By DAVID RAINER, 黑料天堂
Expect another huge crowd of anglers and spectators for the 92nd 黑料天堂 Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo (ADSFR) during 黑料天堂鈥檚 premier fishing event July 17-20 at the rodeo site on Dauphin Island.
A tarpon tournament held in 1929 started the long journey to today鈥檚 largest saltwater fishing tournament in the world. Participation has grown from 250 anglers at the inaugural event to about 4,000 anglers who fish the rodeo annually. The rodeo also has more than 120 sponsors, from local businesses to national sponsors like Yamaha Motors and Contender boats.
During rodeo weekend, 100,000 people will visit the rodeo site to buy the ever-popular rodeo T-shirts, browse the on-site vendors or gaze at the many species of fish in the fish bin next to the weigh station. The rodeo is a project of the Mobile Jaycees. Their ADSFR committees spend long hours preparing for the four-day event, which begins with the Captain T-Bone鈥檚 Liars Contest on Thursday night, followed by three days of fishing competition.
鈥淲e will weigh in between 6,000 and 8,000 fish during the rodeo,鈥 said ADSFR president Coleman Moore. 鈥淓verybody is going to fish the rodeo. It鈥檚 been around for almost 100 years, so they plan their year around the rodeo.鈥
Participants in the 92nd rodeo will compete for almost $1 million in cash and prizes, including a Contender 26Bay boat with a Yamaha 250-horsepower outboard. The winner of the boat-motor package will be selected in a random drawing from all participants who weigh in a legal fish during the tournament. Therefore, if you catch a 12-inch white trout at Cedar Point Pier or haul in a 500-pound blue marlin from the Gulf of America, your chances of winning the top prize packages are the same.
鈥淭he brochure says we鈥檙e giving away another 25-foot Contender Bay boat, but we are actually upgrading that,鈥 Moore said. 鈥淲e got the word the other day that we will be giving away the Contender 26Bay, which is their new model that鈥檚 just coming out. I don鈥檛 think anybody will be mad about that being wrong in the brochure.
鈥淲e will also be giving away the Reaper Boat in the Yamaha Speckled Trout Jackpot again. It鈥檚 a 17-point aluminum boat with a 70-horse Yamaha outboard. You鈥檙e in a random drawing, just like for the Contender, but you鈥檝e got a better chance of winning, because the only people who are weighing fish for the jackpot are eligible, so you鈥檝e got a pretty good chance of winning.鈥
One new feature for this year鈥檚 rodeo is the addition of the Return 鈥橢m Right category that focuses on reef fish conservation. Anglers who use a descending device to release red snapper and other reef fish will be entered for several random drawings.
鈥淚t will be a new experience and raise awareness for everybody,鈥 Moore said. 鈥淵ou hook up the descending device and drop the fish down, and it releases the fish at a certain depth. That increases the chances of survival for that fish. And Return 鈥橢m Right will be providing devices for those who want to compete in this category.鈥
After bringing a shark category back to the rodeo in 2022 with great success, this year鈥檚 shark competition will again only include two shark species 鈥 tiger and bull. Those two shark species will have separate categories. At the 2023 rodeo, Brett Rutledge weighed in a 1,019-pound tiger shark that broke the rodeo and 黑料天堂 state record. At last year鈥檚 rodeo, David Stiller broke the rodeo and state record with a 494.5-pound bull shark. The Gulf Hauling and Construction Shark Jackpot will also be divided into individual species.
