Hays Burleigh grew up in Prairieville, but fished the Grand Isle and Fourchon areas his whole life. He liked the Fourchon area so much, he bought the marina! He’s not just the co-owner. He’s a customer.
Burleigh joined the Marine Corps in 2007 and served in Iraq. He spent six years in the Corps. Today, he runs All Fins Fishing Charters out of Fourchon Marina. About a year ago, he bought the marina in partnership with Jerrad Roden.
“The marina is about 10 miles west of Grand Isle and 10 minutes by car south of Leeville,” Burleigh said. “We’re where Highway 1 turns east to go to Grand Isle.”
Located at 288 Flotation Canal Road, the marina sits on the Flotation Canal just minutes from the Gulf. The full-service marina sells fuel, bait and ice. People can buy snacks and supplies in the store and three meals a day. Visitors can also select from several lodging options with all the amenities of home.
“The marina was fully functional when we bought it, but we’ve been cleaning it up and making some improvements,” Burleigh said. “We’re the only place in south Louisiana that sells live eels. We’re here to make everyone’s fishing experience exceptional. Our on-site store is stocked with live bait, tackle and tasty snacks to keep everyone well prepared for a great catch. For those looking for a home base, we provide slip rentals for boats up to 70 feet long.”
A limit of red snapper
Besides All Fins Fishing Charters, several other inshore and offshore fishing charter services run out of the marina. While the inshore anglers concentrate on catching speckled trout, redfish and flounder, in June, most offshore boats head into the Gulf to catch red snapper.
“In June, we do a lot of red snapper and swordfish combination trips,” Burleigh said. “We also catch a lot of tuna in June. We like to give our customers a trip where they might catch many different species.”
For red snapper during the season, Burleigh starts about 10 miles from the marina. Depending upon the weather and what the customers want, they might head as far as 40 to 50 miles offshore for bigger brutes.
“Snapper fishing has been pretty good the last few years,” Burleigh said. “Usually, we don’t spend more than 20 to 30 minutes to get a red snapper limit. The farther we go out, the less time we need to spend catching a limit. I go to some spots that are a little farther away than where most other people go. We normally fish for snapper in 80 to 300 feet of water.”
Some anglers only want to catch the biggest ones. That’s when Burleigh heads farther out. Regularly, Burleigh catches red snapper in the 15- to 20-pound range in June.
“We catch some big red snapper,” he confirmed. “It depends on what the customers want to do. If they just want to target the biggest snapper, it might take a little more time to catch a limit. If they want to catch a limit of 10- to 12-pounders, which are better to eat, we get a quick limit and go do something else. I have some snapper spots 10 miles from shore and some 40 to 50 miles out.”
Bonus species to bring in
Around any rig, reef or wreck off the Louisiana coast, anglers might catch many other species while bottom fishing for red snapper, frequently with considerably less regulation and more liberal limits than red snapper.
“While bottom fishing for red snapper, we might also catch scamp, gag grouper, beeliners, sometimes lane snapper,” Burleigh said. “Those are pretty common bycatch when fishing for red snapper.”
A very common Gulf species, beeliners look similar to a small red snapper with a relatively short snout about the size of the width of its eye. Beeliners typically average less than 1 pound and rarely top 5 pounds, but can exceed 7 pounds. Use smaller tackle and fish with shrimp or smaller pieces of squid. Since they don’t grow as large as many other reef fish, beeliners tend to stay a little farther from the reef structure to avoid predators.
Candy snapper appear bright rosy red with broken horizontal yellow stripes on their sides. The tail and pectoral fins are light red with soft dorsal, anal and ventral fins in yellow. One of the smallest snapper species in the Gulf, lane snapper seldom reach more than about 18 inches long.
Many people consider mangroves the smartest and most challenging members of the snapper family to catch. The notorious bait stealers typically weigh less than 10 pounds, but can top 18 pounds. Mangroves tend to remain higher in the water column and commonly congregate around the legs of platforms. Some anglers flip live baits for them.
Mangroves eat almost anything that swims, but they can cunningly avoid hooks while slurping bait. They might hit flies, soft plastics, spoons, even an occasional popper, but relish live baits. A live croaker or pogie about 2- to 4-inches long makes an excellent live bait. Use fluorocarbon leaders and no weight. Drop the bait next to the steel or pick a specific fish to target.
Cobia, swordfish and more
Depending upon the depth and bottom structure, anglers might also catch amberjack, triggerfish, spadefish and several species of grouper. While dropping baits to the bottom, set out a drift line with a live bait, squid or fish chunk. That might attract cobia, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, perhaps even a wahoo or sailfish.
Among the most vicious and tasty fish in the sea, cobia could materialize anywhere at any time. Also called lings or lemonfish, cobia love to eat hardhead catfish, eels and just about anything else. Keep a live bait rigged to pitch at any cobia that appear on the surface. Cobia also hit jigs.
“We catch a lot of cobia when snapper fishing,” Burleigh said. “Sometimes, we’ll catch them on the bottom and sometimes they come up near the boat. In June, we might also catch king or Spanish mackerel.”
When running from place to place, make good use of the time by trolling artificials, such as spoons, feather jigs, squid baits, divers or live baits. This could attract the attention of king mackerel, large Spanish mackerel, cobia, dolphin fish, wahoo, tuna, perhaps even large snapper or amberjack. In blue water, the catch could include wahoo and billfish.
“After catching our snapper limit, one of my favorite things to do is go for swordfish,” Burleigh said. “If we catch a limit of snapper in 30 minutes, we have the rest of the day to catch swordfish.”
For swordies, anglers need extremely deep water. Burleigh heads for the Mississippi Canyon or Green Canyon to look for swordfish in 1,000 to 1,800 feet of water. To get down that deep, he uses about 3 to 6 pounds of lead weight.
“We do a lot of deep dropping for swordfish,” Burleigh said. “For swordfish, we usually use a dead squid or eel for bait. The weight is 100 to 150 feet above the bait about 100 to 150 feet above the bottom. With the bait that far from the weight, it looks like it’s swimming or drifting naturally. For fishing that deep, many customers prefer to use electric reels to bring a big fish up from the depths.”
Many people might not believe swordfish live this close to shore in the Gulf, but they do. Burleigh and his customers catch swordfish weighing about 80 to 100 pounds on average and some bigger ones. Some swordies approach 200 pounds.
“Our closest swordfish spots are around 40 miles from the marina,” Burleigh said. “Running out of Fourchon, it gets deep pretty fast. We can be in 1,000 feet of water about 40 miles from the marina.”
More than a marina
While returning to port, keep an eye out for tripletail, cobia and dolphin fish. These species like to hang just under the surface around grass lines and any floating debris. Tripletail particularly love to hover just under channel buoys and crab trap markers. For pure sport, few fish fight harder than a jack crevalle. On any summer day out of Fourchon, anglers could catch a dozen or more, possibly more than 20 different species.
“Fourchon Marina is more than just a marina,” Burleigh said. “It’s an ultimate Louisiana destination for both inshore and offshore adventures. After a day on the water, relax at our bar, enjoy live music or utilize our convenient fish cleaning station. Whether you’re docking for the day or looking for a longer stay, we welcome you with Southern hospitality and a commitment to making every visit exceptional.”
For booking trips with All Fins Fishing Charters, call 225-329-4413 or contact Burleigh through Facebook. Also contact him through the marina or find out more information by calling 985-396-2792. On line, see pfmarina.com/marina.
