The 68th Iberia Rod & Gun Club Saltwater Fishing Rodeo, which is just a few pages of the calendar away, continues to make an effort to be more inclusive to broaden the appeal for young and old to get out to Cypremort Point and fish Fourth of July Weekend.

Who’s fired up the most about the latest change? That would be third-year fishing rodeo chairman Josh St. Germain of Sorrel, who has a long history with the annual event despite his tender age of 41. St. Germain has a message for Offshore Division boat captains who want to take youngsters on board for the three-day weekend saltwater fishing rodeo scheduled to start July 2, a Friday, and end two days later on Sunday, July 4. IR&GC Saltwater Fishing Rodeo headquarters will be under the pavilion along Quintana Canal near the Quintana Canal Boat Landing.

IR&GC has added a Junior Offshore Division Best All-Around Fisherman title for 2021, St. Germain said, enthusiastically, while talking about the upcoming fishing rodeo Wednesday night. The winner will take home a handsome trophy, just like the adult winners in divisions and the Best All-Around Fisherman in the Junior Division.

“I think it’ll definitely benefit the kids, make it a little more competitive. They’ll be going against other kids and not adults, so we think it’ll be a little more even playing field. We definitely want to get the word out there,” he said.

The Junior Offshore Division features five eligible species: red snapper, mangrove snapper, lemonfish, dolphin and king mackerel.

As for the Offshore Division, St. Germain said as of this past week there was considerable interest from big boats that head south into the Gulf of Mexico.

“I think right now we’ve got four or five talking about it, at least four or five,” he said.

IR&GC fishing rodeo officials have their fourth organizational meeting of the year set for this week. Really, almost everything is in place at this time, including entertainment and free meals lined up for Saturday and Sunday, the Fourth of July.

There has been a lot more certainty in the weeks leading up to this year’s event. Before the 2020 IR&GC Saltwater Fishing Rodeo, there were restrictions in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Still, the holiday weekend event was held, albeit with far fewer sponsors.

“We did it. It really wasn’t tough. We just kind of fell back on the old school formula for the past several years,” St. Germain said. “We figured with everything going on last year, it might have been difficult for people to donate, so we took the year off requesting donations. But we still had a good turnout last year. Everybody needed a break … or some normalcy.”

Fast forward to this year and the climate has changed.

“It’s going great,” Brandy St. Germain, Josh’s wife and IR&GC board member, said.

He agreed and said, “It’s going great. We’re ready to go. We’re ready for it. If it wouldn’t be for the team we have on the IR&GC board, none of this would be possible. We’ve got a lot of promising sponsors. We wouldn’t be able to do it without the sponsors.”

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

St. Germain, a concrete foreman for Southern Structures LLC, announced the live music schedule with Brittany Pool and the RugaRouxs playing under the pavilion from 6:30-10:30 p.m. Saturday and the Bad Boys on stage after the weigh-in concludes Sunday.

Like the entertainment, the respective meals on those two days will be free. On Saturday, Gerrit “T Blu” Landry’s Gotta Have Faith Charters, specifically Gerard Olivier, is cooking a red beans, rice and sausage supper and on Sunday, past IR&GC fishing rodeo chairman Brock Pellerin will cook his popular sausage jambalaya.

Food, sno-balls and such will be available, as usual, at Nanette Bernard’s Cj’s Snowballs, and adult beverages will be sold at the Bourbon Hall booth under the pavilion along Quintana Canal.

The St. Germains plan to fish with their three sons, Noah, 15, Luke, 14, and Ethan, 12, aboard the aptly named Quality Time, a 21-foot Mako.

“Oh, yessir. The whole crew is ready,” he said.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.