When an offshore trawler pulls in its haul, fast action ensues for wise anglers.
The quarry had been spotted nearly an hour earlier, and the debate among crew members pertaining to its pursuit had transformed the helm of the sportfishing boat into a courtroom. All parties were experienced offshore anglers, and both sides had their opinions on the strategy of chasing shrimp trawlers in the deep waters off of Fourchon.
The trio had spent a frustrating morning of bottom fishing the South Timbalier 130 blocks with few legal fish in the ice chest. Their favorite mangrove platform was locked up with early rising anglers, and they had decided to shoot for the moon and take the 2-foot chop head on and make their way out to the deeper water with no thunderstorms in the way.
The sun had reached the point in the morning sky when it felt as if the heat had been turned on, and this added to the fervor with which opinions were being offered. Only a pair of boats could be seen sitting on anchor far to the south, but that was more than enough to spark the imagination of the boisterous owner of the boat.
The call was made to ride the six miles to the anchored vessels, though upon arrival there were only a few bonito to be had as the trio pitched cut pogies toward the stern of the vessel.
A lone cobia came out to check what the commotion was, but gave barely a cursory glance at the well-placed jigs and freelined natural baits thrown its direction before disappearing into the clean green depths.
Frank Hardison of Charlie Hardison and Sons (985-396-2442) says that monitoring the presence of the fleet of Texas-based shrimp boats that patrols the Gulf Coast can be an outstanding way to add to their ample fishboxes, provided that anglers understand the timing aspect of working these boats.
“These are the kind of boats that shrimp at night, clean up at dawn and sleep throughout the day,” said Hardison. “They tend to show up around 18-20 miles out of Port Fourchon in about 150 to 200 feet of water for about a week every month or so.
“But timing is everything with these boats. Their schedule is to make a drag so that they can do a last clean-up early in the morning when they can see, so the fish get full by the time we make it out there. We hit ’em a little bit later in the day.”
For the boats in the aforementioned depths, the main target is cobia. Hardison says there is a belief that huge schools of lemonfish travel the Gulf with this group of boats, feeding as the workers clean their nets and taking up residence underneath the ship’s hulls during the day. Fortunately for anglers, the morning feed is seldom enough to tide them over for the entire day.
“Around noon or 1 o’clock, our captains will begin targeting lemonfish if the boats are in the area,” said Hardison skipper David Harrelson, who runs the 65-foot Capt. Charlie named after the late Charlie Hardison, the founder of the family business.
“We’ll mark where they are on the way out and make sure that we’re somewhere in the area that’s not real far from them on the way in,” said Harrelson.
Hardison says the only reason to stop at the boats on the way out is to pick up a bit of chum for the return trip to the boat if they spot activity on the deck when making their way offshore. Even so, the dawn cleaning of the nets and deck make fishing the vessel a fruitless endeavor when they arrive later in the morning.
“We’ll get a few trash cans full of chum and just move on to the spots where we plan to bottom fish,” said Hardison. “The fish are there, but they’re not really interested in eating. The lemonfish especially will be hanging underneath the (slightly submerged) nets.”
When the time is right — and hopefully there is a good box of bottom fish going — the boats return to the trawlers, ideally a number of them. Plenty of things can happen while they are tending to their bottom fishing business, and it helps a great deal to have options.
“Of course, it’s always better to have a bunch of boats to work,” said Hardison. “There are plenty of recreational and other charter boats doing the same thing as we’re doing.”
Also, there are plenty of boats — especially on weekends — who do not know the unofficial schedule of the fish working these vessels and do their part to potentially disturb what could be a great bite. The Hardison crew knows that they’re only trying to catch fish, but says that it’s all the more reason to find a series of boats anchored together.
Monitoring the situation within a group of anchored trawlers is also an important step in making the most of the period of time when time is not exactly on your side.
“You want to be aware of what is happening at the other boats around you as well,” said Hardison. “Fishing a boat that has been worked by one of Steve’s (Tomeny) boats isn’t a real smart thing to do because they know what they’re doing. We’re always looking at what’s happening around us so that our next move is a smart one.”
Hardison also notes that making the most of a situation is important in putting fish in the box. Just because the crew doesn’t see lemonfish emerge from the hull’s shadows doesn’t mean they’re not there. The Hardison group always sends an assortment of jigs and drift baits well below the surface to see if there is an interest of suspended fish.
