Deep South Charters - Capt Josh Howard

2012-01-29T21:39:00.000-08:00

Here is some new lodging that we are now booking with:

9 Yellowfin Tuna

2012-01-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

This past week, we had a couple of our good customers coming down to hunt and fish. We tried to pick the best day to fish and then hunt two other days. The weather man tried to trick us but I think we managed to fish the good day in the end!

We made a hunt Wednesday morning, Wind was blowing good but the ducks really didnt want to work. It took a while but we did get to shoot our ducks! Thursday we had planned on hunting because Friday looked to be the best for seas. After making it to the marina Thursday morning, I checked the seas to see that infact, thursday will be best, called the guys, change in plans, now we are getting the boat ready and even after the mix up, we were only a little late leaving the dock.

We decided that we would go tuna fishing so I headed to a spot where I had caught them a couple of weeks ago but they were gone! Fished a few more spots with nothing to show, decided to hit one more spot and after making a wrap around the rig we marked a couple of fish! We put two live baits back and one goes off!! Start to fight this fish and the other reel starts screaming!!! Awesome, now we are doubled up! We land both fish and put baits back out, now nothing!

Took a little while but we finally got back in them. We ended up going 9 for 10 on yellowfin tuna and one small blackfin! Just goes to show, you never know what the next spot may have!

Next morning, we are back in the duck boat! We shot 15 birds by 8:30, good enough, we take it in early, it was a good way to end the season! Thanks guys for an awesome week!

If you want to fish, we have plenty of open dates! Capt Gray and I cant wait to hear from you!

We also have lodging, inshore fishing and bowfishing available!

Hope to see you on the water soon!

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

New Video

2012-01-15T21:10:00.001-08:00

9 Wahoo

2012-01-10T16:36:00.000-08:00

We were scheduled to fish Sunday with 4 people, they did not even know one another, the trip was set up at the request of one person, ironically, this person sent a text to me while I was in the duck blind on Saturday that said, I wont be able to make it!! Bad news is most of the others are in Venice by now or on the way! What to do?? Do I cancel? Its not the other guys fault? Do I take a 500 dollar cut in Pay? huh, think about it a while and decide, hell with it, seas look good, we are going!

Sunday morning we load the 3 guys on the boat and leave Venice Marina about 5:30 AM. Cool ride down the river, hit the gulf to find warm air and nice calm seas! My brother Brad was down hunting with me and decided to make the trip as a free deckhand because now I dont have the money in the trip to pay a hand, in the end the crew hooked him up. It was nice to have hime on the water because as it turned out I would need the help!

We made a long run to start the day, first bait in the water would be smashed by a wahoo only to pull hooks! Made a few more wraps, nothing! Run a little farther, put baits out, troll for 30 mins, not one knock down! Told the crew we would change it up a little and send down a live one for amberjack, didnt take long and we were doubled over. Got out limit of jacks pretty easy and decided to make another run.

New spot, water looks nasty, about 60 degrees. We pull baits for about an hour, now I am getting a little up tight. We are about to pick up the baits when a hammer hits the long line. Good fish, people are running around, move the bean bag, dont let any slack get in the line, reel reel reel!! We lost the fish, pulled hooks! Baits back in the water for 2 mins, reel screaming again, we got it this time!! Wahoo Baby. Baits out again, BOOM another one, then onother one, this went on til we had 7 in the box then it happened! We hooked two and finally, we landed two! The crew called the trip at 2:30 with 9 wahoo in the box, ended the day by landing double hooters!!!

Oh man, what a great day on the water! Felt like summer, 73 degrees, calm seas, box FULL of wahoo and in the end I made out ok on money because we didnt have to burn a ton of fuel so I am super happy that we made the decision to run! Lets just say that the other guy was the loser on this day!

We have plenty of days open to fish, We have this weekend open to fish wahoo and tuna as well as the weekend of the 21st! If you would like to fish, please give us a call or email!

See you on the water!

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

Tuna/Amberjack/Doplhin/Marlin

2011-12-30T18:31:00.000-08:00

The past two days have felt like summertime in Venice!! After making our way out of the cold river water on Wednesday, we pushed on to beautiful blue water that was a warm 71 degrees! The site of the warm blue water, calm seas and flying fish everywhere made it feel like it was June again!

We fished a few areas til about noon with one very small amberjack to show for it! The crew still in very high spirits, we pushed on to find the fish! The last stop of the day was the ticket! Although late in the day, Matt hooked into a nice yellowfin with a popper, just to have the hooks pull. 10 mins later we all looked to see a "MAN" hit the Frenzy Popper!! This fish faught harder than any other popper fish I had hooked before! After 2 hours and the rod handed off to everyone in the boat 5-6 times, including Matt and myself, we finally see the stud! another 30 mins at the boat, not being able to lift this heavy fish with the popper rod, we all watched the fish swim away after breaking off! This fish was every bit of 150 pounds, huge tuna!! This really took the wind out of our sails!! We re-group, put baits back out to have one smashed, FISH ON!! a few mins later!! FISH OFF!!! You have got to be kidding, pulled the hook! Cant catch a break!! Put the baits back out and we get hit twice on one bait, then nothing! Next bait takes off, stops, takes off again, set the hook, Blue Marlin comes out of the water! After an hour we had the fish boat side, Matt on the wire then to the bill!! Awesome colors on this fish!! After a bad string of luck we finally have something to take pictures of! We hit the dock with that one small amberjack but I will say it was an eventful day!!

Now Thursday -

We expected to be greeted with calm seas (1 ft or less) but instead it was more like 3 ft seas but O well! Still was a warm beautiful day! Back out to the blue water, cant wait to put the lines out! Matt readys the boat and we splash the baits! Not 3 mins after baits are out the 50 wide lets out a loud scream, come tight and watch the rod double over!! Oh yeah, we have a good one on! To my surprise, Ronnie has this fish up in record time! about 25 mins and we stick 2 gaffs into a 135 pound yellowfin!! Now we are pumped! This makes up for the one we lost the day before, well kinda! ha ha!

Baits back out, takes a little while but finally the 50 goes off, set the hook, grab the rod then the other rod goes off, set the hook, gets tight then nothing! I look to see that a nice dolphin had spit the bait, Matt grabs the poppper, it hits the water and I see the fish jump! Awesome, now we are doubled up with a nice tuna and dolphin! Land both! Tuna went about 110 pounds! We ended up pulling hooks on another tuna then Ronnie and his son said we have enough meat, lets go catch a couple amberjack! Oh boy, remember yesterday, I could only find the one baby amberjack! Not going to that hole, We going to good rig! Get there, takes about 10 mins to catch our limit of nice amberjack!

What a day!! What a couple of days!!

It was so nice to fish in good seas and catch nice fish, I am so pumped, I wish we had the next few days booked but we dont so I guess im going look for a deer!

Thanks to both crews for a great 2 days!

We have plenty of open days to fish, just pick up the phone or email! The new Contender is ready to rock!

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

Wahoo

2011-12-15T17:22:00.000-08:00

We were able to fish last Friday, seas layed for one day and we fished in about two foot seas, nice to fish in those conditions!

We were fishing around the full moon and went 2 for 4 and nice big wahoo! I Feel sure that we would have landed more if we could have kept the big AJS from smashing our baits on every wrap! The customers were so tired from catching amberjack that they didnt want anything to do with a rod!! ha ha! Early in the day we were able to catch a few nice big blackfin, never found a yellow! We used live bait to catch our amberjack, little did we know, we we end up releasing about 25 that hit our trolling baits! Never before have I caught so many amberjack trolling!

