Teche Area fishermen must wait another year to help the Knights of Columbus celebrate the golden anniversary of a popular fishing contest at Cypremort Point.

The 50th annual Kay-Cee Saltwater Fishing Rodeo, already delayed by one hurricane, has been blown away for good this year by Hurricane Ike. Knghts of Columbus officials made the unanimous decision Monday night to call it off and announced the cancelation Tuesday.                    

They said damage to the Point and other hurricane-stricken areas was the biggest factor in canceling the fishing rodeo out of Quintana Canal. The area was inundated by a storm surge that some said put at least 6 feet of water on the main road along the Point.

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“It was almost a no-brainer, really,” said veteran fishing rodeo chairman and weighmaster Ronnie Boudreaux of New Iberia. “If we push it back any more we’re getting into the winter. Then you’re getting into bad weather. You could only push it back so far. That’s it.”

What would have been the 50th running of the fishing rodeo initially was postponed Labor Day weekend by Hurricane Gustav, which hit south central Louisiana on what would have been the third and last day of the fishing rodeo Sept. 1. The fishing rodeo was rescheduled and shortened to a two-day format Oct. 4-5.

“Aw, shucks,” Chris Kapp Jr. said this morning when he learned about the cancelation.

At first, the 71-year-old retired Morton Salt production foreman and avid saltwater fisherman was in favor of rescheduling the event to a later date. Then Kapp, whose home in Lydia escaped flooding from Ike, thought about storm surge victims in the area.

“I was real lucky. I’m kind of on a high spot,” he said. “I’m speaking for myself on this rodeo. All these other people, a lot of people, are having problems. It might be they can’t get out (to go fishing) ... so much to do ... financial problems. Looking at it from that perspective it may be a good thing.”

Kapp and his two sons and their families fish most of the fishing rodeos.

The Kay-Cees’ event has been postponed before in its half-a-century of existence but never canceled, Boudreaux said.

“This is a first. You know, for Katrina and Rita, we had the rodeo in between so it wasn’t bad. This one here hit dead on one and messed up the weekend for the other,” he said.

That fishing rodeo officials had to cancel such a signature event weighed heavy on the heart, the fishing rodeo chairman said.

“It’s devastating to all of us. We were all looking forward to it because it was 50. There were some special things we were going to do, like if you brought in the 50th fish we’d give you a surprise,” Boudreaux said.

“But, you know, I just talked to a man, him and his son’s camp at the Point, they’ve got 3 feet of mud on the floor. It’s hard to get ready to go fishing in a couple of weeks when you’ve got 3 feet of mud in the camp.”

Boudreaux said the Kay-Cees also considered the fact the bridge over Bayou Warehouse was destroyed by a loose barge during the recent hurricane. Fishing rodeo officials, fishermen and visitors would have to travel a longer route to get to the Point via Louisiana 318 rather than Louisiana 83 through Lydia.

“It played a part. I’m not saying it played 100 percent. The deciding factor was the damage that has been done,” Boudreaux said.