Hunt Road closed after Red River backs up from record Mississippi River flooding
After a season of offshore fishing lost in the Gulf of Mexico due to the catastrophic oil spill last year, the Southern Kingfish Association is returning with a full schedule of events from Fourchon to Orange Beach, Ala.
“There is a lot of pent-up demand to get back on the water in the upper Gulf,” said managing SKA partner Jack Holmes. “We have a full division schedule of five events including a Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour event and a Division tournament in Fourchon plus another Divisional event in Venice.
“The fishermen are so excited to be going back to Louisiana. They’ve made a lot of friends there over the years, and just want to get back there to support the communities. They also know that the big fish will be there.”
The SKA will also bring back the National Championship to Biloxi, Miss., in November, plus it has resurrected the Kingmaster 100 over the Labor Day weekend in Biloxi. It’s a special event limited to just 100 teams.
“The oil spill obviously has had a crippling effect on the economy of the upper Gulf states,” Holmes said. “It is our membership’s desire to get there and renew friendships, but even more important, help to rebuild the economy. The vast majority of the SKA membership comes from coastal states, and they’ve seen what disasters can do to local economies.”
Anthony Toups, director of the Kajun Sportsman Tournament in Fourchon, is looking forward to the event.
“We are going to make sure that the anglers get a good taste of Cajun hospitality,” he said. “We certainly want local fishermen to come join us and fish the event and help make our out-of-town fishermen feel welcome. We’ve got three other categories besides king mackerel — wahoo, cobia and red snapper.”
The Kajun Sportsman Tournament will take place June 2-4 at Moran’s Marina in Fourchon.
For more information, visit www.fishska.com.
