Longtime Venice charter captain Josh Bodenheimer of Intensity Offshore Outfitters (504-235-5319) said the August heat doesn’t affect the deep water offshore action, which he said, “remains very, very good.”
Bodenheimer, who fishes out of a 42-foot Razorhead Catamaran, quad-powered with 350 HP V/8 Honda outboards, said anglers shouldn’t let the heat and humidity keep them off the water this month because August offers up a lot of variety, and a lot of offshore options. He said he’ll mostly be freelining live baits for yellowfin tuna this month, anywhere from 30 to 80 miles offshore out of Venice, around the drill ships and floaters.
“We’ll be fishing with 50- to 80-pound fluorocarbon line, freelining live baits on the surface, enticing those yellowfin to race up and smash them, which makes for some incredible, explosive action,” he said. “Catching those fish on a surface bait is a memorable experience.
“Most of the tuna we’ll catch in early to mid-August will range in the 50- to 80-pound class, with even bigger fish showing up later in the month and in September. They’ll predominantly be yellowfin, but we often get some blackfin in the mix too.”
Red snapper on the menu
Capt. Bodenheimer is federally licensed, so also on the menu this month is some big, deep water red snapper.
“We often stop on our way in from tuna fishing at some of the wrecks and reefs in 200-300 feet of water and drop some double rigs baited with squid or tuna bellies or live bait if there’s any left from the tuna trip,” he said. “We’ll see what depth they’re hanging at and fish there. Sometimes it’s down near the bottom or it could be anywhere along the water column. We’ve been catching some really nice-sized red snapper, ranging up to 20 and 25 pounds.
“Another possibility is fishing along the riplines for mahi mahi, cobia, tripletail and blue marlin. The riplines have a big range in the summer. It could be anywhere from 30-50 miles out. They usually fall apart overnight and reform by mid- to late-morning, and we come across them while chasing tuna. It’s a lot of fun trolling lures and surface baits along them and even sight casting for them.”
Summer swordfish
There’s also some really good swordfishing opportunities for the rest of the summer and into September along the shelf, in 1000-1300 feet of water.
“From Venice, we don’t have to run very far to the shelf, sometimes as close as 10 miles out or as far as 20-30 miles out,” Bodenheimer said. “Then we fish east-and-west across it, using squid, bonita bellies or fish strips. This is dedicated fishing, daytime fishing, drifting the trenches while fishing about 100 feet off the bottom.”
So, there is a great variety of species and options this month out of Venice awaiting you just offshore!
For more information, go to Capt. Josh Bodenheimer’s website: tunatownfishing.com.
