May begins local rodeo splurge

In Louisiana, warm weather means it’s time to be outdoors.

And when it’s time to be outdoors, it’s also time to fish!

May marks the beginning of a three-month surge in local fishing rodeos around the area – a fun-filled stretch for any Sportsman’s Paradise lover.

Over in Morgan City, the stakes are even higher because they’re fishing to raise much-needed money for higher education.

The 3rd Annual Morgan City Oilfield Fishing Rodeo is May 9 with proceeds benefitting Nicholls State University’s petroleum services technology department, South Central Louisiana Technical College’s Young Campus and the Boy Scouts of America.

Last year’s event gave $16,000 combined to the causes, with Nicholls receiving a $10,000 share.

“This is a great day and a great event,” rodeo administrator Tammy Stevens said. “It’s a fun-filled family event that everyone comes to and enjoys.”

The rodeo is a one-day inshore event that crowns champions in four categories: redfish, bass, speckled trout and catfish.

Fishing hours for the rodeo are 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the weigh-in is at the rodeo’s headquarters, the Patterson Civic Center.

You don’t have to fish to go to the civic center.

Stevens said there will be music, door prizes and fun at the Civic Center throughout the day – a chance for folks to mingle.

The event organizer also said there will be enough food – hamburgers, fried fish and crawfish – to feed an army.

“Anyone can come to this event and have a good time,” Stevens said. “It’s not just something that a fisherman would enjoy.”

The day before the fishing rodeo, there will be a scramble golf tournament at The Atchafalaya Golf Course at Idlewild.

“It feels so good to be able to give back,” Stevens said. “At the end of the weekend after all of the fishing is done and everything, it’s a really great thing to be able to give back to a worthwhile cause around our community.”

Donations to the cause are also welcome. •

Outdoors