 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
| Around 10% of the world's total fish species can be found just within the Great Barrier Reef. |
|
|
|
| Starfish can re-grow their arms. In fact, a single arm can regenerate a whole body. |
|
|
|
| Starfish do not have blood. Their blood is actually filtered sea water. |
|
|
|
| Starfish don't have brains. Special cells on their skin gather information about their surroundings |
|
|
|
| Not all animals with the word fish in their names count as fish. |
| Though their names may suggest otherwise, cuttlefish, starfish, and jellyfish aren’t actually fish. Generally-speaking, fishes must have skulls, gills, and fins. Surprisingly, though, not all fishes have proper spines. |
|
|
| In three decades, the world's oceans will contain more discarded plastic than fish when measured by weight, researchers say. |
| |
|
|
| As of 2020, there were 34,000 known fish species around world. That’s more than the number of species in all other vertebrates: birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians combined. |
|
|
|
| Just how man species of fish are there? |
| As of 2020, there were 34,000 known fish species around world. That’s more than the number of species in all other vertebrates: birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians combined. |
|
|
| Even Catfish are finicky |
| Taste Buds ? Catfish have a more refined sense of flavor than humans. Our 10,000 taste buds may seem like a lot, but catfish can have as many as 175,000. This helps them find the exact location of their next meal. |
|
|
| A bit of Humor |
| My brother has 2 German Shepherds named Rolex and Timex. You guessed it they are Watch Dogs. |
|
|
|
|
|
From Jan 01, 1999 To Apr 18, 2024
|
May 23, 2005; 12:13AM - More of the same
|
|
Category: Louisiana
|
|
Author Name: Capt. Scott Avanzino
|
Just when you think it cant get any better it does..something about the power of a morning prayer- I highly recommend it!!Anyhow..fantastic week of fishing..jumbo and eating sized red and mangrove snapper, cobia, grouper, dolphin, wahoo, tuna and yes blue marlin!!!Not sure where to start..but after Randy's unsolicited report looks like Wednesday's trip has been covered..Returned to Venice Thursday with Darryl filling in for me on a snapper trip that day..man did he wear the old guys out..they ended up with a fine limit of red snapper and a few oddballs..dont askabout the ones that got away..it was a team sport that day 3 grown men with one rod vs. whatever would be foolish enough to take the bait..they did it slow and steady one fish at a time one..Darryl said it was pure comedy, but like the fine musk used in the movie Anchor Man - 60% of the time it worked all the time....one guy on the reel, one guy holding the middle of the rod and one guy attached to the fighting belt..looked like the portrait at Iwa Jima...anyhow all the names sort of melt into a haze after Satursday's group of 18, but I somehow remember all the guys from Thursday (Hal, D, Ross, Tim, Tristan and Walter); Dock discussion centered on all wanting action over 6 guys fishing for one giant marlin; so we went wide left instead of straight and made our first successful mangrove trip of the year..funny thing was the first seven fish in the boat were red snappers we chummed to the surface..look out Susan Gros..these were big mamas too..managed to get the small ones (5-10#) in the boat..glad the fly tackle never made it out of the cabin..got on a few rigs holding more gray snapper than reds and ended up with a nice box by quiting time..18 red and 9 grey along with 2 scamps and a cobia..Saturday things got interesting with more scheduling changes one Friday evening than ever before..worse than the ticket counter at O'hare in a snowstorm..the broken down boat bug always hits on Saturday or seconds after Close Of Business Friday ..managed to get everything worked out but still had a few bugs attack ending 2 of 4 trips early..thankfully Sonny and I managed to make it out unscathed, he in the Phat Cat and me by myself in the Albemarle..had tried to arrange for a deckhand the night before but got an extra set of hands from the crew..Sonny initially went long for tuna and I stayed closer to the shelf..tough day for Sonny as he ended up trolling by noon with ony 2 small tuna amid the boat show and tuna no show at Medusa..meanwhile we were off to a great start with a triple on dolphin right off the bat..couldnt get the lines set for the first half