How to catch tarpon in Grand Isle?

Tarpon guys I have talked to all troll coon pops in west delta.

That's during the rodeo.

Fish Coon Pops made by the legendary Lance “Coon “ Schouest. Google him. Just offshore of 4 Bayou Pass is productive.

Everyone used to pull Pet 21 spoons on 6/0 Penn with 120#Dacron line on a 50# rod.

Coon and his family , Papa Joe ,Chris Doogie and Trudy revolutionized tarpon catching in Louisiana. It was always the “Terrebonneaires vs the Fourchons vs the Marsh Hens.”

Good times in the 70’s and 80’s.

My Daddy caught Tarpon in Caminada Pass and Barataria Pass. A long time ago.

I fish tarpon every summer … I’m one of the baws from Terrebonne … actually was on the boat that caught the rodeo record a few years back

Like the guys above said… troll … I e troll using a troll
Motor, not the big engine… pulling 6 coon pops at different lengths…

4 bayou, west delta, NE pass, Briton island are all good bets toward the end of July. Can be very boring at times… but nothing is more exciting when you finally get a hook up

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Vermilion Bay used to be one of the best tarpon fisheries in the world

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How far back are you talking about because in my lifetime I've rarely heard of tarpon being caught there. Like lake pontchartrain rare(which has dramatically dropped since the 1970s and has little to do with pogey boats).

And how much of that $66M goes to the two foreign companies raping our waters? The number of jobs employing Louisiana residents is minuscule.

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Awesome. Are y’all just trolling an area and hoping or are there specific things you know to look for?

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Sometimes we could get word from the pogey spotters. Or someone would fly a plane out to find them.

Billy Wurzlow who flew seaplanes took Johnny Lyons, Maurice Matthieu and Doogie Schouest to Ship Shoal to spot tarpon. The GOM was slick calm. They spotted a large school and landed a Cessna seaplane in the GOM.!

I think it was Maurice who got on one of the floats while Billy taxied across the GOM and started dragging a bait. They hooked one fought it to submission. One of them took of their necktie and threaded it through the gills. Pulled it into the airplane and flew back to Houma.

Coonasses can and will do anything.

When we get to the area we look for schools of fish on the surface. Or the pogey boats. As someone said there were schools of tarpon along the coast everywhere.

I haven’t fished them in thirty years.

Houma has some of the finest tarpon fisherman anywhere.

I’m not one of them.

Look for slicks … diving birds … and if the tarpon are there, you will see them
Rolling… the big schools are hard to hook up on… when the singles are rolling, to me, their easier to catch

We have a lot of electronics as well… have live scope on the boat - so we follow them around casting and trolling

Friend,

Louisiana style tarpon fishing is the most boring style of fishing in the world. I would rather cut up a plastic cup from Time Saver, spool it, and fish in New Orleans drainage canals.

Louisiana tarpon fishing is usually done offshore. The West Delta blocks between Grand Isle and the southwestern foot of the delta, usually in under 100 feet of water and the mud lumps just off South Pass from July to September is when and where. During a warm Fall you’ll still find a few in early October.

The with what — coon pops — has already been noted. You can also troll weighted jumbo cockahoe minnows with a circle hook, but coon pops catch the most.

The how is the most painful. Trolling at one knot, essentially idling through baitfish. This is hardly sport. It is largely an unskilled errand for a trophy. Even worse is that most Louisiana anglers outgun for tarpon with Penn 30s and 50s.

Sure, Louisiana is one of the top spots to catch a 200 pound tarpon, but I’d rather sight cast a fly to a 50 pound tarpon in the flats than catch a 250 pound tarpon doing it Louisiana style.

Yours,
TulaneLSU

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There are some fly fishing guides out of Hopedale that are offering tarpon trips on fly in the summer. Look up Miles LaRose/ Shallow South. He's a pro and a great guy. He's been on them for a few years now.

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Yeah more and more guides are starting to actively lure fish for them out around those islands. I also agree with TulaneLSU regarding methodology of targeting them. I wouldn't spend a penny to troll for them but I'd pay a wad to get a good shot at one sight fishing.