# Venice Offshore – Off the hook and into the Ziploc



## captain william wall (Jul 9, 2008)

Venice Offshore – Off the hook and into the Ziploc

End of the day and the marina is just coming to life. Tuna are coming off the boats in piles and there seems to be a good sense of karma in the air. People gather in groups enjoying a cold one and swapping stories of their day. Fish are cleaned and packed into ice chests, heading for parts unknown. Once again the docks are silent. It’s our turn to reflect on the day, and make mine a double. It’s amazing how fishing can bring total strangers together. Life is good in Venice. 


On 10/12 I had Larry G. and his gang from Alabama. After a few Bama/Tiger jokes in the morning we headed downriver with high expectations. The seas were nice and everything looked good. We moved around for a little bit and found a few boats working in 200ft or so. I gave the guys the skinny on what we were doing and got after it. The big blacks were everywhere. We tried bigger baits and even bigger baits to get past them but their appetite was bigger. Oh well, we kept at it all day looking for the right one and in the process filled the forward coffin with more than enough black fin tuna to feed a small village in God knows where. Despite no yellows it was a good indication of things to come being the Shrimp boats had just gotten set up the day before after a nasty blow. Life was starting to show. We must have timed it just right because the boys pulled the last cold one out of the Yeti right as we pulled up to the dock. That was a close one. No fear, I told them. Turn around, walk 40 ft. and replenish your stocks. We packed the fish for them in coolers and they left Venice in a cloud of dust headed north, to New Orleans for part deaux of Larry’s bachelor party. Good times indeed. 

10/13 I woke up early that morning and walked outside with a cup of Joe. Immediately I was hit with a brisk wind. “That’s not good” I murmured under my breath. Despite the prospects of getting my teeth kicked in, I was still pumped up just thinking about the distinct possibilities of the big yellows showing up. Made my way downriver and was just about to clear the pass when we slowed down for a moored shrimp boat that was nestled up in the canes that were laid over from the wind. Rut roe, Put the nose down and once we cleared the 200ft break the seas were definitely angry. We were catching spray badly and despite conditions that called for a film crew and a crab fleet, we pressed on. Only to find the fleet had shagged you know what for different parts other than ours. We picked up a hand full of big blacks and it seemed the rest of the fishing fleet had the same ideas that morning. Only catch, no boats. We bounced around looking for them but no such luck was to be had. We ended up the day catching mangroves and picking up a few jacks on butterfly jigs. 

10/14 I eased out the door in the pre-dawn darkness as the morning before. No wind. Thank you. Enjoyed my coffee and headed down to the marina. I had Michael B. down and just himself. Repeated the same route as the day before, hell bent on fishing the boats. Cleared the shelf and was able to scoot along comfortably at 40mph. Found a couple of boats and went to work. We picked up 6 or 7 big blacks and stayed on them in open water. The sounder was lit up and the tuna were underneath me but refused to come up. The current had gone slack and they just didn’t want to come up. We bounced around for most of the afternoon but the fleet had anchored up for better shrimping during the night. We continued east in hopes of finding other boats and decided to make a pit stop for scamps. We picked up two and lost five or so and one nice jack before heading back to an anchored boat and picking up two more big blacks. 


10/15 Spent the better part of the morning cleaning the boat and trying to figure out where the big yellows were. A friend of mine had some business clients down and had left earlier only to come right back. Seems a high pressure filter had gone bad. It was 10:30 in the morning when he approached me. Dude, you gotta help me, he said. No problem. Let me pout my boat back together and we will go. We left at 11:00 and headed down river. Not a breath of wind. Nice. We changed gears once we cleared the pass and headed offshore at a quick pace. First stop we made a few deep drops but no luck. Capt. Eddie had just put a nice yellow in the box right next to us. We pulled up current and dropped a few butterfly jigs and picked up two big blacks. Hit another rig and pulled baits for wahoo and had one knock down but no connect. Headed back north and dropped more jigs and picked up a few more blacks. Okay, what next. Made our way toward east bay and spotted a shrimp boat and made a bee-line for him. I pulled up behind him and the sounder was lit-up. Backed off it and set up. First drift we picked two jumbo blacks and went back to do it again. Scott was running a line off the bow and he got nailed. The drag was coming off the 50w quick and I backed off the boat. The fish was going north and wasn’t slowing down. Cool, cool, cool. Got angler strapped in and went up on the drag. Heavy gear, so I wasn’t worried. After awhile, the fish settled up and down and tail beats at the end of the rod indicated a tuna. Shortly after he popped up from the murk and we stuck him. High fives ensued. I was 6.3 miles from south pass at that point. 30 minutes later we put him on the scales. 150lbs on the nose. Back at the dock it seemed that the rest of the boys slayed them. Capt. Eddie had a giant and so did everyone else. They were back.

10/16 No wind and no charter. Good grief Charlie brown! It was killing me to know that they were there and I wasn’t. Bumped into a friend and said lets go. Left the dock at 11:00, see a pattern here? Made 40 miles quick and found the fleet. Plenty of boats. Second boat we spotted a big yellow on the first drift and went back. Armed with a 3lb white trout and a Godzilla 18/0 Eagle claw we bombed the water with chum goodies and I got picked up deep. Came tight and fish on. Fought the fish ala “rod holder style” for about twenty minutes and Kyle stuck the gaff in a not so happy 140lb plus fish. Neat. We bounced around a few more boats and saw probably five or more big yellow before being broke off on 200lb floro and a 135lb mono top shot. Too much drag I suppose. We hauled butt back to the dock, cleaned our tuna and passed out steaks. Capt. One Eye came in with a 221lb and a 150 plus blacks. Several other big fish were brought in. 

Everything seems to falling into place. Our mullet run this year should be much better than the years previous given the amount of large roe mullet in the river and the passes. Capt. Hunter has been killing them at the floater along with a few other guys. The Wahoo have shown up as well. We had a nice 70lber from the other day on an exploratory trip. The next month or so should be awesome and big tuna will be hitting our docks. Floaters, boats, open water fish on mullets or pogie schools. Should be stellar, I am having my site worked on right now. If anyone needs to get in touch with me, I will list my contact info. I have some primo dates available in November. If you would like to book a trip in Venice, Please give me a call and thanks for reading my reports. See ya. 

Captain William Wall
Pelagic Charters
1.225.454.5365
[email protected]


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## reel stripper 29 (Aug 19, 2009)

Well what can I say capt will it was a great trip. That was the biggest blackfins I have ever put in the boat and I have fished from the keys to Texas. People if you have never fished Venice you should go at least 1 time in your life. There were fish every where and the great part it you could watch them eat your bait 5 foot from the boat. Fishing behind the shrimp boats is awesome. If your looking for a tuna charter I would defiantly recommend capt will. Thanks again will for a great trip!


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