I am posting to let you know that I will be fishing around the new moon as well for hooters and have a fewe days open! I like to fish them 2-3 days before and after the moons! Right now I have Dec 22nd open and dec 26th! The moon really helps on the wahoo bite! We are also catching all of the big amberjack that you can stand right now along with a few nice grouper and blackfin tuna! A few yellowfin here and there, they will really start to show up in late January though!

This is the time of the year that the big hooters move in! I always start fishing them in December hard! Most wahoo this time of the year are 40-60 pounds and we always catch some over 80, even seen them over 100 pounds in the winter! If you want to fish, just let us know!

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

Friday and Saturday reports

2011-11-07T21:42:00.000-08:00

We were able to fish Friday and Saturday this past weekend. I would like to say that it was nice and calm but that would be a lie! Last week Capt. Gray talked me into fishing with him for two days. After two rough days on the water, lets just say he owes me big time!!

Friday Gray had customers that drove down from Oklahoma and even though we told them it would be rough offshore, they wanted to fish! We let them know it was a little rough to chase tuna so we made the decision to go bottom fishing!

Nice and easy out to the first spot, a few cut offs on cudas, I think we may have picked up one nice AJ on a pogie. Decided to get the sabiki out and after a few casts we had the baitwell full of hammer hardtail! 15/0 hook, 400 pound leader, 24 oz lead and five huge hardtail = five real nice amberjack plus the one on the pogie, thats a 6 man limit! Awesome! Pack up and head west. Make it to the next spot and drop down deep and in about 2 hours only 1 grouper to show! Next spot was the one! We managed to pick up 5 real nice almaco jacks, 2 brotula and 2 more nice snowy grouper! Not bad, take it to the barn!

Saturday we had hopes that the seas would lay a little but no luck! First thing saturday morning, talk to the crew, we decide to make another bottom run!

Head back to the same spot as the day before, figure we pick up another baitwell of big hardtail! Wrong, they moved out. Had to work hard to find a few hardtail and got a few on cut bait! We had to leave the area with one AJ short of a limit, couldnt seem to get that last one. Guess the one that I dropped back in the water would have come in handy about now! Gray would probably still be giving me a hard time if I wouldnt have found one more jack and a nice 35 pound snowy at the next rig! HA HA! I still cant believe I dropped a 50+ pound jack back in the water!!

We did find that nice Snowy and AJ and that spot but that was it for the day! We hit a couple of shrimp boats on the way back in, only sharks to show! I did hear that a couple of boats had seen a few big yellowfin on a couple boats saturday though. The boats are just making it back out but it looks like it will get bumpy again so who knows!

We have an open boat for saturday 12th and also the 18th, 19th and 20th are open to fish!

Give us a call or email for info!

Check out our site and visit the blog for pics and reports!

Capt Josh Howard
225-572-7408
deepsouthcharters@cox.net
www.deepsouthcharters.com
http://deepsouthcharters.blogspot.com/

Ocober starts out with a Bang!! A bang in the motor!!

2011-10-23T22:54:00.000-07:00

have you ever had a plan in your head, a map of what you think will happen and turns out to be all wrong??? Happens to me all of the time! Happened again this month!

I have been planning my return to fishing after being off for a few months due to the accident! Capt Gray and I found this awesome boat, its a 2010 demo with under 500 hours, got a decent deal! While we are waiting on the paperwork to get done, I start booking trips, books start looking damn good, most trips I have ever had on the books in October. October gets near and the wind started to blow, we have to cancel several trips! I spoke to a few captains, found out a few big fish have been caught, getting pumped up now! October 1st, Capt Gray and I make a trip, cant find one tuna. We did find some nice jacks so it wasnt the end of the world but not the trip we had hoped for! The next week, 3 trips on the books, cancel every one of them due to weather!

Take the time off to install a killer speaker system in the boat, happy!! Looking forward to fishing 11 days in a row starting October 12th, cant wait! Very good customers on the boat, radio sounds good, head out, fish the morning behind the boats, cant even find bait fish, wow, not good!! Head to medusa to try our luck, as I am slowing down at medusa I hear a noise in the motor, almost new motors, what can it be?? Blown Powerhead, yeah, didnt see that coming! Did I mention new motors?

On the way back at a very slow 9 mph, stop at a couple of rigs to atleast pick up a few jacks, yeah right, the cudas were starving, couldnt get one bait down, not even a jig! Now what? Crank up the tunes, customers crack open a beer, grab a few snacks, have a good time! Did I mention a slow ride??

Now, try to move customers around, reschedule some, weather wouldnt allow for most trips anyway, looks like we will get the boat back in time for weather break!! Nope! Parts delay? Really?? Figured! Thanks to captain Lee McLean, I was able to fish Saturday with Paul Myers crew from Salty Cajun, awesome guys!

Saturday we try for tuna, get things going, blackfin show up, catch 7, waiting for a big yellow to show, run low on bait, finally swap a blackfin for some chum, manage to piss off half of the Venice Fleet because we got too much bait, catch one more blackfin and thats a rap! Fish took off! Capt Gray and I cant believe with this awesome water, this bait and this hell of a crew that the fish would leave us but they did! In an effort to fill the box, we head off to find some amberjack and I have to admit, it was prob the best Jack fishing I have ever seen! We sent the baits down and doubled up 3 times in a row! Never lost a weight, never lost a fish. They were all big fish, gave the guys the fight they were looking for and really saved the trip. On the way back we stopped to try to find a few mangroves with no luck and took it to the barn! The best part about it is Paul is brave enough to come back and fish with us next saturday! Not sure if he knows that capt Gray wont be fishing with me this time so they wont be able to gang up on me and crack wellhead jokes and talk about my driving!

Back to my point! I had a lot of plans for October! I had visions of huge yellowfin everywhere, running a ton of trips in the new boat but as you can see, plans can change fast! Sometimes you just have to roll with it, cant change it, dont worry about it and just go have fun!

I think I start back fishing on the 27th. We hope to bring you reports of huge yellowfin, you bet your donkey we will give it our all but either way, I will let you know what we find!

I do think we will get a little late run on tuna! I believe one of the problems have been the rough seas and the boat not being able to stay out there, if the boats stay out all week this week, I think it will be on.

We are open most of the first 2 weeks of November! If you are looking for an adventure, its never a dull moment around us! We will do what we can to put you on fish, the only guarantee that we can make is, you will have a few good laughs! Fish are overrated anyway!!

Be safe out there! We hope to see you on the water! We may or may not be in our boat!

Want to remind you that you can see every trips report and pictures at

http://deepsouthcharters.blogspot.com/

I promise you that we post every trip, no matter if we catch or not! You get to see every report and pics from EVERY TRIP!

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

Venice Action

2011-06-22T21:54:00.000-07:00

WOW! Where to start??

I guess we can start with a bit of info that you should know by now! The Blue Water has gone south, way south! We can only hope that it will be back soon! With this going on and the fact that I blew a power head, well, this gives me a little time to post a report! Hope the Looney Tuna will be back in the water soon!!

The last two weeks have been a little strange! Some days we found fish, some days we didnt! About half of the days we didnt want to take the chance and decided to go load the boat with bottom fish! Red Snapper, tons of Mangrove snapper, cobia, triggerfish and grouper have all been on the menu!!

