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Louisiana - Venice & the Gulf of Mexico
Capt. Damon McKnight
December 14, 2000
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing on the Midnight Lump!
It has been a while since our last report but we haven't had very favorable fishing conditions for a couple of weeks. This time of year we fish the world famous Midnight Lump. Fishing on the Midnight Lump out of Venice, La. is some of the best fishing in the world. The Midnight Lump is a sacket bank that built up in the Gulf of Mexico about 18 miles out of South West pass. The lump is about 1 mile long and wide and is about 200 ft. deep. The edges of the lump drop off to about 600 ft. of water. During certain times of the year currents push bait up the walls of the lump and attract Tuna, Wahoo, Amberjack, Grouper, Marlin, and a lot of different types of sharks.
We went out to the lump this past Monday and the Tuna and Wahoo fishing could not have been better. We drop anchor on the lump to hold us in one spot so we can create a chum line. The technique that we use is called chumming or chunking. All you do is put a chunk of bait on a circle hook and let it drift back with the rest of the chum. We use Porgies, Sardines, Mullet, and sometimes Mackerel to chum with. Usually, within the first 5-10 minutes you will have a nice oil slick and have Tuna and Wahoo behind your boat.
Once, we started chumming our first fish was about a 110lb. yellowfin which took about 45 minutes to land. He kept circling the boat and each time we would have to take the rod and go around the anchor rope. Being anchored and fighting big yellowfin tuna is definately a challenge. Our next fish was the big fish of the day which weighed 162lbs. and it took 1 hour to land him. Lucky for us we didn't lose him to the sharks which started to show up from the chum slick we had created. We ended the day with 6 yellowfin and 1 Wahoo. We lost five more big wahoo due to line breakage. The guys were to tired to fight anymore and the sharks had moved in so we decided to call it a day. I have added a picture of the 162lb. yellowfin if anyone wants to check him out. Thanks, Capt. Damon McKnight
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