CYPREMORT POINT – A Best All-Around Fisherman and a Best All-Around Fisher(wo)man credited their respective captains for winning it all in their respective divisions of the 71st annual Iberia Rod & Gun Club Saltwater Fishing Rodeo.

Still, Dr. Joe Rustom of Winnfield, a dentist who practices in his hometown, had the kind of deepsea trip anglers dream about on his way to winning the Offshore Division Best All-Around Fisherman title bestowed July 6 under the pavilion along Quintana Canal. Rustom stuck five fish on the final leaderboard, including a whopping 107.2-pound grouper that wowed everyone here around midday Saturday.

“We’ve got a great captain … thanks to our captain. He really knows his stuff,” Rustom said about Dr. Patrick Savoy, a surgeon from Oakdale, after accepting the plaque from past fishing rodeo chairman Brock Pellerin during the awards ceremony that began at 3 p.m.

Rustom, 59, claimed the honor after amassing 11.4 points to finish ahead of Lannie Buteau on the Sea Mistress, 7.4, and Andrew Godley, 6, captain of the 39-foot Contender, Ghost in the Marine, a take on the widely popular beer his Parish Brewing Co. has made in Broussard since 2009.

About Rustom, 36, and his achievement, Savoy said, “Man, he’s tough. He fishes hard. He barely sleeps. We all caught fish but he caught the big ones. He’s the first one to throw a bait in thewater and he’s the last one to throw a bait in the water.”

Savoy and his crew on the Outlaw, a 37-foot long VH Freeman with an intricately wrapped design on the hull, also took home the coveted Offshore Division Boat Captain’s Award. Their 13 points outdistanced Jacques Hebert’s Sea Mistress, 12.8, and Ghost in the Marine, 9.

Also fishing aboard Outlaw were Chad Bailey of Oakdale and Colby Mayeau of Vidrine, who caught a potential state record yellowtail snapper (which has no category in the fishing rodeo).

Young Alexis Romero of Lydia knows her captain well, too, and would agree that he also knows his stuff, i.e., where to catch fish in inside waters in and around Vermilion Bay. Romero successfully defended her Junior Division Best All-Around while fishing aboard her skipper and father’s Smokin’ Reelz, a 24-foot long Blue Wave.

Romero, 12, who will be a seventh-grader at Iberia Middle School when school resumes for 2024-25, established a commanding lead on Day 2 after overtaking first-day leader Bowen Davis. She racked up 605 points to finish ahead of Oliver Bishop, 522, and Davis, 425.

She thanked her captain profusely.

“He gives me a lot of encouragement. He influenced me a lot,” Romero said about her dad, who doubled up in the major award department by winning the highly competitive Inside Division Best All-Around Fisherman title as well as the Inside Division Boat Captain’s Award.

Her captain’s crew also included her paternal grandfather, Brian Romero, her sister, Aubrey, and her cousin, Sophia Romero. Brian Romero finished with two second-place fish (speckled trout at 3.11 and flounder at 1.68) as Smokin’ Reelz accumulated 1,295 points while fishing only two of the three days. The top boat turned back Brooks Amy’s Team Karma, 762, and Jason McLean’s Blue Bullet, 354.

Drew Romero accounted for first-place flounder (3.24 pounds) and white trout (0.56 pounds) and second-place “slot” redfish (7.18 pounds).

The IR&GC event started on Thursday, the Fourth of July, and ended two days later without any of the wet stuff from popup showers and storms that pestered boaters along the coast. In fact, apparently the offshore waters were calmer, according to Savoy on the Outlaw.

“Yesterday, the roughest water we saw was in the Bay,” Rustom said, recounting the Outlaw’s return to Cypremort Point.

However, his only lament probably was echoed a hundred times by fishing rodeo anglers who traveled near and far.

“It was very hot. Was it hot? It was like hell. There was no wind,” Rustom said.

For the most part, fish cooperated for many. Every Inside Division category had at least one fish. No fish were entered in white trout and sheepshead in the Junior Division. Also, none hit the board at all in the tripletail division of the Offshore Division.

Among the top Inside Division fish were Heith St. Germain’s 7.38-pound “slot” redfish; Brennon Bishop’s 3.94-pound speckled trout, and Jacob Fisher’s 5.26-pound sheepshead.

The Junior Division’s “slot” winning redfish was heavier than the top slot in the Inside Division. Riley Louviere boasted a 7.59-pounder among the juniors.