Over the last couple of weeks, one of the best if not the best day that I can think of was June 9th! We had Taylor Smith on the Looney Tuna! The day started a little slow! We were able to find very little bait! About to leave the first spot, tell Aaron to put the spread out, going to troll over to the other spot! About halfway there the flat line goes off and a White Marlin jumps at the other end! Fish On!! Clear the lines and start the fight! This fish came up and nailed a Makaira Pulling Lure. We had the fish boat side in no time and were on our way! Next spot, find a couple more baits, put them out and in no time we have a good tuna on! Got the fish under the boat, see the fish bleeding then pull the hook, I guess it was gut hooked! Put baits back out, Nothing! Make a run to a new spot, pull the baits, hook a dolphin! Put live baits out, hook a tuna, then a dolphin, then a tuna, then 2 dolphin then another tuna! WOW!! Ended the day 2 for 4 on tuna, one 91 pounds the other 95 pounds, 5 dolphin and one white marlin! I will take that anytime!! Great job crew!!

I wish I could say all days have been like that but it hasnt! We have had a few more tuna but have really focused on the bottom fish! Most people, even the die hard tuna guys have had a blast catching the mangrove and red snapper! Throw a few cobia in the mix and you have a good day! On the days where we are bottom fishing it takes two carts to unload all of the fish! Most days we will have 40-60 mangrove snapper, our limit of red snapper, a few cobia, a few triggerfish and maybe a couple of grouper! For most people that beats a 3 hour boat ride and then pray for a couple of tuna! The tuna will be back, no doubt but right now, do what makes sense, go catch fish!!

We hope to have the boat back soon! Early July is still pretty open to fish!

Check out the pictures, this will give you an idea of whats going on!!!

April 21st report

2011-04-22T22:08:00.000-07:00

Thursday was my first day back on the water since my ankle sprain! It was nice to fish but a pain trying not to move much and having the brace on my leg pretty much sucked but we managed to make the best of it!

We left the dock about 30 mins late just to find plenty of fog! Finally made it to the gulf, punched in the gps, 80 miles! Oh, perfect in a head sea with this foot!! The Freeman handled very well in the 3-4 ft head sea, cruised at 35 mph all the way out! Make it to the spot to find Green water! Now Im really loving life! Capt Gray told me the night before that Hilton's said it would be blue! After a few choice words for capt Gray we decided to make the best of it and pick up a pile of bait! After we had 150-200 live ones in the well we scouted the area and came up empty!

Lets make a run! hop over to another rig, we have marks on the screen right away, put baits out and WOW- Hooked up! Takes a while to land, its 70-80 pounds! Cool! Go back to the spot and the fish are gone! Man, im really having some good luck!! After feeding the cudas plenty bait, pull the E-Sea Riders off of the T-Top and take off again!

20 miles later we have baits back in the water, Hooked up dawg!! Baits back out, hooked up, and hooked up again, and again!!! This went on til we had 12 yellowfin in the box! Its a little late by this time but we still hit the pass before dark! Thats pretty good for me!!

Hit the dock at 7:30! Hop around on one foot to clean the fish, Aaron took care of the boat! Man, What a day!!! Life is Awesome!

Capt Gray and I are waiting on your call!

Also I have a crew that needs 2-3 more for May 1st or 8th, what ever works best for you! For all of you that call looking for a spot, here is your chance right here!! We will be fishing for tuna, dolphin, wahoo!

We will be back at it next week!! See you out there!

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

Ealy April Report

2011-04-17T23:45:00.000-07:00

Im not sure if it is the fact that I have not fished in almost two weeks or that I have not left my house much in two weeks but I am about to go Crazy!!!

The last two days that we were on the water was Thursday and Friday (April 7th and 8th), seas kicked up for Saturday and Sunday so I thought I would drive home for some much needed rest! (be careful what you wish for) I made it home Saturday night and my girlfriend had found a baby bird that had fallen out of the nest! I check online and the experts say just put it back in the nest, ok, easy enough! Get on a ladder, start fooling around for a while, think the mommy bird is gone, get down, get back up, fool around a little more then the bird comes hauling a$$ out of the nest (in my face) and scares the hell out of me, I fall off of the ladder (4ft) and sprain my ankle pretty bad so now I am trying to heal and not doing much! I figured if I cant fish, I can atleast talk about it right??

Thursday April 7th we had Bob Evans on the Looney Tuna! The whole crew was Navy guys, and gal!! The first thing that we see upon arrival is a huge bait ball with tuna busting on it hard! The tuna had the bait in such a pile that we were able to scoop up all of the bait that we wanted with a small net! Bait fish were pushed up out of the water atleast 4 inches! We figured, OK, we got this right? Wrong, by the time we got baits in the water the tuna were gone! Strange! We stayed for a good while trying to wait them out but nothing!! We hit three more rigs that morning just to find the same, Nothing!! It wasnt til late in the evening that we finally started to have a little luck! We had the boat very close to the rig catching blackfin on poppers, put a couple live ones out to catch more blacks and BAM!!! Yellowfin after yellowfin after yellowfin!! We ended up with ten yellows in all!! Let that be a lesson, Never Give Up! Unless you want to get in at a decent hour ofcourse! ha ha! It was about 8:30 when we pulled up to the dock!!

Friday April 8th

Robert and I picked up Jay Harper and his crew at a camp in Port Eads, cleared the pass and most of the fog! I figured bait would be a little hard to find so we had a few mullet on board, decided we would stop to pick up an AJ or two!! Put a four man limit in the boat and went in search of tuna!! Well, bait was not hard to find, it was impossible! Picked up a tuna here and one there then nothing! Put troll baits out and did pick up a wahoo, nice surprise!!

We decided to hunt for bait, hunt hunt hunt!! Finally found a few very small baits!! They will have to do!! We had four guys and I really wanted everyone to catch a yellowfin! Some were virgins so the hunt was on! It took a while but we hooked up and landed our third fish late in the day!! Couple of maybe hits and now down to three baits!! Put two of the three out and wait, wait, wait!! I saw the line pop from the rigger and had the hook set before the reel began to scream! Maybe a little early on my part but who cares, We were hooked up!! Crew done a great job, they landed the last fish! All four guys have fish right?? Well kinda! We drop the guys back off at port eads, unload all of the fish and the last tuna falls from the ice chest, on the camp dock and into the water!! After many failed attempts with a gaff we take off!! I sent Jay an email later in the week and he said they took a rope, tied it to another fish, threw it in the water to see where it went then took a rod with a couple of jig heads and weight, 2nd cast, caught the tuna again!! ha ha! Man, what a night! Back in Venice for 9pm!

Now do you see why I was happy to have a few days off!! I was tired! Had I known that I would be limping around now, I would have wanted to fish the next ten days!! If you have to use a ladder, please watch out for pissed off birds!!

I shot a couple of underwater pics of yellowfin tuna a couple of weeks ago on a customers disposable underwater camera! Check em out, not too bad! My New digital underwater dive camera just came in! Cant wait to shoot some video under the rigs to let everyone see how awesome it is under the oil platforms!!

Capt Gray and I still have open days on the boats! Give us a call or check out the site for info!!

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

Yellowfin Tuna Report- Venice, LA

2011-04-04T19:57:00.000-07:00

We were able to fish Friday and Saturday (April 1st & 2nd)

Friday we had Frank with Brand Scaffold and his crew on the Looney Tuna! Tuna is what we were looking for! Made our first stop, made a little bait, not enough but enough to get started! Got lines out, hooked up very fast. Took a while to get a second then Very slow, no more bait!! Decided to make a long run south just to find green water and no fish! Now what to do?? The next 2 hours finding bait, make the long run back to where we started, now its late in the day! We had enough bait this time to make it happen, lost a few fish but ended the day with 10 yellowfin in the box! Great job guys!!!

Saturday - Now where do I go! Green water south, not a ton of bait around! Told the crew, we are going for a boat ride! Looking for bait for hours, finally had enough in the baitwell by 11Am, the customers are looking at me like I have lost my mind, half of the day to catch bait - Oh yeah!!! Made it to where I wanted to fish, put baits out and reel screaming in seconds!! Fished hard and put 11 yellowfin tuna on ice! Prob pulled hooks on another 5 or 6! Fun day, the 2nd part anyway! ha ha!

