Yellow Fin Tuna Fishing

I've been thinking about trying a guided trip out of Venice,Louisiana and was curious if anyone else had ever been on or fished for yellow fin tuna's.
Any experience's,thoughts,or recommendations appreciated.
Glenn P.

[QUOTE=kyfanatic;440528]I've been thinking about trying a guided trip out of Venice,Louisiana and was curious if anyone else had ever been on or fished for yellow fin tuna's.
Any experience's,thoughts,or recommendations appreciated.
Glenn P.[/QUOTE]
30 miles to gulf from venice by mississppi river. Finest fishing I've ever done in my life. Tagged a 90lb tuna years ago buy trolling. My suggestions are try to be down ther early may as the big bull reds start to come in. The spegkled trout fishing is awesome that time of year. All kinds of species of fish. Be careful and don't get yoyr arm broke. Fishing heven down there. Didn't have a guide we were just a couple guys with a boat.

It is (was) the best fishing in the US. The Venice fleet shut down after the oil spill though. Is it back to business as usual now????

[QUOTE=JoeB;440572]It is (was) the best fishing in the US. The Venice fleet shut down after the oil spill though. Is it back to business as usual now????[/QUOTE]

According to most websites they are back in business.I think the have a certain area that is closed,but they claim to be back to normal.

I don't know what your bankroll is but I went out with these guys last year ou of Destin FL and they were 1st class. [url]http://www.backdown2.com/[/url] Only did a 8 hr snapper trip with them but was talking to the mate and he was telling me how they specialize in 2 and 3 day Yellowfin trips. I was looking at their photo album on the way back to shore and they had one picture after another of absolute monster tuna. Super nice guys and they put us on a ton of fish.

I've got a buddy that's a fisheries biologist with the LA fish and game. He flat out hammers those tuna down there. He said that shrimp boats will anchor from time to time, mainly to sleep. Tuna feed on the scraps they throw overboard, and don't venture too far from them. He said when you find one on anchor, get up close to it, chum a little bit and wait until the big girls show up. Once you see them, put a baitfish on a hook and toss it over the side of the boat and watch....he said that big ol' tuna will hammer that bait, sometimes in the air while you're dropping it in, and run with it like a freight train...said it takes nerves of steel to engage the drag without getting pulled overboard!

As for the oil spill - it's no where near what the media has led you to believe. The hardest thing hit was the oyster beds, and that was a manmade error by the corps. of engineers. He said that they had the brilliant idea to increase the fresh water release of the Mississippi River into the gulf to try and push the oil back out. Well, oysters can't handle fresh water, and they just can't pick up and move. The corps. of engineers killed the oysters...not BP.

[QUOTE=kyfanatic;440528]I've been thinking about trying a guided trip out of Venice,Louisiana and was curious if anyone else had ever been on or fished for yellow fin tuna's.
Any experience's,thoughts,or recommendations appreciated.
Glenn P.[/QUOTE]


Never fished for the yellowfin tuna there, but did catch some decent Reds back in 1999. If you are down there next week you will probably see a lot of bass boats. The Classic will be going on and a lot of anglers will probably make the long run from Bayou Segnette to Venice.

I lived in Duson,La from 78' to 84' worked offshore on a drilling rig,just never got to fish offshore,I have fished all over the marsh areas from Morgan City west to Texas. Rockefeller Reserve was one of my favorite spots.
I'd say ArtCarney's friend is correct,I've seen them fish around the shrimp boats before.We used to load a cooler full of shrimp throwing a castnet when they run,cost a fortune to buy that much shrimp here.
I'm pretty partial to those crawfish too,now you guys have made me hungry..................:)

[QUOTE=kyfanatic;441098]I lived in Duson,La from 78' to 84' worked offshore on a drilling rig,just never got to fish offshore,I have fished all over the marsh areas from Morgan City west to Texas. Rockefeller Reserve was one of my favorite spots.
I'd say ArtCarney's friend is correct,I've seen them fish around the shrimp boats before.We used to load a cooler full of shrimp throwing a castnet when they run,cost a fortune to buy that much shrimp here.
I'm pretty partial to those crawfish too,now you guys have made me hungry..................:)[/QUOTE]

Lived in the N'awlins area and best thing about fishin La. off shore was the rigs were just around 3 miles out. Didn't have to travel out to far to just hop from rig to rig. waters weren't 100s of feet deep. We'd launch at Grand Isle. Deepest waters we ever saw was where Mississippi river meets gulf waters and it bottomed out the depth finder which only had 200' max depth. It would go from 40' to 200'+ at the drop of a hat. Caught 90 pound tuna off Grand Isle. A gaf and 357 were part of our tackle. Put a bullet in the fishes head before we'd bring them in the boat! Louisiana is some all around great fishing.

I have not personally done a tuna trip out of Venice but it is for sure on my to do list.

The best time of year is in the cooler months when the big girls show up!