hour..then nothing for hours..about 10am we had a small blue come crash the party but fail to swallow..one swipe and it was gone..30 minutes later we had a sail come penciling behind two baits but failed to make contact with a dropback..tough to learn how to do it while on the hot seat, but at least my special guest deckhand Andy Mclemore got to see the fish..about 12:30 I could hear discussions of going rig fishing circulating below but I stood my ground..conditions were too ripe to leave..and at 1pm I got my confirmation with a hot blue marlin in the spread and ON!!!Once we wrestled the football away from the monkey down in the cockpit and settled in for the fight in marginal seas..it was a tag team effort between Robert Routon and Mike Frenzel, both suffering from a dual affliction of the Irish and Venice Flu..the fish was tagged with he last and only tag on the boat and I reset the baits..I wasnt into the first sentance of my routine post billfish radio conversation with Sonny when another fish slammed the longline and put on an 11 jump show..I put Tyler on the rod and since we had already run through the drill of clearing lines 25 minutes earlier, the spider monkey never got ah old of the football again and we positioned ourselves for a text book back down chase..the fish was released in just under 10 minutes too by yours truley who got to drive, wire and photo the second fish of the hour..snapped a few pictures and turned it loose..managed one more 20 pound dolphin before calling it early..as we were picking up Little Rimmer passed by with some friends and hooked another blue out fo the same spot..not sure how it turned out but I know alot of fish were seen and caught within the same 10 mile stretch of the Sargasso Hwy..Sonny ended up with 2 blackfin and a dozen dolphin from size 11 flipflops to size 36 inseam..The other boat caught two tuna and 2 cobia..Both Lance and Sonny were out today..Sonny with his self proclaimed 'best snapper catch of the year' and Lance with a last minute save..he trolled the rip and had not one strike by 1pm..he headed south and caught three 60-80 pound yellowfins and 2 blackfins coming in on the late side..Meanwhile Capt. Bill Delabar continues to prove his ability and proficiency bringing in 9 yellowfin with our group that broke down yesterday..he has been covering our trips that would be fishing on the 36 Twin vee this week and next..at this rate, I almost would rather the factory keep the boat for the rest of the summer!!!Just loaded the pictures from the adventures..more to come when I get them from Bill and Sonny...Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006
|
|
|
May 19, 2005; 12:02AM - Huge marlin caught in Loisiana
|
|
Category: Louisiana
|
|
Author Name: Capt. Scott Avanzino
|
Well it has been another amazing week in Venice..we had some incredible catches this week..taan, wahoo, dolphin, amrlin, grouper, cobia, snapper and amberjack..Have to say the two blue marlin in the same daytakes the cake..especially the fact that the secod fish weighed between 800-1000 pounds easy..see the picture if you dont beleive me..total chaos Monday with the Rio Enegry boys....not one but two marlin came crashing in the spread.a big one and a little one..they hit each of the baits twice missing the hooks and making a series of short strikes..it was a hairy 2 minutes and somehow to everyone's disbelief and shock we came away empty..I have never sen such a hot fish as the bigger of the two..it almost looked like they were competing for the ballyhoo baits and how we came away with a zero was beyond me..I was honestly ready to throw Lance overboard although it was just a case of no ones fault but unluck....fortunately it would change in a hurry..took a few deep breaths, let the stars spinning aound our heads fade away while we calmly regrouped, pulled all the meat baits in and reloaded with fresh ballyhoo..made a U-turn and hoped for the best...didt take long,,about one minute into the re-run to get the small one to eat after a miss and a 20 second drop back..fish on!!Finally..after 8 jumps we got the hook-up..a slow rewind ensued and we billed and released the fish 30 minutes later after a round of pictures..quickly got back on course put out the spread and in 5 minutes we had the mama on the short rigger..one swat and miss..then the bait got loaded with grass..I remember thinking what un-luck is this....anyay Lance was on top of it and with a fast track he jumped the grass of the bait with the