29-inch fish caught Friday tight-lining green-sparkle soft plastic
Among friends and relatives, Ted Samanie is known as “the man” in Schriever when it comes to speck fishing, and his latest achievement might spread word of his title to more of south Louisiana. On Friday, March 31, he bagged a speck that measured 29 inches and reportedly weighed a touch heavier than 10 pounds.
Samanie and his partner Brent Verdin, also of Schriever, were fishing close to the ramp in Pointe-aux-Chenes and were on their way to a limit when Samanie thought he hooked a shark.
“He said, ‘I think I’ve got shark,’ and I told him that ain’t no shark,” Verdin said. “When he got it a little closer to the boat, I got the net and scooped the fish up. When I got it into the boat, the bottom of the net ripped out.”
The pair put the monster on ice and resumed working on their limit. According to Verdin, there was never any question as to what would happen to the fish.
“Ted said he’d rather eat it than it collect dust on the wall [as a mount],” he said.
While fish of this size are unusual, the spot Verdin and Samanie were fishing has a record of kicking out larger-than-average fish. Verdin heard the spot from his cousin who has pulled 26- and 27-inch trout from it.
The duo was tight-lining soft plastics along the bottom when the beast struck. All told that day, they caught 41 fish.
“Usually when we go, we take turns beating each other,” Verdin said. “Sometimes he’ll catch more then other I will, but that time he put a whipping on me.”
