New Orleans, LA

The Big Easy as New Orleans is called is the only easy part about shooting big Tuna.
After a 2 weeks postponement due to really bad weather, 7 to 9 foot seas and temperature in the low 30’s. We got the call from our Captain.  It’s Tuna time. 

The crew started with four divers and due to unforeseen circumstances it dwindled down to two, my friend Mark Stalnaker and me, Juan F. Cabrera.  We had a window in the weather, a willing Captain, some really big spearguns and a pocket full of change.  We were ready for Tuna.

No food, No drinks, No fuel, It’s Ok we came for Tuna!

Getting to Venice was an adventure on it’s own. We packed the minivan to the gills with dive gear, empty coolers and drove straight for 17 hours. In the hotel things were as bad as we expected, lukewarm water and twin beds, that’s all you can get for 50 squared miles. We would survive from a cooler for the next 4-days. PS. Sorry, nothing to say about Mardi Gras... got there a week early.

Let’s get some Tunas

Tuesday, February 6,2007 5:00 AM, The temperature was somewhere between the 30’s and 40’s, cold enough to have the boat’s deck covered in Ice.  Heading to the Gulf of Mexico, we found out how cold it really gets in Venice. The water from the river was in the low 40’s and the boat was running hard.   We were bone cold…

After finding the Lump “A salt dome in 200ft of water somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico” we anchored and started some heavy chumming.  Mark got in the water first.  Ten minutes later Mark decides to go waterskiing, fifteen minutes later and two laps around the boat he hands me the fish, How disappointing for my friend Mark. It’s not a Tuna it’s only a 76 lbs Wahoo.  

My turn at the Lump.  In the first ten minutes I managed to shoot and miss the biggest Wahoo I had seen in my life, well over 80 lbs and a small yellow fin tuna in the 70 lb range.  I needed to focus; excitement was getting the best of me.

Mark goes back in, I know he has more blue water experience, so I stand back and watch to see if he was doing something different.  He was!!
He would stay close to the boat were the heavy concentration of chum was. He would dive and hold at 30 ft. He soon shot a 26 lb Black fin Tuna.

I’m back in the Water and it starts to get dirty and cold. I dive to 30 and let the current drag me 200 ft.  The Wahoo came back.  I see some big Wahoo in the 60lb range but they are playing hard to get and I need a breath.  So, I took the sitting duck that was 20 ft from me, he was only 46 lbs. My one and only compromise, I took the bird in hand. 

Let’s hit the Oil Riggs

As we arrive, Captain Bill Delabar tells me that there are a couple of sharks in the area.  I dive and I soon notice that Captain Delabar must have been really bad in math.  I asked, Captain what do you consider a couple of sharks???? He answered, four or five.  So I counted twenty and stopped. Besides I came to spear Tuna, I’ll leave shark counting to the biologist.   I swim next to one of the legs of the platform and dive down to about 25ft or less. Keep in mind having that many sharks watching you can really do a job in your breath hold ability.  I was soon surrounded by a school of amberjacks all in the 30 lb to 35lb range. I picked the biggest and stone it.  The sharks never knew what happened.

The cold got the best us

While diving the Oil Riggs the cold river water swept in.  I had never been that cold.  Captain Delabar sat us up on the bow and we let the sun heat us up for about one hour. I recouped but my partner who was already sick was done for the trip.

No compromise, Big Fish or Nothing

We moved back to a small wreck somewhere in the lump. The bottom was 235 ft down. The sonar started marking big fish right away.  I dove for about two hours and then I saw the school of Wahoo.  There were at least ten of them. Most of the Wahoo were within range, but none was bigger than the 76lb Mark had in the cooler.   I said to my self, if I can’t beat his I’ll pass them.  Just as if someone had heard me, another school of Hoooos came around.  These were really friendly all in the 40lbs to 50 lbs range some less than 10ft from the tip of my nose. All too small!!!!!!. I look below my feet and I noticed something that looked like an Old Russian Sub. Actually, it was a Wahoo that was bigger than me. I dove to the end of my float line and he was another 30ft down.  I took the shot while aiming at the fish’s head and my spear ended at the fork of the tail.   I missed…As I return to the surface I see two Yellow fin Tunas feeding deep down. I swam close to the boat got a good breath and took a dive to 50ft.  There they were, two tunas in the 90 lb to 100lb range within reach of my 5-band tuna gun, definitely not the small 3-band gun I had, Murphy’s Law.
So, I hold and hold and just as I was out of air, I saw this monster come up about 40ft away swimming really aggressive.  It had streamers at least three-feet long, and swam as if she owned the ocean.  The big tuna started charging towards the smaller 100 lbs tunas and they knew who was boss.  Suddenly, the tuna made a big circle and charged right at me, I took the shot as she was swimming down and away from me.  The shot was good, 2inches above the lateral line 4inches from top of the head. The tuna dove and as she was fleeing the clip from my bungee got tangled in one of the bands.  I got taken down another 30 ft. The power this fish had was incredible; it dragged me as if I wasn’t there.  I finally released the spear gun and worked my way up the bungee. I really didn’t want to horse the tuna up. I actually shot it two more times.  My biggest fish, I took no chances.

The official weight of the tuna was 176lbs.  The measurements of the tuna were 61inches tip to fork and 70 inches tip to tip.  

Back at the Marina, I really couldn’t believe how big the tuna was. Captain Bill Delabar, kept telling me how awesome it was that I had caught such a big tuna.  This was coming from a Spear fisherman and Captain that can dive and hang with the best.  He mentioned that his biggest was 164lbs and more than likely I would have to leave the country to catch something that big again.

Little did he know or I expected that the next day I would do it all over again with another two monsters.

The first one was 174lbs with 63 inches tip to fork and 71 inches tip to tip
The second one was 123lbs we didn’t measure that one “IT WAS TOO SMALL”  

 After two amazing day’s of some of the most amazing diving I had ever done and 5 great fish,
176lbs, 174lbs, 123lbs, 46lbs, and 30+lbs, I think it’s only fair to give credit where credit is due.

Without the constant pressure/“support” from my friend Mark, the constant chumming of captain Scott and Captain Bill Delabar’s, knowledge of the area and their will and interest to make this a successful and fun trip, none of this could ever have happened

So, if you are looking for some big fish and want to have an awesome time catching them, check out the Lump in Venice. It’s not really the big easy, but it is amazing. Make sure you call Bill and tell him his Cuban friend Juan sent you and that you don’t fish with rods.  He will understand….
Capt. Bill Delabar
(504)723-0742 
Email---
Big Game Fishing
Venice, Louisiana
www.louisianafishing.net
Thanks To All

Juan F. Cabrera