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25 Oct 2004 - Venice Louisiana snapper and tuna bite
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Category: Louisiana
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Author Name: Capt. Scott Avanzino
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What a week of great weather and fishing and mechanical and scheduling challenges...tuna and snapper still the big story although I even spent a few hours trout fishing Friday while waiting on engine parts that never arrived..The week started out great with business as usual on big tuna, snappers and groupers..big bait equals big fish for all three species..had the best catch of the career for the Monday overnighter and the momentum carried through the week..Pretty increadible overnight trip with the Tidwell/Clements group despite pretty miserable weather conditions..stuck it out anyway since we had past the point of no return by mid day..the fishing was great in 2 hour spurts..managed the limit of snapper in 2 hours with 5 fish over 25 pounds the rest decent pan sized to baby sows..then we ran south for an evening of tuna fishing..man did we struggle and man did it get rough in the blue water..nothing but blackfins for hours and total whitewater..tried just about everything too..finally at 3am it broke open and we went 5 for 8, the largest fish a solid 120 the rest 80-100 pounds.one even got mangled by the prop and kept on fighting another 10 minutes..morning came and everyone got a turn on a big fish so wee decided to head in with 20 live baits to spare..made a stop to try an pick up some AJ's and settled for 2 along with 5 grouper the largest a 60 pound warsaw..probably the best catch we have ever recorded for a combo trip..even thought the fishing only lasted 7 hours we needed all Tuesday afternoon to recover..Wednesday morning broke with even better weather setting the stage for the snapper slapper challenge between my good friend Andy Wilson and Lake Texoma striper guide Joe Brown..Andy bet me he could catch a mangrove on a slapper and he proved it to be correct..I enjoyed my crow and oyster gumbo that night..the bite was steady with Darryl, Joe and I catching our share of trophy fish while Andy played around with the panfish..he had a little more trouble with the brutes..he only fishes light tackle..nothing more than 20 and 30 pound test on his bass rods..he was the first person on any of my boats to land a large yellowfin on bass gear..Thursday was a carbon copy of Wednesday in terms of weather and the Reach Technolgy group was treated to some fine snapper fishing..we had 15 fish over 20 pounds in one hour..the largest fish cracked the 30 pound mark..the remainder of the limit was filled with chateaubriand for two and single serving sized fish and a few barely legal gags..made for an early day..Friday morning we awoke to find failed fuel pump on the Cabo and cracked transmission slave on the Albemarle..managed to get both groups off in time on loaner boats while I arranged for the delivery of parts..went and killed 20 trout with Jimmy Gringo while I awaited the various deliveries from South Florida's finest suppliers of parts in a pinch..guess they didn't call Brown since I am still waiting..Both Darryl and Sonny had good catches with the Mark Uberecken and Daniel Carter groups respectively..D made a drive by at the snapper grounds picking up a limit of every size ruby red before heading long for tuna..the first fish was a big boy..went through all 4 anglers before pulling the hook 1:15 into the fight..they ended up with a 90 pounder but got back just after dark..Sonny's group had no luck with tuna early on Friday but saved the day with a limit of snapper and a few grouper on the way home..couldn't tell you where the rip is but bluewater was 40 miles to the east and the snapper and grouper are on the bottom of every rig in the Gulf..we have a cancellation for an overnight trip so we now have Thursday and Friday available..Sonny fished today on a loaner boat and clobbered the fish..not sure which color and size but I suspect more big red ones..he and Kevin Aderhold are taking our Mon/tuesday group out on an overnighter tomorrow..will post the results later.. Will be posting the pictures from this weeks trips in the photo page next few days.. Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006
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