I am excited that the phone is ringing right now! Plenty of people want to fish and I am happy to see it! After no fishing last summer I am enjoying my days on the water and all that the gulf has to offer!

We want you to see for yourself, Louisiana has a lot to offer! Some of the best fishing in the world! We have the new Freeman 33 custom catamaran in Venice for your fishing experience and trust me, you will love the boat! Tuna, amberjack, snapper, wahoo, grouper and soon, dolphin! A few Marlin around as well! Take your pick!

Capt Gray and I have open dates, Feel free to give us a call, email or visit our site! We have a new Video up on the home page, plenty of pics and info!

Lets go fishing!

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

Late MarchTuna report from Venice, LA

2011-03-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

The tuna fishing is still strong in Venice, LA! We fished Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday!

Monday was a little slow but still managed to boat 7 yellowfin!

Friday we had Jerrid Petrys crew out of Lafayette fishing on the Looney Tuna! I actually had to work Friday because I didnt have a deck hand! I am spoiled and I am used to having help! I was able to rig everything on the way out, made it to the fishing grounds, caught plenty of bait on Frenzy sabikis (#4 and #6), first baits back, one got nailed, FISH ON!! The crew was a blast, they kept the boat in order while fishing, thanks for the help guys!! We ended the day with 12 yellowfin tuna, one in the 100 pound class, even stopped to grab a few aj's on the way back in!

Saturday, with Aaron back on the boat with me, the seas decided to not play nice! It was a slow ride out, even stopped to amberjack fish to break up the ride! After boating a few we pushed on to the tuna grounds! It was hard to catch bait in the rough water but we did get enough to start fishing! Nothing was fast but we got one here and there to finish the day with 7 yellowfin, 3 in the 100 pound class, and 3 amberjack! Not bad for the conditions, not bad at all! Great work guys! The best part about the trip was the guys had used Braid stand up harness before and knew how to use them, they landed the 100 pound fish very fast, nice work!

Sunday we had Neil's crew from Florida! These guys wanted tuna! Every charter boat in Venice canceled Sunday due to the rough sea predictions! I spoke to Neil at the dock Saturday night and told him it may be pretty rough but he wanted to go, after a little research, I told him to be at the dock at 6am! After making it down the river in the fog, we hit the mouth of southwest pass and the seas seemed to be ok, big rollers but not too bad! The fog stayed with us til we were about 15 miles offshore but the water was pretty calm!

We decided on where we would try to fish and pointed the Freeman South! After making bait, Aaron got the first two baits out to have them both inhailed by tuna! Pulled hooks on one but landed the other one, over 100 pounds! Next bait, FISH ON, all the way to the boat, huge fish, over 100, pulled hooks while we were looking at it! It happens! Next fish, over 100, Aaron and I looked at each other and said looks like its gonna be a good day!!! Fishing was awesome all day! Finished up at 2 pm with a full box, 11 yellowfin tuna, one was 107, had a 103 and a 97 and also caught a 70 pound Big Eye tuna which we will put in the record books at #2 state record! Since there is only one other Big Eye on the record books, it was pretty easy to get the #2 spot! ha ha!

We will be back at it Friday! April 23rd is the only saturday that I have open til August but we still have plenty other dates open on the two boats! Capt Gray is open Sunday April 10th if anyone wants it!

The tuna fishing continues to be off of the charts, if you want tuna then you want to fish now! Dolphin will be here soon as well!

New shirts will be here soon as well!

ps I may have this Sunday open to fish, still waiting on a customer to confirm but as of now, its open til I hear from him!

Lets go fishing!

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

Mid March report and Video

2011-03-22T23:56:00.000-07:00

WOW, what a week of fishing!!! Over the last 10 days, I fished 8 of them and 7 of the 8 trips were AWESOME! I would like to think that all 8 would have been good if we wouldnt have spent all day Thursday looking for a 200 pounder but that is what the customer wanted to do! We fished hard but never found our 200 pound tuna!

Most days are close to being the same right now! We are getting an early start, looking for bait first thing, get as many as we can and start fishing! The fish are everywhere right now, you just have to feed them what they want! From one day to the next it changes!

I would have to say that the best two days were Friday 18th and Sunday 20th!

Friday, Travis (Trapper) Allred and his crew were fishing on the Looney Tuna! Travis had stuffed Robert and I pretty good with a huge steak the night before but we were able to make it to the boat and take off! After making it to the gulf, seas were flat calm! Made a couple of pulls for wahoo with nothing to show and then headed south to find the tuna! The bite was a little slow at first, ok, so the bite was dead at first, a friend called on the radio and said to be patient, they will eat! After about 2 hours, I had my doubts but in the end, he was right, Thanks Scott, they did indeed eat! We ended the day with 11 yellowfin tuna, one on a Frenzy Angry Popper and the rest on live bait!

Sunday, Fishing Junkie, Jake Verrett on the Looney Tuna for the 2nd time last week wanted to find big tuna! The wednesday before they put 8 yellowfin and a limit of amberjack in the box but none were over 50 pounds so I promised Jake a few over 50! More like prayed! ha ha! We started shooting video for this trip early that morning! Jake is a lucky s.o.b. when it comes to fish so I figured it would be a good trip! Robert and I made it to the boat a little early, got everything in place and we were out of the marina by 5:45! The plan was to run far, we didnt even stop to pull for wahoo, straight to the spot, Frenzy sabikis on 3 rods, plenty of bait in the live well, first bait in the water, FISH ON! Next bait in the water, FISH ON! Next two baits, DOUBLED UP! It went on like this til about 1 pm when we hooked into something a little bigger! Strap the Braid Power Play harness on and an hour later Robert stuck the gaff in a 120 pound yellowfin! this fish plus 11 more topped the box off in the Freeman and at 2 pm, we were headed for the barn! What an awesome trip! Check it out, you will see exactly what is going on right now, this video was shot Sunday March 20th, cant get any better than that!!

The fishing is amazing right now! If you want tuna, then you need to fish now! I cant promise you what the fish will be doing in a month but I think it will be as good or better, but I can say that now, the tuna are here and hungry! Its your call! The dolphin should start to show in the next few weeks (my opinion)! Amberjack are plentiful right now and blackfin are easy on the jig!

Capt Gray and I have dates open, we are ready to fish, waiting on your call! Check out the site, check out the videos! Also, we do not charge extra for fuel, one set price!

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

Early March Report

2011-03-09T21:37:00.000-08:00

The wind has us down for a few days so I wanted to get a report out! Over the last few weeks, we have been able to put good fish in the box every day! Most of the tuna are not huge (30-50 pounds) but they are very plentiful!

Tuesday, March 1st, Steve Britt had a crew of 6 on the Looney Tuna! Tuna was the main target! A 6 man limit of tuna and a 6 man limit of amberjack is what they finished up with! Good day of fishing right there!

Wednesday we were honored to have champion duck caller Charles Petty along with Gary Bennett and Jim Ward with Garver engineers
also accompanied by Greg Dell fishing with us! These guys were a load of fun! The fishing started out a little slow but I figured we would get into them sooner or later, and we did! Everything from poppers to jigs, even live and cut bait! We put our 4 man limit of yellowfin tuna in the box and a limit of "hammer" amberjack as well! Charles has promised me a duck hunt to equal his fishing trip, I guess we will see! ha ha! Thanks Charles for a fun trip!

