Venice was a sleepy little oil and commercial fishing town until 1985 when Dave and Debbie Ballay opened the Venice Marina.

Dave knew the potential for fabulous fishing in the Venice area since his charter boat had worked this area since 1977. Now with the facilities available, local celebrities along with national TV shows, magazines and media personalities have picked Venice as the number #1 fishing destination in the US.

Our diverse fishing opportunities continue to amaze visiting anglers. The Venice area has numerous guides, offshore boats and inland boats to handle your trips. Accommodations in the area are available at local motels, houseboats and cabins. We will help you find the lodging that meets your needs.

Captain Brandon Ballay supply all the equipment needed for a successful trip including tackle, but if you've got any pet tackle, bring it along. You may also want to bring along the fly rod. Opportunities for fly fisherman abound. Most of the species we fish will readily take a fly and there's nothing more exciting than casting a fly to a big redfish working the shallows or a cobia cruising the rip.

Bass fisherman will also be pleased to know conditions permitting it's not unusual for a 5 fish stringer weighing 20+ pound to win our bass tournaments in Venice. In fact, the Bassmaster Classic of 2003 was won in the Venice area.

Our limits on speckled trout are 25 per angler. Redfish are 5 per angler with only one bull redfish of the 5. Pelagic and offshore species correspond with federal sizes and limits. We do not kill any tarpon or blue marlin but we will get measurements for you of your fish for a fiberglass reproduction if you wish.

We can't forget to mention the hottest new thing in Venice during the duck hunting season. "Cast and Blast"! Sportsmen make the early morning hunt for ducks and chase redfish and specked trout in the evenings. Our duck hunting seasons have continued to be great even when other duck areas were complaining as lack of ducks. Since our hunters limit out early on many occasions that leaves all evening for the afternoon fishing trip.

As soon as the duck season closes the world class tuna fishing starts at the Midnight Lumps located 16 miles out of South West Pass. It's not unusual for boats from Texas to Florida to converge on the Lump during the late winter months all the way into early spring. Both blackfin and yellowfin tuna converge on the up welling currents created by the Lump. There is also the occasional mako cruising the area just waiting for a struggling Tuna to chomp down on. Weather conditions at this time of year can mess you up for a day or so but calm days do exist and the fish will be there waiting for you.

One of my favorite trips is to close in on the green water rips that get pushed together by the falling tides meeting the Gulf waters. I often take anglers armed with light spin casting tackle or fly rods out to these rips in search of cobia and tripletail. It's great fun to spot the fish holding under a grass patch or any floating object and flip a bait to them and watch them inhale it. It's also fun to pull in behind a trawler boat that is cleaning his catch and see hundreds of jack crevalla and sharks boiling the surface waiting for the discards coming off the decks of the Trawler boats. Most anglers have enough muscle wrenching after a few jacks in the 30 pound range or a shark or two in the 100 pound category.

Tarpon On!! Our Tarpon fishing peaks in July, August and September and it's during this time anglers from across the nation converge on Venice in quest of the 200 pound fish everyone is always after. Every year 200 pound fish are caught and released. 150 pound fish are common. We'll also catch bull redfish, cobia, jacks, sharks and other species when we're after Tarpon. We troll and cast to them, but what ever way you hook one you'll have the fight of a lifetime if you get one on the end of the line.

Records kept by IGFA show that the hottest spot for Blue Marlin in the northern gulf is South Pass. Anglers fishing for marlin out of Venice can count on tuna, wahoo and dolphin to be in the same area when they are trying for blue marlin. A mixed catch of all the above species is common and your chance for a big blue is always there.

Anglers wishing to experience Venice's fabulous redfish and specked trout fishing will have 12 months to do so. The area around Venice has become a mecca to redfish tournament pros from throughout the country. Record numbers and sizes are constantly being set by the pros every year when the tournaments head to Venice. Our speckled tout fishing also draws crowds when the word gets out that the bite is on. They'll be chasing the redfish and speckled trout in the shallow bays, along the shoreline of the Gulf, at the mouths of the Passes, at the rigs off Sandy Point and around the Barrier Islands. Wade fishing always gets its share of anglers wishing to try their luck around Briton Island. These trips usually accommodate 2 to 3 anglers and are our most sought after excursions. It's not unusual to find other species while after speckled trout and redfish. Flounder, black drum, sheepshead, sharks and numerous other species are caught while after speckled trout and redfish. At times when the Mississippi River slows down and salt water works it's way far up into the estuary system we'll come in with a smorgasbord of fresh and saltwater fish. bass, stripers, white bass and fresh water catfish will be added to our many saltwater species. On calm days it's not unusual to see Inland guides in their Bay Boats out in the Gulf working around the oil platforms catching cobia, tarpon, tripletail, snapper and other offshore species.