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BILOXI— The third day of the Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo didn’t go as expected.

In fact, the 61st annual event was shut down for three hours due to strong winds and heavy rainfall when severe weather passed through the Point Cadet area.

Although the rodeo itself reopened, the fishing did not because scales closed two hours early.

Therefore, all action resumes today with the opening of the scales at noon and the closing set for 4 p.m.

However, the Speckled Trout and Redfish shootouts, set for Saturday, along with the Bass Shootout, will close at 3 p.m.

Those anglers who participated in the Speckled Trout and Redfish shootouts had to check in with rodeo officials Saturday to be eligible to weigh fish today.

Those who did not check in won’t be able to weigh today.

Anglers in the Bass Shootout will be allowed to weigh till the scales close.

The prize ceremony for the Kids Rodeo, which was scheduled for Saturday, takes place at noon today.

‘’We hate this happened, but safety was our top concern,’’ weighmaster Mark Wright said. ‘’I will weigh fish today.’’

Before the severe weather occured, a new state record was established.

The record was set by 8-year-old Ryan DeWayne Smith fishing in the Kids Rodeo. On the way to the scales from Pass Christian, the family was stalled in traffic on U.S. 90 for several minutes and missed the closing of the scales at 3 p.m. Missing the scales turned out to play in Smith’s favor.

Since the Kids Rodeo does not include a shark category, Smith settled for a new state record he caught near the Pass Christian Harbor.

Smith, who lives in Lizana, caught an 8-pound bonnethead shark that broke the old record of 7-pounds, 14-ounces set by Doug Borries of Ocean Springs last year.

‘’That’s pretty cool,’’ Smith said. ‘’That was my second shark. I caught one earlier.’’

Other top catches included a 48-pound, 15-ounce amberjack by Brandon Hatterlien, a 40-pound, 14-ounce black drum by Johnny Patton and a 117-pound gar by Dianna Fournier.

In the freshwater division, Claude Jarrell, Jr., hit the scales with a 30-pound, 9-ounce catfish.

‘’The Kids Rodeo was better than expected,’’ Wright said. ‘’It was steady all day at the scales. The kid setting the state record, even though he didn’t get to the scales in time, was great to see.

‘’Even though we had to shut down, as far as the overall number of fish being turned in was as good.’’

Posted at www.sunherald.com on July 4, 2009

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