Ride the Bull 14

Well, one of my favorite events of the year has finally come and that is the Ride the Bull Fishing Tourney. For those that have not heard about it, Ride the Bull is an annual kayak fishing tournament organized by CCA Louisiana and hosted by Bridgeside Marina at Grand Isle, Louisiana. The fishing takes place in Caminada Pass and the 2025 event marked the 14th running. Every time I make the trek over there I have just as much fun as the year before.

So, in a nutshell, here’s how it goes down. It’s a one day tournament, everybody fishes from a kayak, and the angler that lands the biggest bull red is the overall winner. Prizes are also awarded to the anglers who land the Top 10 fish. Anglers can fish by any legal means, except trolling, which allows the anglers a lot of latitude in how they might formulate their fishing strategies. Some throw artificial lures, others use live bait of various types, and still others will just sit and soak cut mullet or cracked crab on the bottom. There is no wrong way to go about the day and this tournament is perfect for all ages and experience levels. It is meant to be fun and everyone has a chance at catching a big bull red that can win some great prizes.

So the time came to make our trip down to Grand Isle and I could not have been more excited. I have been fortunate to get the invite through some of the guys out of the P.A.C.K. group from Houston – P.A.C.K. is short for Paddling Anglers in Kayaks and Canoes. Regardless of how the tournament might go we always seem to have a great time together. Oh, and before I forget, we eat really well while we’re in Grand Isle.

We showed up on Wednesday and rented the same cabin we always do, which is very close to the marina. Downstairs from there is where the captains meeting, dinner, and the awards ceremony is held. I arrived right around noon and Smalley and Ryan were already there and unloaded. We quickly got the greetings and small talk out of the way and it wasn’t long before we decided to go for a boat ride and see if we could find some fish. Since we were going to be there several days ahead of the tourney, I couldn’t resist the urge to trailer my skiff down and take advantage of some marsh fishing in South Louisiana. We hit the water and headed to one of the barrier islands. Not long into our drift, Smalley caught a nice redfish and it was just the right size for the grill. We continued fishing an hour or so, only to find the higher than normal water level and blistering afternoon sun very much not to our liking. We decided to head back and meet the rest of the group.

Everyone had made it to Bridgeside, including Will who had driven from northeast Texas, and Troy all the way from his home in Arizona. We all greeted each other and were happy to be together once again down in the Sportsman’s Paradise. That night we sat around catching up and coming up with the game plan for the next day. I talked Brad and Blain into getting on the boat with me and the other guys were going to slide into the pass and see if they couldn’t find a few fish.

The next morning came and after a hearty breakfast, we launched the boat with hopes to find a few fish. The weather was perfect, almost dead-calm and the beachfront was laid down. I decided to make a nearshore run with hope of finding some tripletail and maybe get lucky and find a few redfish schools. As we took off across the Gulf we could not have asked for better conditions. We ended up running out to one of the short rigs and didn’t find much hanging around there. Afterwards we headed back to the beach and found a bunch of birds working with fish busting the surface under them. As good as it looked, though, all we could pull out was ladyfish and gafftop with a few Spanish mackerel jumping here and there.

We hung around for a while and soon spotted the type of commotion we were looking for a short distance down the beach. About 500 yards down from us the water looked as if it was boiling and I knew it just had to be bull reds. Pulling up, the school turned and came right toward us, which made for some quick and easy hookups. Brad and I quickly hooked up but Blain missed his opportunity, too awestruck and engrossed in filming to put the camera down and grab a rod.

We stayed with that school for probably another two hours, landing a dozen or so healthy redfish, exactly the kind we’d be looking to catch on tournament day. Between the blazing sun and the exertion of fighting those reds our thoughts soon turned to A/C. All the other guys were strolling in as well and they too had found a few nice fish in the pass and had their minds pretty much set on where they’d begin their efforts on Saturday morning.

Friday dawned with storms scattered across the area and rather than getting on the water, we opted for heading to the beach to gather a few crabs for Saturday morning’s bait supply. We got lucky and caught around 30, which we agreed was probably plenty for all of us. That night we eased over to the captains meeting for a boiled shrimp dinner and discussion of all the rules and how the event would be conducted.

The next morning we all up early, bright-eyed and eager, and headed down to the launch. They blew the starting whistle and 261 kayakers were off and heading to the area they hoped would give them the winning fish. I knew about where I wanted to be from years past, where I’d caught a huge black drum, and where no fewer than six redfish had been caught in my immediate area. I tossed out a crab and began the wait.

Two and a half hours passed without a bite, neither did I see anybody around me catch a fish, so I decided to head across the pass and fish near the deeper channel. I ran into Brad and he was there as well. He began at the mouth of the pass and after not seeing much caught, he moved. We had guessed it might be a tough day due to the slack tide and sure enough it was. No one in our group caught a fish that day but hey, that’s fishing.

We got off the water around 1:00 and brought all our gear back to the cabin before heading over to watch the award ceremony. There were only 20 fish caught out of 261 registered anglers, which ought to tell you it was indeed a tough day. You can plan lots of things when preparing for a tournament, unfortunately you cannot plan the tides and weather.

The overall first place winner landed a bull red that weighed 32 pounds, which is a really nice fish. As I mentioned earlier, this tournament is a lot of fun and they have been including a costume contest every year as part of the entertainment. Well, Brad seems to be the crafty one of our group and always shows up with something clever. He certainly did not disappoint this year. His “Waldo” took home the prize for best costume so at least someone in our crew brought something back to Texas.

We spent the evening sitting around under the cabin, feasting on crab-stuffed jalapenos, fried shrimp, speckled trout, and a few T-Bone steaks, just for good measure. Life was good and I am already looking forward to another trip down there next year to Ride the Bull.