March 2016 Volume 17 • Issue 189 | Page 9

cichlids, bream and perch. The best of the best, Champions Challenge past bass winners, compete against each other for bass. There is also a bonus prize for anyone catching the heaviest gar or catfish. Entry fee is $10 for Adults (13 and over) and $5 for Youth (12 and under). Boats on the Bayou division will have categories for: Bass, Redfish, Trout and Trashbash (any fish not a bass, trout or redfish). This boating division will have different rules & regulations and fishing times from the traditional Big Bass Rodeo. All registrant names will be placed in a basket and there will be a drawing to win a Hobie Kayak. The drawing will be held during the Awards Ceremony at the bandstand on rodeo day (winner must be present to win). Entry fee is $15 with a $1 online processing fee. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is introducing a new category, Battle for the Bass. This new category offers high school students an opportunity to compete for a large trophy to bring back to their school along with bragging rights for an entire year. LDWF is working with the Berkley High School Fishing Club program to promote fishing in schools and increase the number of fishing clubs throughout the state. The Battle for the Bass competition will offer incentives from Berkley to sign up early and a fishing package to the top team. Each student from the top three teams will bring home a Battle for the Bass plaque. All high school students are invited to participate in this event. For questions please call Danica Williams at 504-628-7282. . Entry fee for each team member is $5. City Park offers some of the best bass fishing in the state. This past year two bass exceeding 9 pounds have been caught and released by local anglers Mike Laviolette and Kurt Wulff. Recently 300+ pounds of mature bass (many between 6-7 pounds) were stocked into the bayous and lagoons by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. This could be the rodeo to see many large bass brought to the weigh station with a possible new record breaker! Tim Zissis holds the record bass with a weight of 9-lbs. 0.05-oz. followed by Kevin Schilling with his 9-lb. 0-oz. lunker. The Big Bass Rodeo will be held on Saturday, April 2nd. All information, online registration, registration forms, rules & regulations, fishing map and more will be available beginning February 15th at: HYPERLINK "http://www.bigbassfishingrodeo.com" www.bigbassfishingrodeo.com.