fish still after it..one pounce, gulp and 20 second drop back and she was on..looked like a plane crashed in the gulf and tumbled for about a 1/4 mile..this fish went ape..total ape..in 90 seconds we had lost 400 yards and I was in full reverse backing over the outrigger and center rigger lines - and didnt care if we could reel to clear fast enough..I made the decision this one was worth the price of the whole spread..meanwhile..still going full reverse and loosing fast..I could see gold about one minute later so we spun and chased in forward at 15 knots until we regained half the line..then spun back and chased full reverse, which took another 45 minutes to get to the wire..was more than shocked to see such a huge fish..I initially thought 500-600 at the strike, and in total shock to see such a monster roll over along side the boat..with bill and tail..she was longer then our 13 feet beam by 2 feet..really about as long as last years estimated grander but not as thick..estimaed the fish conservatively at 800 pounds..see for yourself in the picture below..that is the tail making the wake to the far right..easy 12 feet fork to lower jaw..but skinny..we were so excited after the release that we sat there for 30 minutes high fiving and wondering when we would wake up from the dream..I was glad no one was injured and the fish swim away healthy..though, the fish never came in contact with the boat..it had a chunk missing out of its back, that looked like a wound from a pick axe..managed one more dolphin and 2 wahoo before making 4 drifts over a hot spot and adding 4 snapper and 2 grouper to the ice on the ride home...amazing day!!! Capt. Kerry ran 5 trips for us this week landing a total of 42 yellowfin tuna and 5 bull dolphin..we also had several great trips catching wahoo, grouper red and mangrove snapper...More in store for next week..amazing summer already..Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006
|
|
|
May 15, 2005; 05:27PM - More season firsts
|
|
Category: Louisiana
|
|
Author Name: Capt. Scott Avanzino
|
Well..we finally released our first billfish of the season and also put a few dolphin and cobia in the boat for some second and third firsts of the season..otherwise nothing else has changed..snapper limits continue to abound and the night tuna fishing has been off thre charts..and plenty grouper and wahoo still..we will be updating our photo gallery to show off these great catches..the pending #2 snapper of 42 pounds is still pending while we continue to knock of its closest and younger relatives, most of our big fish have been coming off the rigs on large live baits..a gorgoues rip formed up this week allowing us our shots on billfish and a release of a nice sail..somehow we broke off a 350-400 pound blue last Tuesday on 80 pound line..ouch..we have also had 3 overnight tuna trips this week to which anywhere from 9-15 yellowfin we boated..we have alos put at least one warsaw grouper inthe box in 5 consecutive trips..Lance and Willie trolled the rip yesterday followng a nght of tuna fioshing and added an 80 and 50 pound wahoo to the catch..Fishing will stay as hot as it is through the summmer!! PARADISE OUTFITTERS - 985-845-8006
|
|
|
May 15, 2005; 07:51AM - Incredible Offshore Action
|
|
Category: Louisiana
|
|
Author Name: Damon Mcknight
|
Sorry for the lack of reports lately but I have been busy trying to get our new boat ready for the season.
This past Friday we took out Dana Coleman and friends. Although the weather wasn't exactly what it was supposed to be the fishing was still very good. We pulled up to our spot and right off the bat we picked up two yellowfin tuna and 1 blackfin tuna. After that it slowed down quick. We stayed around for about another hour and headed in to some closer rigs to fish for snapper and cobia. They did manage to get a few red snapper and mangrove snapper, 1 undersize cobia, and that was it for the day. The offshore fishing is really picking up since the last couple of weeks. The big yellowfin tuna are moving back in and yesterday a private boat caught a 525lb. bluefin. The Marlin and Dolphin are starting to move in on the rip lines and floaters. Around the rigs the cobia, snapper, and grouper are all over the place. It is that time of year again. You never know what your going to catch next. The weather has been nice, sunny almost every day, with a little more wind than expected, but still not bad. We have openings if anyone wants to see what real fishing is all about.