We got blown out for a few days and was back on the water the 7th! two guys on the boat! Again the trip started off slow! At about noon with only 2 jacks and 2 tuna in the box, these guys wanted to take chance at going find a few big fish! I really didnt want to leave a spot where I felt we would catch our limit but agreed to make the 40 mile run! Got set up on the new spot, nothing going on here! An hour later both lines go off and just like that, we are doubled up! One fish was 80 pounds and the other was 90 pounds! Put 4 stud blackfin in the box on top of that and we called it a day!

Now, more wind! I will be back on the water Sat, Sun, Monday ! Weather looks awesome this weekend! I still have Friday open to fish as well as Tuesday and Wednesday! Capt Gray may have an open spot for Monday as well!

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

Venice Yellowfin Tuna

2011-02-24T14:33:00.000-08:00

I have been on the water a lot over the last few weeks! The fishing has been awesome! There have been a few big fish caught but the bite has not been consistent yet! I have spent most of my days at the floaters chasing down 30-60 pound yellowfin and we have had a blast! Most days we are able to get our limit of amberjack as well!

Not sure when my last post was but I will start off on Feb 12th, Daniel Ledet had his crew on the boat, We were able to land 5 nice yellowfin and 3 amberjack! We were looking for a few wahoo that we never found!

Sunday, 13th we had Wesley Decotes bachelor party out fishing! Well, we had half and half were on another boat! Capt Gray was nice enough to be my deck hand for the day, I think the customers had more fun listening to us argue than cathing fish, ha ha! We had a good time! We were able to get a few fish on poppers and a few on chunks! I think we finished up the day with 8 yellowfin and 5 amberjack!

Mark Primeaux fished the 15th, this was his 2nd trip in two months looking for tuna and wahoo! First trip in Jan, we were not able to find either! This trip, we did find one stud wahoo and two yellowfin and a limit of amberjack! I really wanted to put Mark on a pile of tuna but we only found the two! The big wahoo was a nice bonus! The hooter was caught at one of the floaters!

Gunnar was on the boat the 16th and 17th! First day we ran far to find the tuna, we found 4 nice yellowfin and another big hooter at the floaters! All tuna on chunks this day! Come back in to pull for more wahoo, no luck! Drop down for amberjack and it was game on! These big jacks will let you know who is boss! Next day we went to find the big tuna! Fished hard all day, last boat to leave but not one big tuna bite! We did have a blast loading the boat with 20-30 pound blackfin! Ended up with 16 stud blacks!

Paul Myers had his crew that was put together online, fishing with us on the 19th! We fished hard all morning for big tuna, no luck, we decided to run and look for wahoo and jacks! Found a fast limit of big amberjack, no wahoo! These guys really wanted tuna so we decided to make a 40 mile run to find some! 16 yellowfin is what we found! All caught after 3pm! The bite was hot, fish chasing flying fish and were happy to take a popper, live bait, chunks, whatever we could throw at them! Thanks paul for an awesome crew!

Last year I booked a guy to fish, his name is Andrew James! The trip was paid in full and the oil spill happened and we were not able to fish! I asked andrew if he wanted a refund and he told me, I want to fish! Let me know when I can come back, I want to fish! So that day was Feb 20th! Andrew fished inshore with Capt RJ on the 19th, had a blast, caught plenty of redfish and was now ready for tuna! We decided to catch amberjack and troll for wahoo first! Again, the limit of amberjack was fast but never found any wahoo! Off to the tuna grounds we went, we didnt see much going on at first but that would soon change! Didnt take long before we had a fish on! The tuna were still hungry and I think the popper landed the first fish! My favorite part of the whole trip was the 10 year old that landed his limit of yellowfin and his amberjack! Some were caught in the rod holder but some where with him in a Braid Power Play harness, he even sent out the chunk, set the drag when the fish ate and turned the clicker off, like he had done this a hundred times! It was awesome! In fact, he caught the big fish of the day, a 57 pound yellowfin! Nice job Alex!

Tuesday we had a real treat! Chris Macaluso and a sports writer and photographer were out with us to take pictures of fish and write about how awesome the gulf is to fish! We were able to land 7 nice yellowfin tuna, a limit of amberjack, a nice snowy grouper, a huge trigger fish, a few small blackfin and an almaco jack! Keep an eye out for these pictures in magazines and newspapers! Chris was great to fish with, he is trying to let the world see that the gulf coast is safe to fish, the fishing is great and you would be crazy to fish anywhere else! Chris and Sam have a radio program on 104.5 ESPN radio every Wednesday at 7pm called LA outside, its a cool show! They had myself and an inshore guide from Grand isle on last night to give the fishing report and they are pushing the areas and all it has to offer on every show! Thanks for the support guys!

I will be back on the water Friday for a 12 day stretch with a only a couple of days off! The fishing is great right now! The big fish are just showing up now so if 100+ is what you are looking for, they should turn on any day! Capt Gray and I still have open dates to fish! The New freeman is a fishing machine, come see for yourself! I will post pictures so you can see what we are catching!

Lets Go Fishing

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

18 yellowfin, 6 Amberjack

2011-02-08T12:07:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick report from Venice! We were set to fish Friday, Saturday and Sunday but the weather blew us out Friday and was not much better Saturday but Danny Wilsons crew from Mississippi said they could handle the rough seas if the Freeman could! I wasnt sure if the boat could take 4-6ft seas with some 8ft mixed in and fish comfortable but I was shocked! The boat handled herself very well! We were able to cruise at about 25-30 mph hour all day with a little 35 mph mixed in! Tuna is what the crew wanted so we headed south and had baits in the water at 8:30 am! It was a little slow to start but it wasnt long before it was non stop action! A little live bait, some popper action and some caught on the troll! All in all, we finished the day with a 6 man limit of yellowfin and amberjack! 18 yellowfin, 6 amberjack! The tuna were all 25-40 pound fish and the jacks were all about 40! We may have had one tuna reach 50 pounds! Not huge fish but a ton of action!

Sunday, with two people on the boat, we were able to hunt down 5 nice yellowfin, 30-50 pounds, one wahoo and a limit of jacks!

I left my camera on the boat so you will have to wait til next week for most of the pics but Aaron shot a pic with his phone on Saturday of the board shot so I will post that!

We still have dates open to fish! The big fish should show any day now but til they do, we will be catching something! It has been good action for the last few weeks! The wahoo bite has been very good and the smaller tuna still eat the same! Keep in mind that we DO NOT charge extra for fuel! You know exactly what you will pay with us! The new Freeman is a sweet ride, lets go fishing!

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

tv shows

2011-01-25T19:43:00.001-08:00

We will be filming a few TV Shows with Mike Lane and others this year! If you would like to fish any of the days that we are shooting, send us an email! We will make most shoots this summer!~

deepsouthcharters@cox.net

Venice Winter Tuna and Wahoo

2010-12-15T20:31:00.001-08:00

Are we different??

I get asked all of the time – what makes you different? What sets you apart from other companies? Well, good question! What does make Deep South Charters different than all of the other great offshore captains fishing in Venice Louisiana? I know most of the captains in Venice and let me tell you, they are damn good at what they do! I had to sit down and think a little. Are we different? Are we just another boat on the list? Here is what I came up with –

When you get on our boat to fish – it’s your boat! We will recommend what we think is your best shot for fish that time of year and we will be geared up to catch them but if you have something else in mind – that is fine too! You are paying so YOU ARE THE BOSS! If you want to ride around all day and catch baitfish then we will do our best to put you on the finest baitfish that you have ever seen! I am only making a point that we want to do what you want to do!

