St. Germain, Romero make bid for individual, boat titles

Published 6:30 am Sunday, July 4, 2021

Brooks Amy, foreground, leads his crew off the Fish Karma on Saturday at Cypremort Point. They were ready to weigh fish Saturday on Day Two of the 68th annual IR&GC Saltwater Fishing Rodeo at Cypremort Point.

CYPREMORT POINT — While there weren’t as many “wowzas” hitting the scales Saturday as Friday, some serious bids were made for individual and boat titles going into the third and last day of the 68th annual Iberia Rod & Gun Club Saltwater Fishing Rodeos.

Karleigh St. Germain made a big move in the race for Best All-Around Fisherman in the Junior Division when the 14-year-old jumped from second to first after two days with 436 points, overtaking first-day leader Trey Jordan, who slipped to third with 321 points. St. Germain, a freshman-to-be at West St. Mary High School, helped her cause with a 26.5-pound redfish Saturday.

And Drew Romero’s Smokin’ Reels leapfrogged first-day leader Bon Temps, skippered by Lynn “The Bear” Hebert, to take the inside track for the Boat Captain’s Award in the Inside Division. Romero added a second-place sheepshead (4.03 pounds) and a third-place slot redfish (4.2 pounds) on the second day to give his boat and crew a total of 779 points.

Bon Temps, the first-day leader for boat honors in the Inside Division, slid into second place with 717 points, setting up an interesting race on a shortened day today at fishing rodeo headquarters under the pavilion along Quintana Canal. Scales open at 10 a.m. and close for good at 1 p.m.

St. Germain and Romero scrutinized their respective leaderboards before the final day of competition. That they and others got on the water at all on the second day was a tribute to their want to compete in the annual saltwater fishing rodeo.

Mother Nature had a say in who does what on the water. After a stormy Friday night a few hours after the scales closed at 6 p.m., another storm kept many boats ashore before mid-morning Saturday.

St. Germain, fishing on the Pacifier, a 20-foot Sea Hunt skippered by her father, Heith St. Germain, was one of them that waited for better weather.

“We waited out the weather, then went back out,” Karleigh said after another day of fishing with her brother, Kiptyn St. Germain, 11, grandfather, Glenn St. Germain, and Heith St. Germain.

The brother-and-sister caught two bull reds at Boxcar Reef on freshly caught croakers, according to Heith. Then they went looking for “slot reds” and sheepshead to no avail because the water had dirtied.

He and his daughter were excited about possibly winning a title.

“Oh, it’s fun. I enjoy it,” he said. “We’ll see what happens. We might try again tomorrow (today). If it happens, it’ll be my first kid to be Best All-Around. I’d be pretty excited.”

“If I win this year, I might do Inside next year,” his daughter said.

Tara St. Germain, her mother who worked for the second straight day recording weights at the weigh-in, said, “She’s excited. She texted me this morning and said, ‘Mama, I did it!’ and sent a picture of the redfish.”

Romero’s game plan is panning out through the first two days of the fishing rodeo. He has the boat to beat on the last lap.

Smokin’ Reels has six fish on the Inside Division leaderboard after Day Two. He has first- and second-place croaker (.97 and .90 pounds, respectively) from Friday and first- and third-place “slot reds” (6.03 on Friday and 4.2 on Saturday) and a second-place sheepshead (4.02 pounds) he tacked on Saturday.

Brian Romero, his father, has a third-place croaker (.86 pounds) still on the leaderboard.

Bon Temps, skippered by Hebert, realized the race took a turn despite the fact his crew has all three drum places snapped up going into the last day. The skipper was talking to IR&GC fishing rodeo official T.J. Norris and said, “It’s tight, like I better go fish again in the morning.”

Hebert is fishing with his son, Jordan Hebert, who has first- and second-place drum (39.6 pounds and 30.5 pounds). Charles Latham, another crew member, has second-place redfish (32.5 pounds) and gar (39.2 pounds).

