Venice, LA: Dorado-Tuna w/Capt. Rimmer Covington

[coldtuna]

<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Venice</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">LA</st1:State></st1:place> Fishing Report
June 13-14
With Capt. Rimmer Covington
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I arrived in <st1:City w:st="on">New Orleans</st1:City> on Tuesday June 12 with my friend Joe from <st1:City w:st="on">Boston</st1:City> and we met up there with our friend Ryan from <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:place></st1:City>. Joe and Ryan fish a lot near shore, particularly around <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:City>, but had not been offshore before. I’d been telling them for several years about blue water fishing, and we all agreed several months ago to give <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Venice</st1:City></st1:place> a try. I booked the trip with Rimmer Covington through Reel Peace Charters (www.reelpeace.com) last winter. Rimmer suggested some dates in conjunction with moon phases, and June 13 and 14 were the days that worked. I met Rimmer several years ago when he was Peace Marvel’s deckhand. It was clear then that Rimmer was a quality guy, and a dedicated fisherman. He’s been running his own boat for awhile, and is already highly regarded and well known having appeared on ESPN and garnering mention in several of the top sport fishing magazines. In spite of that kind of attention, Rimmer is an unassuming guy and a pleasure to fish with.
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Anyway, we made our way to our rental car and then headed for <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venice</st1:place></st1:City>. I had told Joe and Ryan that driving to <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venice</st1:place></st1:City> can be a challenge if you make a wrong turn and that we needed to follow the directions closely. Ryan was the co-pilot on the drive down and in spite of my warnings about following the Mapquest directions, we made a wrong turn in <st1:City w:st="on">New Orleans</st1:City> and had about a 15 minute fiasco before getting back on our way to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Venice</st1:City></st1:place>. Ryan was promptly moved from the co-pilot seat to the back of the SUV and we got some dinner, and supplies and made it to <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venice</st1:place></st1:City> at about 8:45 p.m.
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Arrangements in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venice</st1:place></st1:City> are not as easy as they used to be before Katrina and I’d hoped to stay at Cajun Fishing Adventures (CFA) for this trip. When I contacted CFA to book some rooms several months ago, I found out that they were sold out. A few days before the trip, I called the owner of CFA, Ryan Lambert, to see if he had any openings due to a cancellation, and sure enough, he did, so I got a room for Joe, Ryan and I. CFA is a lodge about 10 miles from Cypress Cove Marina, and it is a great place to stay. The lodge is beautiful, and they provide food (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and have a full slate of inshore fishing guides. Service is excellent, and the price is reasonable. We got settled into the lodge, grabbed a beer and Joe and Ryan played a game of pool while we wound down.
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June 13:
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We were up at 4:45 a.m., and there was hot coffee brewing for us at CFA. With 30 guests at the lodge, two cooks were preparing for breakfast. Ryan, Joe and I grabbed a cup of coffee, got showered and were served a delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast with orange juice. Having fished Cabo, <st1:City w:st="on">Puerto Vallarta</st1:City>, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Venice</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">North Carolina</st1:State></st1:place>, etc. over the years, I’d never had this kind of breakfast before fishing. It was fresh and really delicious and a great way to start the fishing day. Cajun Fishing Adventures (www.cajunfishingadventures) is THE place to stay if you are fishing <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venice</st1:place></st1:City>. It books up solid in advance though, so it is tough to get in. However, I think the owner is expanding in the future to accommodate demand.
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We met Rimmer at the Cypress Cove Marina at 6:00 a.m., and he said that there was a storm cell over the mouth of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Mississippi</st1:State></st1:place> and that we needed to watch the weather before heading out and that a cancellation was possible. We were bummed, but about an hour later, Rimmer checked the wind at the mouth of the river and said “let’s go.” We climbed aboard his new 39’ Sea Vee with triple 300 Suzukis and made our way down the <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mississippi</st1:place></st1:State> at 45 mph. The boat is big, spacious and tricked out with all the bells and whistles. It is a very nice and comfortable fishing platform, and it is especially nice when having multiple hook ups and when you want to have a guy on the bow throwing a popper. We were the first charter on his new boat, and there were a few glitches, but Rimmer and his mate Jason took care of them and we were soon running out in the open gulf at high speed toward some anchor markers that had been holding bait. In <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venice</st1:place></st1:City>, one of the big keys to a good day of offshore fishing is catching quality live bait. We hit the first bait making spot and were unable to get bait, but we pitched a popper at a couple of Dorado (dolphin) hanging on the anchor buoy, but they were not interested.
