Venezuela Trip 4/15 - 4/19

[Marlin1805]

Just got back from Venezuela after fishing with Capt. Jimmy Grant on the Waterman. Here is a quick rundown:

4/16 - 2 for 4 on Blue Marlin (150-200 pounds), 0 for 1 on White Marlin, 0 for 1 on Sailfish. Had 11 total billfish up in the spread for the day.

4/17 - 1 for 2 on Blue Marlin. Released a 450-475 pounder on TLD30 after some aggressive maneuvers. The fish turned to the boat after 5-7 minutes and damn near came in the cockpit. The only thing that saved us was the aluminum arm of the downrigger used for the weighted bowling pin teaser. The fish broke off the spindle and bent the arm of the downrigger as it came at the boat, definitely an intense few seconds! We saw 3 or 4 other billfish in the spread, but only window shoppers.

4/18 - The day started off slow but 4 Dorado between 15-25 pounds got us out of our lull. Around 1:00 we managed to release a 175 pound Blue after a ridiculous bite on the right flat bait. As soon as we hooked up another Blue of similar size came in hot on the left flat, but unfortunately did not eat. Within 30 minutes of the marlin release we had a big exposition of water on the left flat which could only come from a tuna. It missed the bait, but then attacked the right flat missing this one too. Within seconds the right rigger started screaming out line on a 30 TLD. After a 30 minute fight of continually gaining line, the fish finally realized it was hooked and took off on another powerful run breaking the 100 pound leader. Around 2:30 we spotted a big school of birds working the surface. We immediately deployed the 50 Tiagras with purple/black skirted ballyhoo and within minutes we have a doubleheader of big tunas.

My buddy battled one from the chair as I subdued the other on standup. As each fish came boat side our mates used the "Poon" as we jumped in with fixed gaffs to bring the Tunas over the transom. The baits went back out and we ended up boating 2 more big tunas and involuntarily released one while taking wraps on the leader. We saw a few other Blues before the end of the day, but again only window shoppers. Back at the dock the 4 tunas weighed in at 152, 176, 200 and 205 respectively. What a day and what a trip!

Matt

[Patudo]

Great report. Those are some beautiful big tunas - do the skippers in Venez spend much time targeting them?

[wickeditch]

hey capt, what did you do with all that meat, you bring it back in coolers or let the locals have at it???????????????????????//

[Marlin1805]

After talking with the captains they seem to target the YFTs when the opportunity arises. If they see big schools of birds or Porpoise working the bait they deploy the dark colar mini-islander skirted ballyhoos on the heavier outfits. We would keep the squid teasers in the water and run a chugger ballyhoo from the short flat. This one short bait actually resulted in one of our Blue Marlin releases while we were targeting the tuna schools.

As for the all the meat, we had a gentlemen meet us at the dock who took the vast majority of tunas to a local church. This appears to be the norm for the area as he was awaiting our arrival back at Mango Marina.

Matt

[Squidnation]

Hey Matt -what color chuggers worked best?

[Patudo]

Many thanks for the info Matt - those are some splemdid looking fish. Just look at the length of the sickles. Wow. There can't be too many places in the western Atlantic where you have a better shot at a 200 lb YFT. Are the big guys there all year round or is it more of a springtime bite?

[Bite Me]

WOW, what a trip! Great report and some assume pics.......

[Marlin1805]

It was actually pretty even across Blue/White, All Red and Pink/White. The big Blue took a Pink/White on the right rigger.

Hey Matt -what color chuggers worked best?

[Marlin1805]

From what I hear the big YFTs are there in numbers from January - May.

Matt

Many thanks for the info Matt - those are some splemdid looking fish. Just look at the length of the sickles. Wow. There can't be too many places in the western Atlantic where you have a better shot at a 200 lb YFT. Are the big guys there all year round or is it more of a springtime bite?

[JD5652]

Great report....thanks for sharing....