By Louis Bonnet

Special for the American presss

Chad Bailey rode a very strong run at the weekend’s Salty Catch Fishing Rodeo, taking home two top spots as well as the biggest fish of the event.

Fishing with Oakdale’s “Outlaw” team, Bailey landed both of his titles while hitting another positive mark with a bait he made himself.

His winning efforts came with a 59.5lb tuna and a 79.5lb grouper, the biggest fish on the two-day outing, headquartered on The Golden Nugget beach.

Most anglers found the water inland and offshore to be near perfect for fishing and they landed a fair amount of fish in all categories.

Bailey said he caught the grouper on a blue runner (baitfish about 7-8 inches long) when the crew was dropping bait on the bottom of the water and he snagged on the tuna with a cast of its own bait from the back of the boat.

Grouper, he says, took 30 to 45 minutes to land, tuna a little less.

“It’s a top water popper that I made myself,” he said of the bait that attracted the yellow fin, adding that he referred to the bait as the Bob Seger. to its ribbon color and Seger’s Silver Bullet stripe.

Bailey also said it was the fifth yellowfin he had caught with the bait since he built it.

Another top angler in the adult offshore category was Joe Rustam, who also fished the “Outlaw”. He won catches in king mackerel (21.5 pounds) and barracuda (21 pounds) and a second place in dolphin (6.56 pounds)

Other first-place finishers were produced by Cade Theriot (9.73lb dolphin), Corey Raggio (69.5lb wahoo), Daniel Jones (37.3lb cobia) and Daniel Licatino (19.3lb red snapper books).

There were no double winners in the inshore adult category and the largest fish landed was a 43-pound drummer by Angela Trahan. Brad Baker won the redfish division with a 36.83 pounds and this species had an abundance of fish in the 20-30 pound weight category.

Cass Bryson was a two-division winner for young offshore as he entered with an 11.4-pound king mackerel and a 16.9 and 16.21 red snapper. The young inshore fishery was led by Elena Smith with a 27.05 pound redfish and Ayson Dovey with a 39.53 pound drum.

In the guide division, Casey Sonnier took first place with first place in speckled trout and flounder and second in redfish.

The top boats in the tournament were the Reel High offshore and the Fesco inshore while the top offshore angler was Abby Bellon (19.18 pound wahoo) and Angela Trahan (43.0 first place drum) inshore.

The top picks in the youth divisions were Sebastian DeBarge (inshore and four places) and Cass Brison (two wins and two seconds) offshore.

Tournament director Crystal LaFosse said there were more than 200 anglers registered for the tournament.

Salt Fishing Rodeo

offshore adult

TUNA: Chad Bailey 59.5; Scott Solari 59.l; Dillon Youngbloed 56.5.

DOLPHN: Cade Theriot 9.73; Joe Rustam 6.56; Cade Theriot 4.7.

GROUPER: Chad Bailey 79.5; David Deshotel 39.0; Wayne Soleau 23.28.

WOW: Corey Raggio 69.5; Sam Chol 37.5; Abby Bellon 19.1

COBIA: Daniel Jones 37.3; Patrick Savoie 30.0; Garrett Cutler 27.75.

KING MACKEREL: Joe Rustam 21.5; Daniel Licatino 15.59; Joey Murty 13.56.

SNAPPER: Daniel Licatino 19.3; Todd Bryson 18.71; André Méché 18.58.

BARRACUDA: Joe Rustam 21.0; Paul Durio 16.0; BJ Crookshank 15.95.

Young people at sea

DOLPHIN: Foster Peterson 14.11; Keyton Soleau 11.15.

KING MACKEREL: Cass Bryson 11.4; Cass Bryson 10.48.

SNAPPER: Cass Bryson 16.9; Cass Bryson 16.21; Foster Peterson 15.22.

BARRACUDA: Louis Brown 13.42; Keyton Soleau 10.42; Louis Brown 8.93.

Coastal Adult

MACHETE TROUT: Jarrod Jessop 6.62; Michel Fesco 5.40; Home Dupin 3.88.

GOLDFISH: Brad Baker 36.83; Jesse Landry 35.15; Michael Fesco 33.1.

WADE: Michel Fesco 4.72; Jarrod Jessop 4.50; Kristopher Daigle 4.03.

CATFISH: NathanPaul 5.91; Randy Burleson 5.68; Nathan Paul 5.59.

DRUM: Angela Trahan 43.0 Brad Baker 37.47; Jacques Lamonte 35.41.

Coastal Youth

MACHETE TROUT: Fisher Dupin 1.98; Fisher-Dupin 1.94; Elena Smith 1.40.

GOLDFISH: Elena Smith 27.05; Ayson Doxey 24.82; Elena Smith 24.82.

WADE: Sebastien DeBarge 2.0; Elena Smith 1.61; Ayson Doxey 1.50.

cruncher: Elena Smith 0.42; Sebastien DeBarge 0.42; Elena Smith 0.39.

DRUM: Ayson Doxey 39.53; Sebastien DeBarge 32.19; Sebastian DeBarge 31.42.

Guide

TROUT: Casey Sonnier 2.0.

GOLDFISH: Bradley Lanningham 25.01; Casey Sonnier 10.57.

WADE: Casey Sonnier 1.29.