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We got settled in and ran about 50 miles to the rig Rimmer wanted to fish (ultimately we were about 80 miles from the river mouth – primarily to the east). We worked for about 45 minutes to catch about 15 live baits (hardtails), and started slow trolling two hard tails rigged on circle hooks. It took about 5 minutes before we had our first knock down, a 20 pound Dorado, and Joe took the first fish and brought it boat side in about 10 minutes to break the ice. We kept fishing, and I don’t really remember what happened in all the pandemonium, but over the next couple hours, we had constant action bringing about 10 Dorado to the boat, with the biggest going about 25 pounds. Great action, and very nice weather. Great start to the trip. Things slowed down a little and Rimmer decided to run to a rig 20 miles to the north of our initial location (<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Horn</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Mountain</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> I think it was called), but still a long ways east of the river mouth.
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We got to that rig and made a few new live baits, which was critical because we’d used up almost all of those we’d caught initially. We put out the live baits, and within 45 seconds had a double header on Dorado. Joe and I worked on these two fish and got them boat side within 10 minutes. In the melee, another bull was swimming around the boat, and Ryan picked up the popper rod (with a blue Frenzy popper) on the boat and started making casts near the big bull. On about his third cast, the big bull came slashing from the side with his dorsal up and out of the water and his forehead several inches out of the water. He hit the popper about ten feet from the side of the boat in an explosive strike and Ryan hooked him solidly. The big bull went nuts and tore off away from the boat making the Shimano Stella scream. Ryan fought the fish for about 15 minutes before Rimmer gaffed it in the head … nice 36 pound bull on the scale at the marina. We went back to fishing, and had a few knockdowns, but did not hook up. A hot Dorado came in near the boat and Rimmer brought one of the live baits on the outrigger right next to the boat and left it dangling like a bait on a kite right next to the boat. The 25 pound bull Dorado inhaled the livee right in front of us. Rimmer let him run, then put the reel in gear and the circle hook found its mark. Joe brought this Dorado boat side in about 10 minutes and the fish box was getting pretty full. We were marking some fish on the sounder and put the baits back out. We had a good take down in about 15 minutes, and it was a tuna. I put the reel in gear after letting the fish run with the bait, but the circle hook did not connect. It was about 6:00 p.m. and we were over 2 hours from the marina, even in Rimmer’s Sea Vee. We put the gear away and headed for the barn with 14 Dorado for the day (going approximately 14 for 20 on the bites we had). Pretty much every bait we put in the water got bit … the only constraint was the amount of live bait we had. Tons of action, good weather, and good fun. Rimmer cleaned the fish for us, and put it in the Cypress Cove cooler. The fish had been on ice all day long and was in perfect shape. Rimmer and the Reel Peace guys know how to care for the days catch and the quality of the fish you bring home from a trip with them is top shelf.
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When we got back to Cajun Fishing Adventures, there was a home cooked mean waiting for us, and it was excellent. We hit the showers and ate a delicious dinner. Ryan Lambert, the owner of CFA, was there and I thanked him for fitting us in and for taking such good care of us. My friends Joe and Ryan were sore and tired after their first day offshore, and crashed after dinner.
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June 14:
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We had another great breakfast at CFA.
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In advance of the trip, I had told Rimmer that I’d invited 50 people to my house in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Chicago</st1:City></st1:place> for sushi on Saturday night June 16. I’ve fished <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venice</st1:place></st1:City> in the early summer previously, and tuna are a routine catch. After not catching any tuna the first day of the trip, I was getting a little worried about having anything for my guests to eat on Saturday night. I brought two coolers with me to <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venice</st1:place></st1:City>, and Joe suggested that such a brazen move was sure to jinx us. While acknowledging that possibility, I explained to Joe that I’d brought coolers to <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venice</st1:place></st1:City> many times before and often filled them the first few hours of a multi-day trip. Thus, it was unclear if my aggressive cooler choices had impaired our luck.
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When we met Rimmer this morning, he apologized and said we’d have to wait a few minutes to get fueled up. Things are not quite running like the pre-Katrina days, but Rimmer did his best to work around the logistical challenges he’s faced with. While things are functional in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venice</st1:place></st1:City>, it seems like one has to expect a few glitches here and there. The fishing is as good as ever though.
