# Venice Late Feb



## Stock (Jan 11, 2008)

Got a trip to the "lump" planned for late Feb... We were trying to get down a little sooner but it just didnt work out... I have been told that this is a good time for the tuna but wanted to see if anyone has any other experiences or reccomendations for this time... in other words am i wasting my gas money in Feb?

thanks


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## titlewave (Jan 11, 2008)

Unless the weather gets you , there is no better time to go to Venice. The larger model yellowfin move inshore around feb to the lumps which is where you will be fishing more than likely. I have been there many times over the years in Jan. and feb. and both months hold great fishing for tuna and wahoo ( I landed my biggest wahoo ever in jan @111# and my biggest gulf yellowfin @ 187# in feb see below). There is always something chewing somewhere so dont think twice and go. Who are you fishing with ?


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## Russ Toole (Jan 11, 2008)

I went 1st week of march several years ago.  We were late, should hav been jan or early feb.  Weather was horrid at the lump and everywhere else.  5-6 ft seas, turned into a vommit festival for half the crew.


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## t k (Jan 11, 2008)

Jan through mid march is the lump season.I haven't seen any reports of yellowfin yet,but they should be there now if you can get out.If I had to pick one time to go it would be late jan to mid to late feb.The bigger fish are usually around and you don't see as many kingfish as you do in march.If you have never been this time of year be careful if you are taking your own boat.The fog is the worst I have ever seen and you have to have radar.There were several times we could barely see the running lights on the front of our boat it was so bad.
 We left our boat in venice from jan through april of last year.Our first trip in late jan we had yellowfin at 180lb,135,110lb,90lb,and a 70lb we used for bait.We lost a 150lb at the boat.Our next trip in late feb was a 135,100,90,and a 60.We went back in april to fish the rigs for tuna and to swordfish.There isn't another place that I would rather go than to venice.


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## Saltwaterfish (Jan 12, 2008)

For Venice fishing reports, checkout http://www.rodnreel.com

You will need to select just the offshore reports, but will be able to see what they are catching.  You can also look at reports from last February.


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## Stock (Jan 12, 2008)

I am a little fired up about this one to say the least...I have been wanting to get down there for way too long...Best part is the group is a hardcore one and we are fishing wed/thurs opposed to the weekend...our trip is with peace marvel...i am doing my best not to build huge expectations..

We are going to have a few downdays and rather than tow my buddies seafox CC and try to hit the lumps a couple more times we are looking at renting a small outboard and doing some inshore...dont really want to pay for a guide those days...any reccomendations?


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## Saltwaterfish (Jan 12, 2008)

Peace is definitely one of the best guides down in Venice.

Let us know how the trip goes.  Here is a picture of our best day at the Lump.  (private boat no guide)


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## t k (Jan 12, 2008)

These are two from our january trip last year.There are some really good charter captains in venice.We have always used capt eddie burger out of venice marina when we chartered.We were with him when we caught these fish.


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## FishingAddict (Jan 12, 2008)

titlewave said:


> Unless the weather gets you , there is no better time to go to Venice. The larger model yellowfin move inshore around feb to the lumps which is where you will be fishing more than likely. I have been there many times over the years in Jan. and feb. and both months hold great fishing for tuna and wahoo ( I landed my biggest wahoo ever in jan @111# and my biggest gulf yellowfin @ 187# in feb see below).




Thats the biggest wahoo I have ever seen!


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## titlewave (Jan 13, 2008)

*venice fishing*



FishingAddict said:


> Thats the biggest wahoo I have ever seen!



Yea that fish was unreal to say the least. The fish was actually taken on
 a vs300 van staal spinning reel and a red and white cd18 rapala off a 
inshore oil rig.

Here is the Van Staal Ad they made out of one of my pictures





 I have been lucky enough to catch several large wahoo
 in my life but that one from Venice was the biggest of them all. The fish
 measured 71 3/4 inches long and had a 32 inch girth here is another
 shot of her in the back of my buddies f250.






box full of January wahoo






As far as fishing with Peace Marvel  you are in for a special trip as he is one of the best and luckest captains down in venice. Please post back after the trip and let us know what happened.


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## capt stan (Jan 13, 2008)

AWESOME!


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## howboutthemdawgs (Jan 13, 2008)

I went two yrs ago in late feb. and we didn't catch a thing on the lump.  We also almost died having gotten caught in 12-15ft seas in a 28ft center console-took 6 hrs to get in from 58 miles out!


