Quality catches for youngsters

CYPREMORT POINT -- A big boat passed by the weigh-in site, sure to weigh fish today, and a barge chauffered in the catch from another big boat Sunday on the second day of the 50th annual Kay-Cee Saltwater Fishing Rodeo.

In between those signs of action in the Offshore Division, more children and young adults made their mark in this holiday weekend event that ends today at 3 p.m. It was a fairly slow day around the scales, said veteran fishing rodeo chairman Ronnie Boudreaux, but what it lacked in quantity more than made up for in quality, particularly with fish turned in by some of the youngsters.

The Better Half, a big boat, chugged pass fishing rodeo headquarters at Quintana Canal between 4-5 p.m. The crew apparently planned to clean up and bring its catch in for a final-day crowd to see today, Boudreaux said.

Later, Aubry Dauterive of New Iberia, skipper of the Broken Tackle, a 60-foot long Viking, drove his big barge to the weigh-in site to unload fish that had been transferred over from the big boat. Dauterive said he and his crew, which included five hard-fishing youngsters, had lines in the water around 7 a.m. Saturday and were back at port around noon Sunday.

They had some good fish, particularly in the amberjack category, where Badon Simpson, 11, Landon Olivier, 10, and Nicholas Broussard, 15, had 62.7-, 50.7- and 40.8-pound fish, respectively, for a category sweep going into the final day.

Boussard also had first- and second-place blackfin tuna at 28.4 and 25.4 pounds.

“Well, we caught a lot of fish. The kids had a blast,” said Dauterive, a veteran of many successful Offshore Division trips in this event as well as the Iberia Rod & Gun Club Saltwater Fishing Rodeo.

Also on board were Danny Hardy and his wife Sherry, Broussard’s mother Babette Broussard and her daughter Kathy, and Dauterive’s children Aubriel, 10, and Joseph, 7.

“It was beautiful, flat calm, a little breeze. We were just enjoying the kids,” Danny Hardy said.

The high-energy showing of the day belonged to the young crew of Doc’s Therapy, a 27-foot Boston-Whaler skippered by Dr. Kurt O’Brien, who owns the boat with Dr. George Cousin.

Led by Mallory O’Brien, 13, who practically bounced out of the boat and helped direct the weighing of the fish by crewmates Joseph Cousin, 13, and Avery Kingman, 14. The Catholic High School students’ catch was the last to be weighed on the second day.

“Oh, yeah, they had a good time. I’m just the boat driver here,” Dr. O’Brien said with a chuckle.

Their claim to fame were the king mackeral they caught, plus some other nice fish that hit the board in the Runabout Division. Avery had a 12.9-pound king mackerel in third place and a 2.13-pound Spanish mackerel in second place.

“We went by one little rig and every time we’d go by we’d catch a king,” said New Iberia pharmacist Mitch Gilfoil.

They fished Vermilion 171 area and other rigs in Vermilion, Gilfoil said.

Dr. O’Brien said, “I wish they had a category for mangrove snapper. We caught some nice ones.”

The 20-foot long Sea Hunt Bravin’ It checked in before the scales closed and left with Braelynn Gautreau, 9, a student at Jefferson Elementary School, on the board with a third-place flounder in the Kids Division. She was all smiles and still wearing her life jacket under the tent.

Barry Gautreau, her father and skipper, said he took her, his wife Crystal Gautreau, his son Gavin, Amy Derouen and Abby Derouen, and Matt Savage to The Mound and lakes inside Marsh Island. Plenty of redfish, flounder, drum and speckled trout were hooked and boated, he said.

“Everything’s so good. I ain’t going to lie. The water’s so perfect,” Gautreau said.

Unfortunately, he said, he threw back 25- and 26-inch drum that they caught. Otherwise, they would have a sweep in that category.

There were probably about half as many boats showing up to weigh fish Sunday as there were on opening day Saturday, said Boudreaux, the fishing rodeo chairman. After Saturday ended, he said about 35-40 boats made an appearance.

“It was slow until the end but it picked up,” Boudreaux said. “That’s usually good for a Sunday.”

Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies Lucas Plauche of New Iberia and George Hollis of rural St. Martin Parish reported no major incidents after patrolling the water in and outside Vermilion Bay. Three tickets for wake violations and three warnings for the same were handed out.

“It hasn’t been too hectic. It’s been quiet this weekend, surprisingly enough. I figured we’d have a lot more rescues,” said Hollis, who moved to the Teche Area from Memphis.

Scales open again at 8 a.m. today and close at 3 p.m.