Best on the East Coast

[shoefish]

So I'm new to the site. I've been lurking around for a bit, picking up as much as I can, laughing at all the banter- what a great way to pass the time... something, it seems with the weather, that I'll have plenty of this weekend. So I thought I'd pose a question to try to find out what everyone's opinion is on the best port on the east coast when it comes to fishing diversity. I fish out of Portsmouth NH, and while the early season striper and bluefish blitz is great, followed by the bluefin for a couple of months, I can't help but dream about the fisheries that so many of you talk about- yellowfin, mahi, wahoo, marlin, snapper, cobia... (although something tells me I'd be junk if I could fish year round!). If you could pick anywhere on the East coast to fish year-round, where would it be?

[Admin]

Wow that there is a tuff question.

I like Cape May as we have a year round fishery.

Drum
stripers
bluefish
sharks
flounder
bluefin
yellowfin
longfin
big eye
allisons
swordfish
mahi mahi
Goldern tiles
blue line
big sea bass all winter long


But after watching the NC boys here on this site im thinking that might be my choice but ill let someone else post up nc info

If you gave me a choice of anywhere in the usa i would pick hands down Venice LA.

[Deep C]

Welcome and way good question.... Me, I live in Palm Beach just for the fishing. Most any day of the year i can slide out for a troll and pick up stuff ranging from dolphin, wahoo, tunny, and cuda on the way common end to sails and blue marlin on the sligtly less common end. Night time I'm a twenty five mile run to some very hot swordfishing. Maybe I want to stay inside. Jacks and ladyfish are thick. You can work up some good trout or snook. Sheepshead, puffers and flounder fill in those gaps. Around the inlets tarpon gather at times. Winter brings mountains of sails a mile from the inlet.

Still being the spoiled kind of fishing guy that I am. I take most of the summer to go chase makos , marlin and tuna up north as our summer thunderstorms can keep you planted to the beach... Theres my opinion, nothing set in stone...

[shoefish]

John,

What is it about Vencie LA that makes it hands down for you?

Dan

[shoefish]

Deep C,

Are you kidding? When I die I want to come back as you! LOL. I don't know how you manage that, but I think you are my new hero.

Dan

[Admin]

John,

What is it about Vencie LA that makes it hands down for you?

Dan

Last year i spent months down there helping out with the clean up from katrina , never once did I get to pick up a rod and reel and go fishing but I got to hang out with the dedicated people of Venice.
The fishing is so rich there inshore offshore , the people are very self sufficient and dont need much other then family to keep going.

Fishing is just one side of the coin there it was the people and the atmosphere.
The fishing man oh man you hear Captains talking all the time that if they cuaght less then 50 fish in a day inshore its a very bad day. The Mid night lump and the oil rig fishing is incredible as you read and hear stories of marlin coming up crashing live baits around the the rigs.

The food and the people though is what i come back to, I have never been some where that was so kind. If your hungry you could walk up to anyone and ask for lunch or dinner and they would open there door to you. Give you a bowl and tell you to help yourself to a big pot of seafood gumbo. Crawfish cook outs that would make your so full its not funny. A big table of crawfish , corn , hotdogs, onions, potatos god i can taste it now.

The mississipi river dumping tons and tons of mullet and bait fish into the ocean creating a incredbile fishery. Sharks , swords, marlin, 200lb plus tuna's , red fish , speckled trout , shrimp did i mention shrimp ?? oh my god there gulf shrimp is incredible. Like i said i never got to fish once while i was there but i got to live the life of venice.

If I was able to add fishing to the life of venice i dont know if i would have been able to leave. If my wife and kids would go this boy would be heading south as we speak but that wont happin any time soon so i can only dream.

Hope that gave you some insight on why i say Venice.

Oh and the locals know there that most people who spend some time there always return

Take a moment to Read some reports from Capt Mike Ellis and let me know what you think


77" Venice sword and some yellows

Relentless Sportfishing's Venice 4/13 overnighter

Another Huge Relentless report

[shoefish]

John,

Thanks for attaching those links... my god what a fishery. Any one of those reports is the trip of a lifetime, and to think that's what its like so consistently. If what you say is true about the people, I'm going to have to take a trip down there sometime to experience it myself.

Dan

[Admin]

It would be a trip to remember and very worth while.
Staying at venice marina was amazing they have great housing and food. They treated us like kings when a group from this site went down.

Also there is something to remember about booking a trip to Venice or the Gulf states. You would be helping families get back on there feet and firing there business back up. They need tourist to come down

[tolmaz]

within a reasonable driving distance I would say the chesapeake for the spring stripers and its reall hard to beat hattersa for offshore. cant leave out the flounder at wachapreage

[flatbottom]

I would say Venice is hard to beat.
If I had a choice today it would be the Delmarva peninsula with my girls growing up/nearly in college. The Chesapeake to the west, the Atlantic to the east and reasonably mild weather in all seasons. Venice is a world fishery wonder that I should of found when growing up a few years ago....I would love to go back and fish with capt. Eddie. The people are nice , laid back , and care for one another. Stories of getting lost in the beautiful bayou scenery and silence is something I would like to experience. The Chesapeake is a natural wonder though ...