Cody Landry Sr., left, proudly holds the 9.41-pound "slot" redfish that set a New Iberia Rod & Gun Club Saltwater Fishing Rodeo record early Saturday, July 6, the second day of the event at Cypremort Point. Cody Landry Jr. holds one of the redfish they caught while fishing aboard Brad Romero's 22-foot long Blazer Bay, Comin' to My Line. SUBMITTED

One of the hundreds of fish weighed this past weekend during the Iberia Rod & Gun Club Saltwater Fishing Rodeo probably elicited more ooohs and ahhhs than any other fish from fishing rodeo officials and appreciative crowd on Day 2.

Cody Landry Sr.’s 9.41-pound “slot” redfish made an instant and lasting impression July 5. It was the only fishing rodeo record to fall during the three-day holiday weekend event at Cypremort Point.

News traveled fast. Many fishing rodeo-goers heard about the new record long before they arrived at the fishing rodeo site under the pavilion along Quintana Canal.

If fishing rodeo anglers checking in to weigh their catch didn’t know about it before they moored along the bulkhead, they either saw it on the leaderboard or were told.

It was far from being the biggest fish to hit the digital scales during the event, for sure. That distinction belonged to the 55.8-pound gar caught in the Inside Division by Laythan Monte.

The 37-year-old Landry grabbed the limelight during his first-ever fishing rodeo. He and his son, Cody Landry Jr., 12, fished aboard Brad Romero’s 22-foot long Blazer Bay, aptly christened Comin’ to My Line.

They were targeting redfish in clear water along the south shoreline of Marsh Island, the Gulf of America at their back, when the redfish bit around 10:30 a.m., according to Landry.

“He hit it good. It was a hammer. It pulled real good,” he said about the fight after the red gobbled up his dead shrimp under a popping cork.

His first thought after the fish was landed was that it looked longer than 27 inches, the maximum length for a keeper in Louisiana. But it wasn’t a hair over 17, he said.

Landry good-naturedly attributed the catch more to conditions than his fishing skills. The water was calm and the clarity was good.

“We could see the fish in the water swimming. We had a perfect setup. They were there at that time. I don’t think I could have done anything wrong,” he said with a chuckle.

He accepted the first-place plaque from IR&GC fishing rodeo official Brock Pellerin at the awards ceremony July 6. It was a special moment for Pellerin because the record Landry broke was set by the veteran fishing rodeo angler and past chairman in 2023.

Later, Pellerin said, with a soft laugh, “I thought it’d last a little longer than it did. But it’s all good. Records are made to be broken.”

Then, he said, confidingly, “I’m glad I was still part of the rodeo and was able to see it when it was broken.”

Weighmaster Dusty Hulin said Landry watched closely as the redfish was measured.

“Oh, yeah, he was excited. He was a little nervous because it was right at 27. He measured it on the boat and it was 27. He had just caught it. It was fat and solid,” Hulin said.

Fishing rodeo officials double-checked, too, according to veteran weighmaster Mackie Boudreaux. He measured after Hulin and verified it was good to go.

Pellerin was up early at the fishing rodeo site for the third and final day Sunday. He fired up the pot and started cooking sausage jambalaya at 8:30 a.m.

The jambalaya ingredients included 30 pounds of pork, 12 pounds of smoked sausage, 5 pounds of tasso, 20 pounds of rice and 12 pounds of onions and bell peppers.

On Day 2, the cooking team of Gerard Olivier and Clint Derouen, with help from their respective wives, Belinda Olivier and Denise Derouen, started cooking red beans and rice around 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Olivier said ingredients included 18 pounds of red beans, 8 pounds of sausage, 20 pounds of rice, the obligatory “Holy Trinity of Cajun Cooking” and other seasonings.

Young Benjamin Bishop had his moment on the weigh-in stage, even if it didn’t result in putting a fish on the Junior Division leaderboard on Saturday. The 5-year-old son of Brennan and Kate Bishop fished with his parents and older brother, Oliver, the first two days in the family’s 25-foot Sea Hunt Bay Boat.

Benjamin and Oliver, et all, had a “great day” after 35 fish were caught Saturday compared to just seven on a slow opening day Fourth of July, Brennan said.

Another youngster, 6-year-old Hudson Louviere, had a great time Day 1 on a 19-foot long Bass Tracker pontoon boat with his parents, Chris and Bailey Louviere, and older sister, Harper Ray Louviere, 9. His father said they fished the first day around the Point, mostly, and put croakers in the boat at Marsh Island.

“He takes it very seriously,” his mother said.

That could be said for the vast majority of fishing rodeo-goers, anglers and officials – men and women volunteering their own time on a holiday weekend – to make the 72nd event a success.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.