Though lemons are the most popular of the species at these temporary artificial reefs, Hardison says there are frequently plenty of other species hanging around the trawlers waiting for the next buffet line.
“There are plenty of jacks, sharks, bonito, mackerel down there as well, a lot of things to pull on,” said Hardison. “And that’s great for a lot of people, especially when you’ve got kids on board. It can be a great end to the day.”
When the water is clear enough, Hardison says these rigs can also hold blackfin tuna. One hundred and fifty feet is just about the water-depth limit to these fast-moving pelagics, but good, clean green or blue water is often the ticket for this outstanding bonus to a bottom-fishing catch.
Hardison says, however, that a better bet for boxing a bunch of tuna is to find what he calls “super trawlers” farther offshore in 300 to 400 feet of water. Much bigger than the Texas fleet, these vessels are almost never found at anchor, which makes working them more of a challenge.
“They must have two shifts on those boats because they’re always working,” said Hardison. “They’re mostly either in-state or out of Bayou La Batre, Ala., and don’t travel in packs like the Texas boats.”
This can make finding these boats more difficult, but Hardison says the boats generally work the waters off of the coast on a pretty consistent basis. Finding them on radar is one of the best ways of doing it when they’re not evident to the naked eye.
“They’re still doing just like the Texas boats, following the shrimp, but for some reason they generally hang around here, close to the Mississippi Canyon,” said Hardison.
One reason is the presence of deep — but not too deep — water found off the coast south of Fourchon and Cocodrie. Farther east sees the Continental Shelf dropping like a stone and farther west, south of Morgan City, the distance to get to the depth of water they prefer puts them more miles than they prefer offshore.
The Fourchon/Cocodrie area is a good mix of water depth and being a safe distance from shore.
Regardless of the reason they’re there, the constantly moving vessels are magnets for good numbers of blackfin and, frequently, yellowfin tuna. While these pelagics are almost never seen beforehand, it usually doesn’t take much to figure out if a trawler is holding fish.
“We’ll toss out a few pieces of chum and see what happens,” said Hardison. “The water where these boats are working is generally very clear, and these fish have super eyesight.”
The goal is to ascertain if the fish are present — not at all a guarantee — and if they’re willing to bite. More chum is then deployed along with some baited hooks. If hook-ups are attained, Hardison says the typical procedure is to make a quick 90-degree turn to get away from the vessel and its tackle-busting cables.
“We want to throw six or so lines in the water and get a bunch of hook-ups, then try and draw the school away from the boat,” explains Hardison. “But of let’s say six hook-ups, we realistically want to land three or four of those fish and hopefully keep the rest of the school interested with the chum, not feeding them, just enough to get another chance at them.”
Factors such as the fish breaking off on the trawler’s cables, inexperience of the anglers in dealing with erratic fish such as blackfin in the vicinity of other hooked-up anglers and plain bad luck contribute to the relatively low percentage.
“It’s something we expect. That’s not saying we’re happy when we lose good fish like that, but we know it’s part of the deal,” Hardison said.
Fishing around these boats’ schedule for pulling up their nets is most often futile, as they seem to pull around the clock, often for three hours at a time. There is quite a bit of bycatch at the end of these drags, bycatch that is eaten by the trailing fish until full. This factor is the chance one takes when making the run to these boats.
Hardison says that despite the often-large numbers of fish present on these boats, the realistic expectation is six to 12 tuna per boat.
“I don’t know if we educate these fish or they get full from the chum we throw out or if they just move on from all of the commotion, but this is not a deal where you can stay on one boat and load the box,” said Hardison.
Another perk in working the “super trawlers” for tuna is the less impact that sharks have on the catch. While they are every bit as common in the deep water, Hardison says they are more apt to remain with the main food source (the trawler) than going for the few fish that pull away from it. This is another reason to resist the temptation of throwing out a whole lot of chum.
Hardison says the fish are not always going to be holding on the ship’s stern. They will typically work both sides of the trawler as well as the bow in trying to locate the “sweet spot.”
If you’ve got a little bit of adventure in you and are willing to put a few more hours on the boat than a normal trip out of the east-central offshore ports, chasing trawlers might be the ticket for hours of fun.
