Full Moon Fishing- Venice Offshore

[customcat]

The month of February has come and gone for us here in Venice. Bad weather plagued most of the offshore fleet this past month, but for the days when would could make it out, the rewards were good. This past weekend the fishing turned on especially for the larger yellowfin and wahoo. The full moon definitely sparked a strong bite that was seen on both sides of the river. On 2/26 I had the Nyguyen group split into two boats. The day started out with a brisk northeast wind that wasn’t too bad but it was still noticeable. I was pulling an x-rap off the downrigger and got bit on the first pass. That turned out to be a nice amberjack in the 30lb class. I immediately switched to an Islander/ballyhoo combo and missed my next two strikes. I stayed in the area for a little while longer and made my way back east. My first pass at my next stop and the clip pops and fish on. A short while later a nice 40lb hoo hits the deck. Three passes later we get nailed again but the hooks pulled after 5 minutes. Operator error was the culprit I suspect. It was after noon when we began tuna fishing. After a short lesson in chunking the guys were ready or so they thought! Capt. Will Bradford was helping me that day and our first drift yielded a bone- head and a cut off from a king. We re-positioned and started the process over when Vinh gets bit and he is reeling like a mad man trying to come tight. The fish is rolling drag with the bent butt in the holder, so I offer assistance and get him set up. It was apparent that this was definitely the fish we were looking for. After about five minutes and no sign of the fish slowing down, I asked Vihn if he was good. His immediate reply was “Capt, I think I will let you have this one.” Hummnn, this scene was playing out like the other day on the 198lb fish. I obliged him and harnessed up. It was up and down for the first 45 min. with little or no give on the fish’s part despite serious pressure from my end. At the end of the 1hr 15min mark and no sign of letting up, little voices inside my head were saying, “I told you to quit smoking.” I ignored them and soon I had color. 5 minutes later we had a solid 170-180lb fish in the boat. After that my three clients agreed not to try again, fearing they would have to suit up! We rolled back cruising around 40m.p.h in a nice following sea. The next day was a no-go due to the weather so I made the best of it preparing for the next day. Sunday morning rolled around and there was a lot of excitement in the air due to the caliber of fish that were caught Friday. I had Mr. Atkins and his son’s along. We started out wahoo fishing and after 6 rigs and no luck we started tuna fishing. It wasn’t long before we had lots of life in the slick and the bone-heads were the first victims to be placed back into the ocean in the form of little sashimi chunks hidden with a Frenzy 8/0 surprise. Shortly afterward, we had our first yellowfin. It was a “small” fish in the 50lb class and it would be the only one of the day for us. The bite had slowed down so we went back to the wahoo. We had a short strike and then a solid fish on in five minutes of fishing. We lost that fish boat side due to no one’s fault, the hook’s just came out right in front of us. Our next fish wasn’t as lucky as the hooks were solidly imbedded in his face. This fish was 70lb’s plus with gorgeous markings. We would finish the day adding three more in the 40-50 range with the last coming off the downrigger. We ended the day early per Mr. Jimmie’s request and pointed north. The fishing is good right now and I am still looking for my 100lb hoo for this year! The forecast for the rest off the week looks great and the hits should still keep coming. Give me a call to book your next trip in Venice.

P.S. here is the link to another wahoo video. It has the footage of the 87lb hoo from 2/19. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9tU3fgqsHc

Captain William Wall
Pelagic Charters
www.pelagicchartersllc.com
1.225.454.5365
captwill1@cox.net

[bobdu11]

Man what a fishery you guys have down there....I need to make that trip...Congrats ....Bob

[customcat]

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=.../0/r9tU3fgqsHc

Here is the link for the vid. The other was screwed up.

[Capt Josh]

Awesome boys!!! nice work. Keep them coming!!!

[customcat]

Thanks jt.

[Capt Josh]

Your vid got shut down by Youtube!

Pinche chilangos!

[stockweiser]

Nice gaff hole.

[customcat]

Jt, no it didn't. click the link on my reply. That one works.

[Captain Fred Archer]

Catman,

Good stuff!

I never had the kind of success on the tunas like you do during the moon, but we did catch a few big ones right around midday, but only a few and they didn't show well for the rest of the day, early or late. Shoulda gotten some lessons from you, I guess.

But the wahoo...ah, the wahoos! I don't know why, but I love those things and was lucky enough to live and fish where there were a lot of truly huge ones. And there is zero doubt about it, full moons were by far the best time to catch them, period!

Nice going and good luck on that hundred pounder. I hope it comes on the downrigger, 'cause we had great success with them and I happen to think that the dr is a great wahoo catching tool.

[Capt Josh]

Jt, no it didn't. click the link on my reply. That one works.

Damn...still can't get it to work here. This is what it says when i follow that link -

"Venice Wahoo Mix_ February Wahoo mix 2010"
This video contains content from WMG, who has blocked it on copyright grounds.

YOUTUBE NAZI'S!!!!