A is for AT last. Just in time for big game and migratory waterfowl hunting seasons, Myette Point Boat Landing opened with pomp and circumstance Oct. 14. Located along the West Atchafalaya Basin Protection Levee, the state-of-the-art $3.9 million facility that covers a 22-acre site took three years to complete — due to high water and other natural causes — once the bids were opened in August 2007.

B is for BOAT and motor. After the past few years, particularly last year, I really believe a boat is a hole in the water in which you pour money into. But, goodness gracious, it sure is a great experience to be up and running over water smooth as glass in the nation’s last great overflow swamp at sunrise, or knifing through the chop in and around Vermilion Bay. Those times make boat and motor repairs very worthwhile.

C is for CONFIDENCE bait. Starting in March, a swim bait quickly became my go-to artificial lure when bass fishing. More and more bass fishermen around here are hooking one of the soft plastics on the business end of their fishing line and saltwater fishermen won’t be far behind.

D is for DYNASTY. Short of pulling the plug on their boat, is there anything that can be done to slow down the 2010 red-hot Hawg Fight team of Mike O’Brien of New Iberia and Paul Resweber of St. Martinville in 2011? Gotta give ’em their props after running away with the regular-season title and then won a tough Hawg Fight Classic on Aug. 29 with 12.62 pounds.

E is for EARLY notice has been given. The Top Rod Big Bass Classic is scheduled to be held Feb. 27 on Lake Dauterive-Fausse Pointe out of Marshfield Landing. Bass clubs, other organizations and individuals have had plenty of notice since founder Elvis Jeanminette made the announcement the last week of October.

F is for FAMER. The Coastal Conservation Association-Louisiana inducted Franklin native Jeff Angers of Baton Rouge into its Hall of Fame in early March. Angers, whose family has roots sunk deep in Iberia Parish, was CCA’s executive director 15 years after taking office in 1992. The organization grew and gamefish laws for saltwater species were enacted during his term.

G is for GAS. For one thing, it’s aggravating that it’s around $3 a gallon. But what sticks in my craw is the paucity of gas pumps selling gas without ethanol. Right now gas that goes into my boat has no ethanol and comes from Pop-N-Fuel at the corner of Center and St. Peter streets. Ethanol eats up outboard motors and other small engines and spits them out. Very costly.

H is for HAWGS. Big bass were caught around here and at Toledo Bend, where Loreauville bass anglers Chester Huval caught a 10.34-pounder March 23 and Malcolm Crochet reeled in a 10-pound, 1-ounce bass March 13.

I is for IBERIA Rod & Gun Saltwater Fishing Rodeo and a very generous donation. Last year Charlie Oubre, who owns Oubre Marble & Granite, donated something special to the Best All-Around Fisherman in the Inside Division. When Alyssa Broussard accepted her big trophy for that honor, she also got a lifetime fishing license worth $200 courtesy of Oubre. He said he wanted to encourage youngsters to fish. (See J and K.)

J is for JIMMY Harris Memorial Tournament. Participation dwindled to

an uninspiring 10 boats last spring in the bass tournament run by Ron Joseph, a personable outdoorsman who wants to carry on the Teche Area man’s memory in an impressive way each year with the event on the Bayou Teche in Patterson. Harris, a barber and community leader who helped young people in St. Mary Parish, left money for the tournament’s payout and wanted children to get into fishing.

K is for KIDS. If they aren’t hunting or fishing, they’re on the streets or in their room with their fingers on a remote control. Unplug them from the television set and give them a chance to experience the great outdoors. This beautiful region has so much to offer in that respect.

L is for LUCK. When some people cite luck as the deciding factor in winning a fishing contest, it’s usually pointed out by yours truly that they made their own luck. Many agree they’d rather be lucky AND good.

M is for MESSENGER from Monroe. That was the headline above the feature story on a visit at the behest of Highland Baptist Church by the Louisiana Duckmen of Louisiana, led by widely known duck call maker Phil Robertson. Robertson’s wares and inspirational messages (religious and patriotic) were seen and heard April 27 by hundreds who crowded into the Cyr-Gates Community Center.

