Wahoo Bite has turned ON!!

Seems the wahoo bite has turned on really hard over the last 2 days and will prob be on for the next 2-3 days. If you ever wanted wahoo, this may be your best shot. I am open to fish Tuesday and Thursday for wahoo. I will fish Wednesday and post pictures of what you could have caught. Friend of mine hit them today and is already back at the dock, not even noon yet! If you want to go, we have the following days open. Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday and then Next Tuesday! I believe all days will be good for wahoo, we are pushing up on the new moon now!!!! Capt Josh Howard 225-572-7408 deepsouthcharters@cox.net www.deepsouthcharters.com

Tuna Fishing heating up in Venice!! 142 pound Yellowfin!!

Feels damn good to be back on the water every week! The fishing is not as consistent as I would like to see it but its getting better every day! I cant seem to catch a wahoo this year either and that has me in a bad mood but most people say I stay in a bad mood so i guess everything is normal!

We fished Friday and Saturday this week. Friday was out of control, couldnt do anything wrong!! Started the day by pulling for wahoo, figure sooner or later I gotta catch one! First rig, put the baits out and we double up! I was happy for about 20 seconds til I figured they had to be jacks! I was right, no wahoo again! After no luck on the hoos, we dropped some big mullet down to say hello to some big amberjack and it was game on. Nothing like some hard pulling AJs to put smiles on all faces first thing in the morning.

Made a run to the tuna grounds. Brandon lined out the guys and we start fishing. Didnt take long before we had a reel screaming and we were on our first yellowfin. We put a few in the box and then the 30 wide starts to take line at a rate that got my attention, we were losing it fast enough that I put the boat in gear and left my school of fish that I had worked so hard to get under my boat. We chase this thing for a while, finally get some line back on the reel and get up and down with the fish. Took a while but I finally see what looks like a big tail wrapped tuna on the surface. I hate tail wrapped fish, sometimes I can stick them easy and other times its like I cant get a good stick and the fish takes off like the cops are after it!! Lucky for us, I got a good stick on the fish, we pull it in the boat and can see that its hooked in the fin. I cut the line, was going to leave the hook in but when I cut the fluoro leader, the hook just fell out!! This is why its super important to keep lines tight during a fight, you NEVER know how well a fish is hooked!!! Anyway, awesome fish! Everyone is happy, I think I even smiled. The guy on the rod said he thinks he would have died without the Braid Power Play Harness that we were nice enough to strap him into! After hooking into the harness, he looked like a pro on the rod but before......well, lets just say, not so much!! haha We get back to work and put a few more in the boat. Was a really good day on the water. Ton of meat for the crew.

Saturday, Im thinking, ok, part 2 but I couldnt be more wrong! Started the day pulling for wahoo but you know how that ends! Big fat ZERO!! Decide to catch some jacks again that morning, all is going good so far, quick limit of AJs in the boat! Start to tuna fish and oh boy. Nothing for hours. Finally get a fish on and is taking line, here we go, we have a live one....We fight the fish for a good while when another line goes off, I can tell this is a shark by the way it runs, or really doesnt run. the problem is, this sorry shark makes a wrap around the tuna line before we know it and makes a hard run and I mean before we can act, the line has cut through the other line that HAD a tuna on it!! Now, i am none too happy! Work this hard to get a fish on and something like this happens! WOW! I feel like a jackass for allowing it to happen! We move on, nothing we can do about it now....fish for another hour or so and double up. Fight both fish back to the boat, they surface about the same time and are both making big circles and wrapping up but we handle everything good, finally get a gaff in one so now no sweat!! Fight the other one up to the boat again and line breaks, this one must have swallowed the hook because the line is shredded! Now Im pissed. Made up my mind that im not leaving til I have more fish in the boat or it gets dark, well we watched the sun go down and I threw in the towel with my one yellowfin for the day!! Cant win em all!!

All in all, it was a fun weekend with two really awesome crews on the Deja Vu!! Cant wait to get back at it Wednesday!! Wahoo, here I come!!

