CYPREMORT POINT – A handful of Offshore Division boats checked in Saturday and stuck some significant fish on the leaderboard going into Day 3 of the 70th annual Iberia Rod & Gun Club Saltwater Fishing Rodeo.

Was the haul from any of those boats enough to withstand the impending arrival of Sea Mistress on Sunday, Day 3 of the annual holiday weekend event at Cypremort Point? One of the veteran skippers had a hunch the answer might be no.

“Yeah, I think Sea Mistress is going to come in and spank us,” Chris Landry, co-skipper of Basket Case, a 34-foot long Freeman, said after his large crew, which included a familiar face from Lafayette by way of Oregon, said after his boat unloaded its large haul from the Garden Banks.

Basket Case stuck five fish on the leaderboard before Sea Section, a 37-foot long Freeman owned by Dr. Wayne Daigle and captained by his son Austin Daigle, both of Lafayette, weighed in and left with two fish that might finish in the top three in their respective categories before the scales close once and for all today at 1 p.m.

Offshore Division boats joined the parade of smaller boats that came in to compete in both the Junior Division and Inside Division. Redfish, speckled trout, white trout, flounder, croaker, drum and garfish hit the scales on another hot day in Acadiana.

The pace, however, was much less than it was on what many believe was the busiest ever Day 1 a day earlier under the pavilion along Quintana Canal.

Brooks Amy, skipper of Fish Karma, a 24-foot long Blue Wave, had the inside track for the second straight day for the Inside Division’s Boat Captain’s Award and his father, Scott Perry, stayed ahead in the race for the Inside Division Best All-Around Fisherman. Fish Karma has 574 points and Scott has 441 points, comfortably ahead of Josh St. Germain’s 376 and Karleigh St. Germain’s 356.

Day 2 Junior Division results, however, produced a different leader than Day 1 as Alexis Romero jumped ahead of the pack with 484 points.

Scales close at 1 p.m. Sunday.

By that time, barring unforeseen circumstances, Sea Mistress, a 36-foot long Lafco hull skippered by Jacques Hebert of Patoutville, will make an appearance with its crew of Lannie Buteau, Glen St. Germain and Johnny Buteau. The captain and crew have been hopeful of regaining the Offshore Division Boat Captain’s Award.

Landry and Basket Case staked their claim when they came in Saturday. Landry had first-place tripletail (2.90 pounds), red snapper (16.9 pounds) and barracuda (10.9 pounds), while boat co-owner Patrick Foreman was second in barracuda (7.3 pounds) and third in red snapper (13.9 pounds).

“It could have been better. This year was tough,” Landry said.

He said they caught mostly red snapper, barracuda and bonito at the Garden Banks.

Ryan Dearman, Basket Case owner/skipper, was glad to be along for the ride. The Oregon resident, formerly of Lafayette, said, “It’s great, always good to get back home. I’m still getting fishing in out in the Pacific. But there’s nothing like the Gulf of Mexico.

“I got here Thursday. Chris picked me up at the airport and within an hour we were on the boat heading south.”

Basket Case’s crew included Jonathan Foreman, Michael Duhon, Carter Kauffman and Kevin Carter.

Another Lafayette-based crew aboard Sea Section skippered by the owner’s son, Austin Daigle, ventured to the Tahiti section of the Green Canyon blocks 596 and 640, 190 miles south of New Orleans. On the way there they caught red snapper in Eugene Island blocks, deep dropped for grouper in the Ewing Bank, then stopped in Green Canyon.

Blackfin tuna were prevalent at the last stop but so was the wind.

“Every cast we were catching blackfin, all 25 pounds. We got beat up. It got rougher and rougher. We tried fishing but it was difficult,” Wayne Daigle said.

Fish Karma’s hooked crew hooked and boat more than 2 dozen bull reds while fishing mostly around Boxcar Reef, according to Brooks Amy. His son, Hayden Amy, remembers the most thrilling part of Day 2.

“We got into a school of redfish. All of a sudden we saw them jumping. They were moving real fast, following shrimp,” he said after catching 13 redfish himself. “My dad hooked one with a Rat-L-Trap. You could throw anything at them and they were on. It definitely was one of the best fishing trips we ever had.”

They pulled four bull reds from that school, he said.