There will be a red snapper category in the Offshore Division of the fast-approaching 68th annual Iberia Rod & Gun Club Saltwater Fishing Rodeo, event chairman Josh St. Germain said a few weeks ago.
After all, recreational red snapper fishing is in season on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, which coincides with the days the popular saltwater fishing rodeo is scheduled to be held July 2-4 at Cypremort Point. While the daily creel limit remains at a paltry two red snapper (16-inch minimum length limit) per person, the lure of adding red snapper to the overall catch appeals to skippers of the big boats that head far south on the Gulf of Mexico.
St. Germain, entering his third year a fishing rodeo chairman, recently said a handful of skippers indicated they may fish the Offshore Division. Red snapper will come into play.
The recreational red snapper season began May 28 and ends on Labor Day Monday (Mondays are included in the season for Memorial Day and Labor Day).
Recreational red snapper fishermen apparently are having little trouble finding the tasty reef fish, a development that comes as no surprise to avid offshore fishermen across the Teche Area. The state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced Monday the latest private recreational red snapper landing data indicate an estimated 67,947 pounds, or 8 percent of Louisiana’s 2021 allocation for 2021, were harvested during opening weekend (May 28-31).
Louisiana’s season, which encompasses state and federal waters, will stay open until recreational landings approach or reach the state’s quota of 832,493 pounds. That is 19.1 percent of the Gulfwide red snapper private recreational quota.
Red snapper harvests are monitored by LA Creel, LDWF’s near real-time landings data collection program. NOAA Fisheries certified the state’s survey design — considered more precise that the Marine Recreational Information Program — on Dec. 29, 2017.
Technically, red snapper still are managed by the federal government, NOAA Fisheries. By the hardest, Louisiana and the four other Gulf Coast states each were granted authority to take over management of recreational red snapper recreational seasons and limits within the federal framework, starting Feb. 6, 2020.
That decision was a godsend for the Sportsman’s Paradise. The state’s offshore fishermen had to endure some ridiculously brief seasons and painfully low creel limits before our state agency took over to increase fishing opportunities and enhance economic benefits.
There were a few fishing rodeos held that eliminated red snapper competition until the feds came up with the new program. And that brings us to July 2, the first day of the IR&GC Saltwater Fishing Rodeo.
Barring inclement weather, like the high winds and rain that thwarted IR&GC fishing rodeo participants opening day in 2020, there should be plenty of red snapper hitting the big electronic scale on the weigh-in platform under the pavilion along Quintana Canal. For sure, circle hooks baited with beaucoup cigar minnows, pogies and/or squid or cut bait strips from jack crevalle, bonita, tuna and other fish dropped to the bottom or top of a wreck by many fishermen.
Last year, despite fishing time being curtailed by bad weather, it took a 16.25-pounder to claim first place in the red snapper category. Foster Searcy, who had that nice red snapper, also weighed a 14.50-pounder to claim second place.
Searcy was part of an all-Lafayette crew fishing on a boat skippered by Dr. Sam Foster, whose 39-foot Venture, called Bones’ Break, was driven in from offshore on the first day by the storms that whipped up the Gulf.
June 20, 2021 at 07:45PM
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IR&GC fishing rodeo to include red snapper category; recent harvest total released by LDWF - The Daily Iberian
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