By DAVID RAINER, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Expect another huge crowd of anglers and spectators for the 92nd Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo (ADSFR) during Alabama’s premier fishing event July 17-20 at the rodeo site on Dauphin Island.
A tarpon tournament held in 1929 started the long journey to today’s largest saltwater fishing tournament in the world. Participation has grown from 250 anglers at the inaugural event to about 4,000 anglers who fish the rodeo annually. The rodeo also has more than 120 sponsors, from local businesses to national sponsors like Yamaha Motors and Contender boats.
During rodeo weekend, 100,000 people will visit the rodeo site to buy the ever-popular rodeo T-shirts, browse the on-site vendors or gaze at the many species of fish in the fish bin next to the weigh station. The rodeo is a project of the Mobile Jaycees. Their ADSFR committees spend long hours preparing for the four-day event, which begins with the Captain T-Bone’s Liars Contest on Thursday night, followed by three days of fishing competition.
“We will weigh in between 6,000 and 8,000 fish during the rodeo,” said ADSFR president Coleman Moore. “Everybody is going to fish the rodeo. It’s been around for almost 100 years, so they plan their year around the rodeo.”
Participants in the 92nd rodeo will compete for almost $1 million in cash and prizes, including a Contender 26Bay boat with a Yamaha 250-horsepower outboard. The winner of the boat-motor package will be selected in a random drawing from all participants who weigh in a legal fish during the tournament. Therefore, if you catch a 12-inch white trout at Cedar Point Pier or haul in a 500-pound blue marlin from the Gulf of America, your chances of winning the top prize packages are the same.
“The brochure says we’re giving away another 25-foot Contender Bay boat, but we are actually upgrading that,” Moore said. “We got the word the other day that we will be giving away the Contender 26Bay, which is their new model that’s just coming out. I don’t think anybody will be mad about that being wrong in the brochure.
“We will also be giving away the Reaper Boat in the Yamaha Speckled Trout Jackpot again. It’s a 17-point aluminum boat with a 70-horse Yamaha outboard. You’re in a random drawing, just like for the Contender, but you’ve got a better chance of winning, because the only people who are weighing fish for the jackpot are eligible, so you’ve got a pretty good chance of winning.”
One new feature for this year’s rodeo is the addition of the Return ’Em Right category that focuses on reef fish conservation. Anglers who use a descending device to release red snapper and other reef fish will be entered for several random drawings.
“It will be a new experience and raise awareness for everybody,” Moore said. “You hook up the descending device and drop the fish down, and it releases the fish at a certain depth. That increases the chances of survival for that fish. And Return ’Em Right will be providing devices for those who want to compete in this category.”
After bringing a shark category back to the rodeo in 2022 with great success, this year’s shark competition will again only include two shark species – tiger and bull. Those two shark species will have separate categories. At the 2023 rodeo, Brett Rutledge weighed in a 1,019-pound tiger shark that broke the rodeo and Alabama state record. At last year’s rodeo, David Stiller broke the rodeo and state record with a 494.5-pound bull shark. The Gulf Hauling and Construction Shark Jackpot will also be divided into individual species.
