The weather is mild and the fish are hungry
Fall is here. The weather is cooling down and the fishing is heating up. With the oppressive summer heat gone, there is no better time for comfortable kayak fishing. If you are looking to catch a big fish out of your kayak, now is the time and Grand Isle is the place. Bull reds continue to congregate in large schools all around the island and nearby Elmer’s Island. A kayak can place you literally inside a giant school of bulls with a feeding frenzy going on all around you.
First, consider the regulations and conservation. Bull reds are now off limits to keep, but are still legal to catch. All fish over 27 inches must be released. Now is a great time for both the angler and the fish, as the milder air temperatures and lower water temperatures puts less stress on both. Bulls are hard fighters and can take a little while to land. After a quick photo op, use the kayak to pull the big red along and wash water through its mouth and over its gills. They quickly revive this way, and when they give a few kicks, you can tell they are ready for release. Gentle handling and minimizing time out of the water ensures that they swim away healthy.
While you can anchor the kayak off the shore and wait for a school to come by, the odds can be increased by slowly moving along watching for signs of fish activity. Big, active schools of bull reds are easy to spot. Look for birds diving or sitting. Nervous schools of bait or areas of disturbed water can lead to locating some great bull red action. If you have a fish finder, it is even easier. The schools of bulls are unmistakable when your screen lights up with many big, red arches. If you have a line in the water, it will likely get bit.
A feeding frenzy
If you are lucky enough to find a full-on feeding school of bulls, the sights, sounds, smells and actions are like nothing else. A bull red feeding frenzy turns the water orange and is packed with chaos.
Bulls herd large schools of baitfish, and the feeding action is pure pandemonium. Sometimes the action is in open water, but oftentimes the bulls use the shoreline to force the bait against the beach where they gorge mercilessly. It is not uncommon to see bait jumping onto the sand in their frenzied efforts to escape. I’ve even seen instances where the bulls also end up on the beach during the crazy action. The bait is more often pogies but may also be shrimp or other baitfish.
If you find yourself in a bull red feeding frenzy, bait or lure choice is not a big concern. Although a baitfish imitation is always a good idea, the type, color, and size are not as big a concern as it is using a lure with strong enough hooks to withstand the battle. If you get a bait in front of their face, chances are it will get bit. Heavy topwater lures or stout suspending baits are always a good bet. However, shrimp, croakers or a chunk of cut bait or crab also works well.
Grand Isle hotspots
Grand Isle has three main areas to catch bulls. In Caminada Pass, on both the east and west sides of the bridge, on either the island or chenier side. The bulls frequent the area of the bridge and fishing piers but can be located nearly anywhere in the pass. The schools travel in random patterns and can be massive in size or only a handful together at a time. However, multiple bites are common at one time. If you have more than one line in the water, you may find yourself battling more than one fish at a time. It can be successfully done, but is a unique situation in a kayak. However, if a couple of kayaks are fishing together, it is not unusual for multiple anglers to hook up at the same time.
At the opposite end of the island is Barataria Pass. It is equally good for finding schools of bulls and is less fished by kayak anglers for a couple of reasons. The pass is very deep and more often used by large shrimp boats and offshore oil and gas supply vessels. Stay vigilant as the tiny profile of a kayak is not easily visible to these large boats. As in Caminada, the current in Barataria can be very strong and hard to make headway in a kayak. On a high tide range day, stick to the outer edges and beach areas of the pass where the current is not as strong.
The front side of the island has miles of sandy beach and intermittent rock jetties. This time of year, the beach sees many flat calm days, which are perfect for spotting action, and provides smooth waters for the kayak. The beach can be accessed from either pass or by rolling the kayak over the levee at one of the many beach access areas spaced across the island.
While the chenier side of Grand Isle runs towards Elmer’s Island, there is a dedicated parking area that gets you just a couple hundred yards from the water in Elmer’s. A kayak cart with beach wheels makes for easy access across the generally hard-packed sand beach. Once in the water, you can fish the beach up to Fourchon or down to Grand Isle. This area regularly sees giant schools of bulls traveling and feeding along the beach.
Note that Elmer’s is a wildlife refuge and requires anglers to have a WMA access permit and to check in and out on a daily basis. Check-in/out can be done at the front entrance via provided cards or more easily, using the WMA app on your phone.
There really is no better time than now to chase bull reds in the kayak. The weather is better for the anglers and the fish. Grand Isle is a one-stop shop for bulls right now and they can be found almost anywhere along the island.
