Yellowfin tuna may have been the main attraction south of the Mississippi River the past couple of days, but Capt. Scott Avanzino with Paradise Outfitters (985-845-8006) says there has also been a strong wahoo and cobia bite with even a few dolphin thrown in the mix recently.
“It’s kind of late in the year,” he said, “but we hooked up with some dolphin just the other day around 8 miles out and only a couple of hundred feet deep. Everything except the tuna is kind of close in right now. It’s kind of bizarre, but the tuna are back in deep water after being in shallow water all summer long.” Avanzino said his tuna bite has been coming from fish suspended from the surface to 200 feet in water deeper than 3,000 feet. They’re swimming around on the upcurrent side of the platforms waiting on some bait to sweep in so they can pounce on it. Avanzino has been doing best tossing out a live hardtail to the waiting fish, and the tuna are coming in between 60 and 120 pounds. “We’ve also been sight-fishing for cobia around the buoys, markers and well-heads up on the shelf,” Avanzino continued. “They’ve been eating jigs, chum and small live bait. It’s hard for cobia to pass up something small and live.” Wahoo are also up on the shelf right now, and Avanzino said he’s been catching them by trolling. “We’ve been catching a few blackfin too while we’re trolling for Wahoo,” he added. As for the depth of the cobia and Wahoo, Avanzino said the cobia have been running 30 to 180 feet deep, and the Wahoo have been in the 180- to 350-foot range. Avanzino had a special trip just the other day when his daughter, Noelle, caught a pending world-record Wahoo for the 10-year-old and under category. The fish weighed in at 60.1 pounds. You can read more about this catch in the November issue of Louisiana Sportsman.