Cass Anderson / BroBible
fishing on oil rigs off Louisiana
Capt. Jason Diver in Fourchon, Louisiana just lived every sportsman’s dream and captured three fishing records in one outing. Earlier this month on a fishing trip out of Fourchon with Captain Joey Maciasz aboard his 44′ catamaran Timbuktu, they caught an IGFA all tackle world record Cubera Snapper (132 pounds), a Louisiana state record Black Grouper (108 pounds), and a Louisiana state record Dog Snapper (30 pounds).
Catching one record fish in a lifetime is enough for most anglers but landing three in one trip?! That is unheard of!
Crew Catches Three Fishing Records In One Trip Out Of Fourchon, Louisiana
Fourchon and Venice, Louisiana are sportsman’s paradises. Venice is where I spent a milestone birthday two years ago fishing for yellowfin tuna and up in the Mississippi River catching so many redfish we lost count. Offshore, the water temperature in the upper Gulf remains relatively stable year-round due to the massive water flow of the Mississippi River and isn’t impacted by warming in the Summer as much as other parts of the Gulf.
For example, where I live in SW Florida the water temperature today is 88F. That’s scalding hot by fishing standards.
It is also deep water in the fishing grounds off Fourchon and Venice, Louisiana. Boats are fishing in water up to 3,000 feet deep amongst the oil rigs. The rigs provide structure for bait fish to hide from in the open water and this in turn brings in all sorts of pelagic species and big ‘ol fish. This confluence of factors all led to this one special outing:
Among the anglers who caught record-setting fish were Jake Peterson who landed the 109.5-pound Black Grouper, Jason Diver who caught the 30.5-pound Dog Snapper, and Captain Joey Maciasz who reeled in the 131.2-pound Cubera Snapper.
Side note: I’m still salty that my wife caught a Louisiana state record Rainbow Runner when we went fishing there two years ago but we filleted it and ate it before weighing it and looking up the record. The state record for that species is 26.0 pounds and her fish was easily over 30 pounds… But I digress. Scroll through these pics and check out the spectacular fish:
What’s the saying… ‘it hurts to see someone else live your dream?’ If anything this makes me want to book another trip in Louisiana again ASAP. Last time I flew from Florida and could only fly home with the fish that would fit in a cooler on the plane. Next time I’m driving and coming home with as much tuna as I can fit inside multiple YETI coolers in a trunk. It’s more ‘catching’ than ‘fishing’ down there.