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Fishing Reports
Louisiana - MONSTER Red Snapper On Fly
May 15, 2004
Posted by Susan Gros
Harvey, LA 70059-0864 USA
Email: reella@cox.net
Current Report
Monday, May 10th I joined
Mustad Hooks Sales Manager,
Jeff Pierce, aboard the "High
Life", Capt. Tommy
Pellegrin's 30-foot Gravois.
We departed Bayou Bait &
Tackle in Cocodrie at safe
light and headed out in
sloppy seas to target big
bottom dwelling species on
fly rod. Along to film a
documentary was the Canadian
crew of "The New Flyfisher".
At our first stop, the
current was ripping at about
3 knots. We were using full
sink fly lines in the 12-15
wt. range and a variety of
flies that Jeff tied on
Mustad hooks. Capt. Tommy put
out the anchor and we
attempted to chum up red
snapper and mangrove from 80-
foot depths. All that came up
to look at our flies were
hardtails, trigger fish and a
school of hungry jack
crevalle in the 20-pound
class.
Not wanting to wear my arms
out too early, I quickly
removed my fly from the path
of the jacks. Jeff was not so
lucky, as the "bull dog of
the sea" inhaled his fly and
his drag screamed. After a 30
minute fight, the big
crevalle was boated,
photographed and released.
Two more stops at nearby rigs
produced the same conditions,
so Capt. Tommy turned
the "High Life" south and
headed for the Ship Shoal 200
block of rigs.
Upon our arrival, we tied up
to Ship Shoal rig 204 and
surveyed the conditions,
which were much improved.
Jeff soon had swarms of
mangrove (grey) snapper
behind the boat, and was
expertly picking them off on
fly. He boated three in the 9-
pound class, one of which
will rank #1 in the state. I
prefer to fish deep, so
continued to send my Mustad
Jeff's T-Bunny fly down about
80 feet in search of the
elusive red snapper. A pair
of 40-pound cobia crusied the
surface nearby, by soon
disapperaed into the 105 foot
depths. Suddenly, I felt a
thud and I strip-set the fly
hard. My 14-wt Orvis rod bent
double and line screamed off
the Vortex reel as I fought
the fish hard to keep it out
of the rig.
A see-saw battle ensued, with
me gaining a couple of feet
and the fish taking yards of
backing with each run. After
about 10 minutes, the fish
settled down and I slowly
worked it to the surface,
thinking all the time I had
hooked one of the cobia.
Capt. Tommy peered over the
side and exclaimed "It's not
brown...it's red...and it's
BIG." As the fish popped to
the surface, Capt. Tommy slid
a net under it and hoisted it
over the gunnel as the
cameras rolled. High fives
and excitement filled the
cockpit.
Back at the dock many hours
later, the big sow tipped the
certified scales at Eschete's
Seafood in Houma at a
whopping 22-pounds even. It
had a girth of 27 1/2 inches
and an overall length of 32
1/4 inches.
Working as a team, we had
just landed what would be the
#1 Louisiana State record red
snapper on fly, in addition
to breaking the 20# tippet
womens IGFA World Record,
once accepted and certified
by IGFA and LOWA. After
checking with the
International Gamefish
Association, this is the
heaviest fly-caught red
snapper in the world PERIOD!!
Thanks to Capt. Tommy
Pellegrin, the "Snapper
Master" for putting me on the
trophy of a lifetime and to
Mustad Jeff Pierce for tying
the fly. The action was
caught on camera for the
upcoming PBS show "The New
Flyfisher," which should air
in the fall.
FISH LOUISIANA...Where the
Fish Are!!!!
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