# Venice Trip (Round 3) - Tuna 3/ Alan 0



## Play'N Hooky Too (Sep 29, 2007)

Left out of Andalusia around 10:00 pm Friday to meet my brother and crew in Venice at 6:00 am. Boat in the [email protected] 10:00 am Saturday due to numerous delays. Had planned to stock up on supplies as we passed through N.O.in order to share the cost:bpts Didn't know thatall of the stores, including Walmart would be closed anddid notre-open until 6:30 am.:doh:banghead

Anyway, hitSouth Pass by around 11:00 am. Had heard that there was blue water to the east around the Horseshoe. Forecast was for 2-4, more like 4-6. Made it as far as the Amberjack. Did a couple of drops with some frozen pogies but came up with nothingbut sharks. Made about 10 passes with some stretch 30s with no luck, getting tossed around a good bit, spirits low, decided tocall it a day. Back at Venice Marina by 17:00.

*Day 2 (Sunday)*

Forecast was for 1-3. Spirits high after a good nights rest. Had heard that there was still blue water to the east. Planned to do an all-nighter. From looking at the chart itseemed like going out of northeast pass would put us afew milescloser to the horseshoe. Ask at the marina if thepass was navigable. "Oh shor, just stay inda middle.Stay inda middle and you be justfine". Went about ten miles out the channel from the Head of Passes, stayed in "da middle", and hit a frickin mud bank about 1.5 miles short of the abandoned lighthouse.:doh After about 30 minutes of rocking, cussing, and spraying mud, was able to find a channel deep enough to exit to the north into the gulf. 

Forecast seas was accurate as far as the wind wave height was concerned. The wind had layed down nicely to almost calm.The only thing was the 1 foot was on top of 4-6 foot swells. Made it to the Horseshoe but no blue water. Decided to head a little to the south toward the floaters. Hit a blue water rip about 3 miles south-southeast of the Horseshoe. Picked up5 dolphin on some braid jigs under a flock of birds. Trolled along the rip with some stretch 30's for about 3 miles with no luck. Picked up a couple of more dolphin on the braid jigs. Seas had not layed down and the prospect ofspending the night out under those conditions did not seem too appealing at that point. Decided to head back. 

Made it to South Pass just after sunset. By the time werounded the marker at the end of the rocks the top of the lighthouse was all that was visible above the fog. That was the last visual reference that we had until until we pulled into the channel leading towardVenice marina.I had gotten familair with theradar while running around in the daylightand some at night over the past year, but now....:baby...kind of hard to getcomfortable navigating while having no visual reference but the monochrome screen.We made it slowly up the channelpassing two or three other boats headed south and by the time wegot to the Head ofPasses I was alot more at ease with the situation. Finally made it back to the marina around 22:00. Heres the tally:










*Day 3 (Monday)*

More of the same. Reports of blue water to the south. Fished around the Amberjack over to the Cognac and a few miles to the south. Nothing but green water and sharks. Made it back to Venice Marina just in time to see Capt. Eddie off-load some nice wahoo and one big ass amberjack that came off another boat.:bowdown:bowdown:crying Left in defeat Tuesday morning.:reallycrying



*<U>Round 4</U>*

Headed back down in the morning to meet some people I work with. Roffs report on order.


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## Play'N Hooky Too (Sep 29, 2007)

*****UPDATE*****

*<U>Plot Spoiler: No fish past this point!</U>*

*<U>Round 4</U>*

With Roff's report in hand we headed out just as the fog was lifting on Friday morning. Ran almost due south out of South Pass for about 24 miles to the Lena rig which according to the report was located in blended blue water. It was. Nice cobalt blue. On the third pass around the rigwith some stretch 30's we picked up a wahoo butlost it after about a 4 min. fight. Tried a few more passes with no luck. 

Tied off to the rig and tried some frozen pogies and some live baits that wecaught off the rig. Nothing but sharks, couldn't get anything past them. Tried jigging and the sharks even took those. After about two hours tried a couple of more passes with the stretch 30s with no luck. Drifted off the rig to the northwest and tried chunking for about an hour and a half. Nothing. 

At this point the seas were getting a littlerough and we decided to call it a day and headed in. Made it about a mile up the river past the lighthouse at South Pass when ....BLAM!....the shaft in the lower unit goes out. Recall the mud bank I mentioned on Sunday?:doh Must have done more damage than I thought. Anyway...was in the process of trying to call BoatUS to see if I could get someone to tow us when along comes a couple of LA Wildlife Officers. They assess our situation and offer to tow us:usaflag which they wind up doing...<U>*all*</U> the way back to Venice Marina!!:usaflag:usaflag:bowdown:bowdown

Well, that does it for my tuna fishing for awhile, I'm down for the count. Did get to bring home some tuna though, thanks to the generosity of one of the guys on the charter boats who took sympathy on our plight.:bowdown:letsdrink 

The End


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## Night Moves (Oct 4, 2007)

Wow, That hurt to read. Three peices of advice...