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We finally left the marina at about 7 a.m., and Rimmer said we were going to fish to the West today and that we’d try to catch threadfin herring for bait. He said that if we could catch the threadfin, we’d probably get into the tuna. Rimmer took us out a very scenic pass into the West Delta where we started searching for the threadfin. Another Reel Peace boat called us in on the bait and there were several large schools of the baitfish dimpling the surface in the area. Rimmer positioned us up current of the bait fish and shut down the engines. We cast our sabikis into the boiling bait schools and were able to catch a few threadfin before the school spooked. We repeated this exercise many times over the next 90 minutes ultimately putting about 20 baits in the live well. Rimmer said that was enough and let’s go fishing. We headed further west ultimately fishing a rig that was about 70 miles from the marina.
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As soon as we arrived, we marked some fish on the sounder, and after deploying a couple of live baits, Ryan had a 20 pound Dorado to break the ice. We had a few other knock downs, but did not hook up ultimately killing a few of our precious threadfin baits.
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Rimmer was not marking any fish for the next 20 minutes and was thinking about running another 50 miles to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Green</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Canyon</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> looking for the tuna. But, we saw a nice tuna boil north of the rig and Rimmer decided to stick it out for a few more minutes. He put out a fresh bait on the right rigger line and gently dropped the threadfin into the water. It swam away from the boat strongly, splashing slightly, on top of the water. Awesome live bait swimming perfectly in the blue water. I said to Rimmer “that bait is going to get bit.” 30 seconds later, a 65 pound yellowfin skyrocketed on the defenseless threadfin coming at least 8 feet out of the water. Joe, Ryan and I all saw it and shouted as the reel screeched … ZZZZZZ. I ran to the Shimano Tiagra 30 and put the reel in gear when Rimmer gave me the signal. The circle hook found its mark and I shouted “hook up.” Neither Joe or Ryan had ever caught a tuna before and Joe was up. He took the rod from me, got in Rimmer’s Braid harness and started to pull on the tuna. Joe had asked me the night before about the difference between a tuna and a Dorado and which fought harder. He asked if tuna fight harder. I said yes they did. Joe was now getting a chance to draw his own conclusions and in the bright sun, the 65 pound tuna was making a good account of itself. Joe was working up a good sweat as the fish would periodically take line (Rimmer was fishing pretty light leader, so we were not able to put a lot of drag on these fish). After about 20 minutes, the tuna came within gaff range and Rimmer made a perfect head shot. We had our first tuna, and I knew we’d have at least a little sushi on Saturday night back in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chicago</st1:place></st1:City>. Joe decided that tuna fishing was a worthwhile pursuit.
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We put the baits back out after some high fives but didn’t get bit for the next 15 minutes, although we continued to mark fish. Rimmer decided to run further west to a rig twenty miles away. We pulled in the baits and Rimmer cranked up the triple 300 Suzukis and we were at the next rig in about 45 minutes. When we arrived there was a pod of porpoise near the rig and another boat just pulling up from another direction. We tried to make some bait, and Rimmer’s mate Jason was able to catch some very small bar jacks and hard tails. I was trying to do the same, but hooked a 15 pound Bonita on the sabiki which provided some good sport for about 15 minutes on the bait rod.
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The boat that had joined us hooked up immediately about 200 yards from us while we were making bait. They broke the fish off in the cables of the rig though. Rimmer quickly positioned us and we put out two baits (one threadfin, one bar jack). We immediately got bit on the bar jack, but missed the fish. Rimmer put another threadfin out in its place and we shortly thereafter had a double take down … zzzz … “hook up” … zzzz “hook up” and we had a double header. Ryan took one of the tuna, and I took the other. Our lines became crossed and Rimmer was able to untangle us with a lot of effort. Ryan got his tuna to the boat in about 15 minutes and the 45 pound tuna was his first. I was able to bring my tuna boat side shortly thereafter and we had three tuna in the box. Rimmer quickly got the baits back out and we were immediately bit. Rimmer hooked the fish and handed the rod to Joe … another tuna. Joe brought the 40 pound tuna boat side in about 10 minutes and declared that this tuna fishing was “addictive.” I agreed with a smile. We went back to fishing and caught several Bonita and lost a couple of yellowfin. Lots of action. We were getting low on bait and it was now creeping toward the late afternoon. We put out our last good threadfin and a bar jack and trolled off the corner of the rig where we’d been bit repeatedly this afternoon. Rimmer dropped the threadfin over the side gently and asked me to feed out the line. I was pulling the mono topshot from the rod tip quickly when the line was