Huge yellowedge caught during Blue Boot Rodeo
Steven Vicknair of Belle Chasse proved that the old adage, “better late than never,” can apply to fishing.
Vicknair, a tug boat captain, worked the night of July 9, so he got a late start the next day in the Blue Boot Rodeo out of Grand Isle. Fishing with his father-in-law, Gary Voiron, and his daughter, Nora Vicknair, on Voiron’s 28-foot Cape Horn boat, Vicknair didn’t get out of Grand Isle into the Gulf until around 1:30 p.m.
It didn’t take long to make up all that missed fishing time. At around 3:30, on the second stop they made, Vicknair jigged up a huge yellowedge grouper that is potentially the Louisiana state record: a 47-inch, 48-pound monster.
The fight
Vicknair hooked the fish in 500 feet of water on a yellow JYG730 Slow Pitch jig fished on a Shimano rod and Shimano Tekota reel spooled with 60-pound Power Pro braid and a 150-pound monofilament leader…