Paddlepalooza 2026: My Way

I’m honored to be on the Bayard Coast Kayak Fishing Club Board, and would like y’all to know that we all worked very hard to bring you the best kayak fishing tournament on the gulf coast. Thanks to Pack and Paddle, 4Horseman Tackle, Zook Fishing, Topwater Co, and Tony Chachere’s for the captain’s bags, and thanks to J.R. Baudin for the Captain’s Meeting Pastalaya. Thanks to Lafourche Landing, Ryan and Lindsay Gaudet for the hard work processing and preparing our catch. Thanks to Bridgeside Marina for hosting. Thanks to participants for paying the bills. We couldn’t do it without ya’ll! Nor would we.

So I arrived Thursday evening and began greetings and hanging out immediately. We did open pit and Jay Schultheis grilled chicken, sausage, pork steak, stuffed pork loin and Robert Burkhardt’s personally procured, processed and prepared venison backstrap. Totally fabulous meal! It was a very relaxed, fun filled evening, totaly unplanned and unscripted relaxed evening. Pleasantries exchanged, challenges accepted, everyone made their way to showers and bunks.

At 4 AM, everyone in the officers suite began stirring. Cafe Bustelo consumed and everyone rolled out to pre-fish. This is a very secretive thing, as noone reveals the area they’re fishing, to protect the fish they think are waiting. I let them all go, and launched right there at Bridgeside, alone except for 2 others.
I motored across Caminada Pass and began throwing a beat up white Skitterwalk(that I liberated from Steve Lessard) at the rocks on the north side. The current strong and water very clean, I was quickly rewarded with a beautiful 22″ trout. I cast several more times, catching 2 more over 20″, then took off, before anyone saw me. I went to the cut at Elmer’s and beat it up pretty bad, with very little success. I loaded up and drove to Leeville and was about to launch, until I saw Guy Delatte pulling up. He reported poor fishing in several areas I considered, so I drove back south to check the back side of Elmer’s. The tide had begun to change but I didn’t like the water quality, so ventured back towards LA1, encountering Conrad Sulzer loading up. He’d had mixed results and wasn’t satisfied either, so we agreed to try the Wildlife and Fisheries Kayak Launch together.

We encountered several anglers picking up who reported fairly poor results, but we went anyway. They were right! I skunked and Conrad only caught 1 dink trout. Lovely! We packed up and rolled towards Bridgeside.

The rest of my lodging included the Lafayette Kayak Fishing Club crew in the purple cabin I’ve stayed in the last 3 years, and I found Jonathan Aucoin already checked in and readying his rig for Saturday’s tournament. Benjamin Day and Kelly Mayhew were hanging out a few spots down and joined us at the picnic tables below for camaraderie and cocktails until Ben and I had to commence with the duties related to production. J.R. had the food under control and the officers grabbed willing volunteers to get Captain’s bags filled and registration check-in set. The food was awesome and everything went very well. The Captain’s Meeting is always fun because most competitors come and you get to see everyone. It ended fairly early and I showered and crashed pretty darn quick.

Showtime! Saturday morning I woke before my alarm. Luke Beslin reported Jonathan and Josh Redd were already gone and after enjoying some Cafe Bustello, and it’s effects, he to took off. I dilly dallied over to the marina, iced down and launched into much breezier conditions than predicted or yesterday. Aaron Clay and Matthew Mitchell were also launching, but no one else. Cool! I left before them and motored across the pass, finding noone in my target area. I took some pics while waiting for 6am and made my first cast with topwater at 601. Nada. I cast over and over to the area where I’d caught trout the day before. On the 10th cast, I was about to drift down the rocks looking for trout, when through the golden hour dimness, I saw a flash and watched my line fly past me in the heavy current. I had been running my motor 60% and pedaling to maintain position, but now, turned my motor off, reversed my drive and pedaled backwards hard. The wind and waves were hitting me at a 45 degree angle, pushing me right into the rocks, all this, while fighting the yet unseen fish. I got far enough away and got the fish close enough to see it was a big trout, then netted on 2nd attempt. WOW! I knew it was big! I got the net and topwater separated and was attempting to unhook, when my bow rammed the lone piling at the end of the first set of rocks, scaring the hell out of me! I backpedaled more and wrestled the hooks out with great difficulty as my hand couldn’t fit around the fish to get a good grip. Hooks out, I took a quick picture on my measuring board, and laid her to rest in my Rugged Road. I reset and moved back towards the point where we met, casting several more times before moving on.

