris www.duesouthfishing.com
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Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 8
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 10:28 am: | |
Been a bad weather week down here..we got out three times since our last report..wahoo was the target species with most fish being caught on rigged ballyhoo on downriggers and Braid murauders in purple and black colors run close to the boat.. I think the tally on wahoo was 15 in three trips with sizes from 35-80 pounds. This next cold snap should drive them crazy and when the seas calm down, we'll be back after them... WEBSITE Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006 |
Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 7
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 19, 2004 - 9:12 pm: | |
What an incredible week of fishing..we had a real good cold snap where it blew hard from the north at 20-30 knots...then the calm which lasted 6 days..we were able to get out and put a hurting on the fish too..the pictures tell the story...On Sunday I had Guy Halberg and friends and we went looking for wahoo..could only find a few blackfin picking up 6 for the effort..Capt. Sonny went long to the floaters and picked up three 60-80 pound yellowfins...Monday I had my good friends John Hunsucker, Jack Dulkaney and Clay for an overnight trip to the far east..made it to the platform and put a hurting on the bull dolphin..the same place I left them 3 weeks ago..the boys put 8 bulls from 46-20 pounds in the boat using live bait..we also picked up an 80 pound yellowfin..then they let me break out my 10 wt fly rod where I was able to boat 2 small yellowfins and a 20 pound bull dolphin..when night fell we were out of live bait dso we jigged up a couple dozen blackfin and chummed..we ended up finishing our 3 man limit by adding another 8 yellowfins from 20-50 pounds before heading home early..Wednesday I had the Baker family and John, Kevin, Quenton for a wahoo and amberjack trip..managed 3-8 wahoo all over 50 pounds and a few jacks..we lost one fish as yours truley forgot to remove the hook protectors from a brand new baot..wonder how many fishes lives have been saved by the a-hole that invented those things. Thursday I had Camp and Barbara Mateuns in for a trip I donated to the CCA..Camp and Barbara liked the idea of wahoo fishing and in 2 hours we had all we needed on 6 strikes..kept 4 large wahoo over 50 pounds before going to look for jacks..couldn't find a one...Thank God because the grouper found us..in another couple hours were were one fish shy of a boat limit..Friday and Saturday the weather came back to get us..we struggled and went 0-1 on wahoo Friday with Clarence Howell and Phil and Mike from St Louis..Saturday we fished in a gale at the rocks with Chuck Hendrin and family..managed to release about 20 bull reds before it got too nasty..Plenty of great days ahead! We have some great pictures posted in our website photo gallery.To see them click HERE! ..Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006 |
Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 6
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 05, 2004 - 1:29 pm: | |
Have to say it was an exciting weekend from 2 different vantage points and venues...high tailed it from Venice in time to make it to the game..didn't have time to post then so I do it now...too excited not to talk football; Got to experience it from the 10 yd line on the Tiger side near the endzone with all the action..what a finish! Congrats to the Tigers team, staff and fans on thier historical season..hope Joseph Addai is OK..we'll need him to convert all the crucial third downs next season..
Now on to the second equally exciting vantage point...in the cockpit watching 150-200 pound yellowfins slow roll on chum behind the boat...
Made a trip on Friday with a crew of salmon fishermen from Wisconsin; had the bigguns in the chum early..hooked two 150's only to pull the hooks on the first runs..we were using 6/0 amd 7/0 live bait hooks to start..made the adjustment to 9/0's and got 175# class fish on solid only to break him off when he changed directions..the trade off for fishing with no leader..went through a 7 blackfins and amberjacks in the next 3 hours..even released a dandy of a red snapper...then with the third quarter ending we got another big boy on..decided to drop the hook and make out way through the traffic jam of anchor lines..had everyone go through the order over the next hour on another 175..got him to within 10 feet of the surface a half dozen times before the rod snapped in half...managed to get the rod upside down and handline the fish to the leader which parted before we could get a good gaffshot..it was now 2:50 in the afternoon and with all dejected, the prospect of quitting never entered anyone's mind..got back on the hook and immediately picked up a fish about 140# which, the smallest of the 5 big ones we had shots on, came to the gaff in under 10 minutes...Thank you God for answering our prayers on 4th and goal from the 50 in the 4th quarter!
Sonny had Max and Rich from San Diego out for the day on a borrowed boat..they were to fish Saturday and Sunday, but the longterm weather forecast scared them to Friday/Saturday..they went to Medusa and live baited three 80 pound yellowfins before coming to the Lump and picking up a few blackfins late in the day...On Saturday, Rich and Max joined Dr. Cliff and Ed "light-tackle" Dorsey on another attempt at big fish..spent the night before preparing for the 150# or better fish - we weren't about to let then catch us with our drawers down two days in a row!..spooled up with new line where needed, and left the 50/80# rods behind in favor of the 80-130# stand-up rods, also brought bags and bags of hooks...