Capt. Damon Mcknight/Super Strike Charters
www.superstrikecharters.com or 1 800 318 1720
|
|
|
May 6, 2005; 09:40AM - Summer Fishing Has Arrived!
|
|
Category: Louisiana
|
|
Author Name: Damon Mcknight
|
The offshore fishing during May does not get any better. With your chance to catch Marlin, Tuna, Dolphin, and Wahoo around the floaters and grasslines to Rig Fishing for Snapper, Grouper, Amberjack and Cobia. You can't ask for much more. The marlin fishing should be outstanding this season. Last year it was phenomenal. There were a few days that we hooked Back to Back blue marlin. The largest went about 650lbs. that took 4 hours to bring him to leader. Plenty of White Marlin as well. No sailfish last year but blues ans whites made up for it. Our fishing and weather will be outstanding for the next four months. Till next time. You can check out our site at http://www.superstrikecharters.com
Damon Mcknight/Super Strike Charters/ 1 800 318 1720
|
|
|
May 1, 2005; 02:28PM - Venice, tuna grouper and snapper abound
|
|
Category: Louisiana
|
|
Author Name: Capt. Scott Avanzino
|
Red snapper, grouper and yellowfin tuna abound!!!..It has been an amazing 10 days of fishing for us and we are glad to put an end to a slump that we had during the first week of the month of April..With May and spring upon us we hope to keep the momentum rolling..it has been strange..some days the tuna bite better at night and others during the day..snapper and grouper have been large and consistent more so during the daylight hours..with the best catches coming off live bait..I cant believe how many warsaw grouper we have caughtof late; probably 8 in 10 trips..We had a 42 pound red snapper last week and probably 40 fish over 20 pounds since the season opened..photos are updated in our website photo gallery should you want to see all of these increadible fish..Last Tuesday we got on a wide open yellowfin tuna bite..as fast as we could get the baits out we would hook, fight and land a 40-80 pound yellowfin..by noon we had fought over a dozen fish getting 7 of them into the cooler..sadly I dropped the largest one in the water at the cleaning dock, and after a 20 minute swim in brisk filthy water I failed to recover the fish..on the contrary, the cobalt bluewater is about 40 miles offshore and pushing hard from the west..in fact the water looks more purple than blue..we even caught our first bull dolphin of the year last week, so it can only get better from here..I am anticipating a marlin any day now..we are going to put the chair and outriggers back on the boats this week..We fished the opening of snapper at 12:01AM April 21 with the first fish of the season being a 31 pounder about 5 minutes into the trip..although we had to move around quite a bit to get the limit, in the end we filled the box in about 5 hours..the wind kept us at home all weekend, but we will be back in force this week with 4 overnight trips and 3 day trips..www.paradise-outfitters.com - 985-845-8006
|
|
|
Apr 11, 2005; 03:07PM - Bluewater is close to Venice
|
|
Category: Louisiana
|
|
Author Name: Capt. Scott Avanzino
|
Man has it been a month since the last report? Been busy retooling boats for the warm and busy season and enjoying a few good weather trips in between the fronts..we have been all over doing all kinds of fishing when we can get out..big story has been the consistent tuna bite..we have had great success with 80-120 pound yellowfins on our day and night trips as well as an occasional wahoo. I have been doing a good bit of grouper fishing the last few trips and have found a few decent snapper as well..looks to be a great season..we fished some live bottom this week that kept the trip ion constant bites..Also just fished the leading edge of an eddy off the Gulf stream Loop Current..we had been waiting for it to get close enough to Louisiana and last week the 80 degree blue water was withing 40 miles of the pass..tons of trash floating wads of bait but not alot of action..saw plenty of flying fish and have hooked and boated a few tuna and small wahoo on the line..we will be going back this week and hope for a better catch..we just ordered a 36 ft Twin Vee catamaran and expect a mid May delivery..it will be our new boat for day tuna trips to the deepwater platforms well offshore..Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006
|
|
|
Mar 11, 2005; 06:25PM - March wahoo, tuna and grouper
|
|
Category: Louisiana
|
|
Author Name: Capt. Scott Avanzino
|
