SaltyCajun.com - Venice offshore 8-8

I have not been reoporting because my camera had to be replaced. I could not give a report without the pictures.

I have been doing well both inshore and offshore. Today I deckhanded with Eddie. We picked up some bait with relative ease. Our bait of choice was herring but we did get some others including a very small hardtail about 3 inches long. Our first rig had clean water but the tuna that were there the day before were not to be found. We moved on. 2 boats were at a rig ahead of us and nothing much was happening so we moved past it and pushed south. We found a whale shark and it was game on. The blackfin were a great way to get the guys to learn how to cast to and hook up tuna on poppers. We were able to get 2 yellowfin in the mix. The action was so fast there was no time for photo opps. It was not long before the fleet showed up and the fish went down so we left with our fair share of fish. 2 yellowfin and 6 blackfin by 10:30 am is one hell of a good start.

Moved further south and had some action at another rig with bonito and a small blackfin. With nasty storms heading our way we decided to head north and maybe find some amberjack. That was not to happen as we ran across another whaleshark and we started to put a cap on our fishbox. The scene was hectic and bloody.

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With only room for one or 2 more fish I managed to find the little hardtail. This was the closest to what they were eating and I freelined it out. Less than 20 feet from the boat a good yellow hits it. I let it run and then set the hook. MISSED IT http://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthread...t/banghead.gif Pulled it in to find the bait killed but still on the hook. The way it got hit I figured I had a better chance with small dead than live bigger bait. Freeline it out about 60 feet and a good yellowfin crushes it. Once the fish is boated we have no more room and the amberjack got a repreeve today It was time for a well deserved fish cleaning party.

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With 7 yellows and 17 blackfin it was a beautifull way to start posting reports again. Was blessed with a nice sunset on the way home.

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As I was leaving the marina I said good-by to one of our local residents untill the next time.

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Life is Good!

Fishing is not a matter of life or death. It's more important than that.

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