John Flores: Morgan City Open Fishing Rodeo celebrates 10 years

Sixty-four teams entered last weekend’s 10th Annual Morgan City Open Fishing Rodeo, where contestants battled it out for top prize money in five divisions.

Divisions included redfish, bass, catfish, speckled trout and the special Mike Michel Trash Fish category for that odd non-targeted fish that everyone catches now and again.

In recognizing its 10th year, organizers celebrated by providing the 10th boat to weigh in Saturday afternoon with a special prize. That distinction went to Glenn Blanco, who received a gift certificate to the Golden Nugget Casino for being the lucky individual.

Over the past decade, rodeo proceeds have provided over $160,000 in scholarships and support to students who attend South Louisiana Community College and Nicholls State University as well as other charitable causes, including the local Boy Scouts organization.

Over the course of the past decade the rodeo has faced some challenges. One year the event had to be canceled due to high water and COVID-19 forced the organizers to scale back the event, according to MCOFR board member Earl Bouton. However, in spite of these interruptions, the one thing that Bouton points out is that the level of community participation has never changed and has actually increased over the years.
Bouton said, “The participation by all of the local people in the St. Mary Parish area and other nearby parishes has been so good. The Boy Scout participation is another thing. They help us set up, hustle the fish baskets back and forth at the weigh in, wash baskets, and even measure fish.

“We get volunteers from Nicholls State University who help us keep track of the leader board electronically,” Bouton continued. “And, we have a tremendous group of established sponsors that have been with us a long time. Each year it has gotten better and better.”

The number of boats entering the rodeo grew from 40 to 50 during the early years of the event and peaked at 104 in 2018, prior to COVID, says Bouton.

However, from this year’s participation, organizers feel optimistic that it will increase once again in the coming years.

With the 2022 MCOFR being the first post-COVID era rodeo, where there were no public gathering restrictions or virus surges statewide, there was good reason to be optimistic. Forty-four teams entered the most popular redfish division this year. Dirk Arceneaux and Patrick Olwell, sponsored by Major Equipment & Remediation, won the team event bringing in a three-fish limit weighing 26.34 pounds.

On an extremely hot Saturday, Arceneaux said, “We caught all of our fish in the first two hours of the morning fishing east of the river. We found some clear water and were able to catch our fish early.”

Less than ½ pound separated Arceneaux and the second-place father and son team of Brad Matte and Bradley Matte who weighed in 25.88 pounds of redfish.

Mike Lambert and Blake Champion placed third in the Redfish Division with a 25.36-pound stringer but managed to win “Big Redfish.” Their big red weighed in at 10.60 pounds.

Champion says they were sight fishing in the Dularge area and caught their fish using a jig and soft plastics.

Sam Cannata and Mike Reasoner, sponsored by Berry Brothers, swept both first place and big speckled trout in the Speckled Trout Division, with a total winning weight of 9.42 pounds. Their big speckled trout weighed 1.98 pounds.

Second place in the Speckled Trout Division went to Jay Spencer’s team sponsored by Pelican Companies. Spencer weighed in 7.52 pounds.

Twenty teams entered the bass competition. Bobby Templet and Steve Buhler won the bass division by 1/10th of a pound over the Peterson Agency team of Kirk Peterson and Marvin Alleman. Templet weighed in 12.50 pounds, while Peterson weighed in 12.40 pounds.
Templet’s team also won big bass. Templet’s big bass weighed 5.05 pounds.

In the Catfish Division, the team of Logan Barrilleaux and Dylan Barrilleaux literally destroyed the rest of the competition when they weighed in a 32.98-pound blue catfish caught in Berwick Bay in front of the Mr. Charlie Rig Museum to take first place honors. Logan Barrilleaux said they were tight line fishing using cut-bait.

In the Catfish Division, anglers are only allowed to weigh in one catfish. The next biggest catfish was weighed in by Bob Landry and teammates Brennan Acosta and Ryan Fryou. The DHD Offshore Services-sponsored team weighed in a 4-pound blue catfish to finish a distant second from Barrilleaux’s team.

The Mike Michel Trash Fish Division was won by Jacob Aucoin and Bobby Aucoin, when they weighed in a 52.64-pound gar fish. The huge alligator gar may not have been the prettiest fish in the contest, but it got the most attention.

DHD Offshore Services and Pelican Companies were this year’s MCOFR title sponsors. The MCOFR organizers offered thanks and appreciation to all sponsors and volunteers for helping to make the community event possible.

John Flores is the Morgan City Review’s outdoor writer. He can be contacted at gowiththeflo@cox.net.