Capt. Gray and I fish hard, I mean real hard! We leave the dock every day with one thing on our minds – FISH!! We do not worry about what is the norm, what can we do to get by and get back to the dock early! Let me be the first to say – I love to get back to the dock early but that will only happen when we can not stuff one more fish into the fish box! Other captains will joke with us about how late we get back to the dock some days but you know what, I am proud to say that we give it our all everyday on the water! Does this mean that we catch more fish than every other boat every day? Hell No!! I wish that was how it worked but in offshore fishing, you can never be sure how a day will go! We have had days when nothing could go wrong – I have seen the days that Capt Gray and I hit the dock and our boats have twice the fish of any other boat that fished that day – and then on the other hand – we also fish those days where nothing seems to go right and no matter what we do, what bait we use, where we fish – nothing works! Those are the tough days! There is nothing I hate more than to pull back into that marina with a lite load of fish and watch the customer count out that money! Even though at the end of the day, I know that we have done everything that we can do to find fish, some days it just doesn’t happen and I know that the customer is paying me with his hard earned money! Those days are hard for me! Back to what makes us different – On those hard days I want to be able to hear the customer say – It was a tough day on the water but we sure had a hell of a good time! That’s what it is about for me! I want you to have fun!! Sure – I want you to catch fish, plenty of fish but I want you to have fun! Most days we are on the water anywhere from 12-16 hours and that is a long time to be on a boat not having fun! Music always helps turn a trip into a party so our boats have a rocking stereo system! We have Satellite radio on both boats and we know how to use them!!

Offshore fishing in Venice Louisiana

Fishing Venice is a treat in itself! Customers tell me all of the time – you guys don’t know how lucky you are to fish out of Venice – They are right! We are lucky to be able to fish in an area that has some of the best offshore fishing in the world! Most people that live right here in Louisiana have no clue what is in their backyard! Tuna, marlin, dolphin, swordfish, jacks, grouper, wahoo, snapper, cobia, redfish, tarpon, trout – You name – We have it! Not only are these fish in Venice Louisiana, but they are plentiful and most important – THEY ARE BIG!! God has blessed Venice with awesome fishing and we want to share it with you!

Venice Winter Tuna and Wahoo

2010-12-14T01:31:00.001-08:00

It has been a while since my last post about fishing! 2011 is right around the corner and we are fired up and ready to get back on the water!

Over the last six months or so we have worked to help clean up our gulf. We met many great people during that time! I was able to make friends with several members of the US Coast Guard and let me be the first to say – You Guys Rock! (AND GALS) The Coast Guard personnel were awesome and I would like to thank you for your service!

I am proud to announce that we have a brand new Freeman 33 custom catamaran that will be in Venice a few days before Christmas! You have no idea how excited I am!!! These boats are awesome, they have the speed, they have the looks and they are made to FISH! Top speed of 63 mph, can cruise at 45 mph in rough conditions! Billy Freeman has set me up with all of the bells and whistles! Did I mention that I am excited! Ha Ha!!

Over the summer we were able to get in a few dive and fishing trips. Aaron, Bobby, Capt. Gray, Bradley and I were able to see that the fish are still here and bait was very plentiful! On the rig dives, most of the rigs were full of life! There was one rig dive in the West Delta area that looked a little dead but I have never been diving on that rig before the oil spill so I can’t say if it was always that way or not! Bobby and I were able to dive about 15 oil platforms and all were jam packed with fish! Big game fish, all the way down to the tropical fish!

Most of you know that the winter time fishing in Venice, Louisiana can be the right time if huge yellowfin, wahoo and makos are what you like to catch! To be honest, the cold weather is almost enough to make me hate this time of year – notice I said almost! It’s a tough decision for some people, some have no problem! Most cold days, I mean the really cold days, I can’t help but think- what in the world am I doing on a boat in this cold? That thought may stay with me right up to the moment we land that first fish! At about the 3rd fish all I can think is – man, I can’t wait to get back out here again tomorrow! I can’t help it, I love it!! There is nothing else that will get me out of bed at that time of morning in the cold and have a smile on my face! Ok, maybe Duck Hunting, but that is it!!!!

If you get a chance, please check out our website – www.deepsouthcharters.com Look at the pictures and watch a few videos of us fishing this time of year. I think you will be impressed! The first two videos are my favorite! One is a wahoo video and the other is a tuna video that we shot on Super Bowl Sunday!

Deep South Charters would like to invite you to Venice this January, February and March to experience some of the best fishing in the world! I can’t promise you that we will load the boat down every day with fish but what I will promise you is - Aaron, Bradley, Bobby, Capt. Gray and myself will do everything that we can to put you on the fish and see to it that you have a good time! We want you to have fun! Now, just because we want you to have fun, this doesn’t mean that we are not worried about the fish! Anyone that knows Capt. Gray and I know that we are in competition the minute that we leave the dock! If his boat comes back with one more fish than my boat, I have to listen to it for hours so we have it on our mind!! It’s all in fun! (As long as I win)

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us! Check out our blog from time to time - http://deepsouthcharters.blogspot.com/ this is a fun site for us! This is a place where we are able to post anything! You will find reports, updates, tips, pics, videos, you name it!

Hope to see you on the water!

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

Video

2010-12-09T23:12:00.001-08:00

Here is a video from the Freeman site!

Kids Day Offshore

2010-04-27T22:09:00.001-07:00

Please take a moment to check out this link:

http://www.deepsouthcharters.com/kids_day_30.html

This is a link on my site, this is for our Kids Day Offshore 2010. Please forward to any friends to help spread the word! We are offering FREE fishing trips for kids that may never get the chance to fish offshore! We will take emails at deepsouthcharters@cox.net from people who know a child that you think deserves to make the trip and the reason(s) why! Please include the childs name, age and a brief description. Please include your contact info as well, we will be contacting you if your nominee is chosen. We will take the last email on Monday May 24th. At this time, Capt Gray and I along with Aaron and Bradley will go through all emails and we will pick the children to make the trip! After our picks are made, we will then contact you with the news. We will make the announcements by Thursday May 27th.

As of now, we have three boats running, Capt Gray, myself and Capt Ian McGowan! If we can get a sponsor or two to help out with fuel cost, a few more boats will join us! We will have 3 Kids and one adult for each kid (total of 6 per boat)

Thanks for your help!

The only rules that we hope you will follow:

1. Please select a child that would not be able to make this trip otherwise.

2. Please select a child other than your own.

Please send your email to:

deepsouthcharters@cox.net

State Records

2010-04-17T01:41:00.000-07:00

Check out the new link on our website

http://www.deepsouthcharters.com/state_records_29.html

This is all of the state record fish that were caught with Deep South Charters. We have the angler and photos of the fish along with info on where the fish ranks!

Tuna Fishing Super Bowl Sunday!

2010-02-09T18:28:00.001-08:00

OPEN BOAT SATURDAY SUNDAY AND MONDAY (FEB 13,14&15)

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY'S TRIP

We had Mike's crew from Texas on the boat Sunday for a little Venice tuna fishing. They were originally booked with another captain for that Friday and Saturday but the wind blew them out so I was able to snag them for Sunday. This was a great crew of guys to have out fishing, we had a blast!

We left the dock at 5 am Sunday morning. It was a bit cool on the water but the being a little cool meant no fog so we made good time to the gulf. Sea's were a little rough at first but after we got the Glacier Bay on step, it really wasnt bad.

We started off by trolling for wahoo at a few rigs. First bait in the water starts to scream, I am pumped at this point. Got the fish boat side and its a tuna, no, a wahoo, no, its a damn king!! ha ha! O well, got the blood pumping anyway. We hit a few more rigs with nothing to show for it. We decided to try our hand at amberjack but bait was a problem. I had a couple of decent live ones. Sent the first one down about 150 ft and BAM, fish on!! Landed about a 40 pound AJ then got a hit on the other bait but nothing. Jigs are great right now as well but after that we decided to start tuna fishing.

