Ride the Bull

Earlier this summer I attended a P.A.C.K. (Paddling Anglers in Canoes and Kayaks) meeting and afterwards I began to converse with a few of the members. I had met several of them prior, along with Smalley, who had accompanied on our Panama kayak fishing trip last year. We began to discuss fishing and upcoming fishing trips that were on their calendars and that is when the Ride The Bull tournament was mentioned. They noted that they had a spot available where they would be staying and it was mine if I was interested. It didn’t take too long for me to make a decision on that. After all, I had to be in Biloxi on the Sunday after the tournament, so I might as well make a full trip of it.

For those who might not already know, Ride The Bull is a bull red kayak fishing tourney held in Grand Isle, Louisiana, hosted by CCA Louisiana, and they have made it a truly fun event since having taken over the management and promotion several years ago. It is held in late August every year and timed to coincide with large schools of redfish that move into Caminada Pass to spawn. This usually results in a goodly number of redfish being caught and they are more than likely going to be big fish.

How it works is that there is a boundary between the end of the jetties and stretching inland, past the launch, and about a 1/2 mile past the bridge. The format is a shotgun start, everyone launches at the same time and you can fish anywhere within the boundaries. Weigh boats are staged within the tournament boundaries and when a fish is caught the angler signals the nearest weigh boat to come and document the landing. In years past anglers would take the fish back to the marina, have it weighed, revive it in a tank, and then release it. Thankfully, with the advent of highly-accurate digital handheld scales, this is no longer necessary and anglers can get right back to fishing. At the end of the day, the heaviest redfish wins! Simple as that.

Ride the Bull has evolved to become one of the most popular kayak tournaments staged on the gulf coast. I have not attended the event in six or seven years but last time I did, we set the record for the largest-ever kayak fishing tournament with over 700 kayakers participating. This year was not quite that size but there were still over 300 kayakers that entered and fished. Needless to say, it is a fun event!

The time came and I loaded up my kayak and skiff with all of my rods and was headed to Grand Isle. We planned on showing up a few days early and I figured I might as well take advantage of the time by doing some fishing out the skiff for a day or two. I got there early and since I couldn’t check in, I just launched and went looking for some redfish. I picked up a few nice fish that day and was enjoying a late lunch when Ryan showed up. I told him to jump on the skiff and lets go check out another area. It had a few fish in it and Ryan finally hooked into a really nice one. He fought it for a while but unfortunately his line broke before he could land it. We headed back to meet the rest of the guys at the cabin and get the rest of our gear unloaded and organized.

The next morning we all got up early and I volunteered to make breakfast burritos. Since Blaine grew up in Grand Isle he knows where all the good food can be found. He made a quick run to a local store and picked up a few loaves of fresh French bread that we substituted for the traditional tortillas. Let me tell you, those Cajuns got it figured out with that French bread. After a hearty meal we set out to find some more fish. We caught a few reds and trout, found a sandbar where we could scoop up some crabs for bait on tournament day, and we also drove up to the shrimp boat dock and scored five pounds of fresh shrimp for dinner.

The day before the tournament dawned with a very stiff east wind. This is not ideal because a majority of the pass lies east to west, making it very rough in the middle. Smalley and Brad decided to head to the beach and try to catch more crabs for the next day while the rest of us prepped our gear. Within walking distance from our cabin was the marina where the captains meeting and dinner would be held that evening. Throughout the day we would wander over to converse with a few of the directors and other participants. The tournament meeting included a shrimp boil for all the participants, after which they presented all the rules and the next day’s plans for the event. It was a great evening, meeting and getting to know a lot of people. Everybody in our group was excited to put finishing touches on our gear and get a good night’s rest.

The next morning we rose early for tournament day and we all had similar plans and areas we were going to fish. Smalley and Brad caught a few dozen of crabs the day before so I loaded my cooler with ten of them and took off. My plan was to get behind the bridge around an area that I had been keeping in the back of my mind from prior experience. The last time I was down there, I noted a series of boats parking and fishing in the same area every day and I figured there had to be a reason for it. I got setup as close to it as I could remember and threw out two lines. I begin to talk to the kayaker beside me about fishing in general, where he was from, and our hope to do well in the tournament. About an hour passed and he hung into a nice fish. I signaled for a weigh boat for him. Confident that I was in the right area, I continued fishing as the morning passed.

Finally, I got a bite and began to crank on a fish. I was excited at first but after a minute or so I began to realize the fish wasn’t moving very fast and there was a lot of dead weight on the line. I told the guy across from me that I’d definitely be in the money if it was a redfish. Well, unfortunately, my intuition was confirmed when I cranked up a large black drum.

Getting the big drum released, my concerns about the building east wind overtook my desire to continue fishing and I decided to head back to the launch. It was really getting rough out there. Just as I was making my way to the shore, the tournament committee announced that the event was being called off due to unsafe conditions. I know it had to be a tough call but everybody made it off the water safely and that is of utmost importance during a kayak event. I believe the vast majority of the fishermen agreed and I applaud the committee for the decision.

Brad caught two redfish that morning and was the only one on the leaderboard out of our group. Although his weight wasn’t enough to make the Top 10, he still caught fish, so good for him. Along with the fishing tournament, the festivities also include a costume contest and this is what Brad is most known for. He always has something eccentric planned and this year was nothing short of that!

Another aspect about Ride The Bull that I thought was truly spectacular; also located on Grand Isle is a fisheries laboratory that is being converted to become a hatchery and rearing facility for red drum. Given CCA Louisiana’s involvement with the tournament and also the creation of the hatchery project, some of the fish landed during the tournament were kept alive and will become part of the original broodstock to produce fingerlings that will be released back into Louisiana waters to boost the declining redfish population. Now, how wonderful is that?

Next year, if you are looking for a road trip and an easy and fun kayak tournament, I would highly recommend going down to Ride the Bull. I will for sure be there again!