What has emerged as the social event of the year for the Teche Area’s many outdoorsmen is just a couple nights away.

CCA-Louisiana’s Sugar Chapter has scheduled its 17th annual fundraising banquet for Thursday, Aug. 17, at the Cade Community Center, which should be packed by the time the fried fish, jambalaya, green beans and dessert is served around 7 p.m. Sugar Chapter officials anticipate a crowd as large or larger than last year.

For sure, they expect to raise more than the $140,000 raised during the event in 2022. Acadiana’s saltwater fishermen are concerned about the coastline, conservation of marine resources and the species of fish most of them target – speckled trout and redfish.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The banquet is scheduled to end at 9:30 p.m. Individual banquet tickets are $75 apiece and include the supper and one-year membership. A Platinum sponsor table for eight is $1,200, which includes membership for each person, food service at the table, free drinks for the eight at the table and a free gift. Other tables for eight are $600.

The major raffle prize is a NauticStar 195 XTS package that includes a Mercury 115-h.p. four-stroke outboard motor and McClain Trailer. Raffle tickets have been sold at fundraisers statewide and online until 8 p.m. Aug. 16.

The $50 raffle tickets can be purchased at the banquet site Thursday night.

See y’all Thursday night. Enjoy.

Through Aug. 10, recreational red snapper fishermen have harvested 612,056 pounds in 2023.

That’s 65.5 percent of Louisiana’s allocation of 934,587 pounds. The 2023 season opened Memorial Day Monday and will remain open until recreational landings approach or reach the state’s allocation while attempting to preserve enough allocation through Labor Day Monday.

The daily creel limit for recreationally harvested red snapper was increased from three to four fish on July 17 when Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Robert Shadoin signed a declaration of emergency. Patrick Banks, LDWF assistant secretary, said the state agency was “happy to relax regulations and give fishing opportunities back to the public … this decision demonstrates the effectiveness of state management in the red snapper fishery.”

He’s right, you know. Handing management over to the state in 2020 was the best thing that ever happened to red snapper fishing in this part of the Gulf of Mexico. The state’s biologists can make the call to make in-season adjustments to opening and closing dates, size limits and creel limits based on input from the anglers.

Several captains and crews on local boats have been taking advantage of the increased creel limit, favorable weather conditions and abundance of red snapper since the season began. Dr. Eric Elias, who was born and raised in New Iberia, and his crew recently enjoyed yet another bountiful trip in which they loaded up the Cypremort Point-based Megalodon, according to reliable reports.

Barring tropical disturbances, red snapper fishing should be red-hot the remainder of the season.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.