After we had donated about 4 packs of hooks to the kings and sharks, we got our first fish on but I thought I saw a bonita take the bait and then a shark was chasing it. After the fish took off like crazy, we thought ok, the shark has it now! Like a fool, I push the drag to full so we can make quick work of this shark. We did make good time on bringing the fish up but this shark had yellow fins hanging off of it! We were able to hook up and land one more after that and then the sharks took over.

We spent the next two hours or so playing hide and seek and then it was like we could do no wrong! We doubled up like three times. We lost one fish on two different drifts but got the other one and landed both fish on one of the doubles! We had the fish box to the top and it was almost time to head back for the Super Bowl. The guys wanted one more fish, sent lines back out and within about three mins, FISH ON!!!!!!

We landed that fish and headed for the barn at about 3pm, that fish put us at 7 yellowfin 60-100 pounds and 2 amberjack around 40 pounds!

One of the amberjack was caught while tuna fishing! The other on live bait!

All tuna were caught on cut bonita! (I know Capt Gray, they are little tunny) ha ha!!

Please check out the Video from Sunday, this will let you see exactly what you can expect while fishing Venice in the winter!

Capt Gray and I still have plenty of open dates for you to fish in Feb and March! We want your business, give us a shot, I know you will be happy with our effort!!

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

Super Bowl Sunday! Who Dat?

2010-02-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

Had an awesome day fishing Super Bowl Sunday! Ended the day with seven yellowfin and two amberjack! Here is the video! Full report will follow soon!

haywire twist

2010-02-03T23:34:00.000-08:00

Here is a video from one of our pro staff companies, Frenzy Big Game Tackle! Capt Bill Delabar shows the correct way to tie a haywire twist! I am sure Gray will say that I need to watch it! He doesnt like how I tie mine but they always hold up! ha ha! This is how we rig all of our wahoo baits!

WIND WIND AND DIRTY WATER

2010-02-03T23:10:00.000-08:00

It has been a rough start to our winter fishing season. I have faith that things will turn around but it has been hell! The wind will not sop and than on top of that, it is blowing from the wrong direction. We need a south or east wind to push clean water our way, instead we have a noth with blowing all of that cold cold dirty river water into the gulf, making our tuna fishing very hard.

The rough seas have been keeping us at the dock most days, Gray and I had to cancel both boats for this weekend, TOO ROUGH!! I think I am fishing sunday, you would know, (SUPER BOWL SUNDAY) everyone has sold me out, cant find a deckhand that will fish this day to save my life, Aaron told me that this was his day off so I will prob have to fly solo!

I think we will be looking for wahoo, amberjack and grouper and maybe if we get lucky and the water cleans up, maybe we will find some tuna!

Gray seems to think that all of this cold weather will keep the tuna and wahoo in close a little longer this year, I hope he is right. That would make my year!! After a super bad duck season, we need a little luck, we need plenty of big fish to hang around for a while!

It has been a pretty good start to the wahoo bite. On days that we have been able to get out, and others, the wahoo have been there. If you want to catch wahoo, watch the moon, I believe in that moon on the wahoo. before and after a full moon and a new moon, I find the full moon is the best!

I will try to keep you up to date on the offshore action. If you have questions, please email me at deepsouthcharters@cox.net or through the site at www.deepsouthcharters.com ! I will post your questions here and answer them if I can, If I cant then I will find the answer for you! I will ask Gray, he thinks that he knows everything!!

Capt Josh

WHO DAT T-SHIRT

2010-01-31T21:14:00.000-08:00

Capt Sonny Schindler sent me an email with a link to this shirt that a friend of his made! I thought it was Great,

the link to purchase the shirt is http://www.fishheadgear.com/900/FATs900.aspx

I thought some of you who dat fans would get a kick out of it!

hand feeding a shark

2010-01-20T22:05:00.000-08:00

We fished Tuesday just to be disappointed like the others! Monday, fish were there - Tuesday, fish were gone! Capt Gray took a look at the sat pics to see what was up and it looked like colder water moved into the area - pushing out the tuna and bringing in more sharks! Today the water has warmed a good bit in that area so the fish should be back very soon! We were able to find a hungry amberjack before the sharks pushed us out! We had to entertain our customer some how, so we let him hand feed a couple of big blacktip sharks with a king and then catch one! It is all on the video! Capt Gray and I still have dates open in Feb but if you want a weekend, let us know - I think we still have 4 or 5 weekend dates open. Also, I think my customer for the 13th is going to have to cancel if anyone wants to fish that day! We both have the last weekend in Jan open if you want to get in on the front of this winter bite! All of the fish that we didnt catch Tuesday were taken on chunks! Except for one huge shark that ate a pink stretch, We caught him on a pink stretch!! Enjoy the Video! Good luck out there and be safe!

2009 Re-Cap Video

2010-01-13T01:16:00.001-08:00

Capt Gray, Aaron and Myself would like to thank everyone for a great year! Here is a crazy video I put together for you to enjoy!

This is wrong , BUT - IT IS SO FUNNY!!!!

2010-01-08T23:49:00.001-08:00

Smart Fishing!!

2010-01-07T19:56:00.001-08:00

Fishing Report

2010-01-05T22:48:00.000-08:00

Huge Yellowfin tuna!

Capt. Josh Howard

January 6, 2010

Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report

Its that time of year again, time to catch BIG fish!

Aaron and I fished Saturday with Andy from New Orleans! The sea's were not great but we were able to make good speed in the cat! We have been catching nice wahoo and tuna but this group wanted tuna so we decided to make the long haul! First stop was dead, 2nd stop we were able to pick up about six live baits and started to fish! No surface action but I was marking a few good fish! After more that a few attempts, barracudas eating most of the live bait, we finally got a hit on a chunk. This fish hit so fast that we never got to the reel, I think it pulled the hook out of its own mouth. Next line in the water, hooked up! Next line out, hit by a train then pulled the hook, next one out was a live bait! Again, hooked up! After getting that fish in the boat, the bite was dead! Never another hit! The trick is being ing the right spot at the right time. All of these fish are big, all 100 pound class fish!

After getting word from the crew that we had one sick one on board, they decided to head in a little early! I do think we would have caught a few more if we could have stayed another hour or two!

Capt Gray and I ran a trip in his boat a few weeks back, we had Mike Lane on board shooting a little video! We were able to find some big wahoo, it was our first good wahoo day of the season! All caught on bomber and Stretch 30's!

I would like to thank Mann's baits for adding Deep South Charters as a sponsor because we do use and believe in their baits! I have had a lot of success with the stretch 30's over the years!

We have had to cancel a lot of trips over the last month due to rough seas but I think it will start to calm down enough to get out and fish! Jan, Feb and March are awesome months for HUGE wahoo and Yellowfin Tuna! The amberjack season will open Jan 1st and the grouper action is not bad either! If you want to fish, please give us a call! Feb is about half full right now but between the two boats, we should be able to get you on the water!

Lets go fishing!!

Capt Josh Howard

225-572-7408

deepsouthcharters@cox.net

www.deepsouthcharters.com

deepsouthcharters.blogspot.com

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Mann's Baits

Costa Del Mar

New Sponsors/ Pro Staff

2009-11-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

We would like to thank Mann Baits and Owner Hooks for adding Deep South Charters to their Pro Staff family!

Amberjack Closure

2009-10-31T17:29:00.000-07:00

If you want to know what is going on with the amberjack closure in the gulf, this may help you out!

Gulf of Mexico Greater Amberjack Fishery

2009 Recreational Quota Closure

Frequently Asked Questions

October 2009

When will the fishery for Gulf of Mexico greater amberjack close?

