Fall Yellowfin in Venice: The Big Tuna Come In Close

There's nowhere like Venice in the fall. It’s part of why they call this place “Tuna Town”.

The bait starts pushing offshore, and the biggest yellowfin of the year come right along behind it. By mid October, we're chasing them just 5 to 15 miles out.

Ask Capt. Josh Edwards about this time of year, and he'll tell you, "I itch for this part of the year every single year."

So do we.

Tuna on Top

Fall is run and gun. We cruise open water looking for yellowfin and blackfin tearing into balls of mullet and pogies.

Some fish hang around the rigs on the shelf. Plenty more are roaming, and when we find them busting bait on the surface, it's game on.

We throw topwater plugs and pitch live mullet right into the frenzy. Tails slice the water beside the pontoons, and fish eat three feet from the boat.

A big yellowfin will launch clear out of the water before it comes down on your bait. See that once and you're hooked for life.

It All Starts at South Pass

Every fall trip begins with a cast net and a well full of mullet.

On a low tide, the mullet stack up in the deeper channels around South Pass. Two throws of the net can put 500 in the well.

On a high tide, they slide up onto the sandbars in a few inches of water, and we push the boats up shallow to go get them.

Once the bait is on board, the bow points offshore and the hunt is on.

Trophy Season Is Here

Summer is about numbers. Fall is about size.

We head out to catch one, and one turns into two. Our best fall days put four or five yellowfin on the deck, every one of them a heavyweight.

The yellowfin have company, though. Dusky sharks, 10 to 14 feet long, follow them onto the bait balls and wait for their shot. Once a tuna is hooked, the race is on.

That's why we fish heavy tackle built to get big yellowfin to the boat in under five minutes. One of our biggest came aboard in five and a half.

It's fast, loud, heart-pounding fishing. Hang on.

Swordfish and Wahoo Join the Party

Fall is big swordfish season too. Fish from 150 to over 200 pounds come up this time of year, and the grounds are just 17 miles out of South Pass.

When the tuna take a breather, we slip out and send a bait deep for an hour or two. Swordfish don't show up every day, which is exactly why landing one feels so good.

Wahoo are starting to trickle in around the rigs off South Pass, both east and west. Tuna hang off the rig, but wahoo sit right in it. We drag diving baits fast, within arm's reach of the structure, and wait for the strike.

Wahoo keep you guessing. You can mark a pile of them at one rig and get nothing, then catch two or three at the next. Sometimes one skies right through a bait ball, and we scramble to get a bait in front of it.

Come Fish Venice This Fall

Fall brings cooler mornings, the first fronts of the season, and the best tuna fishing of the year. We'll make the weather call so your day on the water is a good one.

Stay in our lodging right at Venice Marina, and you're steps from the boat at sunrise.

Call Miss Cassandra at (504) 350-3474 to lock in your fall date, or see trips and photos at calcuttagoldfishing.com.