The Inside Division Best All-Around Fisherman leader after two days is Blaze Segura, who has 708 points with four fish – two speckled trout (3.20 and 2.55 pounds, respectively) and two white trout (0.47 and 0.44 pounds, respectively) for a total of 708 points. Drew Romero, however, is within shouting distance with 657 points.

Perhaps the last of the big boats also showed up Saturday. Defending Offshore Division Boat Captain’s Award winner Aorta B Fishing, skippered by Ryan Dearman of Eugene, Oregon, formerly of Lafayette, put four fish on the leaderboard, including a sweep in the red snapper category with Jonathan Foreman posting first- and third-place fish at 17.1 and 15.2 pounds, respectively.

Foreman also tacked on a 20.6-pound barracuda. Dearman chipped in with a second-place red snapper at 15.6 pounds.

CYPREMORT POINT — Following are the results Saturday after the second day of the 68th annual Iberia Rod & Gun Club Saltwater Fishing Rodeo:

INSIDE DIVISION

Redfish

1, Chad LeBlanc, 33.2. 2, Charles Latham, 32.5. 3, Gerrit “T Blu” Landry, 31.9.

Speckled trout

1, Blaze Segura, 3.20. 2, Blaze Segura, 2.55. 3, Everett Higgins, 2.47.

Flounder

1, Emeria Romero, 1.42. 2, 2, Perry Scott, 1.39. 3, Perry Scott, 1.25.

White trout

1, Blaze Segura, 0.47. 2, Blaze Segura, 0.44. 3, Venee Segura, 0.33.

Sheepshead

1, Kirk Bourque, 6.36. 2, Drew Romero, 4.03. 3, Everett Higgins, 3.5.

Drum

1, Jordan “BooLove” Hebert, 39.6. 2, Jordan “BooLove” Hebert, 30.5. 3, Lynn “The Bear” Hebert, 28.9. Charles Latham, 25.1.

Croaker

1, Drew Romero, .97. 2, Drew Romero, .90. 3, Brian Romero, .86.

Garfish

1, Ronnie Dore, 69.0. 2, Charles Latham, 39.2. 3, Ryan Sholamire, 32.55.

Slot redfish

1, Drew Romero, 6.03. 2, Dustin Louviere, 5.39. 2, Drew Romero, 4.2.

BEST ALL-AROUND FISHERMAN INSIDE DIVISION LEADERS: Blaze Segura, 708. Drew Romero, 657. Charles Latham, 391.

INSIDE DIVISION BOAT CAPTAIN’S AWARD LEADERS: Smokin’ Reels, Drew Romero, 779. Bon Temps, Lynn “The Bear” Hebert, 717. Fish Karma, Brooks Amy, 287.

JUNIOR DIVISION

Redfish

1, Karleigh St. Germain, 26.5. 2, Kiptyn St. Germain, 23.9. 3, Karleigh St. Germain, 19.9.

Speckled trout

None entered.

Flounder

1, Hayden Amy, .77.

White trout

1, Drew Guillotte, .06. 2, Drew Guillotte, 0.3. 3, Grant Romero, .03.

Sheepshead

1, Thomas Thibodeaux, 4.24. 2, Hayden Amy, 2.75.

Drum

1, Mathew Latham, 21.2. 2, Karleigh St. Germain, 20.3. 3, Kiptyn St. Germain, 19.1.

Croaker

1, Espn Gary, .77. 2, Easton McLean, .63. 2, Wyatt Broussard, .51.

Garfish

1, Layne Davis, 116.0 (New fishing rodeo record: Old record 74-10 by Kendal Migues, 1997). 2, Easton McLean, 54.5. 2, Nash Boudreaux, 38.8.

Slot redfish

1, Rayelon Romero, 7.84. 2, Trey Jordan, 3.5. 3, Drew Guillotte, 3.5.

BEST ALL-AROUND FISHERMAN JUNIOR DIVISION LEADERS: Karleigh St. Germain, 436. Drew Guillotte, 409. Trey Jordan, 321.