my two recent ones came off of the fusilor color (mahi color) but I've heard pink/chrome is hot too. As I mentioned earlier, your equipment is a bit light if you hook a 75+lb yellowfin. A Daiwa BG6500 is only about $120 and loaded with 65-80lb braid can handle most yellowfin in the gulf.

What rod would you recommend to go with that Daiwa BG6500?

an excellent entry level tuna rod is the OTI OceanXtreme 40-60#.
Well-priced quality rod that will last you forever & can kill all but the largest models of YFT you'll find in the gulf.

Can you take some live bait? or live mullet?

Ah, but will it tame the legendary barracuda?

for Brian, always...

Indeed, men.
Indeed..........................

i went on a tuna trip out of Venice once. we free lined cut bate and had great success. we used frozen and caught bait from the rigs on sabiki rigs. the set up was simple. we would approach a rig and set up to drift by it. chunks of bait were cut into cubes. we also had a little tuna we caught and also used it for bait. all we did was throw 3-4 chunks in the water. the bait presentation was to cut a slit in the bait and slide the circle hook in the slit. do not hook the bait. then put reel on the unlocked position and drop bait in behind the last chunk of chum. the key is to never let the baited line get taut. you must manually peel line from the reel keeping your line slack.the bait must fall naturally. any spin will turn off the fish. the fish will hit like a freight train. when it hits with the rod in a holder lock the reel down and start reeling. once hookset is secure pull the rod and get tortured. i hooked 2 large yellow fin. first one a very big shark took it. the second one landed was 94#. best to take help andtag team. hard on a old mans back.

Last time I fished out of Venice I was worried we didn't have enough bait. By the time number 6 was hooked I was hoping were out of bait. I think two is my limit, even on multi-day trips.