On Labor Day Monday the 38-foot long Pacemaker’s veteran captains -- Malcolm Migues and Jacques Hebert -- got their hands on the cup with champagne on ice as well as a large trophy signifying the Boat Captain’s Award. And David Melancon, one of the winning boat’s four crew members, got to touch and take the big trophy for the Offshore Division’s Best All-Around Fisherman.
It seemed just like old times so many minutes after the scales closed at fishing rodeo headquarters of the 50th annual Kay-Cee Saltwater Fishing Rodeo. Migues and Hebert have teamed up to be a mostly unbeatable pair on the water for nearly two decades.
  
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“What’s up with that?” Migues asked aloud about the lack of participation in the Offshore Division. He and Hebert pointed out that the Erector, an award-winning big boat skippered by Bridgette Greer, broke down and couldn’t fish the holiday weekend event.
But other big boats weren’t heard from or seen.
“It’s always a thrill (to win). That’s why we come fish in these things, to do well in them. I’d like to welcome more competition,” Hebert said after the crew members collected their trophies.
Melancon echoed the last sentence after motoring to the Vermilion blocks and then going to the west into East Cameron territory about 100 miles out. He had two first-place fish, including a beautiful but menacing 42.5-pound barracuda, a second-place fish and a third place fish.
The Best All-Around Fisherman said the big barracuda bit at night. He hooked a red snapper and was reeling it in when it hit, he said.
“It was quick. I had him wrapped in the prop and wrapped around the rudder but he never broke off,” he said.
Also on board were Migues’ son Paul Migues, Hebert’s 12-year-old son Jake Hebert and Lannie Buteau. Young Hebert gave Melancon a run for his money in the race to win the individual title and finished a close second.
It was the encounter with the whale shark that everybody aboard was talking about. Lickety Split was fishing at night at East Cameron 221 when the whale shark swam with a hooked lemonfish to the surface.
The huge fish got in the way.
“He was trying to reel in the lemonfish but the line wrapped around its (whale shark’s) fin. It was nice enough to come back and we unwrapped the line around the fin,” Buteau said.
Several crew members patted it as it cruised alongside the boat. Another duly recorded the encounter with photos that showed the big fish clearly.
“It was trying to scratch its back on the bottom of the boat and listening to Bob Marley,” Jacques Hebert said with a chuckle.
Malcolm Migues, standing on the stern of the boat, said while gesturing with his hands, “It’s head was right here and the tail was 10 foot past the other side of the boat. It kept coming back.”
The co-captains said they targeted every species eligible in the fishing rodeo except yellowfin tuna and managed to catch each one to bring to the scales. Not all of them made the leaderboard but the damage was done.
“We had an excellent trip,” Melancon said. “When you’ve got a crew like we’ve got everybody knows what to do and the captains are the best.”
Hebert said, “We all fished hard. We targeted every fish but yellowfin. That’s what it takes to spread the fish around the board.”
He enjoyed the trip, he said.
“It was a good weekend and we wanted to go fishing and we went,” he said. “I love to play with the rodeo. I love to fish. We’re breaking in a new crew. Paul is going to get his (captain’s) wings pretty soon.”
Dauterive’s crew on the Broken Tackle made its mark on the final leaderboard in the Offshore Division.
The boat was led by Nick Broussard, 15, and Baden Simpson, 11, who both had multiple fish on the leaderboard.
Simpson’s 62.7-pound amberjack was the biggest fish of the fishing rodeo.
Other Lickety Split crew members included Babette Broussard and her daughter Katherine, Danny Hardy and his wife Sherry, Landon Olivier, 10, Joseph Dauterive, 7, and Aubriel Dauterive, 10.
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Joey wrote on Sep 9, 2009 11:49 AM: