John K. Flores: Hits, misses and results from the fishing rodeo

For years, Red Griffin worked seven days on and seven days off in the Gulf of Mexico out of Morgan City. The now retired oilfield worker recalls how when he hit the beach, he then had an 11-hour, 600-mile drive ahead of him to get back to his home in Junction, Texas.
Griffin said, “I flew over this area in a helicopter, and I said, ‘one day I want to come back,’ and my wife and I have been coming to Morgan City for about four years now — down here fishing and camping — at Lake End Park and we’ll stay two or three months.”
Griffin says over the years he’s been to various local events in Morgan City like Mardi Gras balls and parades, mentioning he sees Mayor Lee Dragna everywhere. What’s more, the annual Morgan City Oilfield Fishing Rodeo was one of the first events he had been to and took part in.
Two weeks ago, Griffin, who had previously fished the 2023 MCOFR, pulled up to the scales shortly after 3 p.m. and weighed in a 32.58-lb. blue catfish that won the tournament’s catfish category.
The excited Texas angler said, “We had a good day on the water. We caught a total of 8 to 10 catfish and were anchored out fishing in about 62 feet of water using cut bait. Live bait is good, but as you can imagine, mullets are hard to come by at 4 o’clock in the morning.”
Griffin’s blue cat bested second place finisher Gavin Barrilleaux’s 26.94-lb. catfish by over 5 pounds. There were 17 entries in the catfish category and Griffin’s catfish allowed him to take home a check for $714.
Most of the anglers who fished the tournament’s bass category notably, seemed to have struggled. Many of the participants weighed in single digit stringers.
MCOFR regular Kirk Peterson, owner of Peterson Agency in Patterson, weighed in 4.40 pounds and didn’t place in the money.
Peterson said, “The fishing was tough. It was tough to catch a bass today.”
Bryce Daigle also fished the bass category. Daigle injected a bit of levity and good sportsmanship, knowing full well the only fish he had that qualified for the weigh in wasn’t going to come close to winning any prize money.
While watching the scale settle, Daigle laughingly said, “One can only hope it’s the fish of the day.”
His bass didn’t even weigh one pound, to which he comically said, “Maybe next year!”
The winner of the bass category was Casey St. Romain who weighed in five bass that totaled 12.55 pounds.
St. Romain said, “We located the fish around 2 o’clock. We started fishing down south in the Carencro Lake area where we caught a couple early. We just kept top water baits in our hands all day and kept moving around. We happened to catch two big ones just before we came in.”
St. Romain’s team took home a check for first-place worth $648 and another check for a big bass that weighed 3.75 pounds, worth an additional $240.
In the always competitive red fish category, the team of Robert Carline and John Bailey, sponsored by Skippers Sporting Goods, were the first to weigh in on Saturday.
Bailey mentioned the day started out good for the first 20 minutes, but after that it slowed down considerably. The two anglers weighed their three fish and despite hoping and praying, they didn’t place in the top five.
First place in the redfish division went to Max Nelkin’s team. Nelkin’s three fish weighed 27.10 pounds, garnering a hefty $1,361 check for their efforts.
The Bourgeois Smokehouse team took second place in the redfish category. John Bourgeois weighed in three redfish that totaled 26.58 pounds, earning a check for $1,134. However, though the Bourgeois team fell short of first place by just over a half pound, they did weigh in a 14.96-pound redfish that added another $504 to their day’s winnings for “big redfish.”
First place and big trout in the speckled trout category went to the Danny’s Fried Chicken-sponsored team lead by Clint Colgin. Colgin weighed in five trout that totaled 12.18 pounds. Colgin’s big trout weighed 4.84 pounds.
Colgin’s team took home a first-place check worth $594 and another for biggest trout that totaled $132.
The trash fish category was won by Brian Eisenman Sr. who weighed in a 20.02-pound black drum. Eisenman’s drum was worth $200 for his efforts.
The MCOFR teams with South Louisiana Community College (Young Memorial Campus) and Nicholls State University to support higher education and other charitable causes. Through 2023, the organization, with the help of its sponsors and participants, has donated over $200,000 to these important community needs.
John Flores is the Morgan City Review’s outdoor writer. He can be contacted at gowiththeflo@cox.net.