Greg Leger with a bull red he caught and released while fishing a tournament with his buddies in Fourchon on May 31, 2025.
“Fished a little company tournament. The plan was to run out for snapper. Get our snapper, head back in and get our trout, finish the day off trying to catch a big red. Tried to head out for snapper first thing in the morning but the weather picked up and ended up having to do 8 mph to get back in. Arrived at our trout spot to see the whole area covered in boats. As I pulled up closer, I noticed the spot we had marked the day before was open. Took us about an hour to get our limit of trout. I figured we had 1 or 2 trout that would get us close for the tournament. So, we switched gears to try and get a big red fish. After catching a few dinks, I spotted a big bull running up shallow. I threw my big copper blade spinnerbait with a Matrix Shad and boom the fight was on. She ran towards the middle of the canal stripping drag with me in hot pursuit with the trolling motor. She made a U-turn and came right across the bow of the boat back into the shallow marsh. Thinking she was starting to tire, I told Ross to get the net ready. She was not done yet. She ran down the side of the boat towards the back and under the boat I chased her to the back. Sure enough the line was snug somewhere under the boat. I handed the rod to Ross and jumped in the water. Got under the boat and freed the line. Jumped back in the boat and continued the fight! Finally, she was tired enough to get her netted. Was a great fight and I thought for sure we would have first for redfish. My dreams of winning 1st place for red was short lived. With the new regulation you cannot keep a red over 28 inches. We released her back into the water and called it a day. It was a great day on the water with my two best friends. For an added bonus we ended up winning first for trout!”