Guess we were too prepared, as we never even saw a big fish in the slick all day nor did we hook one on the drift...on some drifts we had so much line out that the hooks came back with beeliners and jacks..and we tried every possible bait and presentation to get a strike..it was very frustrating to watch every other boat around us doing the shuffle around the bow of the boat or fighting fish off the anchor...just wasn't meant to be for us that day..think I jinxed us when I asked the crew early on if we were going to release all balckfin to save room for yellowfins...won't make that mistake next time...Good thing Ed put the hurt on the blackfin on his 20 pound casting outfit..he and Cliff picked up 10 of the 12 blackfin on surface poppers to make for the only consistent excitement..BUT late iin the fourth quarter Cliff hooked and boated our only yellowfin of the day, making quick work of an 80 pound fish to save face...I think the coolest looking fish of the day was a marble grouper we caught..will post the pictures of the trip when I get them from Rich and Max..the weather will likely keep us out and pictures of fish will proably be welcomed over talk of football by mid week
Now for the shameless sales pitch..we have plenty of good days to fill still in January and February and have quite a few singles and groups of 2 looking to join up with others to make a party..Thats how Ed, Cliff, Max and Rich got to experience half the excitement of this weekend! Any singles out there be sure and email us..we'll find a day for you...
Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006
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Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 5
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 28, 2003 - 11:15 pm: | |
Lump and offshore report for the week before and after Christmas Sonny and Darryl fished the Lump on December 27th..they picked up 3 blackfin tuna and a 5 man limit of amberjack and a few surprise fish, like african pompano..they did see two larger yellowfin in the slick so it ought to be soon! Last week I headed offshore for a day off from the usual grind with Darryl, Sonny and Terry Dyer on Terry's brand new go fast boat..had plans to sleep until 7am and head offshore for a couple hours of fun..they for tuna; and me, for anything that would take a fly. Got to a pipelaying vessel about 40 miles to the east and put out some live baits...got a dolphin double right off the bat...Sonny and D went to work while I got out the fly rod and waited for a straggler...Terry meanwhile went to work with the iron, picking up several skipjack tuna while they fought their fish to the gaff...after the dust settles I convinced them to pull hold off on the live bait and make a dead drift, thereby allowing me a decent casting opportunity given the wind and such, it made for difficult casting into the brisk southeast wind...after the second downcurrent drift I hooked up on what I expect was a skipjack tuna, which I fought for 10 minutes before pulling the hook. Lost the fish while were wre idling away from the buffer zone...No worries thing were just getting cranked up..On the third drift we started chumming with the skipjacks and were able to pull the dolphin to within casting range...no takers for me until the very end when I got ahold of a nice cow which put on a great show down the side of the pipelay vessel. After a 20 minute fight we got her to the gaff..she weighed 19.0 pounds on the STAR scale...after I got my fish my trip was made and we put out two more live baits and set out away from the ship...once we cornered the east side of the ship we hooked a double on tuna..Sonny and Darryl had to get untangled twice but we managed to get both fish in the boat with our broken albacore gaff...both weighed about 60 pounds...While we were setting out two more livies a school of 10-40 pound dolphin came into the chum and I broke out the split bamboo again and in came the live baits..managed to release 2 more smaller dolphin about ten pounds each while trying to get a fly to the bigger fish..while I was fighting fish number three, Darryl managed a nice bull of 29.15 pounds on a stand-up rod using a tuna slab..right at the boat..MY FISH!!!..We later joked about it with Darryl winning the argument by telling me that is what I deserved for bringing a knife to a gunfight..didn't matter at the time because the fish were boiling twenty feet behind the boat...there were two large bulls at least forty among the school of twenty..it was exciting for me to cast at twenty feet having to pull the fly away from smaller fish...but here's where the perfect conditions go from spectacular to grave..with two hours of fishing time in before noon, Capt. Terry, who had been chunking his iron into the chum, hooked a barracuda..while trying to release it, he got two deep lacerations across his ring and pinky finger; both to the bone and severing tendons...I am still trying to cast when I realize why Darryl said we had to head in...packed up quickly and wrapped Terry in a clean towel...