L_S_2015_04_

118 Louisiana Sportsman^ | April 2015

Kenny Heikamp is built like a 5-foot, 7-inch coiled steel spring.

He moves about his 32-foot Twin Vee catamaran with latent,

ready to unleash energy. His chin has a determined set to it and

his dark eyes burn intensely, like hot embers. I would hate to be a

fish, knowing that he was after me.

The 43-year-old has operated Bent Rod Offshore Charters for 10

years, but his fishing roots go much deeper. When he was 16 and

again when he was 17 years old, he worked whole summers on

a commercial snapper boat out of Fourchon operated by Joey

Toups. The third summer he spent commercial king mackerel

fishing, also with Toups.

Mangrove Snapper

The making of

the master

The offshore bug bit him bad. “It’s just you and Mother Nature

out there,” he explained. You got to have your stuff together. The

gulf will find your weaknesses. And the idea of dropping a line

and not knowing what you are going to bring up turned me into

an offshore fisherman.”

At 19, he became part of the Toups, Toups and Toups competi-

tive king mackerel team in the Southern Kingfish Association

(SKA). Joey Toups ran the team. His brother Anthony Toups

funded them. The third Toups, one unrelated to the first two, was

Raymond Toups, whose day job was being the Executive Chef

at the Omni Royal Orleans Rib Room in the New Orleans French

Quarter.

Heikamp fished with them in the SKA for 9 years while he

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