The fishery will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, on October 24, 2009, and will remain closed through December 31, 2009.

Why is the Gulf of Mexico greater amberjack recreational fishery being closed?

Recreational landings through August 31, 2009, indicate the 1.368 million pound recreational quota for greater amberjack has been met. NOAA Fisheries Service is required to close the fishery when the quota is met or projected to be met.

Why did the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) and NOAA Fisheries Service implement a quota for the Gulf of Mexico recreational greater amberjack fishery?

Changes to federal regulations in 2006 required regional fishery management councils to develop annual catch limits (ACLs) for each of their managed fisheries, and establish a mechanism for specifying a harvest level that prevents overfishing, including measures to ensure accountability. An ACL is the level of annual catch of a population that if met or exceeded triggers accountability measures, such as a seasonal closure or quota closure. In 2008, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council amended their Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan and established a quota as their ACL for the recreational greater amberjack fishery because the population was undergoing overfishing and only five years remained to rebuild the population to sustainable levels. The Council also reduced the commercial quota at that time and set the quota equal to the commercial ACL.

When was a recreational quota established for greater amberjack?

NOAA Fisheries Service implemented new regulations, including a recreational quota, for the greater amberjack fishery on August 4, 2008. The recreational greater amberjack quota was not met in 2008, therefore the fishery remained open all year.

What happens if the recreational quota is exceeded?

If 2009 recreational landings exceed the quota despite the closure of the recreational greater amberjack fishery, then the length of the recreational fishing season in 2010 must be reduced by the amount necessary to recover the overage that occurred during the 2009 fishing year.

Is the commercial fishery for Gulf of Mexico greater amberjack also closing?

No, the commercial fishery will remain open. As of mid-September 2009 the commercial fishery had landed 58% of their 503,000 pound quota. If the commercial fishery harvests the remainder of the quota before the end of the year, then the fishery will be closed.

How is the fishery for Gulf of Mexico greater amberjack currently managed?



Recreational greater amberjack fishery

1.368 million pound whole weight quota (when quota is met or projected to be met the fishery closes).

30-inch fork length minimum size limit.

Daily bag limit of one fish per person with a zero bag limit for the captain and crew of for-hire vessels.



Commercial greater amberjack fishery

0.503 million pound whole weight quota (when quota is met or projected to be met the fishery closes).

36-inch fork length minimum size limit.

March 1-May 31 closed season.

What is the current status of the Gulf of Mexico greater amberjack population?

Gulf of Mexico greater amberjack are currently undergoing overfishing (the rate of removals is too high) and is currently overfished (population abundance is too low). The greater amberjack is currently in year-7 of a 10 year rebuilding plan. The goal of this plan is to end overfishing and rebuild the population size to sustainable levels by 2012.

When will the status of Gulf of Mexico greater amberjack next be assessed?

The next population assessment for Gulf of Mexico greater amberjack will occur in 2010. The dates, times, and location for this assessment have not yet been scheduled.

Offshore Knots

2009-10-31T11:29:00.000-07:00

I dont think that the wind will ever stop! I had to push my Sunday trip back to another weekend. With 4-5 ft sea's, it would not be a fun trip! I took some time to post a few videos showing you how to tie a few offshore knots that we use!

Use the haywire twist to tie single strand wire to pull baits or anything that you use wire with! I use single strand 131 pound wire for all of my wahoo baits.

I will also use a uni knot when I tie my big braid (250 lb) to hooks or swivels. Most times I will use the uni on any braided line knots, it holds vey well!

Huge Bluefin tuna feeding beside the boat!

2009-10-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

Check this out! This is a video from Braid Products, I am on Pro Staff for Braid! They have some of the best fishing products that the offshore world has to offer! I didnt start using their stuff after joining the prostaff team, I have used it my whole career as a charter boat captain! Check them out at http://www.braidproducts.com/ ! This is a video of huge Bluefin Tuna feeding right beside the boat! This is not Venice but this is what it looks like when the yellowfin are feeding! Awesome!

Mondays Trip

2009-10-28T02:52:00.000-07:00

We have been fishing the shrimp boats for almost a month now! A lot of good fish have been taken during this time! I know of atleast one that went over 200 pounds! We fished them Monday with Ricky's Crew from Georgia. His family fished with us this summer, they landed a blue marlin and a nice pile of Yellowfin so they were pumped about going catch a big boy!

We were able to find one boat, that was it, one boat! Started a slick, ran a line down and just that fast - FISH ON!! After about 20 mins or so, I knew that we were on a good one! We had fought the fish for about 30 mins when we felt the line pop! I think the teath from the tuna cut us off, the line was marked up about 3 inches up! We got the lines back out and got in a nice pile of blackfin! After about 6 blackfin the line started to scream again! This time it was about 15 mins into the fight when we felt the line go slack! Pulled the hook! Talk about not our day!! Started to catch more blackfin, we really had them going for a while! They were jumping everywhere, I had two guys throwing Frenzy Poppers catching blackfin and bonita, we were in the back catching blackfin on chunks when I hear "HUGE FISH HIT THE POPPER" ! I am sure it was a yellowfin but we will never know because like the other two, OH YEAH- We lost it!! 0 for 3 on yellowfin, dont try this at home!!

We were able to finish the day with 20 stud blackfin! Everyone had a blast, I just wish we didnt have the "One that got away" story X3 !!

Shrimp Boats

2009-10-28T01:03:00.000-07:00

Right now, we are fishing behind the shrimp boats for tuna. This is pretty cool but a lot of work at the same time! Aaron and I try to keep enough chum cut up while fishing but this is a challenge. We go through about 50-75 pounds of pogies a day on top of the ton of bonita that we cut up and baskets of by catch that we get from the shrimp boats!

Next, we try, and I do mean try to keep the boat clean! We catch bonita for bait with poppers and cut bait. When these things hit the deck, the blood goes everywhere. The blackfin are almost as bad as the bonita and then the big yellowfin, well who cares what kind of mess they make! They are the whole reason that we are there in the first place! Fish over 200 pounds are caught behind these boats every year! The last yellowfin they we caught on the boats weighed 130pounds!

We had been fishing the boats all day with no yellowfin to show for it. We had caught beautiful blackfin and we were one fish short of an amberjack limit (thanks to Gray not telling me he was catching and I had to run around for a while) but we really wanted that yellowfin! After Gray had caught him limit of jacks and left us with the left overs, we finished up after the sharks said we had enough, we plotted Tiger Pass on the gps and were heading home. About 10 miles into the trip back in, we noticed one lonely shrimp boat and decided to give it one last shot! After a few drifts, Aaron and i were chuming like hell trying to get rid of all of the chum before we left the boat, I had a line out and it started to scream, I set the hook and figured, hey, a good blackfin. Was I wrong, this fish took line to the bottom (around 220 ft) and said I will stay here a while, AND HE DID! I have video on the website of this fight, check it out at http://www.deepsouthcharters.com/ .

Capt Gray called on the radio as he was heading to the dock right as we hooked up to the beast, but I didnt know what we had at the time! I told him we are hooked up but we will be right behind you. I didnt think that it would be an hour and a half before we landed the fish so I had to listen to his mouth as we rolled in about 9:30 to the dock! He was pissed, he has the Coast Guard trying to reach us on radio, as a joke Aaron told him we stopped to catch mangrove snapper, that didnt help! I watched Gray's face As I pulled the fish out of the fish box, I couldnt tell if he was happy that we had the fish or pissed that HE DIDNT have it! HA HA!! He helped me put the fish on the scale. I was saying 150 pounds, he was saying 130! You would know, he was right for once! The fish weighed 130 pounds!! What a day!