Venice, LA may well be the only port in the World where one can catch Yellowfin Tuna on a day trip 365 days a year. In addition to Venice's superlative Tuna fishery, we also host several pelagic species on a seasonal basis along with exceptional bottom fishing. Venice is truly THE Sportsman's Paradise.
Mid December-Mid march
Big yellow fin on the lump. Lump yellow fin average 120+ lbs. not to mention outstanding action on world class Black fin tuna (30+) as well. This is also your best shot at a Mako shark, one of the World’s greatest predators. Reel Peace caught the Gulf Record this past year at 765 pounds. Wahoo also spawn during this time frame. This is your best opportunity to catch a Wahoo over 100 pounds any where in the world. We put our clients on several 100+pound Wahoo during this time frame.
Mid March through mid April
Wahoo are everywhere, these are not the huge spawners of lump season, but they are fun none the less. We call them weehoo, they usually weigh 30 pounds or so and put up a great fight on light tackle. The Grouper are spawning and are very predictable as are the Amberjack. The tuna are finding their way out to the deep water structures and are feeding behind the shrimp boats as well. Usually the tuna average 30-50 pounds but expect a few studs to come to the dock as well. The cobia are also starting to show up out west.
Late April through September
Endless opportunity, calm seas, and full ice chests going North. Snapper season opens on the Friday closest to April 20th. While snapper is not our main thrust, we do celebrate the opening every year. We produce some of the most impressive stringers of trophy red snapper caught anywhere. The Grouper fishing is also unrivaled as well. Mangrove snapper, Cobia, and Amberjack will also make it into the fish box on a snapper trip.
The tuna fishing is superlative during this time as well. The fish usually average from 50-70 pounds but this year we have been regularly catching 100+ pounders. Most tuna during this period will be caught on live bait.
The Mahi (dolphin) start showing up in late April or early May and provide an exciting trip or a nice bonus catch. If they are the primary target, we usually will find a rip to fish. We usually troll skirted baits and ballyhoo when targeting Mahi. We also catch a fair amount of them when fishing the rigs for tuna. Mahi love the same live baits that we deploy for tuna. Mahi also present a great opportunity for fly rodders as well.
Billfish show up around the same time as the Mahi. We rarely target billfish solely but we do catch a fair number of them each season. We usually hook them while fishing for tuna with live bait, but when we target them we again troll Ballyhoo and Lures. The gulf has a very healthy population of both blue and white marlin, and both are hooked on a regular basis. We do not kill these fish, but a picture is worth a thousand words…and we have a lot of pictures!
Swordfish are truly the most difficult fish to target in the central Gulf. Reel Peace is the only guide service that has consistently caught swordfish, and we are the only service to offer trips targeting Swords. Three years ago, Capt. Devlin caught the first Sword caught off of La. in 20+ years, and the rest is history. Devlin, Peace, Rimmer, and Billy have now been very successful and are considered the experts on the subject. Our biggest to date is just under 300 pounds but it was fought by more than one angler and did not qualify for record consideration.
October-Mid December
The tuna come in close to shore to gorge on the Mullet that have moved offshore to spawn. This is truly violent fishing. The Big tuna ball up schools of mullet and feed with a vengeance. We see some truly large fish during this period with a 130+ pound average and lots of fish that top 180. The fishing takes place less than 15 miles from shore most of the time. The fish tend to feed in open water and they feed early in the day and late in the afternoon, allowing for other opportunities to be taken advantage of during the day.
This is also some of the most consistent Cobia fishing available during the year. They tend to stack up in the shallow water on the west side of the river and in East bay. A full day of cobia fishing can be extraordinary or they can also be taken advantage of when the tuna shut down.
The trophy Red Snapper really show up at this time as well. The Big snapper tend to bite the best when the water temperature cools a little as do the big grouper. The Snapper season closes on 10/31 each year and the big fish go crazy at the end.