In the Offshore Division, Godley’s 73.7-pound yellowfin tuna, which hit the leaderboard the first day and stayed, stayed at the top, as did Rustom’s 27.8-pounder barracuda.

Following are the results Saturday, July 6, after the third and final day of the 71st annual Iberia Rod & Gun Club Saltwater Fishing Rodeo at Cypremort Point:

INSIDE DIVISION

Slot redfish

1, Heith St. Germain, 7.38. 2, Drew Romero, 7.18., 3, Keo Khamphilavong, 7.16.

Speckled Trout

1, Brennon Bishop, 3.94. 2, Brian Romero, 3.11. 3, Nick Scutty, 2.61.

Flounder

1, Drew Romero, 3.24. 2, Brian Romero, 1.68. 3, Jacob Fisher, .67.

White Trout

1, Drew Romero, 0.56. 2, Matthew Khamphilavong, .52. 3, Matthew Khamphilavong, .50.

Sheepshead

1, Jacob Fisher, 5.26. Brooks Amy, 3.88. 3, Brooks Amy, 3.86.

Drum

1, Randy Boudreaux, 21.2. 2, Matt Migues, 20.8. 3, Everett Higgins, 18.4.

Croaker

1, Randy Boudreaux, .71. 2, Traci Guilbeau, .70. 3, Chad LeBlanc, .67.

Garfish

1, Max Callicott, 44.8. 2, Jon Baudry, 28.8. 3, Jason McLean, 20.0.

INSIDE DIVISION BEST ALL-AROUND FISHERMAN

Drew Romero

INSIDE DIVISION BOAT CAPTAIN’S AWARD LEADERS: Drew Romero, Smokin’ Reelz.

JUNIOR DIVISION

Slot Redfish

1, Riley Louviere, 7.59. 2, Bowen Davis, 6.54. 2, Alexis Romero, 5.44.

Speckled trout

1, Oliver Bishop, 2.55. 2, Oliver Bishop, 2.17. 3, Alexis Romero, 2.06.

Flounder

1, Aubrey Romero, 1.48. 2, Michael Chad Lipari, 1.37. 2, Alexis Romero, 1.14.

White trout

None entered.

Sheepshead

None entered.

Drum

1, Mayz Jackson, 14.6. 2, Michael Chad Lipari, 12.0. 3, Sophia Vining, 6.8.

Croaker

1, Brenner Babineaux, .82. 2, Hayden Jarrell, .79. 3, Kingston Jackson, .73.

Garfish

1, Rhett Thibodeaux, 36.0. 2, Max Baudry, 35.4. 3, Layn Davis, 27.8.

JUNIOR DIVISION BEST ALL-AROUND FISHER(WO)MAN:

Alexis Romero.

OFFSHORE DIVISION

Yellowfin tuna

1, Andrew Godley, 73.7. 2, Chris Bishop, 63.2. 3, Scott Beyt, 57.0.

Blackfin tuna

1, Scott Beyt, 26.4. 2, Eugene Dauterive Jr., 25.8. 3, Dr. Joe Rustom, 11.6.

Wahoo

1, Eugene Dauterive Jr., 19.6.

Bonita

1, Elvin Fontenot, 14.2. 2, Lannie Buteau, 13.2. 3, Dr. Joe Rustom, 13.0.

Tripletail

None entered.

Barracuda

1, Dr. Joe Rustom, 27.8. 2, Jacques Hebert, 26.0. 3, Chris Bishop, 24.8.

Mangrove snapper

1, Andrew Godley, 8.6. 2, Lannie Buteau, 8.6. 3, Johnny Buteau, 7.6.

Lemonfish

1, Chris Andre, 19.4.

Dolphin

1, Kristopher Sinitiere, 6.2. 2, Jordan Duhon, 4.8. 3, Jason Comeaux, 4.2.

Grouper

1, Dr. Joe Rustom, 107.2. 2, Dr. Joe Rustom, 19.2. 3, Colby Mayeau, 18.6.

King mackerel

1, Lannie Buteau, 11.2.

Red snapper

1, Jonathan Foreman, 18.8. 2, Dennis Aucoin, 18.0. 3, Jacques Hebert, 17.2.

OFFSHORE DIVISION BEST ALL-AROUND FISHERMAN

Dr. Joe Rustom

OFFSHORE DIVISION BOAT CAPTAIN’S AWARD

Dr. Patrick Savoy, Outlaw