jerked out of my hand … we were bit. I let the fish run in freespool until Rimmer told me to lock it up and when I did, the circle hook found the corner of the tuna’s mouth. Hook-up. Ryan was up and this tuna appeared to be a little bigger. Ryan fought the fish for about 20 minutes and Rimmer worked the boat to try to keep the tuna out of the cables around the rig. We got color and Rimmer gaffed the 60 pound tuna at about 4:45 p.m. Ryan was a little winded, but happy. Rimmer said we were out of bait and 2 and a half hours from the marina and that it if was okay with us, he’d like to get back in time to fuel up before the next day’s fishing. We all said sure, and grabbed a couple cold beers out of the cooler for the ride home. We headed in with a Dorado and five yellowfin tuna. Weather was beautiful, lots of action, and a box full of fresh caught tuna. Great day.
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Rimmer cut the tuna for me, and it was not the nice cherry red that we typically see with the fish caught out of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venice</st1:place></st1:City>. Rimmer could not figure it out, but I put it in my cooler and thanked Rimmer for taking good care of it. Joe, Ryan and I settled up with Rimmer and tipped his mate Jason. Rimmer apologized for some of the logistical problems during the trip. We thanked Rimmer for a great trip and I said that I’d see him in a couple weeks for my next trip.
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We headed back to CFA for another good dinner. There were about 30 guys milling around the lodge and we shared some of our tuna with them. They’d all been inshore fishing for redfish and trout, and were happy to take a little tuna with them in addition to those species. Joe, Ryan and I were pretty tired, and crashed after another full day offshore.
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June 15:
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I flew back to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Chicago</st1:City></st1:place> without incident and got to my car at O’Hare at about 2:00 p.m. with two coolers full of Dorado and tuna. I kept the tuna chilled, but it was never frozen.
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I’d made arrangements in advance with Jim, the owner of Sai Café, to have him prepare some sushi with my catch. Sai is a well known Sushi restaurant in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chicago</st1:place></st1:City>. Jim asked me to bring the tuna directly to Sai Café when I landed at O’Hare. I met Jim at Sai at about 4:00 p.m. and he quickly cut some of my tuna to get it ready for the party on Saturday the 16th. He told me to come back on Saturday afternoon and that he’d prepare the sushi for me then.
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June 16:
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I went to Sai at about 4:30 p.m. and Jim met me there before the restaurant opened. He prepared my tuna several ways for me to bring to the party at my house including several types of spicy tuna and something he called Ahi Poki. He gave me all the necessary components (nori, rice, avocado, cucumber, etc.) for my guests to make hand rolls from the various spicy tuna he prepared. While he was mixing up the various dishes, he let me try each one, and they were fantastic. Jim sent me on my way with my tuna prepared various ways in addition to a number of rolls and items he’d made for my friends and neighbors. I thanked him profusely and went on my way. We had about 50 people over to the house Saturday night and they raved about the sushi Jim prepared. It was over the top.
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In sum, we had a great time with Rimmer on his new boat. He’s a great guy, and a terrific fisherman. I wanted my friends to have a good experience their first time offshore and knew I could trust Rimmer to put us in a position to have a great trip and he did just that. We were lucky enough to have the fish cooperate and get good weather. My buddies called the trip “phenomenal” and are ready to do it again. You can reach Rimmer directly at: rimmerc@gmail.comor you can contact Capt. Devlin Rousseau at Reel Peace Charters who can set you up with Rimmer or one of their other captains (reelpeace@aol.com). I’ve been fishing with Reel Peace for almost a decade now. They are good people and over the years, I’ve had many great trips with these guys. I recommend them highly. For accommodations in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Venice</st1:City></st1:place>, I highly recommend Cajun Fishing adventures. You can contact the lodge’s owner Ryan Lambert through (www.cajunfishingadventures.com). Thanks to Rimmer, Devlin, and Ryan Lambert for a great trip. Thanks to Jim at Sai Café in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chicago</st1:place></st1:City> for the amazing sushi.

[lilharcher]

Another great adventure Merle! I have had the pleasure of fishing Venice as well........such a great fishery. Congrats on finding the tuna and saving the party.

[coldtuna]

Matt,

Thanks. Rimmer went the distance to get the tuna for us. Those little threadfin are killer baits, and were key. I agree that Venice is a great fishery. The wahoo in the winter can be insane in terms of both quantity and quality. I am back down with some more first time bluewater anglers in a few weeks. Hopefully Rimmer can work his magic for us/them again.

The sushi party was a hit. My wife is actually starting to think that my fishing obsession is slightly cool.

[Marcus]

I've seen Rimmer on Spanish Fly and he seems like a great guy. If I ever fish that area he'll be the first one I call.

Nice report!