CCA’s 28th annual event offers member anglers remarkable prizes
The way the Coastal Conservation Association’s Rad Trascher of Baton Rouge sees it, if you are fishing for saltwater species in Louisiana this summer, joining CCA and paying the modest entry fee to participate in the 28th annual CCA Louisiana STAR (Statewide Tournament and Anglers Rodeo) is really a simple choice. It’s a solid insurance policy.
“It’s the best insurance you can get,” says the director the of STAR event. “I mean, it’s insurance against what could be a big disappointment you could have fishing. Who knows, you could be the one to catch the biggest trout or the biggest red or the biggest anything and win your share of $750,000 in this tournament. But if you don’t join in, you could catch a prize fish or a tagged fish that could have won you a new truck or boat or other prizes, but you won’t get it. Somebody else will.”
He also points out that entering the tournament, which costs $35 for members, is less than the cost of buying shrimp for the day’s fishing trip.
The competition has already started. But it’s not too late to get in the game. And it’s a big game!
“Sadly, it happens every year,” Trascher said. “We have people who catch tagged fish, but haven’t entered. Already this year we have had several fishermen call about catching tagged fish, but they hadn’t entered the tournament.”
STAR is Louisiana’s largest family fishing competition. Fishing began May 28 and running through Labor Day, Monday, September 5. The prizes are too numerous to even list in one article — trucks, boats, tackle and more. There are categories for every age group and every type of fisherman.
Prizes
Here’s a sample of some of the prizes just from the tagged redfish division. First tagged redfish caught wins a new Chevy Silverado; Second tagged redfish wins a Keystone Passport 266BH; Third tagged redfish wins a 195XTS NauticStar with 115 horsepower Mercury four-stroke; Fourth and Fifth tagged redfish caught win 195XTS NauticStar with 115 horsepower Mercury four-stroke and sixth through tenth tagged redfish caught win 1754 GatorTail Extreme Series boats with 40 horsepower EFI motors.
That doesn’t even begin to list the numerous prizes for heaviest fish in each division and the special division winners.
There is a CCA advertisement in this month’s Louisiana Sportsman that gives the important details. As Trascher said earlier, you must be a member of CCA to take part and you have to enter the tournament. Make sure you read and understand the rules. If you have any questions about STAR, see the FAQ page on the website http://www.ccastar.com or call CCA at (225) 952-9200. And you can follow CCA Louisiana STAR Tournament on Facebook.
There are divisions for tagged redfish, speckled trout, mangrove snapper, cobia, yellowfin tuna, red snapper, sheepshead, fly fishing, kayak, bank fishing, ladies, youth and more. There are 27 official STAR weigh stations and you can also check them out online at https://ccastar.com/weigh-stations.
“We always try and do everything we can to make the tournament exciting and to have the best prizes possible,” Trascher said. “We’ve added yellowfin tuna to the lineup this year and we’ve changed a few rules to make it more competitive and give everybody a better chance of winning.”
Membership boost
The STAR event is actually CCA Louisiana’s largest membership drive and boasts over 13,000 participants each year.
Since the tournament is meant to be a membership drive, it has a little something for all saltwater anglers fishing Louisiana waters. Its signature division is the Tagged Redfish Division. CCA releases 100 tagged redfish each year and if you are in the tournament and catch one, you win. STAR also has many inshore and offshore divisions with great prizes up for grabs. In addition to all of the adult divisions, STAR has a great youth division as well.
