Many anglers dream of catching a state record, or possibly even a world record. For Joey Maciasz and his crew, that dream came true, multiple times in one trip.
Maciasz runs Down the Bayou, or DTB Charters, out of Port Fourchon. On June 1, 2026, he set out in the Timbuktu, his 44-foot American Aluminum Marine boat, (985-859-8584, www.facebook.com/AmericanAluminumMarine) custom built in Gray near Thibodaux, for a 36-hour trip.
“It’s one of the best fishing boats I’ve ever been on,” Maciasz said. “It’s the first of its kind. It’s a very incredible boat that really gets the job done. We leave in the morning and come back the next evening. That allows us to go 250 miles and catch the morning and evening bite. We headed about 180 miles westward out of Port Fourchon to fish some rigs in 350 feet of water.”
The team fished day and night. They had a little luck in the morning, but then the action died down. They went for another six hours without a bite.
“Everybody was sleeping,” Maciasz recalled. “My second captain, Noah Callias, and I were the only two up working the rods. Everyone else was bored. I owe a lot of our success to Capt. Noah for his help over the years.”
Then, something swallowed the live hand-sized hardtail swimming near the bottom. Maciasz grabbed the rod and battled a giant fish for about 15 minutes before landing a 131.5-pound cubera snapper.
“After that, everybody woke up, Maciasz said. “One of my clients caught a 74-pound cubera.”
Marion Rose holds the current Louisiana state and International Game Fish Association all-tackle world record for cubera snapper at 124.5 pounds, caught around the Garden Bank in June 2007. Maciasz’s fish topped that by 7 pounds for a pending new state and world record for the species.
Big deep-sea fish
Few people intentionally fish for these toothy leviathans of the deep. Also called Cuban snapper, cuberas range throughout the western Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and the Gulf from Nova Scotia to Brazil. The behemoths of the snapper family, these massive predators love deep water and can measure more than 4 feet long.
“Cubera snapper are big, deep-sea fish,” Maciasz said. “Not too many people fish for them. We have more of them off the coast than most people realize, but they are very hard to catch. I caught two cubera snapper in 2019. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to figure them out. I’m still trying to figure them out. The same with black grouper.”
On the same trip, Jake Peterson, another client, caught the pending Louisiana record black grouper, which weighed 109.5 pounds. Currently, Bradley Cole Thurman holds the state record with a 106.20-pound fish. He caught that grouper in September 2020 while fishing South Timbalier Block 300.
Also called black rockfish, black grouper range from the northeastern United States south along the Atlantic coast to Brazil and throughout the Caribbean Sea and Gulf. The IGFA all-tackle world record stands at 124 pounds and came from Texas.
A night to remember
Another client, Jason Driver, landed a possible pending state record dog snapper, which weighed more than 30 pounds. Justin Kennon currently holds the Louisiana record with a 30.60-pounder caught off Eugene Island in September 2025.
Dog snapper look similar to cubera snapper with large canine teeth. They range from Massachusetts to Brazil and throughout the Caribbean and Gulf. The IGFA all-tackle world record weighed 31 pounds, 14 ounces and came from Texas waters.
“We caught all these big fish on live hardtails fishing right off the bottom in the same spot,” Maciasz said. “We hit the jackpot. We also caught day limits of grouper and red snapper. That was quite a trip, something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.”
Fishing with Maciasz in May 2025, Greg Smith landed the current IGFA all-tackle world and Louisiana record blackfin snapper at 11 pounds. He caught that fish in the Garden Bank area on a jig while fishing with 20-pound-test braid and a 50-pound-test leader.
“People need to put in the time to catch fish like this, but we had a lot of luck,” Maciasz said. “It takes a lot of luck to catch record fish. We never know when they might bite. We could be fishing for hours without a bite. Then, all of a sudden, wham! It’s a record.”
Maciasz’s guests stay in a 180-foot steel houseboat in Port Fourchon. The two-story barge can sleep up to 24 people. A professional chef prepares three meals a day for the guests.
To book a trip with Down the Bayou Charters, call 225-226-2781. Online, see www.downthebayoucharters.com.
