Wily veteran Don St. Germain of Jeanerette, who’s staying at his camp this summer, guided his daughter Lisa St. Germain Hebert and granddaughter Taylor Hebert around in the Lil Saint and came in before the 6 p.m. weigh-in Friday with the youngster smiling ear to ear on the first day of the 55th annual Iberia Rod & Gun Club Saltwater Fishing Rodeo. The 12-year-old had four fish on the Junior Division leaderboard after the scales closed to forge ahead in the race for Best All-Around Junior Division Fisherman.
St. Germain’s grandsons made their mark on the fishing rodeo, too, with enough fish aboard their boat No Mo Money to establish themselves as the crew to beat for the Boat Captain’s Award in the Inside Division. Heith St. Germain, captain, and Joshua St. Germain, co-captain, fished with their father Glenn St. Germain and fishing buddies Brock Pellerin and T.J. Bonin.
  
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LeBlanc said about 45 fishermen weighed their catch Friday.
“It was pretty darned good, man. It was a good first day. I knew with the Inside Division we’d be pretty busy because I knew we’d have a lot of Inside boats and the Runabouts weren’t coming in to beat the time,” he said.
Scales open today at 10 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. They will be open on Sunday, the third and final day, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Touchet was looking forward to Saturday’s Bass Division tournament scheduled to be held out of Cabot Landing on the Intracoastal Canal. The contest begins at safe daylight and ends at 3 p.m.
“Hopefully, it’s going to do very well. I had a lot of response on the phone. I’m just hoping we get it kicked off. We’re looking for a good turnout. I’d say 20 (boats) would be a good turnout. That’d be doing good for the first year,” Touchet said.
Taylor Hebert and her cousins Heith St. Germain and Joshua St. Germain are off to a good start. Hebert finished the day with first-place redfish (26.8 pounds) and sheepshead (3.4 pounds), second-place drum (19.8 pounds) and third-place croaker (.72 pounds).
“It was fun,” Hebert said about catching the redfish. “They thought it was a shark.”
She leads with 332 points. Wesley Arnold, with 253 points, and Taylor Evans, with 144 points, trail her in the Junior Division.
Don St. Germain, her skipper and the dean of fishing rodeo fishermen on the water at age 78, said, “Oh, it was nice, really nice. The weatherman had us worried. It (wind) was calm. It’s just picking up this evening.”
Heith St. Germain said his crew was fortunate to catch a variety of fish to take the lead for top boat in the Inside Division. Glenn St. Germain had a first-place flounder (2.11 pounds), Joshua St. Germain had a second-place white trout (.42 pounds) and Heith St. Germain had a second-place drum (36.5 pounds).
The Inside Division’s Best All-Around Fisherman race is leaning to Mike O’Brien, who put a 5.4-pound speckled trout on the scale. It was in first place along with his .89-pound white trout.
O’Brien leads with 194 points, followed by Ryan Bonin and Riley Muffoletto with 154 points apiece.
One Runabout Division boat made an appearance Friday. Richard Bordelon of Opelousas steered his 27-foot Gravois to the bulkhead and the crew of André Bordelon, Andy Lafleur and Verbis Lafleur, all of Opelousas, and Kevin Sonnier of Carencro unloaded the ice chest that accounted for all three places in the king mackerel division and swept the three places in the red snapper division.
RESULTS
CYPREMORT POINT — Following are the results after the first day of fishing Friday in the 55th annual Iberia Rod & Gun Club Saltwater Fishing Rodeo:
INSIDE DIVISION
Redfish
1, Chris Kapp, 34.8. 2, Kirk Kapp, 32.0. 3, Kevin Verret, 30.5.
Speckled trout
1, Mike O’Brien, 5.4. 2, Karen Goutierez, 3.0. 3, Malcolm Migues, 2.9.
Flounder
1, Glenn St. Germain, 2.11. 2, Brian Menard, 1.52. 3, Bryan Arnold, 1.31.
White trout
1, 1, Mike O’Brien, .89. 2, Joshua St. Germain, .42.
Sheepshead
1, Jeremy Lasseigne, 4.8. 2, Riley Muffoletto, 4.6. 3, Mike Broussard, 3.8.
Drum
1, T.J. Bonin, 38.4. 2, Heith St. Germain, 36.5. 3, Robert Derouen, 36.0.
Croaker
1, Ryan Bonin, .94. 2, Riley Muffoletto, .90. 3, Ryan Bonin, .72.
Garfish
1, Erron Derouen, 75.9. 2, Patrick Broussard, 72.2. 3, Kevin Verret, 43.8.
INSIDE DIVISION BEST ALL-AROUND FISHERMAN LEADERS: Mike O’Brien, 194. (tie) Ryan Bonin and Riley Muffoletto, 154.
INSIDE DIVISION BOAT CAPTAIN’S RACE LEADERS: No Mo Money, 347. (tie) Aquaholic and Priority One, 154.
RUNABOUT DIVISION
King mackerel
1, Andy Lafleur, 27.9. 2, Richard André Bordelon, 11.8. 3, Verbis Lafleur, 10.5.
Red snapper
1, Verbis Lafleur, 9.7. 2, Don Kevin Sonnier, 9.5. 3, Richard Bordelon, 9.5.
Lemonfish
None entered.
Speckled trout
None entered.
Jack crevalle
None entered.
Mangrove snapper
None entered.
Spanish mackerel
None entered.
Spadefish
None entered.
Bonita
None entered.
White trout
None entered.
OFFSHORE DIVISION
Yellowfin tuna
None entered.
Blackfin tuna
None entered.
Wahoo
None entered.
Amberjack
None entered.
Bonita
None entered.
Tripletail
None entered.
Barracuda
None entered.
Red snapper
None entered.
Lemonfish
None entered.
Dolphin
None entered.
Grouper
None entered.
Bluefish
None entered.
King mackerel
None entered.
Triggerfish
None entered.
JUNIOR DIVISION
Redfish
1, Taylor Hebert, 26.8. 2, Caleb Evans, 23.2. 3, Aaron Thibodeaux, 10.2.
Speckled trout
1, Liam Spiker, 1.15.
Flounder
1, Wesley Arnold, 1.01. 2, Wesley Arnold, .68. 3, Trayton Derouen, .61.
White trout
None entered.
Sheepshead
1, Taylor Hebert, 3.4. 2, Jacob Primeaux, 2.87. 3, Triston Primeaux.
Drum
1, Jacob Gautreaux, 2.7. 2, Taylor Hebert, 19.8. 3, Caleb Evans, 8.2.
Croaker
1, Izaak Piel, .75. 2, Wesley Arnold, .72. 3, Taylor Hebert, .72.
Garfish
1, Tyler Derouen, 74.1.
JUNIOR DIVISION BEST ALL-AROUND FISHERMAN LEADERS: Taylor Hebert, 332. Wesley Arnold, 253. Taylor Evans, 144.
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