Sean Rastanis is the assistant tournament director for the Bayou Coast Kayak Fishing Club, and on Dec. 30, he was doing some scouting in Leeville.
The morning started off pretty slow, but after getting a tip on some nearby action, he made a move and ran into fellow club member and two-time Hobie Fishing Worlds Champion Steve Lessard — who invited him to join in..
“Steve showed me what the fish were hitting and how to fish the lure. The next four hours were nothing short of epic,” Rastanis said. “We caught and released probably 40 to 50 trout ranging in size from 17 to 22 inches, and I can’t thank him enough”
Many trout fishermen mistakenly put away topwater lures once the summer ends. However, Rastanis is sure glad he had his: Fishing a MirrOlure She Pup, he caught three consecutive 20-inch trout.
Then every speck chaser’s dream happened: The next fish was a 27 ¼-inch beast that clicked the Boga Grip scale at 7 ½ pounds — his biggest speckled trout ever.
“The entire time I spent with Steve was a huge tutorial on how to target big trout, observing changes in the water to figure out where they might be located, and figuring out which baits to fish and how to fish them,” Rastanis said.
