That opening, which was noted in a special ceremony a week ago Friday, came just in time for the saltwater fishing rodeo with headquarters along Quintana Canal, located several hundred yards from the public boat landing. The IR&GC event starts at sunrise Friday, the day before the Fourth of July, and ends at 1 p.m. Sunday.
IR&GC fishing rodeo officials are pleased the bridge was completed 23 days ahead of schedule by Alexandria-based Gilchrist Construction. The company built the bridge after a rogue barge trashed the old one during Hurricane Ike in September.
 Fishing rodeo headquarters at Quintana Canal are expected to be busy again this weekend for the Iberia Rod & Gun Club Saltwater Fishing Rodeo. - Don Shoopman / The Daily Iberian Advertisement
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“It surely helped us out. I just thought our tournament (fishing rodeo) would be strapped (if the new bridge still was under construction). We’ll have more people at the Point,” Touchet said.
Veteran weighmaster and past fishing rodeo chairman Chad LeBlanc of New Iberia said, “Oh, it happened just in time, just in time. It’s going to help a lot.”
Before the new bridge’s completion, people going to Cypremort Point had to take a circuitous route that added about 20-25 minutes to the time it takes to get there via Louisiana 320, which goes through Lydia, which has several convenience sto-res, fishing tackle outlets and stores popular to so many residents.
“I’m real happy just to get our (traffic) flow back,” said Doug Gaspard of Lydia, owner of Dago’s Mobil & Grocery. “We’re seeing people we haven’t seen in 10 months ” the work traffic. The fishermen have still been coming, just to get their stuff, but it was just a pain to go around.”
Gaspard said he hadn’t sold any fishing rodeo tickets as of Wednesday, which isn’t unusual, he said.
“It’s usually Thursday. They usually (starting buying fishing rodeo tickets) tomorrow afternoon. Most of the people are off Friday. They start getting their stuff Friday and make their decisions on what they’re going to do,” he said.
He’s optimistic about the turnout.
“The bridge’s open, the water’s salty and they’re catching fish. It’s supposed to be a good weekend,” he said.
Keith Price at Cajun Guns & Tackle in New Iberia said the store has sold a fair amount of fishing rodeo tickets.
“I think we’ve probably sold a little more than normal, a lot of Inside, some Runabouts and some Juniors. If we get some good weather we should have a good turnout,” he said.
Scales at fishing rodeo headquarters will open from 2-6 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday.
Bass & kayak divisions
Fishing rodeo ticket prices are: $25 for Inside Division; $5 for Junior Division; $35 for Runabout Division; $55 for Offshore Division; $40 per two-man team for Bass Division, and $20 for Kayak Division.
A Bass Division? Yes, for a second straight year. The one-day tournament with a 100-percent payback is from safe daylight to 3 p.m. Saturday out of Marsh Field Landing. (Tournament fishermen can leave the lake by water.) There is a five-fish limit that includes a 4-ounce penalty for each dead fish.
Tommy Lipari of New Iberia announced at Wednesday night’s Hawg Fight in the Atchafalaya Basin that bass anglers who fish the IR&GC bass tournament will get 20 points for the standings on the Hawg Fight circuit. For more information call Lipari, the Hawg Fight director, at 365-8827 or Touchet at 296-0891.
“I’ve had a bunch of hits for the freshwater tournament. It looks like it’s going to be a good turnout,” Touchet said.
A Kayak Division? For the first time ever, kayaking enthusiasts can cast for cash on the second day of the fishing rodeo starting at safe daylight and ending at 3 p.m. The competition was dreamed up by kayaker Pierre Escuriex of New Iberia, who manages the Web site AcadianaFishing.com. For more information call Escuriex at 321-1992.
“Kayak is looking great from what we can gather from it. Everybody’s real excited about it. I think it’ll be a great addition to our tournament,” Touchet said.
IR&GC members plan to go to the fishing rodeo headquarters site later today and set up shop Friday morning, he said.
New vendors
Fishing rodeo-goers and fishermen will find two new vendors on the scene this holiday weekend. Touchet said C.J.’s Snowballs of Erath will have food and soft drinks available and soft drinks and liquid refreshments will be available from Pelican’s on the Bayou.
“We’re trying to concentrate more on keeping fishermen happy ... getting our fish weighed in quickly - getting everybody in and out as fast as we can,” he said.
Other vendors on the site include one selling beef jerky and another selling fishing tackle.
Crawfish etouffee and salad prepared by the IR&GC were served Tuesday to about 35 skippers and anglers at the boat captain’s supper, he said. Calcutta action was heavy in the Inside Division and light in the Runabout Division, he said, noting more entries are welcome in the latter.
All that’s left is for the people to go out, wet a line and, hopefully, set the hook on a fish that grabs one of three top places to win more money than was paid out per place last year.
“I’m just hoping everybody who supports it every year will continue to fish it like they have been doing. I’ve heard some reports of catching good fish out there, where you can find good water,” Touchet said. “There’s fish out there to be caught. They had some real nice fish in the Cleco tournament last weekend.”
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