Got out Monday and Wednesday this week and the weather and fishing conditions were much better than expected...water temp was 75 degrees and cobalt blue on the Lump Monday and even after a hard north wind all Tuesday, it remained 71 and blue green by Wednesday..the fish were hungry too..both days..Monday we had tuna in the slick and two on the line for the first drift..its been a while since I had to walk a big tuna around the anchor line, and it was a problem I welcomed..I finally figured out how to catch fish on the Lump..Let Capt. Sonny go hog wild in the cockpit doing everything while I go up on the fordeck and get a suntan..anyway, by 11am we had 2 nice yellows and 6 blacks..I had been wanting to drag for wahoo since arrival and by 11:30 after losing a nice wahoo boatside on chum and mono leader, I was able to make the sale..unfortunately, it failed to work despite all the goodies in the trick bag and after several strikeless laps we decided to call it early; and with the impending rain and weather it was the right call....Wednesday promised 1-3 ft seas and overcast..they were 50% right although it was pefect glass by afternoon..fishing was a litlle tougher..had action right away, but not for long, as not 1 but 2 boats motored right across the strike zone and the bite stopped completely even bonita scattered..current was running 2.5 knots and all the hits came 50-80 yards behind the boat..we had 4 blacks and 1 yellow in 30 minutes and then nothing for 2 hours, not even a bonita..decided we would try our luck at dragging since we rifled through the chum trying to get in the groove again..put out the usual spread of meat on the downrigger and hard plastic on top..and it didnt take long before we had a 60 pound wahoo flopping on the deck...after a quick pic out went the spread again..and another wahoo found itself at the end of the downrigger rod..it made for quite a shock to see a wahoo get airborne after taking the bait which was somewhere about 40-50 feet down..gives you insight as to how hard these guys hit the bait from underneath..would hate to be a small fish with a soft belly..anyway, we went 3 for 3 on wahoo before heading home..Looks like we will get a much needed break to wind down..prior to this week we had an unbelievable grouper catch over last weekend..all three of outr boats brought in great catches of all species..scamps, gags, yellowedges and warsaws..After mid weeks lack of tuna and abundance of sharks and kings bypassing the Lump was the right call..I had Mark Lurie, Sonny with Barrett Ceiutat and Lance had a father son crew with Steve and Boyd Esala all three boats did very well with grouper and Lance had a monster 94.9 pound wahoo on top of Jacks and 5 grouper, we had numbers with 18 yellowedge groupers but Sonny's crew had a 90 pound warsaw a limit fo jacks and 5 scamps...One of the yellowedges went 35 pounds 14.5 ounces missing the state record top spot by 2 ounces.spent the weekdays chasing bull reds and small bottom fish waiting for the weather to pass with the boys from NJ..We are gearing up for a long range trip later this month..it ought to be a hoot.. Check us out online or call us at 985-845-8006 to book any one of our four 30-35 ft boats.. www.paradise-outfitters.com
|
|
|
Jan 15, 2005; 11:45AM - Wide open bite at the Midnight Lump
|
|
Category: Louisiana
|
|
Author Name: Capt. Scott Avanzino
|
Great trips continue at the secret tuna spot..fished the last two weeks with great results..same story remains - the humans still hold the unfair advantage on the tuna and if you can get through the bonita, sharks and kings you will score..in the last 3 trips it didnt matter what time we started, where we anchored or how many other boats were out there...bonita are a problem - if memory serves me..we have been able to get baits through about 5-10% of the time and on 50% of those instances we got strikes on big fish..amberjacks, blacks and yellows..heck Darryl even got a gag grouper the other day with no more than 100 feet of line out,,lots of big fish seen and plenty brought home each afternoon..think our best yellowfin is in the neighborhood of 160 pounds though most fish are in the 100-130 pound class..but what I saw yesterday takes the cake....the bonita were so thick around the boat that they were eating everything we threw in the water..no matter what the size chunk, we couldnt get it through the swarm to the tuna..when a coke can baccidentally blew overboard the bonita went into frenzy mode..attacking it from below about 15 of them at a time..it sounded like popcorn popping as the can would get knocked clear out of the water for about 1-2 ft of air before the next multiple impacts microseconds later..this went on for about 30 seconds before a 150# class yellowfin took a swipe and missed..the swirl left behind filled the can partially with water..now the bonita couldn't knock it out of the water, and when Mr. Longfins came calling the second time he gulped it down..or at least we never saw it again....made us think to try putting a hook in one.tried to repeat with a Dr Pepper can, but had no takers...we were one of 4 boats yesterday and we had our slowest day of the week 2 yellows and 8 blacks..if this continues, the bonita will shift