120 Louisiana Sportsman^ | April 2015
blood everywhere while he vigorously subdued the cobia with
his metal baseball bat.
When he wasn’t clubbing cobia, he was using the bat to beat
some sense into the numerous sharks that were brassy enough
to grab the men’s live baits.
Then it was over.
Heikamp had rolled the big No. 70 up on his fish counter.
“This is a mangrove-massacring crew,” he croaked, with his
chin stuck out beneath a smug grin.
It was 12:04 p.m. and we were only 14 miles from Caminada
Pass.
We made it to Grand Isle in
time for lunch. ■The
double platform was plastered with
five other fishing boats by then, but
Heikamp moved his boat to an opposite
side of the platform, holding it in gear in
reverse against the water current.
Expert pitching off the bow didn’t produce a single hit.
Heikamp quickly lost patience and moved the boat to another
rig in the Grand Isle 40s.
“I haven’t fished this one in a year, but we’ll try it,” he said.
They started hammering mangrove snappers immediately.
By 10 a.m. they were up to 50 fish, some up in the 9-pound
range. Then the first bonus fish came over the rail — a smallish,
18-pound cobia.
A few snapper later, Darryl Lopez connected on a 50-pound
cobia. This was followed quickly by Brady Mouton with another
big cobia.
Meanwhile everyone else was busy with mangrove snappers.
This was degenerating into a seven-ring circus. Big guys gal-
loped toward the stern, dragging big snappers away from the
rig and scattering the other anglers like chaff. Big fish slammed
on the deck with meaty thuds.
Then Heikamp got in the game, adding another 50-pound
cobia.
The deck was a slimy, bloody mess. Heikamp had scatteredJerald Horst is a retired
Louisiana State University
professor of fisheries. He
is an active writer, book
author and outdoorsman.Mangrove SnapperMany of the snappers the men caught were over 9
pounds — quite a feat. Left to right are Darryl Lopez,
Rene Deshotel, Kenny Heikamp, Richard Waller, Trey
Waller (front), Stanley Turner (rear) and Brady Mouton.