Depsite BP oil spill and closed fishing St. Amant kid lands 51.8 black drum from kayak

When the alarm clock went off at 3 a.m. Saturday morning, David Kittrell got out of bed, went to the kitchen to make coffee and then woke his grandson, 9 year-old Cody Louviere.

   The grandfather from Prairieville and his grandson from St. Amant dressed then loaded the truck with two kayaks and plenty of fishing gear.  By 3:30 a.m. the pair was on the road for a  2 1/2 hour drive to Leeville for a day of saltwater kayak fishing. 

   Cody had fished with his grandfather many times in the power boat, but this would be his first trip in a kayak and would turn out to be one of the most memorable fishing trips of his life. 

   “Due to the BP oil spill, the fishing was closed on the east side of Hwy 1, but was still open for fishing on the west side of the highway, which is where we chose to fish,” Kittrell explained.

   By 6:30 a.m., Cody and his grandfather had unloaded the kayaks headed out on the water to begin a day fishing.

   “The water was unusually high this day and rose even higher as the day progressed,” Kittrell said. “We paddled to the west and followed the new Hwy 1 bridge until I spotted a small pond.”

   The pair anchored in the pond and begin fishing for red fish with a kahle hook and bait shrimp under a popping cork.

   According to Kittrell, within 30 minutes or so they caught a couple of nice sized reds. They continued to fish there for about 45 more minutes and then decided to pull a little further down and try another pond. 

   Within 15 minutes, Kittrell picked up another nice red on the bait shrimp. The pair continued to fish for another 45 minutes or so, then pulled down to another cut.

  Cody got two strikes on his line but lost both fish. 

   Before long, Cody had two keepers, a small black drum and a redfish. 

   For the next 45 minutes or so, they continued to fish the area with plenty of redfish activity, but no strikes. 

   Around noon, Cody got the strike that he would never forget. 

   He set the hook and held the rod high and began to reel him in. Within a few seconds, he stopped reeling, held the rod high with both hands and began yelling, “Help me pawpaw, I need help!” 

  “He had a look of shear panic on his face,” Kittrell recalled. 

  However, Cody had done this before in the power boat and his grandfather would always tell him to get it in on his own. 

  Today was no different and Kittrell yelled back, “No, Cody, you can do it!” 

  Within a few seconds the fish rolled to the top of the water and they both quickly realized it was no ordinary fish Cody had caught.

  Instead, he had a monster on the end of his line.

  “I knew the fish was at least as big as Cody and I initially thought it was a grouper,” Kittrell said.

  As he paddled closer to Cody’s kayak, the fish panicked and began to run.
  Kittrell told Cody to pull him back and as the fish got closer, he could see that the fish was a huge black drum.

  “It was the biggest that I had ever seen,” Kittrell said. “And I have been fishing saltwater all my life.”

  He wondered how Cody was going to land the huge drum with only a small dip net and no gaff hook.

  Kittrell instructed Cody to keep the rod up while he used the small dip net to come under the fish and over its head. 

  David rolled the dip net and raised the black drum’s tail out of the water.

   Though the tail was thrashing wildly and getting the boat and Cody and his grandfather soaking wet, they weren’t going to let the fish go.

  “I was trying to think how was I going to get this monster in the kayak without capsizing?” Kittrell said.

  “Cody’s kayak was not big enough for him and the fish,” David explained. “So Cody and I began hoisting the fish in my kayak. Both kayaks were very close to taking on water, but we finally got him in.”

  Cody and his grandfather knew they had a special fish, possibly a record breaker, and headed back to the landing immediately to weigh the fish at the bait shop.

  “When we got to the boat launch, an elderly gentleman that maintains the landing was there and I called him over to see the fish,” David said. “He said that he used to fish black drum commercially and that was the biggest black drum that he had ever seen.”

  When they tried to weigh the fish at the bait shop, it was too big for the scale, so they put it in a basket to weigh it.

  The black drum weighed 51.8 pounds and was over 49 inches long. 

  “Cody was extremely proud and excited,” Kittrell said. “I was so proud of him that I was beaming.”

  “It was surely Cody’s day – his first kayak fishing trip and maybe the biggest fish he would ever catch,” Kittrell continued. “This proved to be pawpaw’s most memorable fishing trip ever, also,” he added.

   With the BP oil spill having devastated much of the economy in South Louisiana due to closed fishing areas, Kittrell said his grandson’s big fish ought to be a bit of inspiration for area fishermen.

   “We sportsmen can’t do much for the commercial fishing industry, but we can help the sport fishing industry and the local bait shops, hotels, restaurants and other businesses by continuing to fish and patronize where fishing is still open,” Kittrell said, expressing concern over the oil spill’s damaging effects.

 “As a saltwater angler, I and my grandson, Cody, continue to fish the Leeville and Golden Meadow areas where fishing is currently still open,” Kittrell added.

“I encourage all sports fishermen everywhere to not let this oil spill beat us and cause our friends and local businesses to close forever.  Come down, fish and let’s keep South Louisiana open and productive.  If Cody can do it, so can you.”

Cody lives with his mom and dad, Shelton and Dawn Louviere, and twin sisters, Elizabeth and Emily, in St. Amant.  He is in the fourth grade and is home schooled.

  His grandfather, David Kittrell, lives with his wife, Patti, in Prairieville.  David and Patti own and operate Gulf South Battery Doctors on Hwy 44 in Gonzales. 

Cody caught the black drum on a Penn 4500SS reel with 12 lb. test monofilament line mounted on a 6-foot Zebco Rhino rod.  Cody, David, and Shelton are all members of Bayou Coast Kayak Fishing Club in Louisiana.