May 2016 Volume 17 • Issue 191 | Page 8

M & B News

Big Bass Rodeo Continues to Grow in Its 69th Year

Despite a brisk and windy morning , over 680 New Orleans area anglers gathered in City Park to compete in the 69th annual Big Bass Rodeo hosted by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and
Bass Category-Adult 1 . Darryl Delerno , Jr . – 4.13 lbs . 2 . DJ Parr – 3.88 lbs . 3 . Mike Laviolette – 3.22 lbs .
Champion ’ s Challenge 1 . Cary Smith – 2.76 lbs .
Cichlid and Bream Team 1 . Team Camo – 3.97 lbs . 2 . Stop , Drop and Reel – 3.18 lbs . 3 . Get the Net – 2.5 lbs .
Catch-A-Cat 1 . Zach Henderson – 16.38 lbs .
Catch-A-Gar 1 . Peter Durr – 1.77 lbs .
Bass Category-Junior 1 . Brennan LeJeune – 1.1 lbs . 2 . Hunter Thomassie – 0.89 lbs . 3 . Jacob Breaux – 0.64 lbs .
Bream , Cichlid or Perch-Junior 1 . Nathan McCann – 0.64 lbs . 2 . Caleb Buras – 0.48 lbs . 3 . Brooklyn Schneider - . 30 lbs .
Battle for the Bass 1 . Bass Busters from Mandeville High School – Total weight : 5.25 lbs .
2 . Griffins from Dutchtown High School – Total weight : 2.32 lbs .
3 . Fishing of Any Kind from Archbishop Rummel High School – Total Weight 2.24 lbs .
Bass Category-Boats on the Bayou 1 . Kevin Metz – 3.04 lbs . 2 . Chase Crawford – 2.17 lbs . 3 . Luke Beslin – 0.86 lbs .
Trout Category-Boats on the Bayou 1 . Chris Holmes – 1.84 lbs . 2 . Sam McCarroll – 0.77 lbs .
Trashbash Category-Boats on the Bayou 1 . Geoffrey Vdoff - 0.72 lbs . 2 . Geoffrey Vdoff - 0.34 lbs . 3 . Geoffrey Vdoff – 0.33 lbs .
Fisheries and New Orleans City Park . Darryl Delerno , Jr ., of Gretna , landed a 4.13- pound bass , earning him the Joel Courcelle Award Bass Busters from Mandeville High School for top bass of the day . Dalerno was also awarded the right to compete in the upcoming Champion ’ s Challenge against previous winners . Even the youngest of anglers braved the weather to try their hand at landing an award-winning catch . Brennan LeJeune reeled in a 1.1-pound largemouth bass and took home the Paul Kalman Award for largest catch for anglers 12 years old or younger . Nathan McCann came in first place with his . 64-pound weight in the bream , cichlid or perch category . A new competition category brought high school rivalry to a whole new level . Battle for the Bass pitted high schools fishing teams of up to five members against one another to land the two largest bass per team . The Bass Busters of Mandeville High School took home the inaugural honor with an overall combined weight of 5.25 pounds . The team of Bailey Madere , Trenton Pittman , Garrett Williams , Cole Plaisance and Clay Thrasher beat out 30 other area teams for the top prize and bragging rights . For more information on the Big Bass Rodeo or Battle for the Bass , contact outreach @ wlf . la . gov or visit www . fishla . org .
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