We still have weekend and week days open to fish. Please visit our site and blog for more reports and pictures! Stay safe on the water! The river has huge logs this time of year and the water temp is 45 degrees so please be careful, the fog has been an issue some days as well! Please like us on Facebook to see all of the pics we upload and keep up with the bite! Feel free to ask questions on there as well! If i know the answer, I will be more than happy to reply! Facebook link is https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Deep-South-Charters-Inc/183850388365139

Capt Josh Howard 225-572-7408 deepsouthcharters@cox,net www.deepsouthcharters.com deepsouthcharters.blogspot.com

8 Yellowfin Tuna!

This year the duck season was less than par so I have been on the water a little more in January this year. We really havent had any outstanding trips except for the last trip on Sunday! We fished a few trips last week, fishing hard for wahoo on Friday and Saturday with no hooters to show, decide to go hunting and they catch them the following three days! Just my luck!

This week we fished Friday with two people. Now these guys know how to party but fishing was way down on the priority list! Stopping the boat for beer and bathroom breaks was most of the day. HAHA We picked up 15 stud blackfin that morning, trolled for wahoo, grab some AJs, start to troll again and about 1pm they tell me, Lets go, We are going to New Orleans to party! HAHA So thats what we did. A friend of mine started to catch wahoo as we pasted him at the next rig we were going to troll so I would like to think we would have got them but hey, if they are happy, Im happy!!

Saturday we started the day off with wahoo hunting. The guys already informed me they they did not want any blackfin tuna, bout right, I had just found them the day before, All 30 pound fish and tons of them. So ok, plan B! They are looing for yellowfin, the seas are calm, we make a decision to run far! We are all in!! Bad decision! No fish to be found. See plenty of things including a mako in blue water, 2 pods of whales and huge (800 pound) sharks and even got lucky enough to run into a school of big yellowfin but the sharks would not leave. We did manage to get a hook in two of them just to have them spit the hook. Some days you cant do anything right and this is one of those days.

Sunday, we go to try to find this school of big fish but the water is now cold and dirty and its all sharks! Plan B again! We work our way to the wahoo grounds and we really have it on our mind. Damn it, today is our day to catch them. We troll rig after rig after rig. Nothing. We decide to change areas so in route we decide to stop and try for tuna. We get baits in the water and on the first drift pick up a big blackfin, ok, not bad! Next drift we get a black and a yellow. Oh yeah, here we go.....Nothing for the next few drifts, thinking we have done all we are going to do here, about to get back on the troll. I tell the guys that we have enough bait cut up for one more drift. baits in the water....fish on....then the next reel goes off, then all three 50 wides are screaming!! Hell yeah, now we are talking. We land 2 of the 3. Not bad. Next drift, double up, boat both fish, next drift, double again, one more drift catch one more. Almost dark, just cant leave yet, one more drift, one more yellowfin!! Lets take it to the house boys!! Forgot to mention that we did go back to the blackfin hole that morning for a few big blacks so we have that in the fish box too so its now packed! Also picked up a couple of AJs along the way! Really good trip! Hope the fish are here to stay!

We have the next 3 friday and Sundays open to fish and plenty of week days! The wahoo have shown up in good numbers and looks like the tuna are here too! Lets get it done!

Please visit the site for more info and the blog for more reports and pictures! Capt Josh Howard 225-572-7408 deepsouthcharters@cox.net www.deepsouthcharters.com deepsouthcharters.blogspot.com

