It felt weird — catching snappers in the wide open.
No rig. Nothing to mark the spot. Nothing but open water.
No bottom structure was visible even on the depth sounder screen — just a few fish holding over a spot on the bottom.
“There are thousands — I wouldn’t hesitate to say millions — of spots like this off Louisiana,” Ed Frekey said nonchalantly. “The lesson is not to get too dependent on rigs. I’ve seen a lot of prominent rigs removed in deep water. Find other places to fish.”
Ricky Ruffin agreed.
“In the future, you’re going to have to learn to find structures on the bottom,” he said. “Top structures will be gone. There’s a whole lot more like these that folks haven’t found yet.
“It takes time, but you have to do it.”
The pair started ticking off prominent rigs that have been pulled and are gone: Grand Isle 82, Grand Isle 103, South Timbalier 151, South Timbalier 260.
“They are all gone,” Ruffin said.
Frekey got many of his precious readings by swapping information with other fishermen, including commercial snapper fishermen. One particular treasure trove came from a retired commercial fisherman.
Some of his readings also came from watching his depth sounder screen closely when running his boat. When he sees something interesting, he marks it and checks it out.
“It’s amazing how many spots I have found like this,” Frekey said. “I recommend that people travel slow and watch carefully.”