(you would expect a new boat to come with some kind of first aid, but I guess they reserve that for the Eddie Bauer package only)...We were able to reach a longline boat on 16 and immediately sped away to get first aid...made a makeshift splint out of a paint stirrer and bandaged up our patient...settled in for the heavy beam sea and the 2 hour run home..about ten miles from South pass we lost a lower unit....about three miles from South Pass we nearly ran out of oil..managed to scrape up enough for the ride home on one engine..made it back just before dark with Terry heading straight for the ER... Goes to show you how things can turn around on you in a moments notice, and we were caught with our drawers down...praying for Terry's speedy recovery and still trying to be thankful for such a great opportunity to have such a great day... Fished the Lump the day before with Dr. Kieth Goodfellow and friends Chuck and Bill. Water was dirty green and 61 degrees..not the best conditions but we were after sharks...funny..Darryl said before we left that we would probably only catch tuna..well he was partially right.. The current was running 2 knots from the east and the only critters we could draw in were gulls and pelicans..they managed to get most of the chum as the pogies took forever to thaw...after devising a plan to keep the from getting the chum..we finally got some bonita into the slick..that followed by blackfin..think we caught 7 twenty pound blackfin and a few beeliners and one AJ..in the chum slick on drift lines...were able to send a few slabs of bonita getting each man a 100-150 pound dusky shark..ended up heading in early.. Paradise Outfitters...985-845-8006
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Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 4
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 25, 2003 - 8:50 am: | |
Had a great trip Friday November 21 with Terry Pickens et al...they were supposed to fish Sunday but with the approaching front and good forecast for Friday it was just too good not to go...Tough start as bait was hard to come by but it turned out it really wouldn't matter. Thanks to Capt. Al for the live pogeys which unfortunately expired before getting to the "spot". Managed to kill our first and only two hardtails on a pair of dolphin. The bull went about 35 and the cow about 30 pounds...Fortunately I had a few left over cockahoes from last Saturday that had been forgotten in my haste to make it back for anniversary dinner..it amazes me that they survived..ended up missing 2 more dolphin - one on a hook-up and the other on the gaff. 10AM out of bait so we put out three braids and hooked up a serious fish on the pogey murauder..200 yards on the first and only run. With no real fight we started thinking record wahoo or tail wrapped tuna..turned out to be the later...had two gaffs ready when we could see both allison fins to the tail - angler Terry Pickens later admitted that he thought it was a sea turtle at first sight..turned out the fish had hog tied itself with the five foot wire leader slicing to the bone of the tail effectively pinning the snap swivel deep into a freshly cut 4" crease in the fork. The wire leader ran cleanly along the curve of the fish being held by the hooks on the bait and the swivel embedded in the fish's tail - we suspect the fish hog tied itself on the initial run and ran out of gas when it could no longer beat its tail..it came in backwards in less than 10 minutes. The bad news is when it was hauled to the deck it went ballsitic..ripping both J-hooks out of the plug after the welded rings failed on each swivel..the bait was also crushed under the weight of a thrashing tuna...made for some excitement...trolled on a grassline about 48 miles from South Pass until quiting time..notone strike. The fish weighed 149 gutted and bled-I'm guessing it would have been 165 or better had we just thrown it in the box. Glad we didn't because the meat was purple and irradescent to the bone...Saturday Novemeber 22nd left me guessing on what to do..I honestly didn't think about where and what I was going to do until Jeff Edgecombe asked me where he could send some VIP's while I was fueling up. I wasn't going to fight Saturday boat traffic at the usual spots and I wasn't going to make another trans Gulf crossing for 4 hours of fishing time...after a brief disscussion with Bob Collins and crew we decided on wahoo as plan A and AJ/Grouper as the back-up. Samer problem..once we got close toour target area the water turned solid blue..put out the spread and prepared to do our laps...after the first pass at a historically productive spot we got a knockdown on a Braid bait...as we slowed down to fight the fish we left both the ballyhoo baits out and bam..two more wahoo on -one that cleared the water by 6 feet..we thought it was a sailfish at first..with some quick shuffling on the deck and some great gaff work by Darryl we were able to put all three fish in the boat. After a round of high fives at 8AM we readied for our next pass..fish on..a single that pulled a good bit of line and got off...next 2 passes same result..fish on, nice run and fish off. 6 strikes in 20 minutes, 3 fish in the cooler and 3 that won't bite for the rest of the day. Needless to say we were excited about the prospects for the area but with the exception of one blackfin th remainder of the area was dead...pulled on a nice color change to about the 24 mile rigs where it petered out...managed to pick up some AJ's on jigs before heading in early to catch the LSU game... Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006
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Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 3
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 18, 2003 - 6:37 am: | |