the unfair advantage back to the tuna side of the equation..Last Monday we had two boats go out and after searching high and low and all over the map for wahoo with no luck we made out way to the secret tuna spot to find a dozen boats..I got on anchor for about an hour before the waves took their toll on my crew and we headed in early with one tuna to show..Capt. Sonny stayed late and picked up 2 yellows and 2 blacks from in between the shark attacks he only had 2 anglers on his trio and they were staisfied..Tuesday we had Shane Mayfield and Tony Taylor out to shoot the newest instalment of Louisiana Sportsman's Geaux Fish Tv ..arrived at the secret tuna spot about 9am as the first boat..couldnt beleive it..we had fish in the chum from start to finish..I think we stayed for 3 hours fighting fish around the boat the entire time..final tally was 4 yelowfin in the 100 pound class and one balckfin which was released..probably had enough footage for a 2 hour show, feel sorry for the editor..at one point we had 5 fish working behnd the boat..we could have walked on them..its funny to watch the bonita scatter when the monsters come rolling through..Wednesday Sonny went out and clobberd them again..I stayed at home to do some maintenance and winter cleaning...I had planned to do a fun flyfishing trip out for dolphin, but the weather pushed us to Friday..I got a report from a friend at the Offshore drilling rig crew at Cajun Express that a school of bull dolphin was spotted around the platform ..several fish over forty pounds, but they would all have to wait for us a few more days as the crew decided weather would be a factor. Thursday we went back to the secret tuna spot and had a good day for tuna fishing and a stellar day for shark fishing..couldnt keep them off the line, the non-desireable species too..did get 3 jumps out of a mako before losing him for good..the spinners, sharpnosed and blacktips ate us up..we managed 2 yellows and 3 blacks before leaving early to go look for wahoo..and to no avail there either..Friday, I assembled the diehard fly fishers 10 plus crew of Gary Parish, Joe Cerise and Susan Gros..Delrio wimped out due to 4-5 ft seas and I didnt bother calling sneaky Pete due to the forecast..I was going no matter what..the thought of breaking the dolphin recored for fly being the main motivation..got to the Cajun Express only to find two 20 pound dolphin..guess someone had culled the herd or they moved off..managed to catch and release one on my 10 wt before we went into chum and drift mode..everone got to fight one blackfin and one football yellowfin before we decided to head closer in..at stop 2 we had nothing but large yellowfin in the chum..one fish well over 120 and as you would expect, Susan got him to take a fly on 16 pound tippet..think she survived the first run, but nothing else..Gary and Susan also got two other takes on big fish only to break the tippet..I stayed on the controls awaiting the surprise visit from another dolphin but it wouldnt be..with time running off the clock, Susan was able to get another fish on, surviving not only the first run, but two encouters with running gear, she wouldn't let me keep the engines running, so we did the majority of her 2 hour and 20 minute fight from a dead boat..with the sun setting we finally gaffed her fish..it weighed 40 pounds on her boga, but since I had to help get the line out of the snag by hand it will not count for record consideration..while we were out playing with our fly rods, Sonny had Cliff Laborde and famuily on the Albemarle..they had 6 yellowfin early in the day..Both boats went out again on Saturday with great results..more blackfin than yellwofn although Willy and Jeff Fuscia had a yellowfin in the 150 pound class..bluewater has moved out of the 93 block again early in the week and it was 25 miles out of South Pass..it was cobalt blue and 75 degrees at the Lump but with this noth wind it will probably move further south agaion ..still a might bit rough in the clean water, about solid 8 ft the last 2 days..like we'll get back out on this Wednesday..Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006
|
|
|
Dec 22, 2004; 04:43PM - Christmas yellowfin tuna
|
|
Category: Louisiana
|
|
Author Name: Capt. Scott Avanzino
|
