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Louisiana - Venice & the Gulf of Mexico
Capt. Damon McKnight
February 14, 2005
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report
The Bite and the Fight!
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/Super Strike Charters/1 800 318 1720
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