A triumphant offshore return for Venice, Louisiana charter captain Peace Marvel
"The last time I headed offshore to fish it was May 8," said Peace Marvel in the pre-dawn of Oct. 11. "No mercy today." Soon after, 6 yellowfin tuna from 100 to 214 pounds proved Peace hasn't lost a step.

Marvel was one of many Plaquemines Parish locals who stepped up to meet the latest threat to their homes and livelihoods - the massive BP oil spill just 50 miles offshore of Venice. He was even pictured working to boom off oil in a Los Angeles Times piece on the spill. This was his first chance to go fishing since, and he had to take a day off from his job of coordinating 80 charter boats to do it.

It certainly didn't hurt that the final section of the Federal waters closed by the spill had just reopened and the tuna fishing was as good as it gets by Louisiana standards --and numerous yellowfin over 200 pounds raised that bar even higher. Too much for a dedicated yellowfin hunter to let pass by.

And that's why I was there. After thousands of miles and hours chasing find fantastic action just 40 to 60 miles out get away? And the weather forecast was perfect.

Except weather forecasts are never perfect and a stiff wind and chop met us at the outlet of Tiger Pass. But those are the kind of conditions Peace's 28' Glacier Bay eats up and the gentle roar of the twin Yamaha four-strokes kept us flying.

The decision of where to fish was as easy as choosing the nearest shrimp trawler. Easy in that they also flocked to the newly opened waters, but more difficult that it would appear. They all had blackfin tuna and hardtails frothing the surface in the area over the deployed nets, but which one held the true target?

The Golden Dragon proved to be the golden choice after a few false starts behind another shrimper. Yellowfin tuna climbed to the surface to push away the blackfin and eat the chum -- bycatch Artie Cosby had left over from the day before -- and a 130 pounder soon ate a piece with a hook in it.

First up was Ken Blake and he did a great job on the fish until his back gave out. The hot sun did its job too, what with the morning sickness winds giving way to flat calm conditions. Artie took over and it wasn't long before the fish was finished. John Devries of Seaguar was next up, but a 30-pound blackfin tuna got the bait.

Peace decided we needed more chum and we head towards the first shrimper we saw pull its nets. The catch associated with shrimp is a bizarre mix of strange benthic creatures with horned heads and weird antenna and juvenile species of flatfish, drum and sea trout. The shrimpers only want the shrimp and a few beers or cold sodas is warranted enough to trade for a few sacks of "cold" as Peace called the fresh bycatch. We got a couple sacks and headed on in search of the right combination of boat, water color and fish.

The Cracker Jack and the fresh load of bait -- soon to be augmented thanks to that boat's appreciation of ice cold light beer -- proved to be it. Long Allison dorsals knifed through the water and signaled the giant yellowfin were here. It wasn't long before several beauties crisscrossed right under the boat to pick off the floating dead bait. Peace spoon fed a yellowfin a diet of a Mustad circle hook snelled with 200-pound fluorocarbon wind-on leader attached to Jerry Brown Line One Spectra on a Tiagra 80 wide two-speed reel attached to a bent butt rod. With the big fish around, Peace brought out the big guns. No mercy indeed. I told Ken the fish only looked to be 80 pounds, go ahead, grab it. Oops it was 100 pounds.

How to describe a dream come true? Perhaps the one snafu tells it best. Despite Peace's best efforts, a blackfin beat a yellowfin to a bait at the start of a drift behind the shrimper. Jack had thrown one out, too, and it got swallowed by a blackfin. The fish and the props all tangled at once. It seemed like an eternity for the situation to get fixed and the fish around the boat were the biggest yet. Meanwhile 180 to 200-pound yellowfin serenely glided to the surface to slurp baits. All clear and on ensuing drifts 192 and 185-pound tuna were landed by this writer and John Devries, respectively.

By now there were 5 over 100 in the side wells with room for just one more. The Cracker Jack crossed into green water and we went back up our wake to another shrimper in the good stuff. It was Jack's turn to catch a fish and he used the big gear to perfection. A 214 hit the deck. Say what you want about the capabilities of modern small reels -- there's no substitute for a true machine.

And there's no substitute for sharing a great day on the water with the best of friends.

PHOTO: SEAGUAR'S JOHN DEVRIESand his company's 200-pound fluorocarbon got the job done on this 185-pound Louisiana Gulf yellowfin.

Rich Holland's Roundup