Gulf Coast’s largest boat show opens to thousands of attendees at 5 p.m.
The old adage that you don’t know unless you go was on full display last week as Captain Josh Howard with Deep South Charters (225-572-7408) and some of his fellow offshore guides found flat seas on a day when 3- to 4-foot seas were predicted. After almost backing out, he and others found the fishing to be excellent.
“The Wahoo are turned on,” said Howard. “They tend to do well before and after the full moon, and there were a lot caught last week on Wednesday and Thursday… right before that full moon on Friday. They’ve moved in and people are catching 10 to 20 in a day.”
Explaining what he meant by “they’ve moved in,” Howard pointed out that he didn’t really know where they were coming from. However, he knows where they are. The Wahoo are in 200 to 400 feet of water around rigs, buoys and any floating debris larger than a 55-gallon drum from the 24-Mile rigs to West Delta.
“You’ve just got to be in the right spot at the right time,” Howard recanted. “I was fishing beside Captain Peace without much luck. I went off to catch grouper, amberjacks and tuna. He moved one rig over and went four for seven.”
One thing that might confuse offshore anglers right now is that the water hasn’t really been clear in these areas. In fact, Howard called it “murky.” However this murkiness is superficial, and there is some clear, green water underneath. He recommended watching the crew boats running to see if they were pulling green water to the surface.
“Most of the Wahoo are being caught on the troll right now,” Howard said. “Any of the Mann’s Stretch 30s are working well. Red and white is good, but hot pink is my favorite. The 111 MirrOlure is also catching fish. I would also try either a plain Ballyhoo or a Ballyhoo skirted with an Iland Lure.”
After moving off the Wahoo bite, Howard found yellow and blackfin tuna willing to eat butterfly jigs along with grouper and amberjacks. He mentioned that the 111 MirrOlure has been working well on the blackfin, and he’s been catching a lot of blackfin.
There have been some tuna hanging out around the West Delta area, and some are hanging out on the east side of South Pass. Howard suggested that if tuna isn’t your target for the day you should keep some tuna gear ready to go in case you do get on them.