Saturday Nov 15 report...Good day but a rough day early..the pain was worth all the pleasure...Had Roger Del Rio (Incorporated) today for an intended early day. We left the dock at 4:45am because I had to be back for 9 year anniversary dinner in New Orleans at 7pm and they needed to see the LSU game..Made bait fairly quickly then off to points south in search of yellowfin on fly and conventional gear...Trolled baits around until we located the fish..put out two livies and were fighting a double on yellows within five minutes...made a second drift same result..double header..4 for 4 and we hadn't been fishing 30 minutes...picked up two more singles and after batting the order we broke out the fly gear..heck we were out of live bait by 9:45 thanks to our first and last barracuda...Idled over to the bouy and set up for a beam drift but before I could start chumming with the live cockahoes, Roger tossed a white and silver streamer fly out and hooked into a wahoo...after a short fight the fish was grabbed and hoisted into the boat...(by the way he only weighed 2 pounds) - it was a cute fish...he is thinking of having him mounted...replica would be more appropriate. Regrouped and made an attempt at catching tuna by chumming with the minnows and tuna bellies but nothing was doing...worked the same area for another two hours picking up a small blackfin and missing two other larger fish before heading home early... Hoping to get some of pictures posted on our HOMEPAGE! ...Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006  |
Jerry LaBella (Agl01)
New member
Username: Agl01
Post Number: 4
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 16, 2003 - 5:32 am: | |
Venice Spillway Blast,
Friday afternoon Mike Martina and I headed out to Venice to night fish the SW Pass first spillway. The weather was beautiful and the river was very clean and green. Redfish were located at most of the places we fished along the passes off the river. However, many undersized. That evening we managed to catch 7 keepers, releasing one bull redfish all of which were caught in the first spillway. Before sunset the Wild Life agents checked us for licenses and helped us land the bull redfish that was released. After setting up lighting for night fishing, it didn’t take long for us to limit out on nice-sized speckled trout. Three other boats were there and all seemed to be catching fish. All the fish were caught on ¼ glow DOA, live cocahoes, and dead shrimp fished Carolina rigged. Live shrimp ganged up under our 500 watt lights like hornets on a nest. We finished off our redfish limit in Joseph Bayou- releasing many more 15 & 7/8 sized ones. Fishing in Venice right now is very productive and explosive.
SEE PICS: http://www.jerrylabella.com/captain's_log1.htm
Good Fishin’
Jerry LaBella
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Capt. Scott Avanzino (Paradiseout)
New member
Username: Paradiseout
Post Number: 2
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 08, 2003 - 8:45 am: | |
Glad we held out for the weather today as we awoke to light winds...in fact Sonny had planned to take the Albemarle today but with the conditions and the fact he had only a one man charter and no deckswab he borrowed Kerry Milano's rice rocket and off he and Terry Dyer went...My crew wanted to play it easy..leave the dock at 9am and spend a few hours sight seeing and maybe catching a couple fish to release..they had already fished two days with Bobby and Shane and tore them up inside...anyway good day all around..Sonny and Terry boated 2 yellowfins early actually as fast as Terry could put them in the boat; one 70 pounder and one 100 pounder and the miracle blue marlin came calling..what do you expect when you leave the dock shorthanded...the fish hit a weighted line and with a 12 oz weight sliding halfway up the line it made for an interesting fight...when they went to remove the hook they couldn't find it..turned out the marlin had hog tied itself with the leader lassoed around his gill plates with the hook doubled over the line behind the dorsal fin...classic...about the time they were heading in, we were making our way to 93..trolled plugs around all 7 structres making 3 laps at each twice with not so much as a srike..goes to show you how much differnce 20 miles or 1 day makes... though yesterdays catch was far better than today's we made up for it with a few jacks and all the release reds they could stand in 1 hour at the Jetty's..fish were coming up in pairs and we were doubled and tripled the whole time..I even got to break out my 10 wt fly rod..it was a great day to be out there today..glad we stayed...Yesterday we had a great catch early..the table slam in Novemeber..only in Venice..started the day out with a triple..about the time the 70 pound yellowfin was about to be gaffed 3 bull dolphin came out of nowhere to slam the teasers..a quick shuffle with casting rods produced 2 nice 15 pound mahi..then it was steady action..about every half hour we pick up a fish..added two more 70 pound yellowfins and a 20 pound bull dolphin and a wahoo to complete the slam...headed in early.. Heard the best fish story yet..two Grouper were talking one day...the bigger one was telling the little one.."You should have seen this one..6 feet long well over two hundred pounds and I almost pulled him out of the boat but the line broke". Not holding out for tomorrow, just glad I'm not a low flying duck...Got pictures of them on the WEB!Paradise Outfitters 985-845-8006
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