Yellowfin Tuna Tagging Conservation Association

27/08/2024

New bling for the Beavertail!

12/08/2024

18/07/2024

Chad Pique and Southern Pro Charters truly go above and beyond each year, and we are incredibly proud to have them affiliated with our tournaments. They give everything to make sure you have the best chance of catching fish, and are true professionals. I would like to mention, they have won our Tuna Tagging Tournament, the LA-Tex Invitational 3 out of the last 4 years! Do not hesitate to give them a call for a trip of a Lifetime!

Every year we participate in the Yellowfin Tuna Tagging Conservation Association tournament. The tag data can reveal migratory behaviors, growth rates, mortality rates, habitat preferences, and many other important factors.

It’s always fun to catch a tagged tuna and see the data when tagged and the current data.

11/05/2024

The 2024 LA-Tex Invitational is in the books, and what an incredible event it was! In total, 100 Yellowfin Tuna and 1 Swordfish were caught, with 77 being tagged with The Billfish Foundation tags. Our message of responsible harvest is spreading, and we love hearing about more and more captains sharing this message and tagging in this incredible fishery of Venice, LA. Thank you to all of our Anglers, Charter Captains and Sponsors for making this all possible. The Billfish Foundation, Costa Sunglasses, YETI, AFTCO, Steve Whitlock Game Fish Art, Release Ruler, TrollPro, Southern Pro Charters, VooDoo Fishing Charters Deep Sea Tuna Fishing & Lodging In Venice La, Paradise Outfitters, Intensity Offshore Outfitters, Osprey Charters, LLC, Gulf of America Outfitters, you ALL ROCK!!!! We cant wait for our next event, as the dates for 2025 dates are being set soon. Stay tuned for details.

05/05/2024

The official 2024 La-Tex Invitational is ready to kick off!!! Thank you to all of our incredible sponsors and Captains. Thanks to The Billfish Foundation, Yeti, Costa, Aftco, Turtle Box, Release Ruler, Steve Whitlock and Troll Pro for your continued support of message of responsible harvest!

02/05/2024

Almost 𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐱 time! ⚜️
Hurricane Hole Louisiana Open

02/05/2024

We are very thankful for our amazing sponsors.....

29/04/2024

We are excited to be headed back to Venice Louisiana next month for our 11th year leading trips to Venice to experience the fishery and culture of Southern Louisiana. With our largest field of anglers to date, we look forward to spreading our message of conservation through selective, responsible harvest and tagging yellowfin and billfish to aggregate data for conservation. None of this would be possible without our sponsors. Thank you for your continued support! The Billfish Foundation, YETI, AFTCO, Costa Sunglasses, Steve Whitlock Game Fish Art, Turtlebox, and Release Ruler.

09/01/2024

Iykyk.....

27/12/2023

Fun times.....

19/11/2023

Eating well on the bayou......

02/09/2023

Feather Flickers Fly Challenge Captain's meeting.....thanks to Rob and Jen!

01/09/2023

My happy place......

29/06/2023

The 2023 LA-Tex Invitational is in the books, and what an incredible event it was!!! We are so thankful to our Anglers, operators and Incredible sponsors for help making this possible. Thank you Costa Del Mar, Aftco, Yeti, Turtle Box, Release Ruler and The Billfish Foundation for supporting us in our mission to promote responsible harvest, and caring for our oceans. Your support makes this a possibility, and for that we are grateful.

Over two days, we were able to tag 26 Yellowfin Tuna out of the 38 tuna caught. That is a 68% tag ratio, which we are very proud of. We look forward to hopefully reporting recaptures of these magnificent fish. As a bonus, one of our teams was able to save a Loggerhead Sea Turtle from being tangled in an old buoy line. What an incredible experience and glad to see our Anglers being a steward of our ocean.

