Brothers Dr. Eric Elias and Dr. Darryl Elias Jr. enjoyed calm seas and yet another successful red snapper season opener May 28 in the Gulf of Mexico aboard the family's 45-foot Hatteras, Megalodon.

CYPREMORT POINT — Several notable offshore species filled all the spacious ice chests aboard Megalodon, a 45-foot Hatteras, two days before Memorial Day Monday.

An amberjack estimated between 80-90 pounds was the biggest of the trip that began at 4:35 a.m. May 28 from the Elias family’s camp at Cypremort Point and after an approximately 160-mile round trip ended at the same place around 2 a.m. May 29. Coleman Inzerella, the youngest crew member, had to lean into that fish that was a story in itself, as the journey’s aftermath revealed. But more on that later.

Two 40- 45-pound class amberjack fell victims to light tackle wielded by New Iberians Dr. Darryl Elias Jr. and Matt Delcambre, who finessed the brutes that pull like small submarines and got them in the boat.

And, oh, fitting for the opening weekend of the recreational harvest red snapper season off Louisiana’s coast in the Gulf of Mexico, which is why they were out there, nine three-fish daily creel limits of red snapper got iced down. Coleman Inzeralla’s father, Jed Inzerella, caught a red snapper weighing nearly 24 pounds, one of 27 red snapper brought back by Megalodon.

“You know, Eric (Dr. Eric Elias) thinks it’s the most fish ever put on that boat. They’ve never run out of ice chest space,” Delcambre said. “We had no room in the box. We took all the drinks out and put them in 5-gallon buckets.”

The nine-man crew had to get the filet knives busy after they cleaned the big boat Sunday morning. The boat’s ice chests held 30 mangrove snapper, 27 red snapper, nine amberjack, five lemonfish and almaco jacks, triggerfish, etc., which were divided evenly.

When fishing lines were in the water or while traveling from one oilfield platform to another, Megalodon was skippered by one of the Teche Area’s most revered and successful red snapper fishermen, Dr. Darryl Elias Sr. of New Iberia. His son, Dr. Eric Elias, manned the helm on the way out and on the way back.

“The weather cooperated. It was pretty weather. We had 1- to 2-foot seas and it slicked out coming home, like a bathtub,” Dr. Eric Elias said. “Oh, yeah, it was a beautiful trip. It was a good time. It was a wonderful adventure.

“They had quite a few boats heading out, like the good old days. It was good to see people heading out.”

As expected, filling their three-fish daily creel limit per person was a snap in this part of the Gulf.

The elder Elias, who started targeting red snapper in 1964, was renowned for his red snapper fishing expertise in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s aboard his previous big boat, Snapper Tapper, and for passing on his knowledge to Darryl Jr. and Eric, who, like their father, are obstetricians.

Other Megalodon crew members were close family friend Marty Delaune, Delcambre and his son, U.S. Coast Guard Bosun’s Mate 2nd Class Thomas Delcambre, Jean Pitre, and the father-son Inzerellas.

The Inzerellas boasted the biggest amberjack and the biggest red snapper. That amberjack provided the storyline of the weekend.

Coleman Inzerella hooked it and reeled it in. The trip’s fish was no match for the strong defensive lineman, an underclassman for St. Thomas More’s Cougars.

No one expected such a monster amberjack to be in 85-foot depths at South Marsh Island 27, Dr. Eric Elias said, noting typically they are in much deeper water. The biggest surprise came later when he cleaned the fish and found a hook and the head of a speckled trout inside the fish.

Hmmmmm. He talked to Stuart Billeaud of Lafayette while both were fishing the platform that gave up that amberjack to the younger Inzerella. Apparently, that fish was hooked minutes earlier.

Billeaud told him his wife, Keisha, had her fishing line snapped by a big fish there, probably a shark. The Billeauds, accomplished speckled trout fishermen, were using speckled trout heads for bait.

Dr. Eric Elias believes that same fish bit Coleman Inzerella’s line 10 minutes later.

“We honestly thought it was a shark, too, until we finally got it up,” he said.

Megalodon’s crew members’ favorite fishing rod and reel combinations got a workout on the high seas. The outing was long-awaited, fitting for a red snapper season that opened May 27 and is scheduled to end Labor Day Monday.

For Delcambre’s son, Thomas, the timing of the trip was perfect. Stationed in Venice, the younger Delcambre leaves next week to return and serve at the USCG post in Kodiak, Alaska.

“It was a good break for him,” his father said.

That was evident by the smile on their face as each held up a formidable “double” for the camera — Thomas Delcambre’s large lemonfish caught the same time his dad hooked and boated a sizeable amberjack.

Matt Delcambre, University of Louisiana-Lafayette Deputy CIO, said his biggest thrill was catching the 40- to 45-pound amberjack on a spinning rod with 30-pound test line and no leader while fishing for mangrove snapper.

Dr. Darryl Elias Jr. also accomplished that feat on light tackle, the elder Delcambre said.

“It was a good trip. The boat ran great. The seas were calm,” Matt Delcambre said. “(But) we didn’t have good water till we were 40 miles out. Fifty miles out the water changed to a pretty blue.”

It took him and his son two hours, he said, to clean their share of the bounty hauled back from the deep seas.

It was more than a Memorial Day Weekend. It was a memorable weekend offshore.