What are the odds? Houma Man Catches Same Tarpon Twice Along Gulf Coast

Houma resident Jeff DeBlieux couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw a green CCA Alabama tag from a tarpon caught on August 28 that matched a tag he put on in July 2021. “What are the odds?!” the fisherman exclaimed.

Rewind to July 16, 2021, when the Rock & Roll crew, consisting of Jeff DeBlieux, his brother John DeBlieux, and some buddies, went tarpon fishing off the coast of Orange Beach, Alabama. They caught two tarpons that day which they tagged with the green CCA Alabama tags and then released. John DeBlieux caught the first fish of the day, and the second one, estimated to be over 150 pounds, was tagged with CCA Tag #17313. They watched the massive fish swim away.

On August 28, 2022, Jeff DeBlieux said they went to Breton Island in Louisiana to fish. They usually fish around the mouth of the river due to the tarpon’s natural migration patterns, but they noticed that tarpons were mainly around the island. They caught two tarpons the day before and he said they weren’t feeling lucky on the 28th, “We were casting and casting trying to hook one,” Jeff DeBlieux said, “and there was a gentleman nearby having the same fun.”

He said they were close enough to the man that they could yell to him, “Good luck.” That was when the day changed for everyone on the water that day. While driving away, The Rock & Roll received a call on the radio from the other gentleman saying he had a big fish with a tag on its back and he could not keep the fish steady because he was by himself. They turned around and Jeff DeBlieux jumped in the boat to help. He was then introduced to Lake Charles charter fisherman Andrew Soileau. The tarpon was barely hooked, DeBlieux said, and he knew as soon as the pressure on the leader was let go, the fish would have gotten away.

After Soileau fought with the monster fish for a while, they were able to pull the tarpon next to the boat. Soileau pulled the slimy tag from the tarpon and DeBlieux replaced it with a yellow CCA Louisiana tag. DeBlieux is part of the Grand Isle Tarpon Club that partners with LSU for Tarpon research, so he snagged a scale and fin clip for future research, revived the fish, and the hook fell out allowing it to swim away. They estimated the tarpon to be between 180 and 190 pounds.

Andrew Soileau (left) called out to Rock & Roll for help. Jeff DeBlieux (right) jumped in the boat to help.

Congratulations and high fives were given. The slime was removed from the tag which is when DeBlieux noticed it was a green CCA Alabama tag, “There’s no dang way,” DeBlieux told himself. He noticed the tag number fell into the range of tag number he had, and sure enough, the tag read #17313; the same tarpon he caught in Alabama a little more than a year ago. The fish was at large for 409 days in which DeBlieux said the fish swam from Florida towards Louisiana, back to the east, and then back to the Louisiana coast. They estimated the fish to have grown by 30 pounds in the 409 days.

DeBlieux has been fishing tarpon since 1977 and is passionate about the hunt for the “Silver King.” He said it’s a hard fish to master and you may go all day with only a bite, but the fight is worth it, “It’s all about the fight. We enjoy the fight, tag, then release,” he said. This isn’t the only time DeBlieux was involved in a once-in-a-lifetime fishing adventure. In 2015, a tarpon was caught and made not only a record in Louisiana but also in the United States. The massive record-breaking fish was caught by David Prevost, the White Kap, and was 246.6 pounds. 

USA & Louisiana Record Tarpon caught out of Grand Isle Louisiana in 2015 at
246.6 pounds.
David Prevost (right) and Jeff DeBlieux (left) are pictured.

The 2021 Louisiana Tarpon Initiative consists of researchers from LSU that developed satellite and acoustic tags to track both fine-scale and large-scale movements of tarpon in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Partners include the Grand Isle Tarpon Club, Mississippi State, Louisiana Wildlife & Fisheries Foundation, ORVIS, and CCA Louisiana. The research also entails scale samples and fin clips that can analyze DNA and identify the fish’s diet. According to the Louisiana Sportsman, comparing DNA samples from past and future catches provides a definitive picture of which fish are recaptured. The information is essential because “ the tarpon’s highly-migratory ways, plus its challenging nature, makes it a more difficult species to study than other common inshore targets like redfish or speckled trout.”

The Rock & Roll crew continues to fish along the Gulf coast to help tarpon research and are going to Texas in two weeks. To follow along the journey of DeBlieux and the “Silver Kings,” follow him on Instagram at @jeffDeBlieux. If you’re interested in joining the Grand Isle Tarpon Club and getting involved in the research process, you can request to join the group on Facebook here.