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## t k (Jan 13, 2008)

We were fishing the lump out of fourchon in early march of 06 with capt mike ellis in a 26ft glacier bay catamaran.We left the marina on a saturday morning with a forecast of high fifties and 2-3ft seas with a cold front blowing in sunday morning.We fished the lump until around lunch with only a kingfish to show for it.Mike suggested we move  southeast to fish some drilling platforms for tuna.We hit three or four before we found the fish.We were busy catching fish when we noticed the weather start to turn,by the time we got ready to go there were two water spouts about a mile from us.The skies turned black and the temp started dropping.We had to head straight into it to get back to fourchon and we had about an hour of light left.We could go around 15 mph,any faster and we would  either have the props out of the water coming off the waves or we kept stuffing the bow into oncoming waves.It is not a good feeling to be 85 miles out at night in this kind of weather.The temp had dropped to the low 30s by the time we made it back around 1100pm.It is by far the worst weather I have been in.The weather can really get bad quickly in the winter over there.


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## Stock (Jan 13, 2008)

hey titlewave i got to hand it to you that add is pretty sweet...what a fish...

i have heard a few horror stories about the weather....it is what it is   ...thats the big mystery card a litte more than a month out...


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## Saltwaterfish (Jan 14, 2008)

I agree that the weather is the WILDCARD.  

That is why I prefer to fish out of Venice.  I have gone out of both Venice and Port Fourchon, but if you are at the Lump and the weather turns, it is nice to be only 19 miles from the jettys. I know a lot of people hate the river, but the weather has much less of an impact on the river.

But I did add radar for the river.


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## howboutthemdawgs (Jan 14, 2008)

tk that may of been the same wknd.  It was whatever wknd the Daytona 500 was on and we left out of Fouchon as well.  It was the most scared I have ever been in my entire life.  We launched off of several waves but one in particular made us hit so hard it cut the electronics and motor off for a brief period.  The captain was scared sh#tless as well which really helped my confidence.


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## Stock (Jan 14, 2008)

*nice*

Wow a power failure as a result of seas...now that is intense...i've spent time in some fairly rough seas and I dont tend to get _ _(not saying it), but i have never dealt with anything like that.  These stories and pictures are getting me fired up.  I heard today from a guide down there that they are booked every day Jan-March but in most years only get out 15days.  Those are not good odds.


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## titlewave (Jan 24, 2008)

Stock said:


> hey titlewave i got to hand it to you that add is pretty sweet...what a fish...
> 
> i have heard a few horror stories about the weather....it is what it is   ...thats the big mystery card a litte more than a month out...



Well i am booked up to hit venice feb 5th to the 11th, and the only thing holding us back would be weather as well. The fog is a given on the river in the winter, but if its rough your done. We are trailering down a 33 ft world cat so if the weather looks bad for our dates we can change a day or two but thats it. The other thing is , if the lumps are not on the floaters offshore will be holding fish for sure.


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## How2fish (Jan 25, 2008)

Stock said:


> Wow a power failure as a result of seas...now that is intense...i've spent time in some fairly rough seas and I dont tend to get _ _(not saying it), but i have never dealt with anything like that.  These stories and pictures are getting me fired up.  I heard today from a guide down there that they are booked every day Jan-March but in most years only get out 15days.  Those are not good odds.



I hope you bet the odds and have a GREAT trip...however I am offically green with envy...the last time I tried to get down there was right before Katrina..I mean I booked my trip the day before she showed up on radar..still have never been able to get down there..really best of luck!!


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## Stock (Feb 25, 2008)

Getting ready to head out.. plan on being on the water Thursday and Friday... 

Hey Titlewave how was your trip?  Got any pictures?  Has anyone else been out recently and have a report?  Anyone done an overnight this winter? I heard the tuna bite was kind of slow.


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## Matt Robinson (Feb 28, 2008)

*Lumps*

The lumps have not really been producing well this year.  Not enough consistant weather and they put a couple more floaters out there.  Get some pink stretch 30's and troll around 200-300 depth for wahoo.  Then if you want YF Tuna run long out to the floaters.  Pick up some various jigs and jig for blackfin, Amberjack and wahoo, at almost any rig.  Usually prefer the up current side,  Catch them up.


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