Venice, LA tuna fishing question

[joemr1288]

So I had a question regarding yellowfin tuna fishing out of Venice, LA. I have heard awesome things about the fishing offshore for these monster yellowfin. It has been a long standing dream of mine since I was a kid to fish for them and catch a monster yellowfin.

So my question is, has anyone here taken a charter out of Venice, LA for yellowfin? If so, who was it and did you have a good experience? I am trying to find a good charter to book, or just meet up with someone if they are going. I have no issue splitting costs and what not if someone here does a trip and would like company.

And my last question is, what time of year is best for yellowfin tuna in the gulf? I have heard its pretty good from January to the end of March. But the best time is from April through September?? I am not sure when I should try and go, so any info from those of you who have gone would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Thanks

[joemr1288]

Or if you know of some charters that do yellowfin tuna in the bahamas from our neck of the woods, that would work also.

[Wasabi]

I fished with Mike Ellis of the Relentless last October and had a great time. We caught endless amounts of Blackfins all between 20-30 lbs and actually chunked them up as bait for the Yellows. Top fish of the trip was a 130lb. yellow. Mike told us that the big fish are in September - October but can be caught almost year round. He suggested we come back in June-July and said we would see numbers of yellow in the 75lb range rushing the boat. He also said we could catch big genuine red snapper then as the season is still open at that time. You may want to look at some of the offshore fishing forum posts on www.louisianasportsman.com and see for yourself what's being caught and when. Good luck and catchem-up!

[captinmitch]

Another vote for Mike on Relentless. He gets rather intense at times but he's the top dog out there. You will catch fish until your arms hurt. You also may learn something you never knew about 9 volt batteries.

[Shoeless]

I would say it depends how much bank you got saved up for this trip you want to do. I fished with CPT Pat Price on the Daymaker right out of St. Lucie Intet on a one day trip for Yellowfin. We left the dock at 3:15 am and were back by 5:30 pm with fish cleaned. I split the cost with 3 other guys, but total cost of the trip including tip was just shy of $2,000.



I have not fished with Mike on the Relentless, but I have seen great reports come from the boat.

If you are dead set on going out of California for a long range trip, look into the Royal Polaris. I think for a 7-9 day trip you are looking at $5,000 each person. Not to mention the flight out there, all the tackel they recommend bringing, and shipping your fish back home. Check out their website if you are interested.

http://www.royalpolaris.com/

[CaptTater]

was that Mike Ellis as camera boat for "Into the Blue" the other day? It looked like a Freeman cat but of course with a Yellowfin sponsored show they didn't give it much time. They sure seem to kill 'em up there. I was adding up the cost of taking my boat but it doesn't make sense. I'd be $1200 in diesel just trailering up and back. Need a 2 week trip to justify that.

[Dave Meyer]

Venice is not cheap fishing either. You can figure on $2K plus for a one day trip, not including transportation or lodging.

[bandit100377]

I went on a charter of of Venice just before the oil rig blew up. We caught blackfins but no yellows in 2 days of fishing. The cost was around 1200 PLUS fuel and the fuel was not cheap. I think the overall cost was around 2k and the boat trip was loooong each way.

[Relentless]

The quotes given on the price of a charter are about right you should budget for 2k a day. The trip is $1300 plus the fuel. The fishing is bet in the summer for 50-70lb fish and the most availible fish as bycatch (dolphin,marlin,red snapper,AJ) but we burn the most fuel as well at that time. Of course every year is different for example last year I only went farther then 30 Nm offshore a handful of times. And my average fuel burn was around 140 gallons or so per trip. The spring offers the cloest fishing and easy numbers of 30-40lb yellows and the cheapest fuel bills. But the spring time weather is kind of dicey. The winter mobths offer the bigger fish but the best chance of getting blown out. Altough the fish are bigger its not really a numbers game at that tie of the year. If they dont play our wahoo fishing is very good at that time as well with several fish over a 100 caught each year. The best time for numbers and big fish is october behind the shrimp boats. Other places have the tuna but for all out depenability you cant beat Venice. But on a side note its still fishing and they do what they want sometimes and dont go by the script that we right. I hope this helps.
Capt. Mike
Relentless Sportfishing

[Final Point]

I'm going in March with some buddies out of Venice, and people talk about Capt. Mike Ellis like he walks on water. Also, that cat that he runs is one sweet ride!!! Last time I went this time of year we were catching 70-90lb YFT on topwater poppers. It was a really cool show. The one thing that I will say is that while the tuna are large and numerous in the gulf, they don't pull anywhere near as hard as our Atlantic Yellowfin.

If it was me I would go do a trip out of Venice on a boat that does a flat rate plus fuel. If it is an all inclusive package then the captain tends to stay closer to home even though the fishing may be MUCH better just 20 miles farther out. PM or call if you have any questions I can answer for you.

Capt. Ryan
Final Point Bait & Tackle