3 good days in Venice, La

[capthoop]

Had 3 days in a row. None of my charters had ever been offshore fishing before. The water is not clean and the run for tuna is over 70 miles out. Due to those conditions the bite is also off so a lot of us have been rig fishing for things like this.



The first day I had a Doctor, a NASA worker and an Electrical contractor from Texas. Doctor Milton was the first on the reef donkeys. He was done after this one gave him a good fight.



Next came his buddy who was with him in the military for 20 years and 9 years later are still the best of friends.



After all 3 got beat up by the Amberjacks we went looking for some good sized red snappers.



We caught a lot and had no trouble getting our limit. We spent the day bouncing around and catching all day. C&R is the norm here. Due to tight regulations we can only get our mimimal limits and I can not be included in any of these limits.



Once at the dock I met my people for the next day. Ruben had been out before in South Carolina where they live but this was the first time for his 17 year old son. They wanted the same kind of fish but wanted quality. Tough order to fill.

Did not know how strong his son was but I did not want to hurt him so I put a harness on him for thr AJ's. He had to get both of them cause dad had a bad back. On the first attempt at the AJ's the first fish up gave me a surprise and I said "Holy $--t. It was this hog that I saw looking at me.



Tipped the scales at 20 pounds. From the picture you can see the storms in the back ground. We had to dodge them all morning. At times the seas got a little snotty. I could not fish the places I wanted to and had to search for the amberjacks. Got the job done though.



At the end of the day we had caught enough fish to sink the boat and came in with a 20, 15, 13, and the other red snapper. They promised to sleep well that night.



Once again I was met at the dock by my customers for the next day. Bill, from Mississippi, and Ruben talked about the trip with me and what to expect as did Ruben and Milton from the day before while I cleaned the fish. Bill, his wife and their 12 year old son were ready to go.

Once we got some nice bait we went for the AJ's. They were not home. Capt Bobby and I hit several rigs and had to work for them. We were both on a little rig and at times our boats were only a few feet apart. This can be dangerous when one of us hooks up and has to use the "Southern hook set". I hooked up first and the kid got the first shot. Due to his size I forgot he was only 12. Almost lost the rod over the side. Half way through the fight Mom took over. Capt. Bobby's customers actualy took pictures of her fighting the fish. It was quite a show.



Next was dad's turn. One more and we went fishing for quantity not quality as they requested.



We picked away at the snappers for the rest of the day. Due to the circle hooks and shallow water all the fish were released without harm. To help us out with the fish box a few quality mangrove snappers came to visit. Great fish when the mangrove snappers are larger than the red snappers on the wall.



On the way in as it was still early I made a stop along the pass entrance and picked up 4 redfish to add to the box. Had 3 qreat days with qreat customers.



Life is Good!
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CAPT HOOP -- OUR FREEDOM
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