Well..we live and die by the forecast lately.I had a group drive all night from Georgia on a hunch that all the high pressure would hold off any severe winds for last Friday..thought wrong..it probably blew close to 20 knots most of the day...spent the day releasing bull reds at the rocks..the secret bait? whole slabbed hardheads..yes folks we finally found a use for them..the pogies we had were just too mushy and after 3 reds and 50 hardheads we switched over..caught 4 hardheads after that leaving none for seed and 20 bulls for fun..all released..Saturday I had another group drive all night from Houston to hop on the boat and head south regardless..the ride out wasn't too bad with a 4 ft following sea we were able to hold 24 knots most of the way.. winds actualy laid down for about 2 hours just before noon, but there was plenty of slop making for a long ride home into a pitching headsea..fishing was tough compared to our last out but under the circumstances I am calling 3 yellowfins and 3 blackfins a huge suuccess..went 3-5 on yellowfins and 3-3 on blackfins..still trying to figure out how a 15 pound blackfin can swallow a 15 inch mullet..anyway..we had a few bites on hardtails with the fish of the day, a 110 pounder that made one hell of a surface strike on a jumbo mullet early in the day..capped off the day just before quitting time by going 2 for 2 on 90-100 pound fish on hardtails..stayed pretty calm all evening at least until 10:30pm but it was blowing when I left to drive home this morning..still baffled at how it could possibly be fishable tomorrow..just looked at the 9:30 update..the good news is that all the north wind has not pushed the dirty water out and away from us..it was 76 and a very nice bluegreen 6 miles inside of Lena..stayed about the same just about everywhere else we went..pulled a few diving baits but nothing with any success..I suspect the first real serious arctic blast will bring the mother wahoo's into the areas in 300-500 ft of water, although the famous annual wide open bite could happen anytime between now and April...saw lots of duck feathers in the water at the marina and in the passes so I suspect the duck hunters are satisfied again..there certainly hasn't been any scarcity of camo in Venice area this weekend We had a last minute trip assembled in the waining hours of daylight Monday and after close examination of the forecast and bouys we were off at 6pm..north winds 10-15 knots going to light and variable..couldnt wait to get to Venice..by 5pm the wind was light out of the south and there wasn't so much as a ripple anywhere in the marina or river..made bait in 3 casts filling the well with 20 perfect and energetic mullet; conditions were nearly flat calm with a slow rolling easterly ground swell outside of South Pass..the moon was shining brite making it easy to see even the slightest ripple..sea temp was about 76 degrees and with the light breeze it was really looking to be an extremely pleasant evening..ran about 30 miles out before I saw the first whitecap..mostly due to wind opposing the current.no biggie..continued on at a pretty good clip although the sea was definately building in the next hour as we approached our first and only stop..made our first drift and put a 120 pounder in the box amid a moderate chop and whistling wind..it was looking real good even though there was no sign of surface activity...excitement and anticipation slowly gave way to frustration and dissapointment..made a few more drifts with no luck and in about 30 minutes seas went from a relaxing 2-3 to a nasty 3-5 feet; with the 15 knot SSE wind opposing the 2 knot current out of the NNE, it didnt take but an hour get nasty on the east side of the platform..like a washing machine effect with the wave reflection..and borderline too much for comfort..eventually we could only fish the backside picking up all the blackfins we could release..tried chumming with a few chunks for a few hours before we made one last ditch effort in the slop..picked up another nice fish near about 100# around 3am but I could see it really wasnt much fun for the angler fighting more of mother nature amid an ever angled cockpit than his fish..I had two go down in the first hour and at 4am with 20 knot gusts the remaining crew raised the white flag..no argument from Darryl and I even if we would miss the sun-up bite..it was one of the nastiest trips I fished this year and I am always reluctant about going out at night this time of year after getting bit by 'the February Squall of '03, I just got bitten again..and if we hadn't picked up a nice fish off the bat, I would have called it early..of course it laid down for the ride in and by the time we were 20 miles from the pass there was hardly a breath of wind anywhere..decided to run Tiger..a beautiful sunrise in West Delta was the only medicine for our bruises and the flat glass conditions between the SW pass West Jetty and the dock made for alot of loud snoring..stayed calm until about 11am, after which I couldnt tell you. I didnt see any other boats leaving yesterday morning but I am sure it was a nice day for fishing offshore..so much for the 20 knots they were calling for in the NOAA forecast for yesterday..would have much traded a turn for a day trip then than the of pain and suffering..I have never seen the wind blow so much as I have this month..SANTA BRING US SOME CALM DAYS PLEASE! Paradise Outfitters - 985-845-8006
|
|
|
|
