Why Fish Out of Venice

EDITOR'S NOTE: Anthony Randazzo works as a guide for Paradise Plus Guide Service. For more information on fishing the Mississippi Delta, write to 201 Bergeron Drive, Belle Chasse, LA 70037, or call Anthony Randazzo at (504) 656-9940.

QUESTION: What advantages does fishing out of Venice provide?

ANSWER: We have a diverse estuary with every imaginable, conceivable kind of structure and protection from wind out of any direction.

QUESTION: What do you mean by protection from the wind?

ANSWER: The geography of the Delta itself enables us to go in any direction from the marina and find a lee shore. The wind can blow as much as 30 miles an hour, and it shouldn't affect the fishing significantly. I fish here because I don't know where there's a better place to fish.

QUESTION: How many anglers do you usually take at a time?

ANSWER: We fish with one to four anglers per boat, and we have five boats. We probably average three anglers per boat.

QUESTION: Why do you do things that way?

ANSWER: It just works well. Everybody can still have all the comfort they need. A party of four may necessitate each angler having more than a novice skill level.

QUESTION: At what water depths do you fish?

ANSWER: We fish from 1 to 100 feet throughout the year. At different seasons, we fish different water depths and locations. We fish some 100-foot depths in the summer and some in the winter. This area has shallow water, deep water, fast water, slow water, hard bottom, soft bottom and everything that an angler can want to fish at any time of the year.

QUESTION: Where do you find the 100-foot water?

ANSWER: We fish 100 feet of water in both the summer and the winter. Fish swim in 100 feet of water during both seasons. In the summer, we fish the 100 feet of water offshore, and in the winter we fish the 100-foot depths inshore.

QUESTION: Do you find trout at these depths?

ANSWER: Typically speckled trout don't get that far down. They'll probably stay in water less than 40 feet, although they may swim suspended over 100-foot depths. I've caught them as deep as 65 feet, but that's a stretch.

Tomorrow: Different Lures And Techniques