ALASKA HALIBUT DERBIES

The Halibut derbies out of the towns of Valdez and Homer are in full swinging and coming to a close in a few weeks.  Currently the leader in Homer is a halibut weighing 240 lbs while the top butt in Valdez is a monster weighing 374 lbs which will be the largest halibut entered in the Valdez derby.  A one day ticket costs $10 and there are numerous payoffs including over 15K for the winner.  Both ports offer prizes for tagged fish plus weekly winners.  So, if you heading to Alaska you have a few weeks to catch a true monster and take home a suitcase of prize money!

Top Tactics for Monster Bull Reds

On my recent trip to Venice while fishing for bull redfish with Capt. Keith Kennedy of "Born To Fish Charters", certain tactics paid dividends on big bulls.  First off we used popping rigs consisting of popping corks from the TheFishinggrip.net.  These corks produce lots of noise thus drawing in the big bulls.  Attached to these poppers where Berkley Havoc Sick minnows in either the 4 in or 5 1/2 in models.  They have the appearance of a real fish and have tremendous action during the popping process.   We rigged up the Sick minnow on 8/0 Owner circle hooks with a 1/8 oz bullet weight.
For some topwater action, the top lures were the Halco 4 1/2 in Roosta Popper and the Dahlberg Whopper Plopper 110.  So, make sure to get into the great redfish action in Venice which is going on right now.

VENICE, LA REDFISH REPORT FOR AUGUST 10 TO 12

Had the opportunity to fish out of Venice, LA for monster bull reds with friends Jeff Stagg and Dr. Gary Clark during August 10 to 12.  We were guided by Capt. Keith Kennedy of "Born To Fish" Charters.  The fishing was redhot.  On day 1 we landed a total of 30 bull reds up to 36 lbs.  The top lures were popping corks rigged with 8/0 circle hooks attached with Berkley Havoc Sick minnows.  We fished in 8 to 12 feet of water and observed hundreds of mullet mulling around in the area.  Numerous double and triple headers were obtained throughout the day.  The majority of the bulls landed were between 22 and 28 lbs which were weighed/ photographed/ and released.  The weather was perfect in the early morning with calm winds.  We however dogged a few thunderstorms in the late morning.

 Day 2 was another ideal day.  The winds were down and the sun was shining.  We again saw numerous birds feeding on baitfish which led us to a great day of catching big bull reds.  We landed 34 reds with the largest weighing in at 23 lbs with the majority of the bulls weighing between 18 to 22 lbs.  A few black tip sharks were in the area which broke off a few of our lures.  On Day 3 we awoke to black skies with thunderstorms in the area.  Looking out for the safety of all, Capt. Keith awaited out the storms and we left the dock in the late morning.  We dogged a few thunderstorms which limited our fishing.  We still landed 12 bull reds up to 32 lbs and 2 jack crevalle which the largest pushing the scales at 30 lbs.  I highly recommend this trip to all.  Capt Keith does everything in his power to put you on big bull reds.  He provides all tackle, meals, and lodging. His meals are simply delicious to say the least with dishes of shrimp and blackened redfish on the menu.  Venice is easy to get to. Fly into New Orleans and rent a car for the 2 hour ride to Venice.  It is a trip you will not forget.  Capt Keith books fast.  Give him a call at (504) 908-3108.