Here are some photos from the Terry Melancon Saltwater Challenge. Click the images for a slideshow.
Photos from the Pan Fish Rodeo & Fish Fry
June 29, 2017 By
Here are some photos from the Pan Fish Rodeo & Fish Fry.
Click the images for a slideshow.
EASL Terry Melancon Saltwater Challenge June 16-17 2017
May 25, 2017 By
The East Ascension Salt Water Challenge will take place Friday June 16 for registration and social, and conclude Saturday June 17th with weigh in, awards and fish fry. All activities including registration, eating, socializing, weigh-in, awards, etc. will take place at the camps behind the Cajun Holiday Motel. This is located on the left just past the Grand Isle Bridge.
Door prizes and ditty bags for participants has been a nice addition to this event. If you can secure items please bring them to the rodeo or to one of the EASL meetings leading up to the event. Touch base with Torrey if you can get something.
Two important Schedule notes:
· All anglers must be registered by 8:00 pm Friday. If you want to fish in the rodeo and cannot get to Grand Isle Friday night give your registration fees to someone that can pay for you Friday evening.
· All teams must be at the weigh in by 3:00 Saturday to have fish weighed for the competition
We will rent 3 camps. The camps will be reserved for the first 30 people who pay $140 each for the entire weekend starting Thursday night. This is non-refundable, if you pay and cannot attend it will be up to the individual to find someone to take their place. Spots will be reserved only when payment is made to either Jodie or Torrey
So with all that said. If you want a bed in one of the three camps get your money in soon.
Rules and Categories: EASL Saltwater Challenge
Categories
o 5 largest speckled trout – combined weight (1st & 2nd place)
o Largest trout (1st place only)
o 2 redfish under 27” – combined weight (1st & 2nd place)
o Biggest red (any length) (1st place only)
o Biggest flounder (1st place only)
o “Other”; (1st place only; $20) Definition: any legal fish except redfish, trout, or flounder
o Cajun Slam; (optional $10/team; winning team takes all) Combined weight of each team’s biggest; Red (under 27”), Trout, & Flounder. Any fish weighed-in for the Slam, can also be entered in the other categories. All three species must be caught to win. If no team catches all 3 species 2 species will be weighed then 1.
Rules
o Entry Fee: $15/participant; $10 goes to payouts for winners; $5 goes to meals. Meal money will be kept in a separate bucket. We are asking that each person eating pay $5 to help pay for the 2 meals. Drinks will not be served. Eaters must bring their own drinks.
o All participants must be signed-up prior to Friday night start time
o All participants older than 15 must be current EASL member. Participants 15 and younger must be accompanied by a current EASL member. Memberships will be available for purchase at Friday evening sign-up
o Teams can have from 1, to no more than 5 people
o Team members should remain within sight of each other while fishing
o Fishing starts at 12:00 a.m. (midnight) Friday night
o Participants must be present at the weigh-in site no later than 3 p.m. Saturday – No exceptions
o Method of catch: Hook & line only; no flounder gigging, netting, etc.
o Both artificial & live bait are permissible
o Fishing boundaries: Any water within boating distance from Grand Isle/Fourchon/Leeville
Pan Fish Rodeo Set for Saturday, May 13, 2017
May 12, 2017 By
Pan Fish Rodeo Set for Saturday, May 13
The 2nd Annual EASL Pan Fish Rodeo will be held Saturday, May 13. The format is largely the same as last year, except the weigh-in will be 3PM instead of 2PM. A complete list of rules, procedures, and details about payouts to the winners is below.
1) No registration is needed prior to fishing. Just fish any public water you choose starting at sunrise, and register at the weigh-in.
2) Must use hook and line, live or artificial bait.
3) There is no fee to enter the rodeo. However, participants must be an EASL member. Fishermen under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a member.
4) Each person will fish individually, no teams, so you must keep your fish separated from others you are fishing with.
5) Use your own judgement and keep only fish that are a size you can eat.
6) Return to P.J.’s Landing no later than 3:00 p.m. with your limit of pan fish for weigh-in. Someone will be there for 2:00 p.m.
7) Pan fish will include bream, perch, crappie, and other like fresh water fish. No bass or catfish will be weighed, but can be donated to the fish fry.
8) Each person’s catch will be weighed as a whole and recorded. The weight of your biggest fish will also be recorded.
9) Cash prizes will be paid to the winners with $25.00 for 1st place, $15.00 for 2nd, $10.00 for 3rd, and $10.00 for biggest overall pan fish.
10) All fishermen are asked to prepare a share of their fish to be cooked at our May meeting on the 15th of the month.
We hope all will come out for a fun day of fishing, and will join with fellow members and their families for a fish fry social at the May 15 monthly meeting. We hope for a big turnout, and to continue the rodeo as a yearly event with your participation. For more details or information, call rodeo chairman, Mike Lambert, at 225-644-3804.
Save the Date! EASL Annual Kids Fishing Rodeo will be August 5, 2017
April 27, 2017 By
Mark your calendar to join EASL for our annual Kids Fishing Rodeo. Details to follow about Saturday, August 5th.
Memory from a past EASL Kids Fishing Rodeo:
Kids Fishing Contest: April 8, 2017 at Lamar Dixon Expo Center
March 27, 2017 By
EASL and Dreams Come True of Louisiana Kids Fishing Contest will be April 8, 2017. Check out the flyer below for details. This fishing Rodeo is a new one for EASL. We will still have our annual EASL Kids Fishing Rodeo to be held in August at Twin Lakes.
Results of EASL 2016 Squirrel Rodeo
October 5, 2016 By
Results of EASL’s 2016 Squirrel Rodeo (photo of squirrel not to scale, also it’s not a real squirrel but enjoy!)
