Louisiana Tuna

[FSH 210 Sport]

Saw this article this morning and thought maybe some of our gulf coast members would find it interesting.

https://www.saltwatersportsman.com/travel/wintertime-tuna-fishing-off-venice-louisiana/?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&tp=i-1NGB-Et-cO1-1TV8r5-1c-16akC-1c-1TV633-l8Y3TSsBjj-4hfgU&primary_k=16347552

 

[WhalerMax]

We've done Lump fishing for decades in the Gulf. Last season we did the East Lump in February per usual and it was a complete cluster 100 miles from my port. We found nothing but sharks, a wide variety of sharks, but nothing but sharks nonetheless. The secret is out, and come weekend time, people are out on a calm day in everything from bass boats to sport fishers.

Think of a parking lot at walmart except the entire parking lot of 200 cars is drifting at its' own pace, then falling off the 200' cliff and racing back to the other side of the parking lot. Then the new Freemans running spot lock in 200' of water are sitting still like the buggie corrals and everyone else is trying to keep lines out of each other's business. On top of that, everyone is throwing everything from live mullets, to chunks of blackfin, to frozen pogies at the water with some boats tight lined, slack lined, jigging, and then others trolling the perimeter. Once the sharks figure out it's weekend time, they come to stay knowing dozens of boats are tossing thousands of lbs of perfectly good chum overboard to attract one of the few beasts that hundreds of fishermen are hoping to lure.

Short of weekday fishing, East Lump is ruined for me. On this particular trip, we made 2 passes, and ran away from that mess. Got into the amberjacks and blackfin further east and the kids had a blast. Next time, ill be there on a Wednesday and mooch off the charters who know exactly how to raise them, as evidenced by the photos on that article.

 

[NewGuy]

God don't let them ruin this last sanctuary. Well, it has built up across Venice already and Grand Isle is going to be special post IDA. To anyone thinking of venturing that way, it's a outdoorsman's paradise. It's a different world and you need to respect and listen to the guides and locals. They are great great people. Don't go without a guide service if you've never been and you may want to invest in a good interpreter (Frenglish) ;-)

 

[WhalerMax]

God don't let them ruin this last sanctuary. Well, it has built up across Venice already and Grand Isle is going to be special post IDA. To anyone thinking of venturing that way, it's a outdoorsman's paradise. It's a different world and you need to respect and listen to the guides and locals. They are great great people. Don't go without a guide service if you've never been and you may want to invest in a good interpreter (Frenglish) ;-)

Its overfishing to the core, but its truly miniscule in the big scheme. I cannot imagine it could even move the needle on the offshore species down here. We have so many fish in such a vast area it's unbelievable. The lumps are just a small red bullseye for the lazy fishermen because of hype like the article above. In the 90s, the midnight lump, a couple of square miles among thousands of blocks in the gulf, was ravaged. It became faux pas to fish it because of the results of hyped overfishing. One would laugh as you passed it from Grand Isle if someone was parked over it knowing they were fighting trash fish. Stop at the next rigs and it's a completely different ecosystem.

You are right about the bucket list, its special down there. We grew up with a camp in Grand Isle and now have one on the MS coast. We fish Venice waters, but have a longer ride to get to them. Id take the extra 2 hours in a boat rather than drive through NOLA and Westbank. Lot's of good food, good people, and great fishing.

 

[NewGuy]

You're living life right Whaler! Hadn't thought about it, but you make a great point - NOLA to Venice is a slog by car - easy trade to run the coast by boat instead. Headed down to NOLA next week, but I think my work schedule is crowding out fishing plans this time ;-(