N is for NEW ORLEANS Saints. They gave us the biggest thrill of our life by winning the Super Bowl in February. With luck, they’ll traverse the perilous playoffs and make it to the world championship game this season and get us all giddy again.

O is for OIL rig explosion and oil spill. The words were tragic to read and hear as the April 20 catastrophe unfolded 40 miles south of Venice in the Gulf of Mexico. Our hearts went out to the victims and their families, to the myriad of people impacted by the oil spill. Our fishing lines were banned from many popular fishing spots along and off the coast, mostly to the east, by fishing closures in state and federal waters.

P is for PHOTO. The large, framed black-and-white photograph hanging on the wall in the foyer at Bass Pro Shops in Gonzalez brought tears to my eyes because it was one taken in 1953 of my father Bill Shoopman and I in a homemade wooden jo-boat on the Osage River in Missouri. I made about a dozen calls to family and friends in a few minutes right there on the spot when it was first spotted.

Q is for QUALITY time together. Like clockwork, brothers Bill Shoopman and Keith Shoopman of Kansas City and Belton, Mo., respectively, visit here every other year to sample bass and speckled trout fishing. The Shoopmans got here in August — a very hot month, even by our standards — and enjoyed trips to the Atchafalaya Basin and upper Gulf of Mexico thanks to New Iberian Huey Olivier. One Basin outing was eventful because the outboard motor conked out near Oak Ridge and pulled out by Gregory Bourque of St. Martinville.

R is for RECOVERY. Here are heartfelt wishes for a full and speedy recovery for Johnny Viator, who early last month underwent open heart surgery. Viator is a VIP in the life of this outdoor writer, who has many good memories of fishing trips in and around the Spillway.

S is for SUGAR Chapter. CCA-Louisiana’s darling raised more than $130,000 at its fundraising event Aug. 26 at the Cade Community Center. The Teche Area’s many saltwater fishermen and conservationists filled the hall with an estimated 700-750 people at its 5th annual banquet. What can be done for an encore in 2011?

T is for TERRIFIC. That’s the kind of season Keith Price of New Iberia and Brad Verret of Jeanerette had on their way to winning the overall title in the Doiron’s Team Bass Challenge circuit out of Stephensville. They started with whopping 20.92-pound catch for a victory Jan. 31.

U is for UNDERWATER vegetation. The runaway grass and and other green stuff choked many popular fishin’ holes last year in and around the Atchafalaya Basin. Mud Cove was a mess with virtually no access by conventional outboard motors. What areas weren’t covered by grass were chock-a-block full of lily pads. Something’s got to be done this year.

V is for VICTORY. We’re looking for a win today by the New Orleans Saints, coupled with an improbable loss by the Atlanta Falcons, and we’re hoping the LSU Tigers can make another joke out of the Texas A&M Aggies in the Cotton Bowl on Friday. Geaux Saints! Geaux Tigers!

W is for WILDLY exciting. That best describes the feelings for everyone on the water Memorial Day Weekend, particularly the day before Memorial Day. Hundreds of speckled trout, up to 5 pounds, at least, were caught in a period of time that ended soon after the holiday. Boats of all shapes and sizes, even jo-boats, dotted the water off Mud Point near Vermilion Bay. It was a rare run of speckled trout that had the region buzzing and ice chest lids opening and banging shut.

X is for XCITING and glorious. That’s Feb. 7, the day the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts, 31-17, in Miami. It was as momentous for long-suffering fans who stayed with the team since its inception in 1967 to newer, just-as-passionate fans who were born after that year or moved here and fell in love with the Saints.

Y is for YHEC. Three Teche Area outdoorsmen competed in the NRA International Youth Hunter Education Challenge the last week of July in Mansfield, Pa. They were Elijah Dore of Charenton and the Acadiana Youth Hunters Education Club and the Jeanerette Hunter Education Club’s Aaron Johnson of Loreauville and Travis Thibodeaux of Lydia.

Z is for ZZZZZZZs. I’m outta here. Have a safe and Happy New Year on the roads, on the water and in the woods, marshes and rice fields of this awesome Sportsman’s Paradise in 2011. See ya!

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.