1. Take a ride with Capt Eddie or another reputable Capt.

2. Make sure you don't take anyone named Larry, Mo or Curley. Murphy either.

3. Stop by New Orleans and see a lady named Marie Laveau. See if she can get the curse off the boat!

Good luck!


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## Play'N Hooky Too (Sep 29, 2007)

:letsdrink:letsdrink


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## Play'N Hooky Too (Sep 29, 2007)

I discovered the problem. While I was giving the boat a thorough cleaning, I removed the cushions in the cabin to let them air out and right there it was, mashed down behind the v-berth cushion... 

Now I gotta say that before I left on the trip I had stocked up on supplies of food and drinks at Walmart. While picking up these supplies I also grabed a few items that I needed for the house and the office. One of these itemwas some of that Tropical Trail Mix that they sell at Walmart and which I ususallyhave at the office to keep me away from the snack machine. 

AnywayI had it all in the bags and when I got to the house I sorted through it and left only the items for the trip, which I then tossed into the cabin of the boat. Well apparently I forgot the trail mix. If you have not ever had this stuff it makes a very good breakfast or mid morning snack because it contains lots of healthy stuff like cashews, macadamia nuts, dried pineapple, dried apricots, dried papaya, dried <U>*BANANAS*</U>...:doh:banghead:banghead


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## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

oh god!!


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## Night Moves (Oct 4, 2007)

Sorry, That should have been #1. Check for Bananas. I just assumed you had done it.


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## Play'N Hooky Too (Sep 29, 2007)

Yeah I couldn't have cursed myself more.:banghead:banghead 

At least the bag wasn't open, so the extent of the contamination should hopefully have been confined to the immediate area around the berth cushion.You reckon that Marie Laveau chick might be able to perform a banana exorcism without me having to promise to marry her or anything? :shedevilhoppingmad


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## Night Moves (Oct 4, 2007)

<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #1f5080; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Yeah she could probably exercise the demons, but you won't like what she has to do with the banana!:blush:


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## Play'N Hooky Too (Sep 29, 2007)

This is really, reallysad...:reallycrying 

for last three weeksthis lame-ass tale of disasterous, abject failure and defeat has been at or near the top of the bluewater reports! 

Is *anybody* catching *anything*???

:crying:takephoto


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## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

> *alanbarck (3/31/2009)*
> 
> Is *anybody* catching *anything*???
> 
> :crying:takephoto


hell no. with seas like this for the past 2 weeks, not many have been out.

GMZ575-011230-
COASTAL WATERS FROM PASCAGOULA MS TO THE SOUTHWEST PASS OF THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER FROM 20 TO 60 NM-
*419 PM CDT TUE MAR 31 2009*

*SMALL CRAFT EXERCISE CAUTION IN EFFECT THROUGH WEDNESDAY*
*MORNING*


*TONIGHT*
WEST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS BECOMING NORTHWEST AFTER
MIDNIGHT. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE
EVENING...THEN SHOWERS LIKELY AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS
AFTER MIDNIGHT.

*WEDNESDAY*
NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET.
CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MORNING. CHANCE OF SHOWERS THROUGH
THE DAY.

*WEDNESDAY NIGHT*
EAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS BECOMING SOUTH 15 TO
20 KNOTS IN THE LATE EVENING. SEAS 4 TO 5 FEET.

*THURSDAY*
SOUTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 25 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET
BUILDING TO 7 TO 9 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON. SLIGHT CHANCE OF
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.

*THURSDAY NIGHT*
NORTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 25 KNOTS. SEAS 7 TO
9 FEET.

*FRIDAY*
NORTH WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS EASING TO AROUND 10 KNOTS
LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 6 TO 8 FEET SUBSIDING TO 3 TO 5 FEET
IN THE AFTERNOON.

*FRIDAY NIGHT*
NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET.

*SATURDAY*
SOUTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET.

*SATURDAY NIGHT*
SOUTH WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO 5 FEET.
SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AFTER MIDNIGHT.

*SUNDAY*
SOUTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET.
CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.

*SUNDAY NIGHT*
SOUTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS BECOMING NORTHWEST
20 TO 25 KNOTS IN THE LATE EVENING. SEAS 5 TO 7 FEET


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## Play'N Hooky Too (Sep 29, 2007)

Yea, that's what I figured. :banghead

Well I guess those fish's luck can't last forever.:shedevil

I'll keep checkin back.


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