Ulysse “Bootsie” Toups won the Southeast Division with a 5.22-pound speckled trout he weighed in at Grand Isle’s Bridge Side Marina.
The Nautic Star Toups hauled away from the awards ceremony was the second boat he’s won in the STAR. He also won in 2003.
“It was just a regular morning,” he said of the trip during which he caught his latest tournament-winning trout. “We got out there early, got our bait. Me and my son (Coby) went out there, and were fishing the surf for a little while along Elmer’s Island, and I saw a nice spot where the water was real clean close to the beach.
“It was a dark color between the sandbars, and they had some bait hitting up in there, and he and I got in there, and we got us some nice trout out of there.
“The mullet were running in there. They were right on the beach. I mean, the first bar.
“It was early when the fish bit.”
Toups’ biggest trout ever was an 8.04-pounder, so he’s got quite a bit of experience with the hit and run of big specks. He knew right away that the fish was a nice one.
“These big trout, when you set the hook, they make that big swirl on top of the water,” he said. “I knew it was a good trout.”
The fish didn’t hit some magic, mystery bait.
“It hit a Carolina-rigged live croaker, which is what I fish all the time in the summer,” Toups said. “My son netted the fish. He would be getting this boat right now if he wouldn’t have caught his fish the day before the STAR tournament. It was a 5.58. He won the Grand Isle Speckled Trout Rodeo with that trout.”
Toups knew when he weighed the fish at Bridge Side that it was the STAR leader, but he didn’t hold much hope it would stay in that position very long.
“I was real nervous,” he said. “You know, recent years, it’s a 6(-pounder) or better to win a boat. I didn’t think it was going to hold out, and then when we got around to that last week with (Hurricane Isaac), I lucked out.”
Toups plans to sell the Nautic Star, only because of his fondness for his current boat.
“I fish a Sea Cat now,” he said. “It’s only 21 feet, but I love it — the way it takes the water. It’s perfect for the beach.”
Catching trophy trout, obviously, isn’t easy, but Toups has some advice for those who want to increase the size of the fish they catch.
“Get some quality bait — good croakers — and get there early in the morning,” he advised. “Ideally, you want 3- to 4-inch croakers. They use those big monster croakers in Venice, but our croakers are not that big around Grand Isle.”
Toups’ terminal tackle isn’t anything fancy. He uses Carolina rigs with 30-pound-test monofilament leaders and weights of varying sizes depending on the current, and he shuns treble hooks for an interesting reason.
“I like a kahle hook because there’s not as much blood in the boat,” he said. “When you catch them with that treble hook, there’s so much blood.”
He also avoids areas where small fish roam.
“I fish the beaches all the time,” he said. “If I can’t get on the beach, I fish around the passes because I don’t think a big trout is going to come out of the bay.”
