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Venice Inlet and the Gulf of Mexico
Capt. Dave Pinkham
January 31, 2000
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report
Venice Area Offshore Report
The cold front that passed through last Sunday had the Gulf stirred up all week. Finally we got a reprieve with the wind laying down on Friday which allowed us to get offshore and do some fishing. Actually I ran two four-hour charters back to back with fairly decent success.
On the morning trip we left the dock at 8am and headed for some hard bottom eight miles west of the Venice Jetty's. This particular location consists of live coral areas, small ledges, crevices and sea grasses. The wind was blowing out of the east so the ride out was an easy one. I'll take an east wind over one out of the northwest any day. After throwing a jug weight over to visually mark where the three-foot limestone ledge lay on the Gulf's floor, I headed the boat up wind to set the anchor. Setting the anchor hook directly upwind is critical in positioning the boat directly over structure, and more importantly over the fish. Hooks were quickly baited and dropped to the bottom. (With seas conditions three to four foot chop out of the east and the Gulf's water temperature at it's lowest point of the year and still somewhat cloudy from the nor'western that blew through, bottom fishing looked to be the best option for producing fish).
The first hit took a live grunt on one of the grouper rods. After a fierce but short battle a keeper gag grouper was brought to the surface. The next two grouper that hit won the battle and found safety in the rocks below. Often when this happens as it did on this day, the noises and warning signals of the escaped groupers will turn off the bite as quickly as it started. With this in mind we geared down to lighter tackle in order to target the snappers, triggers, and other pan sized fish that inhabit these natural fish hotels.
This change of plan paid off, and we managed a decent mixed bag of fish. As the snapper bite slowed and we were reeling in lines to start the ride back, a big cobia followed a hooked mangrove snapper all the way to the top. I usually keep a rod set aside rigged up for just for this reason. The cobia was gone as quickly as it appeared, evidently boat smart. If the size of the fish indicated it's age, this fish more than likely had experienced the dangers associated with boats and free meals.
The afternoon trip actually turned out even better then the early one. The sea conditions flattened out and the fish cooperated. As I recall we managed a nice mess of gag grouper. Saturday out on the Gulf was more of the same with bottom action being the primary target. I did see some bonito (little tunie) working the surface but they wouldn't take a bait.
Stay Safe, and catchem up -
Capt. Dave Pinkham
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