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Louisiana - Venice & the Gulf of Mexico
Capt. Damon McKnight
January 6, 2001
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report
Chumming on the Midnight Lump.
Well, the weather down here in Louisiana has finally given us a break and let us get offshore. This time of year and through the month of April we chum for Tuna and Wahoo at the Midnight Lump. The Lump is basically just a sacket bank that built up exactly 18 miles of the coast of Louisiana. When the weather gets cold like it has been this year, the tuna and wahoo stack up here because it is only 200ft. deep and is surrounded by 600ft deep water. There are plenty of bait fish and currents that the fish seem to like, so they are there by the thousands.
We started out this past Thursday morning heading to the lump. We usually bring about 100lbs. of porgies to chum with. Mackeral is usually the best bait because it has a higher oil content but where we are going just about anything will do. We anchor on top of the lump and started chumming. Usually, in about ten minutes you have your first fish on but on Thursday it was automatic. The fish were there and it made for an easy day. The first fish we had on was about a 60lb. yellowfin and we got him in the boat no problem. Next fish, 60lb. yellowfin and it took us 45 minutes to get him in. I don't know exactly what type of diet he was on but he fought harder than any other tuna I have ever seen. We've had tuna over a 150lbs. that didn't fight as hard as this particular fish. Finally, we got him in and everyone high-fived and went back to fishing. We ended the day with 4 yellowfin all in the 50-60lb. range, 5 amberjack which weighed about 30-35 lbs. and 1 big grouper about 25lbs. We did have a lot of break-offs due to the high amount of shark and king mackerel activity. Believe me a lot of people talk about a shortage of sharks but I can assure you on the midnight lump there is no shortage. But, that is something you have to take into account when you chum like we do. Until next time, thanks. Capt. Damon McKnight
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