[StBernard] St. Bernard hosts national fishing tournament

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard hosts national fishing tournament
Posted by pdevlin July 30, 2009 19:52PM
A national fishing tournament will once again make a stop in St. Bernard
Parish, and parish officials hope it will give them a chance to show off the
parish's recovery.

Fishing in the Academy Sports and Outdoors Big Easy Redfish Cup gets under
way today, with boats taking off from the Gulf Outlet Marina in Chalmette.
It will be the third stop on the five-stop national Redfish Cup fishing
tour.

This weekend's event marks the second consecutive year the cup has stopped
in St. Bernard Parish since Hurricane Katrina. Before the hurricane, the
parish hosted the tournament in 2004 and 2005, drawing big crowds.

"Before Katrina we broke attendance records, " said Gidget McDougall, St.
Bernard's tourism director. "They (Redfish Cup organizers) loved it."

Last year the tournament was held out of the Breton Sound Marina in
Hopedale, with the parish running shuttle buses for spectators. McDougall
said the Chalmette locale this year will likely draw more people.

She and other parish officials have said they expect crowds of 10,000 or
more over the three days.

But while the daily weigh-ins and associated events are popular with area
residents, the national publicity the tournament brings might be even more
valuable.

The Redfish Cup features 49 two-person teams of professionals who hit the
water in search of big redfish. Using only artificial bait, the teams
compete to see who can land the heaviest pair of redfish, which are kept in
live wells until the weigh-in each day. First place at the various
tournament stops is $40,000. And cup organizers say they make every effort
to release all fish that are caught back into the wild.

Parish officials hope to use the tournament publicity and broadcasts on the
ESPN2 network to push their message that the recovery from Katrina's
devastation is in full flower. McDougall said the network plans three
30-minute shows this year, up from two broadcasts last year.

The parish's name will no doubt be prominent in the shows, which "will tell
the world how great our fishing is, " she said. "They marvel at our
fisheries -- which we take for granted."

But she also hopes the network will spend a little time showing the world
that Katrina did not write the last line in the story of St. Bernard Parish.

"We're ready to move on" from talk of Katrina's destruction, McDougall said
recently, adding that the parish plans to provide producers with reams of
information on the parish's recovery.

While a number of festivals draw bigger crowds, McDougall and Parish
President Craig Taffaro said no other event puts St. Bernard Parish in a
brighter national spotlight.

But for the locals, the parish will host "tailgate parties" each day at the
marina, complete with food, music and exhibits. The festival opens at 2 p.m.
today and 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. The events are centered around the 3
p.m. fish weigh-in each day. A highlight will be the "splash dog"
competition, which features dogs jumping for distance into a pool of water.
The Harvey Jesus Band plays at noon on Saturday, and Bobby Cure and the
Summertime Blues will play at noon on Sunday.

The tailgate parties are free. Free bus shuttles will be provided by the
Gulf Coast Trolley and SBURT on Saturday and Sunday from Nunez Community
College to the Gulf Outlet Marina, the parish said.

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Bob Warren can be reached at bwarren at timespicayune.com or 504.826.3363.