QUOTABLE QUOTES

# “We didn’t ever get wet (during the first day of fishing). We caught one little shower on the way back but we ran from them all day.” – Karl Prados, crew member on a 21-foot long Gravois owned by Jimmy Gravois. Prados fished Day 1 with past fishing rodeo chairman Brock Pellerin, T.J. Bonin and John Albert.

# “It wouldn’t be a rodeo if it didn’t rain on us.” – T.J. Bonin, IR&GC official and crew member on Gravois’ 21-footer.

# “I came back four times over here (because of storms). We got here about 8 o’clock this morning and went out a little later on the other side of the Point. They caught seven in about 20 minutes. Every cast. Then it started lightning and thundering. We had to get out of there. It was bad, bad. We ended up fishing 1 hour, 45 minutes today.” – Milton Davis, skipper of Strickly Bidness, a 23-foot long Nautic Star, after fishing the first day with his grandson, Layne Davis, 8, Espn Gary, 13, and Rhett Thibodeaux, 13.

# “Three hours of fishing. Eight hours of running. It’s horrible, man. You don’t want that (stormy weather) ever on a rodeo weekend.” – Ronnie Dore, veteran fishing rodeo angler.

# “It’s horrible out there.” – Karleigh St. Germain, defending Junior Division Best All-Around Fisherman. St. Germain was talking about the fishing success, or lack thereof, on Day 1. She caught one redfish while fishing with her father, Heith St. Germain, skipper of Pacifier, a 20-foot long SeaHunt, brother, Kyptin St. Germain, and grandfather, Glenn St. Germain.

# “She just drove in (from North Carolina), so she hasn’t missed a rodeo in 10 years. We only got out (to fish) two hours (because of stormy weather).” – Marty McLean, talking about her daughter, Emri Romero. Romero was on board the first day with her husband, U.S. Marine Carson Romero (stationed at Camp LeJeune), her father, Jason McLean, skipper of the family’s 22-foot long Epic, her brother, Easton McLean, Tripp Montgomery and U.S. Marine Corbin Riley.

# “Oh, yeah. We got in all in one trip (drove straight through) from Camp LeJeune. I’ve fished it (IR&GC event) many times. Being here is always good.” – U.S. Marine Carson Romero, who fished Day 1 after arriving with his wife, Emri Romero.

# “If you call it ‘fishin’.’ We ran from the rain.” – Jason McLean, talking about the first day.

# “We should have been in my boat. I’ve got a hand-controlled trolling motor and a regular anchor.” – Matt Migues, crew member on Kyle Leblanc’s 22-foot long Majek Extreme. The boat’s trolling motor went out and the Power Pole broke to make the rainy day trip even more challenging for Migues, LeBlanc and Joshua Hebert.

# “We had quite a few kids. They kind of took turns.” – Kyle Poirier, talking about fishing the second day on Reynolds Landry’s boat, a Hanko, with six youngsters, including Dawson LeBlanc, Bria LeBlanc, Holden LeBlanc and Hudson Poirier.

# “That is the stirrer over there.” – Milton Davis, Strickly Bidness skipper, sittin’ and relaxin’ on Day 2 near the big pot with red beans and sausage simmering. Brock Pellerin took a photo opp with the paddle but, Davis pointed out, the cook for the Gotta Have Faith-sponsored meal was Gerard Olivier assisted by Clint Derouen. Olivier’s ingredients to feed the throng at fishing rodeo HQ? Twenty pounds of beans, 20 pounds of sausage, 25 pounds of rice, 2-pound bag of onions, 2-pound bag of bellpeppers, garlic powder, Tony Chacherie’s seasoning “and a whole lotta lovin.’ ”

# “It was a tough weekend with the low pressure hanging around the Gulf. (We decided against fishing the Offshore Division) early in the week when we saw the weather developing. But we paid for our tickets and everything. Somebody’s going to win our Calcutta money.” – Jacques Hebert, Sea Mistress skipper, talking on the third day about sitting out the event. The 36-foot long Lafco dominated the Offshore Division for years. Hebert said he and his crew plan to be back next year.

# “We left Friday about noon in 5-foot seas and came back yesterday about 5:30.” – Blaine Blanchard, crew member on Fortunate Son, a 33-foot Freeman. Between departure and return, Blanchard, Carter Dooley, Logan Shivers and skipper Seth Kerstetter caught nine grouper, beaucoup tilefish, barrel fish, longtail sea bass and a nearly 27-inch flounder in 900-foot depths 120 miles southeast of Cypremort Point at the Rezak Bank, part of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico.

# That’s the most sea bass we’ve ever caught.” – Carter Dooley, Fortunate Son crew member.

# “I used 50 pounds of pork, 20 pounds of sausage, 10 pounds of smoked tasso, 25 pounds of rice and 10 pounds of onions and vegetables.” – Brock Pellerin, cook, talking about ingredients for the Sunday free jambalaya sponsored by State Rep. Blake Migues, R-Erath.

# “We fished half-a-day yesterday (Saturday) and half-a-day today.” – Jon Baudry, who fished with his son, Mac Baudry, 10, on his 21-foot SeaHunt.

# “He had a big drum this morning around the pilings. We didn’t know if he’d get him out.” – Chris Guillory, talking about his 9-year-old son, Landon Guillory. The boy pulled the fish away from the pilings and weighed it for a first-place drum at 23.5 pounds in the Junior Division. Young Guillory also finished with a second-place white trout and third-place speckled trout.

# “It’s a well-made boat. I don’t creak, it don’t make noise. It’s a solid boat.” – Pat Savoy, skipper of the Outlaw, a 37-foot long Freeman built in South Carolina. If it sounds like Savoy is trying to sell the boat he has owned two years, he is.

#“We need a dentist.” – Outlaw crew member at the scales, where the crew and IR&GC assistant weighmaster Jonathan Rush were trying to extract a red scorpion from the jaws of a grouper. Somehow, inside the ice chest during the boat ride north, the red scorpion’s head and part of its upper body with 24 venomous spines became lodged in the mouth of the grouper. Rush performed emergency surgery.