Making it happen

[capt hoop]

Yesterday We had a 4 boat trip for Veniceoffshore.com. It was a company sponsored trip for Trane. We were to target tuna. With the winds howling out of the ESE for 3 days the seas were nasty.



Several of the captains canceled at the dock and Eddie Burger's charter just wanted tuna so he turned back at south pass. Although our people wanted tuna we soon found out they just wanted to fish. They had to be back at the dock at 3:00 so we were limited. Our 4 boats decided to do our best to give them a good time. From South pass I headed to Little Arco at 10-12 mph. All I could do in solid 5 footers with occasional higher speed bumps. One of the boats did not have federal permits so he did a snapper run while the three of us were limited to amberjack. It is a double shot but we had to throw this beauty back.



The 3 boats bounced around till we got our fish never getting too far from the shoreline. All of us limited out on amberjack which was about all the guys could handle. This was my catch.



The snapper boat also made his guests happy.



Overall the first annual Trane fishing trip was a great success with a lot of meat to bring back to Texas. All 22 of them were very happy and had some great stories to bring home.

Today I had Kelly from Mississippi. He is a good friend of Eddie Burger and after reading my 1 man 4 trips post he wanted to hook up with me for some "LIVE ACTION!" He insisted on going to the island for trout. I was skeptical due to the churned up seas and the 10 mile open run. As it turned out the seas were a lot better than expected. Once there only one boat was with us. He was doing nothing and the water was very dirty. I trolled around the normal places. Our first trout was a measurable 12 1/2 incher but still a keeper. We were not doing well and I started looking and getting disgusted. I looked along the beach with no results. As I was starting to leave I notice about 4 or 5 birds acting funny in open water but not diving just looking in one area. Once I eased over with the trolling motor one of my guys hooks up. I pole down and grab the net.



Now we're talking. By the time I took this picture I was going for the net again.



Number 2 is another good one but don't rest Hoop we need the net again.



What a relief after an hour along the island with nothing but tiny fish and 2 small just barely keepers. These were our first 3 in this area and we never moved till the bite slowed down. Most of these trout were around the same size. As the bite slowed down I pulled them out for a count so I would be able to use my clicker to help me keep count. We had 41 at this time.



With 58 in the box, the bite slowing down, and a lot of garbage fish coming by for lunch we called it a very good trip and headed in to see if we could find a few reds. My first stop was where I was 2 weeks ago and bailed them. Nobody was doing anything. I picked up a rod and hooked up to a very nice 22 incher. Unfortunately the action was not there. I ran over to another place that had cleaner water. We set up with the water running around the head of a small island. It was a good move. We soon had a very nice double.



We picked away at that corner till we had our limit. With 1 shy of the limit and the last one being hard to catch we get a very pleasant surprise.



Venice inshore grand slam. The island in the back ground is our secret redfish spot.

I ran through some heavy showers on the way in and had no complaints. After struggling last week to put fish in the box these last 2 days were a blessing. Happy customers and lots of very good fish.

This

plus this


equals this



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

CAPT HOOP -- OUR FREEDOM