Terrebonne’s people, places featured in “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
June 28, 2012
It’ll eat ya mind up: ‘Cajun Justice’ presents the rougarou and naval warfare
June 29, 2012
One of Davie Breaux’s fondest angling memories came when he was stranded with his family near the Fourchon jetties.
“A friend of mine passed by us and offered to tow us in, but I told him just to stop on his way back in and pull us – that’s serious fishing, when you stay out and wait to be towed back in,” Breaux says, laughing. “We caught our limit and placed in the event.”
Breaux has been a competitive fishermen for 20 years. He returns to the waters this month with his family to angle in the Golden Meadow-Fourchon International Tarpon Rodeo.
“My two boys have fished the rodeo since they were children,” says Breaux, who has also been a rodeo angler for 20 years. “Now the youngest is a senior in high school and the other is in college.”
Breaux and his sons are just a few of the estimated 400 to 500 people who compete in the rodeo every year. Each of the trio has placed in the event over the years, usually in the drum or red fish category. Breaux didn’t reveal the family fishing hot spots, but he did divulge that they drop lines rigged with fresh mullet and large live crabs near the coast.
The Grand Isle International Tarpon Rodeo is also scheduled to take over the Gulf of Mexico this month.
GMFITR and Grand Isle’s rodeo have been staples in south Louisiana for more than 50 years: Golden Meadow-Fourchon’s event dates back to 1948, and the Grand Isle rodeo – the oldest rodeo in the United States – goes all the way back to 1928.
Each event has bounced back from the impacts of the BP oil spill, a blow to the state’s saltwater fishing livelihood, and is back to the pre-spill number of participants.
“Last year’s turnout was really good,” GMFITR bookkeeper and treasurer John Maurer says. “People were anxious to get back to fishing.”
Maurer has been a long-standing part of the rodeo and served as president of the organization for five years before taking over the books.
“Most of our participants are ages 25 to 40, mostly guys,” Maurer says. “We get about 100 kids fishing in the tourney and participants usually come from Baton Rouge and New Orleans. It’s mostly locals. We don’t get many out of state people.”
The event has several draws, including freshwater and spear-fishing divisions.
“Most of the freshwater category competitors are children weighing in bass, bream and catfish,” Maurer says. “They are usually fishing brackish waters up near Larose.”
The rodeo’s spear-fishing division – big game hunting underwater –- has been around for several years. “We have four local dive clubs that participate in the event, and there are about 25 divers,” Maurer said. “They have had steady numbers over the years, and they weigh in lemon fish, king mackerel, sharks and stingrays.”
For those fishing from on top the water, speckled trout, black drum and red snapper fill up the leaderboard the fastest.
“Most people fish close to shore or the close in rigs because there are a lot of them,” Maurer says. “Usually people are fishing within ten miles of the beaches.”
Over on the beaches of Grand Isle, anglers are anxious to get on the water, so much that phone calls about the rodeo start rolling in at the beginning of January, when most all-around outdoors enthusiasts are still in the duck and goose blinds.
“The rodeo has a reputation of its own,” Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo coordinator Angela Pacaccio-Darvin says. “This is a premiere event for Grand Isle. People are calling and emailing in to the committee months in advance to see what the plans for the rodeo are.”
Anglers in the rodeo, which has a children’s and adult division, come from as far as Texas, Florida and even Atlanta. “Many people who are fishing the rodeo put out from Grand Isle,” says Pacaccio-Darvin, who has been with the event for 17 years. “We also have many entrants from the surrounding parishes.” The event is saltwater only, and promotes a catch-and-release format. Fish must be taken by casting, drift fishing, trolling or still fishing.
“Drum are popular weigh-ins,” Pacaccio-Darvin says. “In our stringer category, the five- trout stringer is popular and we also get a few entrants in our big came category, like marlin and tarpon.”
For Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo entrant P.B. Candies, of Des Allemands, fishing fun continues to be a family tradition.
“My dad and grandfather fished the rodeo, I’ve been fishing the rodeo for more than 20 years, and my wife and daughter also fish the rodeo,” Candies says. “We usually fish near shore for trout and reds or head offshore for snapper and lemon fish using a variety of live and artificial bait. The weather usually determines where we fish.”
Even though Candies has never won any awards in the event, the best award is camaraderie and quality time taking friends and family fishing.
“We compete leisurely,” Candies says, laughing.
Grady lloyd hoists a yellowfish tuna as weighmaster Marty Bourgeois checks the scale at the Golden Meadow-Fourchon International Tarpon Rodeo. The event returns this year on July 5, and the Grand Isle International Tarpon Rodeo follows on July 26.