There was some discussion at the September EASL meeting as to the opening date of this year’s squirrel season. One faction contended that it opened on the third of this month and the other held to the first. Several members rose, and reminiscent of Doc Holiday at the O.K. Corral, drew their mobile phones, handily holstered on their hips, to confirm that opening day was in fact October first this year. Seems that those acting as the Clanton Boys were looking at last year’s opening date, an understandable error, and maybe even excusable. But not excusable by the State Game Wardens in a year where the first Saturday in October falls after the third of October and one is caught with squirrels in his hunting sack on the third.
For clarification, squirrel season always opens one half hour before sunrise the first full weekend in October…to simplify, the first Saturday in October. I could be partially incorrect if you bring up the Spring season. The 2017-2018 Fall season opens on Saturday, October 7, 2017.
To get to the business at hand…the rodeo was again held at Merle Gautreaux’s home. The new chairman was yours truly. Everyone was reasonably pleased with the new chair’s performance. He mostly sat in a chair, pointed his fingers and barked out orders. The past chairman graciously agreed to usher him through his first ordeal and was the only one who expressed displeasure with the new administration. The old chairman was appointed weighmaster and was called upon to weigh the bags of squirrels as they arrived. This seemed to interfere with the leisure time that he anticipated spending during his retirement as chairman.
There were seventeen hunters who participated. Fourteen weighed in squirrels. There was a total of fifty-seven squirrels weighed in. Three hunters had full limits. Most consisted of grey squirrels with a smattering of red squirrels.
The winner was Richard Gautreaux with a full limit of eight red squirrels weighing in at ten pounds even. Richard also had the largest squirrel which weighed in at one pound and five ounces. He claimed that he hunted near Opelousas in a section of woods that he had recently scouted.
Second place was Kevin Prettelt with eight squirrels totaling eight pounds three ounces; and in third place was Gary Lass with eight squirrels weighing seven pounds one ounce.
Special thanks to Perry Berteau for cooking the jambalaya and beans for the weigh-in and cleaning party. It was jam up!
Sunday’s gravy was cooked again this year by Todd Breaux. A few more squirrels were added from Saturday evening’s and Sunday morning’s hunts. Total squirrels weighed in was fifty-seven; total in the stew was around seventy-five. There was some talk about the possibility of subsidizing the stew with a couple of Merle’s laying hens in order to have enough for the crowd, but the extra squirrels gave them a reprieve.
The entire weekend was enjoyed by all, with much laughing, joking and retelling of old lies, and everyone went home with full stomachs, even the grumbling weighmaster.
There was one incident on Sunday involving a conspiracy and possible attempted theft of a chicken by one of the cooks…but then that’s another story.
— Byron Gautreau, Event Chair
2016-squirrel-rodeo-weigh-in-sheet
EASL Squirrel Rodeo October 1-2, 2016
September 26, 2016 By
Join us at the 2016 EASL Squirrel Rodeo on Saturday, October 1, and Sunday, October 2. Once again, it will be held at Merle Gautreaux’s home. Squirrel hunting is Saturday, October 1, from legal shooting hours until the end of weigh-in. Weigh-in will start at 10:00 am and end at 3:00 pm. Jambalaya by Perry Berteau will be served around noon.
Sunday afternoon features the announcement of winners and the serving of squirrel gravy cooked by Todd Breaux.
Hunters must be EASL members to enter. All EASL members are invited to Saturday’s jambalaya dinner and Sunday afternoon’s squirrel gravy. Contact Byron Gautreau at 936-9291 with any questions.
(photo from 2014 squirrel hunt, Ashlee Fink.)
Terry Melancon Saltwater Challenge 2016 Results and Photos
August 8, 2016 By
The 2016 Terry Melancon Saltwater Challenge was a great time to be had by all. Goosie Guice proved once again you do not need an expensive boat, fishing guide or high tech equipment to catch a winning stringer. He fished on the side of Highway 1 between Grand Isle and Fourchon and had the winning 5 trout stringer and the largest trout. If memory serves correct 4 of the last 5 years have been won fishing from the side of the road or from the bank.
This has become a multi-state and international event. We had 58 participants on 18 registered teams. Team “Shoulda quit Drinkin” came over from South Georgia to participate for the first time. They won the trash fish category with a big jack crevalle. What is impressive about the catch was they cleaned it and took it home to eat. I guess the quality of fish meat depends on where you are from. They eat fried mullet there also.
It was a group effort to insure the success of the event. Thelma Diez, Vince Diez Jr and Charley Moore were instrumental in making sure we ate well. Jodi Singer took care of registration and recorded the weights as Barney Callahan weighed the fish for the competition. Goosie organized the clean-up crew to leave the 3 rented camps in good shape so that we can come back again next year. Marcia and Jerry Jimmerson made sure everyone had an assigned room. Mr. Percy went above and beyond the call of duty insuring the quality of the banana pudding.
It was a good time with friends, family and fellowship. We are looking forward to next year’s event.
Below are the winning teams:
Shoulda Quit Drinkin’: Trash fish with a Jack Crevalle (14.11#)
Chasin’ Tail: 1st place-2 largest redfish under 27″ (12.46#)
Newt’s Raiders: 1st place-largest redfish overall (23.39#)
Bama Toad Stranglers: 2nd place-5 largest trout (11.07#), 2nd place-2 largest redfish under 27″ (9.82#)
Team Margarita: 1st place-5 largest speckled trout (12.76#) & big speckled trout (3.50#)
Croaker Nuggets: 1st place-big flounder (1.59#) & Cajun Slam (11.42#)
EASL Turkey Contest Winners for 2016
July 28, 2016 By
Turkey Contest Winner 2016: Cody Braud won in the out of state category and Goosie Guice won the in-state category.
Thad Bellow (left) with Cody Braud.
