posted in: Fish Reports, Marlin, MGFC News, Pelagics
Captains Billy Wells and Collin Byrd were fishing on MGFC’s The Wild Bill out of Venice, LA last week. The targeted species — as is most often the case — was yellowfin tuna. Wells and Byrd successfully put their charter on yellowfin tuna, and the deep blue sea had something else in mind for this group, too.
“We had tuna everywhere,” says Wells. “Just boiling the surface really close to the boat. We already had landed seven yellowfin all at about 70 lbs., but there were plenty more to be had.”
Offshore fishing has been up and down since early February, but wahoo fishing has been strong since the start of the new year. Wahoo and yellowfin tuna both showed up by the 2nd week in January, and the wahoo bite has been most consistent.
Shown above, Capt. Travis Mayeux on the f/v Sweat Shop, with seven wahoo. He’s had a keen eye and a hot hand for nice fish all February and into March. On this one trip, his boat landed seven wahoo a couple of yellowfin, and a few blackfin tuna, too.
The late winter / early spring wahoo fishing that’s been booming in recent years held to form in 2015. The Gulf of Mexico just off Venice saw another January – March invasion of deep blue, toothy critters, and it made for joyful trips for plenty of our guests.
“They averaged 40 to 50 pounds mostly,” said Mayeux, “but we caught some some 60-plus pounders, too.”
posted in: Fish Reports, MGFC News, Pelagics, Videos, Yellowfin Tuna
What’s it like to go yellowfin tuna fishing in Venice, LA? Get an inside look at what you get on a charter trip with Captain Travis Mayeux. Check out this video posted on You Tube from one of his recent offshore adventures. Appropriately scored to Ronnie James Dio, and posted for your viewing and listening pleasure on this Friday the 13th.
posted in: Fish Reports, MGFC News, Pelagics, Photos, Yellowfin Tuna
Yellowfin tuna can be found year round out of Venice, LA, but water temperature has a great deal to do with an abundance of the species. When the weather turns cool, the fish seem to be plentiful and hungry. Winter isn’t kind to much of the USA, but, it’s always pretty manageable down here.
In Venice — it’s not Sunny and 80+ in January and February — but, we have good water conditions for yellowfin tuna, and air temps are pretty kind to us, too, considering the snow drifts in Boston, and the frigid cold in the Midwest.
Most of the fish that swim on top migrate to warmer waters in cold months, but not yellowfin tuna. These bad boys stick around, and they’re big. Friggin nice and big.
Just ask Josh Friedman and his friends. They booked a February trip with Capt. Jordan Ellis on the ShockWave, a 40-ft Freeman BoatWorks catamaran run by MGFC.
posted in: Fish Reports, Pelagics, Photos, Videos, Yellowfin Tuna
In the video below, Captain Kevin Beach, of the Mexican Gulf Fishing Company (MGFC) captured a massive bait ball in the Gulf of Mexico.
Pogies formed a column just beneath the water surface, and swam together in a concentric movement for as far as the eye can see. Bait balls are a defensive tactic deployed by forager fish and some small pelagic species. Bait balls like the one shown in this video are common in the Gulf of Mexico off Venice, LA, from October through January each year.
Defense mechanism that it is, the maneuver still attracts predators, and charter fishing captains, keen to put their customers on big yellowfin tuna.