‘Snaggin good time’

SIMMESPORT -- If you ask Marcus Dupree, “snaggin is always better at night,” and after a fishing trip to the Mississippi River, it might be safe to say that Marcus knows what he’s talking about.
The Pine Prairie resident, along with a group of friends, recently loaded up their 15 foot long snaggin poles, tackle boxes, and Marcus’s homemade aerator - a device they used to circulate water in an ice chest to provide oxygen to the fishermen’s live bate to set lines- in the bed of their trucks. They then began their two hour journey to the hydroelectric dam in Simmesport, La. around 3:00 p.m. on a Friday afternoon.
When they arrived at the dam, each fishermen pieced their massive poles together and prepared for an exhausting but thrilling experience along the rocky banks of the Mississippi, which “there is no better place to be” according to Marcus’s younger brother Garrett.
Marcus’s friend Hayden Guidroz, early on in the fishing adventure, said, “Snaggin is fun because you gambling pretty much. You never know what you gonna hook into, if you hook into anything at all.”
For a while, the gamble didn’t seem to be paying off for the group of four, but then the sun began to set and Marcus’s belief that snaggin is better at night was about to be put to the test.
Marcus said, “You can sometimes go hours without catching anything, and then they can turn on. The next thing you know, you catching back to back, and then they’ll just stop.”
Around 8:30 p.m., with only the moon, a fire, and a few lights from the dam, allowing the fishermen to see, Marcus felt something pulling on his line when he tries to yank his poll and reel in.
In that moment, the 23-year-old’s words rang true and the fight to reel in whatever Marcus’s hook had latched onto began.
“When you catch one, they generally are a good size fish,” said Marcus. “And, they always put up a fight, which makes it fun.”
About five minutes later, Marcus’s fight had ended and the first catfish of the day was caught weighing in at seven pounds.
According to Marcus, although catching a catfish is the goal of their snaggin trips, catching anything is fun.
Marcus said, “One of my favorite things about snaggin is when you hook into a fish and it starts dragging you down the rocks. Regardless if it’s a catfish or not, you gonna enjoy it.”
The group of guys ended their trip with one catfish and one spoonbill, which was caught by Tristan Hebert.
However, the amount of fish caught isn’t what really makes the trip for the small town boys.
Marcus said, “I try to go snaggin once or twice a week and although you never really catch a lot, it’s nice just being out here where it is quiet and peaceful. There is no cell phone service so you aren’t distracted. One of the best parts too is that I get to just hangout with some of the guys that I actually went snaggin with for the first time ever.”