24/05/2023

Looking for 2 conservation minded anglers to join us for our annual tuna tagging tournament in Venice Marina on June 26-27. All fishing lodging and meals included.....just show up and fish! DM for price and details.

10/10/2022

The restoration guide will target the following issues:

Threats to blue marlin
Restoration opportunities for the species
Consideration of data gaps
Characterizing and reducing recreational fishing post-release mortality impacts
Development of means to reduce uncertainty in restoration, including providing best practices to fishing communities to reduce impacts
Identification of larval distribution mechanisms, important habitats, and influences on recruitment

Atlantic blue marlin has been identified as a priority species for NMFS's Gulf of Mexico Restoration Strategic Plan

10/10/2022

Baby steps.....

New Tuna Reform law to limit pursue seine fishing has good intentions but still could have no positive effects for billfish.

04/10/2022

Had a good day one with 31 fish caught and 22 tags released....21 yellowfin tuna and one sword fish. Multiple marlin were hooked as well none were tagged. We were surprised by the appearance of big eye tuna. Hooked one and it dumped the spool to 800 feet then tail wrapped. 2 hours later we gor it to the surface DOA.... 156 big eye tuna.

21/09/2022

Prints have arrived from Steve Whitlock Gamefish art and they are awesome! 4 lucky anglers will go home with a print each from the La-Tex Invitational!

09/08/2022

Calling all my fishing friends. These will be utilized to help us better boat handle tuna in our tagging efforts. Any leads are appreciated.

09/08/2022

Fishing friends......ISO contact information for a vendor/manufacturer with an oversized net strong enough to handle yellow fin tuna tagging in Venice.(Frabill, Plano etc...) We need a minimum of 8 for our tournament in October. Suggestions or contacts for someone who can help? TIA....

02/06/2022

I'm ready for snapper season! If you're going to cull snapper or any other deep water fish.....give them a chance to survive.....

25/02/2022

10/12/2021

We have some very cool news to share! We just received news a few days ago of our first recapture of a Yellowfin Tuna from our 2021 LA-Tex Invitational event. While most of our recaptures from the Venice area have stayed near the area they were tagged, this one traveled over 415 miles from the area it was tagged from. It was tagged near about 70 miles SE of the Delta, and was recaptured in South Texas at Perdido. All of this in 49 days! This marks the longest distance from Tag to Recapture in this event.

19/11/2021

19/11/2021

The 8th annual La-Tex Invitational had us returning to Venice Louisiana for four days with two days of fishing. We returned with a field of eight teams and thirty-one anglers with two ladies teams joining the tagging mission this year. The drive into Venice down highway 23 was a stark reminder of how much the communities of southern Louisiana still need our support. Both spiritually, financially, and more importantly through community support.

Our two days of fishing/tagging were met with excellent weather, an excited group of charter captains and fisherman alike. Over two days of fishing our anglers caught fifty-three tuna and tagged and released 40 tuna. Conservation is the mission of the Yellowfin Tuna Tagging Conservation Association. Which is why every angler who participates buys an annual membership to the Billfish Foundation (our tagging partner). The message of responsible harvest is most certainly recognized with this group of anglers. Keeping only 13 tuna between 31 anglers is a message we strive to convey to everyone fishing the Louisiana delta and beyond. With larger than average fish being harvested, all anglers went home with tuna to feed their families and friends.
We would like to thank our sponsors for their continued support and all the charters who participated in the 2021 La-Tex Invitational

Sponsors:





Outfitters:

17/10/2021

Captain Martha W. Spencer had a successful tournament and provided an outstanding article of the event........thank you Marty for your continued support!

Texas - Louisiana Invitational Tagging Tournament - Wild Tuna Tagging In the Tuna Capital, Venice, Louisiana

16/10/2021

Practicing Responsible harvest is one of our main Missions, but tagging a beautiful Yellowfin Tuna is beyond rewarding. It was great to see the captains getting involved in the effort, and the enthusiasm on their faces.

16/10/2021