VENICE, La. – It’s known nationwide as “Sportsman’s Paradise,” yet even the bountiful habitat and abundant fish fueling the Venice mystique are subject to natural forces, particularly weather.
A little more than three months after Walmart FLW Redfish Series Western Division anglers trudged through a muddier-than-usual delta region plagued by often fierce afternoon storms, competitors returned to the remote Mississippi Delta town once again beholden to natural impacts. The June event owed its poor conditions to excessive rainwater flowing downriver from torrential spring rains in northern states. This week’s plight: remnant water and habitat turmoil caused by recent hurricanes.
Venice escaped the worst of this summer’s tropical activity, but despite this week’s sunny and mostly clear conditions, evidence of severe flooding remains long after hurricanes Gustav and Ike charged 
through the northern Gulf. Sections of Louisiana Highway 23 – the main north-south road traversing the delta – are currently under water, while debris piles are everywhere, and adjacent cattle pastures hold 3 feet of standing water.
Storm surges and high winds inflicted significant damage to key marsh habitat, stirred delta waters and upset normal redfish patterns. Venice guide Capt. Anthony Randazzo said this tournament will require a lot of looking.
“The marsh is still recovering from the storms,” he said. “The fish have positioned themselves where they can be comfortable, so a lot of the places where we would like to sight-fish and target the right size redfish aren’t holding any fish whatsoever. It’s just the fish trying to find the water quality that they can survive in and do what they’re supposed to be doing in October.
“There are areas holding a lot of fish, so we have to target those areas and hope for the right two fish.”
Unlike normal Mississippi Delta conditions in which redfish move fairly predictably throughout vast networks of ponds, sloughs and Roseau cane points, this week’s tournament will defy distinct patterns. However, redfish aren’t ones to miss a meal, so when in doubt, look for the food.
“The fish are moving up and down the coast; they’re not really targeting any one type of structure,” Randazzo said. “They’re following schools of baitfish. The patterns are changing every day. The only thing we have in our favor is that we’ve had the same weather pattern for three days now.”
Randazzo said that he and his partner Billy Wallbaum will throw a lot of Berkley Gulp baits and Rat-L-Traps. They’ll also use a ChatterBait for probing murky water.
“That ChatterBait puts off a lot of vibration for the fish to locate,” Wallbaum said. “It’s almost like throwing a crankbait.”
Back in June, Blake Pizzolato of Montgomery, Texas, won the Redfish Series event, along with Dwayne Echete of Mandeville, La. A family emergency will keep Echete from day-one competition, but he will rejoin Pizzolato on day two. (Gene Quissenbury will fill in for Echete on day one.)
Pizzolato said the strong northerly wind whipping flags in the marina would give him trouble, but he had 
a simple plan for pursuing a second shot at the top spot: “The fish we were on downriver got blown out by all this wind we’ve had the last (several) days, so we’re just going to go scouting some old places (from our past) and hope that we can come up with something.
“It’s a little depressing. We went down there and checked (our spot) yesterday, and the water had turned chocolate on us and there were 2-foot seas coming across it; so we’re just going to have to go looking.”
Pizzolato and Echete won the previous Venice tournament with fish caught in the marshes of Cocodrie. Oddly enough, that region west of the delta was the original site for the current event, but FLW Outdoors switched venues when it was determined that Hurricane Gustav’s damage had rendered Cocodrie incapable of hosting the tournament.
Most agree that despite less-than-favorable conditions, the Venice area will produce the top catches. Areas such as Delacroix to the northeast have often offered tempting alternatives, but reports indicate low productivity due to extreme water levels.
At the morning takeoff, most of the field turned right out of Venice Marina and headed for various Venice marsh areas; about a dozen boats made a left-hand turn and headed toward the Mississippi River. Those competitors will likely head to the Southwest Pass jetties – a perennial redfish producer. Windy conditions will make this a challenging pursuit, as rough water will hinder precise boat positioning.
Logistics
All teams will compete during the first two days, and the top five teams based on accumulated weight advance to day three. Final standings are determined by the total weight from all three days.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday from Venice Marina, located at 237
Sports Marina Road in Venice. Weigh-ins will be held at Venice Marina beginning at 3 p.m. today, Friday and Saturday. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free, and the community is invited to attend the festivities.
The Venice FLW Redfish Series event is hosted by Venice Marina. The top award of $50,000 includes $20,000 cash plus a $15,000 cash bonus from Ranger Boats and a $15,000 cash bonus from Yamaha or Evinrude if contingency guidelines are met.
The top 50 teams in each division of the 2008 FLW Redfish Series, based on Land O’Lakes Team of the Year points standings at the end of the season, will advance to the $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship Oct. 30-Nov. 1 in Biloxi, Miss. The winning team at the championship will earn as much as $100,000.
Thursday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:48 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 58 degrees
Expected high temperature: 74 degrees
Water temperature: 78 degrees
Wind: WSW at 15 mph
Humidity: 30 percent
Day’s outlook: partly cloudy