At that point, it sunk in that I’d caught a winner. I texted the pic to our chat group and a couple others that I knew would share. When competitors see a trout like that, it has a huge effect on their attitude. I knew the extremely competitive wouldn’t even look at their phones, but most would. Let the psychological warfare begin!

I fished the inside of Elmer’s for a couple hours, then the pilings on the south side of Chenier, then the entrance to Bridgeside, including the fish cleaning area and rocks and pilings all around the marina and inside. Nada. I was loading up when J.R. pulled up on his side by side. He asked about my catch, so I showed him. In his glorious deep cajun accent, he said “Damn, dats a big@$$ trout!” I smiled and drove away.

I stopped at the Forbidden Hole and found the cleanest water in 2 days. I launched and threaded my go to Knockin Tails 4″ Chartreuse onto a 1/4 Oz Deathgrip XL, and was off. I caught a 21″ red within 15 minutes, and then a legal trout, then another. Josh called while driving by and was also looking for a flounder, so I told him I’d let him know. About 15 minutes later I felt a bump and pulled in what seemed like a tiny flounder, that wound up being 13″.

No celebration, no whooping! I didn’t think I had the juice. I figured I’d get Big Trout and the old man award, but was very good with that! So I kept fishing hard looking for a redfish upgrade, only catching smaller slots to add to the fish fry. I loaded up and got to Bridgeside around 340, put my Rugged Road in line and signed in.

Shortly after, the word had gotten around and people started asking me to see the trout. After seeing several hardcore competitors expressions, I knew it was something special. People said I would win, and I didn’t believe. I held it up at the weigh table to shouts and cheers from competitors and officers, and my adrenaline started pumping, hard! A little later, I sat with the Murphy’s and they convinced me that I’d won as no one else had over 10 pounds, and it started sinking in. Chris said now he was going to have to help carry my big @$$ around on the Native Kayak, and Janie said he’d probably get a hemroid. The table erupted and I went to tell Robert Burkhardt that I declined the ride, to figure something else.

From that moment on, the realization that I’d won was overwhelming. I watched friends pick up awards and clapped, but my mind was floating in disbelief euphoria. I watched the big guns that usually whip my butt take their awards, and then it was my turn. Indeed I won the Senior award, and 1st place Slam!

I’ve been saying all year that I’m still competitive, but having fun fishing is my first priority. I picked a dicey area that I believed held big trout because that’s fun to me. I rubbed the big trout in to many competitors during the tournament, because that’s fun to me. I kept fishing until the last minute because I like to fish, and that’s why I came. Persistence coupled with a little luck put me on top, and it is so great to finally win 1st place in a Bayou Coast Kayak Fishing Club tournament, much less the biggest of the year, and win a Native Hammer Kayak. It’s definitely a dream come true. I’ve dreamed of it since I first found Bayou Coast and saw the forum. Again, I say I wish that all of you could experience what I did last weekend.

The board and I will offer you opportunities, just go fishing, have fun and enjoy those things, and I hope the luck part will push you over.

I’d like to thank the people who help me stay on the water. I only have Zook Rods on my boat. My go to bait is the Knockin Tails 4″ Chartreuse. I only use 4HORSEMAN corks. Rugged Road carries my lunch, drinks and catch, because I’m able to carry them. Bluestorm PFD’s keep me safe. Thanks to Puglia’s for keeping me ready to fish! Massey’s keeps my Hobie working and me fishing. Thanks to all my friends who fish and laugh with me. Thanks to Diane who facilties my incessant angling addiction. Thanks to y’all for reading this stuff, being amused and supporting me.