Teche Area outdoorsmen fill out CCA-Louisiana membership forms Aug. 15, 2024, at a table at the Cade Community Center before the 18th annual Sugar Chapter Banquet. More than 750 outdoorsmen attended the fundraiser. DON SHOOPMAN / THE DAILY IBERIAN FILES

The Teche Area’s saltwater anglers, many who have enjoyed fair to good fishing success for redfish and speckled trout in and around Vermilion Bay, may want to mark the date for the next CCA-Louisiana Sugar Chapter Banquet. It’s Aug. 14.

Chances are there will be another impressive turnout based on the current case of fishing fever, plus the fact the chapter’s members responded big time for the Aug. 15, 2024, fundraising banquet held annually at the Cade Community Center. Our local chapter set the bar high at last year’s fundraising event when an estimated 750 members converged on the building along the Smede Highway in St. Martin Parish.

That 18th annual event raised more than $170,000, Sandy Derise proudly reported, noting it was “probably our biggest year in about four, five years.” The Jeanerette native who lives in Youngsville served as chapter president in 2024.

Derise attributed the increase to excitement and enthusiasm, both of which should fuel an equal or higher turnout next month. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m.

For tickets to the event, go to https://ticketstripe.com/2025SugarBanquet. Admission tickets, all which include a one-year membership into the conservation group that strives to promote and enhance  coastal resources, start at $75 for a single ticket that includes dinner and open bar.

Other ticket prices are Member and Spouse for $125; Redfish for $600 (table reserved for 8); Speckled Trout for $1,200 (table reserved for 8, plus more); Red Snapper for $2,500 (table reserved for 8, plus more); Yellowfin or $5,000 (table reserved for 8, plus more), and Blue Marlin for $10,000 (table reserved for 8, plus more). For details on extra benefits go to ticketstripe.com.

The banquet features a live auction, silent auction and raffle items sure to appeal to the chapter’s members, men, women and children. The highest live auction bid at last year’s event was $8,500, twice and both for a trip to Italy.

Supper will be served by Bon Creole, which has catered all but a few Sugar Chapter fundraisers in the past 18 years. The local caterer served green beans, catfish fillets, jambalaya, rolls and chocolate chip brownies.

Derise closed out last year’s upbeat conversation about the banquet by saying, “We look forward to having a good offseason. We’ll do it again next August for sure.”

It’s almost that time. Make plans to show up to support CCA-Louisiana.

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Hunters can get a close look at the 2025-26 hunting regulations pamphlet online now at www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/seasons-and-regulations.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries officials released the information recently. It contains hunting rules, regulations and season dates for 2025-26, including information on the LDWF’s Wildlife Management Areas and Louisiana’s federal lands.

The pamphlet also includes season schedules for the state’s 10 deer hunting areas and any major changes for the upcoming deer hunting season.

For hunters waiting for printed copies of the pamphlet, those will be available in August at LDWF offices across the state, as well as at vendors where hunting and fishing licenses are sold.

For more information on the pamphlet, contact Jeffrey Duguay at jduguay@wlf.la.gov.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.