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Louisiana - Venice & the Gulf of Mexico
Capt. Damon McKnight
August 12, 2003
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report
Summer Time Tuna and Mangroves!
What a week this has been. The fishing remains very good with plenty of Tuna offshore and snapper, cobia and A.J.'s rig fishing. Right now the weather offshore is not to good so we are taking a day off.
TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY: On Tuesday and Wednesday of last week we had the pleasure of fishing with Pat Cosgrove and friends. On Tuesday we fished offshore. Our final tally was 4 yellow fins, 1 big black fin, and 1 bull dolphin. The yellow fin were between 50-60lbs. like most of them have been for while. Plenty of small yellow fin were around us all day but we were only after the ones that could pull drag. On Wednesday we went rig fishing. We ended the day with 20 mangrove snapper, 2 red snapper, and 4 big A.J.’s. The Mangrove snapper are averaging 10lbs. and we are catching them less than 5 ft. below the surface. When you hook them that shallow they are stronger than a bull and will make even the strongest guy crack a smile and grunt trying to get him in the boat. The amberjack of course were just as thick as ever. We went through 15 hard tails trying to get them in the boat. Usually it goes smooth but they were bigger than the average size and we had a lot of trouble getting them out of the rig. Great two days of fishing.
Thursday: On Thursday we had James Daye down by himself to get in on some rig fishing. John McQueen from Louisiana Sportsman tagged along with us to get a few pictures of fish and do an article. The weather forecast that morning was not looking real good but after talking it over with James he said lets do it. We headed out and made it to our first stop. The wind was not blowing that hard at the time but 15 minutes went by and it picked up to 20 knots easy and 3-4ft seas. We still managed to pull 10 big mangroves and 1 cobia off of our first stop. The mangroves weren’t biting as well as the day before mainly because of the weather we were having. We called it a day early due to the weather and headed to the house.
Friday: On Friday we ran a group of guys from Alabama out to get in on some Tuna fishing. Once again the weather forecast was not very good. I told them we would run out and if it gets to rough we would have to turn around or fish for something else. Off we went and although it was very windy and about 3ft. seas, the waves were comfortably spread out. Our first stop and only offshore stop for the day resulted in 1 60lb. yellow fin tuna. We were lucky to catch him because when we pulled up there were already 7 boats fishing the area and no one had put anything in the boat yet. With the weather we were having everyone chose not to run any further out. We fished until 1:00 and the bite never turned back on. We headed in closer to fish for A.J.s but we could only manage to catch one and lose several others. After that the bite turned off. We deiced to call it a day and headed back to the dock. I think they were just ready to head to Bourbon Street that night.
Saturday and Sunday: Saturday and Sunday we fished the West Delta SKA Kingfish Tournament. With the Empire South Pass Rodeo, the Kingfish Tournament, and just a great weather weekend going on at the same time there were a lot of boats in Venice over the weekend. We finished 15th overall with our biggest King at 39lbs. for Saturday and 36lbs. on Sunday. Lucky for us they paid up to 15 spots. First place was one by the crew of the 401(K). There big fish was 56lbs. and they backed him up with a 43lber. the next day. Congrats to the them, they were long overdue.
MONDAY: On Monday captain Sunny Schindler ran the Super Strike with Charlie P. who has fished with us before and his buddy Tom out for some more Tuna action. The seas were slick as glass and they caught 6 yellow fin, 4 skipjack tuna, 3 black fin tuna, and a few rainbow runners. The yellow fins were on the small side with most of them about 30-35 inches. But they still had plenty of meat to last them a while.
The offshore fishing is very good right now, although it looks like the weather has turned for the worse for the next couple of days. The offshore fishing will stay very good with plenty of tuna and dolphin to catch, and possibly get a chance at a marlin. The cobia bite will be turning on to outstanding levels here very shortly, like they do every year.
Capt. Damon McKnight/Super Strike Charters
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