When Dallas dentist Ed Lutz started taking his three sons offshore fishing in South Florida seven years ago, he had no idea what kind of three-headed family fishing monster he was creating. Lutz and his wife, Debra, watched with interest as the band of brothers soaked up lore from veteran fishing guides. The brothers closely observed everything from bait-rigging to marine electronics. When they weren't fishing, they were researching how to rig baits and where to fish.
Grant Lutz, 23, the oldest brother and a dental school student, said his family eventually got bored with hiring someone to do the work. They wanted to do it all themselves.
That's when the family progressed to renting boats and fishing on its own. got so good at finding and catching fish that other anglers tried to hire them. While researching fishing grounds, the Lutzes discovered Venice, La., at the mouth of the Mississippi River. They began chartering boats out of Venice.
"I realized that the fishing from Venice to the Texas coast is better than the fishing in Florida," Grant Lutz said. "It is unreal when you think how fortunate we are to have this fishery in the western Gulf."
The inevitable occurred last year when the Lutz family bought its own boat, a 33-foot Contender rigged for serious fishing, and moved the boat to a Freeport marina. Freeport is just down the coast from Galveston. It's closer than Florida or Venice, but it's still 300 miles from Dallas.
Nobody ever said offshore fishing was easy, but that was part of the appeal.
"Offshore fishing is so physically and mentally draining that the whole operation becomes a team effort," said Austin Lutz, 22, a Texas A&M student. "Aside from the bonding from 24-plus hours on a small boat, the teamwork definitely plays a key role in making the fishing fun.
"I'm also drawn to the wilderness that is the ocean. Every trip we discover something new. Every trip we head out with a few species in mind, but you honestly never know what you will catch. That's the beauty of deep water."
At 17, Mark Lutz is the youngest brother. The high school junior is just as deeply hooked as the rest of his family. You have to be hooked to endure a three- to five-hour, 100-mile offshore run just to reach the fishing grounds, even on days when schools of porpoises help break the monotony by surfing the bow wake.
The summer of 2010 reinforced the Lutzes' decision to do their fishing closer to home. Their catch included blue marlin, sailfish, mahi-mahi, wahoo, tilefish, red snapper, grouper, yellowfin tuna, blackfin tuna, ling, kingfish and sharks as big as 600 pounds.
Their summer highlight came in August when they were doing a double-overnighter and decided to try some daytime fishing for swordfish. Swordfish are typically caught at night, and few have ever been caught by a boat fishing from a Texas port during daylight hours.
"For daytime swordfish, you send a line down over a quarter mile and wait for the fish," Mark Lutz said. "When we finally realized we were tight to our first swordfish of the trip, it was a surreal experience. The fish came straight to the boat, then headed straight back down. The battle lasted about an hour."
Just to prove it wasn't a fluke, the Lutz brothers caught two more swordfish, which they released.
Debra Lutz sometimes accompanies her sons, mostly as an observer, and Ed fishes when he can get away from work.
"Our sons are very skilled at both fishing and handling the boat," Ed Lutz said. "All of them have an equal passion for fishing. It's been a great family bonding experience."
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