All eyes are on the scale last summer when weighmaster Mackie Boudreaux, right, weighs an entry in the Junior Division.

One defending champion plans to be on the water but it’s up in the air if another one will fish when the 65th annual Iberia Rod & Gun Club Saltwater Fishing Rodeo gets underway at 12:01 a.m. Friday at Cypremort Point.

Jacques Hebert of Jeanerette is getting ready to take the Sea Mistress, a 36-foot Lafco hull, out in the Gulf of Mexico in a bid to win an eighth straight Offshore Division Boat Captain’s Award. He’s put a crew together, for the most part, toward that goal and, like dozens of other Teche Area saltwater fishermen, awaits the first day of the three-day holiday weekend event that ends at 1 p.m. Sunday. Scales will be open from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday.

“We plan to go,” Hebert said Friday morning. “We’re lining up trying to get things ready right now.”

Hebert’s crew includes David Melancon of Carencro, Paul Migues of New Iberia and Lannie Buteau of Jeanerette. There’s a possibility another crew member will be added as another good stick “wants to hitch a ride with us.”

Missing from the lineup will be veteran co-skipper and Sea Mistress co-owner Macolm Migues of New Iberia, Hebert said.

“Mr. Migues will be there but he said he’s not getting on the boat this year,” he said about his friend.

Sea Mistress was the top boat and boasted the Offshore Division’s Best All-Around Fisherman in Paul Migues last Fourth of July holiday weekend despite the fact it encountered mechanical problems that caused it to limp into fishing rodeo headquarters under the pavilion along Quintana Canal. A shaft broke on one of the motors.

“We had prop problems all season last year. We kept breaking blades off. We had to get brand new prop because that ended up breaking the shaft and losing the prop,” Hebert said. “I believe we have all of that taken care of. We have all new gear under the boat. We’ll see how that works out.”

The 58-year-old Hebert, who owns Streamline Industries, said he has fished “a little bit” this year but has been offshore only one time. Mostly, unfavorable weather conditions or schedules kept the big boat at the dock, he said.

He and the crew won’t come up with a game plan until later this week. Hebert said.  It’s too early to get a handle on the weather, he said.

“We’ll wait until it gets a little closer before we decide which direction. Generally, we’ll roll out of the (Southwest) Pass and go east or go west, make a circle and go back to the Pass. We’ll go whichever way we can run the best,” he said.

Sea Mistress is a familiar sight along the bulkhead on the final day of each fishing rodeo. The boat’s crew has set a standard that may never be equaled with seven Boat Captain’s Awards.

“We love to be on the water. That’s why we do it,” the skipper said. 

“There are a lot of really good, competent fishermen who can win this at any time. I just believe we’ve been lucky. We’ve been fortunate to have a good boat and a good crew. We enjoy it out there,” he said.

While Hebert and his hard-fishing crew will be out in an effort to defend their title, 2017’s Junior Division Best All-Around Fisherman may miss the fishing rodeo.

Evie Sherville captured the title after fishing last summer’s holiday weekend event with her friend, Faith Landry, aboard a boat skippered by Landry’s father, Gerrit “T-Blu” Landry. The elder Landry, however, said he may have to sit out the weekend because he probably will have to work in his seven-and-seven job with Texas Petroleum.

Landry’s trying to work something out but as of Friday afternoon his availability for the fishing rodeo was undecided, he said.

Scales will be open from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday.

Entry fees are $5 for the Junior Division, $25 for the Inside Division and Kayak Division and $55 for the Offshore Division. 

Eligible Junior Division fish are redfish,speckled trout, flounder, white trout, sheepshead, drum, croaker, garfish and “slot” redfish (16 to 27 inches long). Eligible Inside Division fish are redfish, speckled trout, flounder, white trout, sheepshead, drum, croaker, garfish and “slot” redfish (16 to 27 inches long). Eligible Offshore Division fish are yellowfin tuna, blackfin tuna, wahoo, bonita, tripletail, barracuda, mangrove snapper, lemonfish, dolphin, grouper, king mackerel and red snapper. 

IR&GC fishing rodeo chairman Brock Pellerin of Jeanerette and the rest of the fishing rodeo committee are looking forward to the annual event, Pellerin said Friday morning from Grand Isle. He plans to pack up today and go back home.

First up on the schedule is the annual free Anglers Supper scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the American Legion Hall in Lydia. Shrimp fettuccine will be served.

“We’re trying to get more and more people to the supper,” Pellerin said.

He said the long-range forecast calls for a 50 percent chance of rain but light or no winds, which is favorable for big and small boats.

Once again Pellerin will cook a rice gravy, deer sausage and white bean free supper on Saturday. On Sunday, he will cook a sausage jambalaya for lunch Sunday, a meal that will be free for anglers with as fishing rodeo ticket. Plates also will be sold, he said.

“Even if you aren’t fishing the rodeo, come out and enjoy the band, enjoy the company. And Sunday, we’ve got big fish coming in,” he said.

Also, Pellerin said, there will be live entertainment on the second and third days of the fishing rodeo.

From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, the crowd can listen to and dance to the Brittany Pool Band,he said. From 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, the beat will beprovided by Cajun Company.