Mother Nature ruled during the Southcentral Fishing Association regular season in 2021. And she wasn’t kind about it.

Hopefully, she’ll show her gentler side this coming Saturday.

The SFA’s president, Gerrit “T Blu” Landry and membership must be exacerbated, extremely discouraged, that only three of the four scheduled tournaments happened as planned this year. That second one, originally scheduled for April 10, then rescheduled for April 24, wound up being a lost cause.

That April 10-April 24 tournament, plagued by inclement weather conditions, won’t be made up, which means the current standings are final. As a result, the regular-season finale on June 5 really was the last tournament of ’21. That tournament was won by Keo Khamphilavong and Craig Landry with two slot reds weighing 14.75 pounds.

And it’s official. Keith Delahoussaye successfully defended the 2020 SFA Angler(s) of the Year title with 575 points. Delahoussaye and Quentin Comeaux, who fished two of the three tournaments this year with Delahoussaye and finished with 390 points, won the regular-season title last year, then went out and won the 2020 SFA Classic, too.

The Landrys, Delahoussaye and Comeaux, et all, now have their sights set on this year’s SFA Classic, which is scheduled to be held July 17 out of Cypremort Point’s Quintana Canal Boat Landing.

Gerrit Landry anticipates a robust turnout for the SFA Classic. He pointed out in an email the Top 25 finishers automatically qualify for the SFA Classic. Also, he said earlier in the season, all SFA members are eligible to fish the SFA Classic but only the Top 25 are eligible for the first-place prize.

However, non-Top 25 qualifiers must pay the standard $100 tournament entry fee.

Saltwater fishing success has been getting better and better in and around Vermilion Bay. The Atchafalaya River stage at Butte La Rose dropped below 10.0 feet this past week, good news as less freshwater intrusion enters the bay via the Wax Lake Outlet. As proof, the top slots in last weekend’s 68th annual Iberia Rod & Gun Club Saltwater Fishing Rodeo weighed 6.03 pounds, 5.39 pounds and 4.2 pounds in the Inside Division and 7.84 pounds, 4.38 pounds and 4.09 pounds in the Junior Division.

The hot hand going into the SFA Classic has to go to Khamphilavong, who went out June 5 with Craig Landry and returned to Quintana Canal Boat Landing with the top two slot redfish, including a 26 ¾-incher weighing 7.70 pounds, the biggest of the day. The veteran skipper said they fished Lake Chapeau, far southeast of Cypremort Point.

Milton Davis, Dusty Davis, Jonathan Rush and Drew Rivet were second in that last tournament with 13.40 pounds. Delahoussaye, fishing by himself, was third with 12.05 pounds.

With only three tournaments and fewer members, the annual SFA supper won’t be held later this summer, according to Gerrit Landry. Door prizes will be drawn for members and distributed at the upcoming SFA Classic, he said.

“(I) hope to see everyone on the 17th,” he said in an email Tuesday.

For more information on the SFA Classic call Gerrit Landry at 380-0387.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.