1st report from my phone

Smart phones are changing everything! For a business owner, they are an excellent tool to use to stay In touch, check email and even advertise! This is my first blog report from my phone and hope many more are to follow! The only problem is, I can't figure out how to post pics on here from my phone! This past Saturday, Brandon and I were part of a 6 boat trip out of Venice marina! We had high hopes for wahoo, they are just starting to show up and we were ready! Plenty of diving baits rigged with wire! A few live bait rigs, a bait well full of live bait! We were ready! The only problem is, the wahoo were not!! We pulled baits about half of the day with not much to show! Landed one nice Blackfin an released a few jacks! Spent the other half putting some meat in the box! A limit of amberjack, another Blackfin and two scamps, one of which went 22 pounds! Very nice scamp! Not the day we had hoped for, but, that's a good bit Of meat! The customers were happy and believe it or not, out of the 6 boat crew, the Deja Vu finished up as top boat! It was a tough day for all! Early January we don't expect too much! Same thing every year! We will start to have some good wahoo trips and then things pick up pretty quick!! I know of a couple of good hooter trips so far, neither from my boat! Haha. It was nice to be on the water! We will be back at it this Friday and Saturday ! Hope it will be game on! See you out there!! Capt Josh Howard

Trip to 4R Ranch to hunt Axis and Quail

The trip to San Antonio was awesome! Andrew invited me out to make the hunt and I jumped on it! I shot a ton of video while on the trip but it may take a while to get it all edited. We arived at the 4R Ranch Lodge on Friday evening. Got settled in and we were scheduled to make our first quail hunt of the trip that day but rain held us to the lodge. Not that it was a problem, Jills cooking was enough to keep us happy in the comfatable lodge with the horseshoe couch and flatscreen TV. We did make a ride thru the ranch to check for axis. We surpised a big hog at a feeder and was able to get a shot! He didnt run far!!

Saturday morning we were off to make the first axis hunt. I think Andrew shot a doe that morning, No luck on my side. After the axis hunt, Jill had breakfast prepared and we ate plenty!

After breakfast, we were off to make our first of three qauil hunts. Never really hunted quail, plenty of ducks but never quail. Wasnt sure what to expect but I had a blast. The pointers are a sight to see. These dogs had made a few hunts before, I could tell! haha It was awesome to watch the dogs work! After a dog would point, the guide would send in the flush dog (little dogs), birds would fly and it was game on!! We all had a blast!

Sunday Morning, Andrew, myself and our guide Deryl made our way to a nice bix blind to see if We could find an Axis! Most of the axis had just shed horns or were in velvet so finding a hard horn buck turned out to be impossible. On this last morning of the trip, the guide Deryl, spotted a cull buck with broken horns so we decided to take this buck for meat!

After making it back for breakfast, We headed down to make our 3rd and final quail hunt of the trip! Three of us shot 60 birds and just like that we were done! All in all it was an awesome hunt!

Cant say enough about 4R Ranch! They have to be the nicest people in the guiding buisiness! The Ranch is beautiful, Jills cooking is awesome, the Lodge is amazing and you never have a dull moment!

4R Ranch contact info: http://www.4rranch.net/index.php email@4rranch.net 830-426-3035 Capt Josh Howard 225-572-7408 deepsouthcharters@cox.net www.deepsouthcharters.com

Leaving tonight to go make an Axis Deer and Quail hunt in West Texas

I will be leaving denham Springs in an hour to make my way to west texas! A good customer has set up a trip for me to make a hunt in Texas in the San Antonio area. I am pumped. Duck season has been awful in Venice this year and I have only been deer hunting once this year and did not kill so I need a good trip. This couldnt come at a better time. Thinking about bringing the gopros to get a little video while im over there but I will for sure take pics and post a report. Capt Josh

Wahoo/tuna trip last week

Not much time for a report but wanted to post a few pics! Ran a trip last week for wahoo. Really not much to report. We went 0-2 on the hooters. Caught one yellowfin and a limit of jacks. The highlight of the day was the mako. Prob in the 400 pound range. Hooked on 400 pound mono, we leadered the fish several times, stuck it with a flying gaff but unfortunate for us, the gaff pulled out and the fish cut the leaded. Always hate that!

A few wahoo have shown up and things will start picking up in the next few weeks!

Check out the site and blog for details, videos, pictures and reports! I am about to leave to go shoot an Axis in West Texas! Hope you all have a happy New Year! Capt Josh Howard 225-572-7408 deepsouthcharters@cox.net www.deepsouthcharters.com deepsouthcharters.blogspot.com