Defending SFA champs ready for 2018 opener

Saturday is the day the most consistent anglers in the Southcentral Fishing Association have been pointing for since the first tournament of the year March 17.

Twenty-six Teche Area saltwater fishermen qualified for the SFA Classic, which gets underway at 6 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m., when a new SFA Classic champion will be crowned under the pavilion alongside Quintana Canal. Among those vying for the title will be the team of Quentin Comeaux and Ryan Landry, both of Delcambre, and New Iberia’s Keith Delahoussaye, who won the SFA Classic in 2017.

Can Comeaux, Landry and Delahoussaye successfully defend their title? Delahoussaye, who will be fishing the SFA Classic on his 64th birthday, said they will give it their all.

“We’ve got to try to defend the title. We won it last year. We’ve got to shoot hard,” he said.

For sure, the retired state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement Division agent said, the winning weight will be more than the 14.60 pounds he had with his two quality “slot” redfish in the SFA’s regular-season finale on June 23. (See related story on this page.) That catch topped the 18-boat field that fished out of Quintana Canal Boat Landing.

“I think it’ll take more to win the Classic. It’s going to be who catches an 8-pounder (within the 16- to 27-inch slot limit). That’s going to be the ticket,” Delahoussaye said Thursday afternoon after tending to his crawfish pond near Tee Bayou.

Why? Redfish fishing success has been getting better and better in and around Vermilion Bay with each passing day in late June and July, Delahoussaye said. The Worm’s deep holes inside Marsh Island and the Dynamite Hole in Bayou Blanc are giving up more and more redfish, Delahoussaye said.

“They’ve been catching nice fish everywhere,” he said, noting he went with veteran and accomplished saltwater angler Malcolm Migues of New Iberia on a speckled trout fishing trip Tuesday and, while putting a limit of speckled trout in the boat, also caught a 26-inch redfish that weighed more than 7 pounds.

“We’ll probably be with everybody else fishing the deep holes in the Classic. You’ll have to have a little bit of luck with you to catch nice fish,” he said.

Defending the title won’t be easy, he said.

“They have some good, good fishermen that qualified for the Classic. It’s going to be tough, real tough. Those guys fish hard,” he said.

The defending SFA Classic champions probably will fish out of Delahoussaye’s Express rather than Comeaux’s 24-foot Triton, he said, looking forward to the big day.

“It’s three friends fishing together. We joke a lot during the day, try to be competitive among each other, which makes it better,” Delahoussaye said before the SFA season began.

Gerrit “T-Blu” Landry of Patoutville, SFA president, agrees with Delahoussaye about what it will take to win on Saturday. Landry, who qualified to fish the SFA Classic with Jeremy Lasseigne of Lydia, will fish out of his 23-foot Key West.

The Texas Petroleum lead production operator said, “Whoever’s got an 8-pound kicker’s going to be on top. I’m thinking 16 pounds to win.”

Who are some favorites going into the SFA Classic?

“I’m hoping me,” Landry said with a chuckle.

Seriously, he said, “It’s anybody’s game. Everybody in the club can win on any day. Anybody in the club can catch those two redfish any day.

“I think it’s going to be a pretty good weekend. The fishing’s getting pretty good and the water’s good,” he said.

However, SFA Classic qualifiers will be sharing the water with anglers fishing a St. Thomas More Fishing Rodeo out of Cypremort Point, which could make it crowded.

“There’ll be a lot more boats in areas we like to fish,” Landry said.

• SFA CLASSIC QUALIFIERS

1, Daniel Migues, 748. 2, Keith Delahoussaye, 735. 3, (tie) Larry Comeaux and Brody Comeaux, 549. 5, Troy Delahoussaye, 548. 6, Mark Comeaux, 547. 7, (tie) Drew Romero, Kirk Kapp, Racheal Kapp,  Jeff Guillot and Jeff Frawley, 546. 12, (tie) Milton Davis and Brittney Davis, 544.14, (tie) Matt Landry, Brady Derise, Bryant Landry, Brian Romero, Josh Naquin, Dusty Davis and Jonathan Rush, 541. 21, Shane Doucet, 540. 22, Keo Khamphilavong and Randy Migues, 539. 24, (tie) Bo Evans, Caleb Evans and J.P. Derouen, 536.