WEB EXTRA: State Record Pending After Day One of Rodeo
By Al Jones, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.
Jul. 1–GULFPORT — The first day of the 59th Annual Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo featured a pending state record.
The catch, however, wasn’t a rodeo record.
Rick Grimstead of Gulfport weighed a 158-pound, 1.6-ounce Southern Stingray to eclipse the old mark of 145-pounds.
The fish, one of several different ray species in the Gulf of Mexico, fell 13 pounds short of the rodeo record set in 1994 by Paul Morton of Mobile.
For one reason or another, Morton’s catch wasn’t submitted to the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources in Biloxi for a potential state record.
Other types of rays in the Gulf of Mexico are the roughtail and the American.
Grimstead’s fish was caught on an Ambassador 7000 reel equipped with 30-pound test line in five feet of water near Brush Island.
“It doesn’t matter, it’s a state record. I kind of have the big head right now,” Grimstead said. “I was actually fishing for bull reds when I caught this one using cut bait.
I had no idea it was a state record. I was sitting at the house (after it had been weighed) when a buddy of mine called me. I went back down there (rodeo) and found out.”
Grimstead, a yard foreman for Louis Smith Construction in Gulfport, admits he almost cut the line on the ray when it settled on the bottom like a vacuum.
One hour later, the ray, which had a wing span of 60 inches, was boated.
“I normally do cut the line,” he said. “But I knew we were fishing the rodeo. When I first saw him, I thought it was 120 pounds, not 158. I was actually looking to win a daily prize, not a state record.
“But I’ll take it.”
Another top catch in Day One was a 46-pound, 14-ounce cobia caught by Jarrod Davis of Pascagoula. Fishing with his friend, Mark Allen Ross, seven cobia were caught ranging between 20 and 46 pounds using jigs and live hard-tails.
All seven were caught behind anchored shrimp boats on the outside of Petit Bois Island.
Outside of the new pending state record, the rest of the opening day was one for the kids.
Although young Hannah Collins of Pass Christian participated in the Kids Rodeo, she stole the show with a 29-pound redfish caught in the Louisiana Marsh with her father, Paul Collins, also of Pass Christian.
The 10-year-old student at DeLisle Elementary, won first place with her redfish and took second in speckled trout at three pounds, one ounce.
The redfish, by the way, was a personal best for Collins, breaking her previous best of 15 pounds caught in last year’s rodeo.
“It almost pulled my arm off,” she said. “It was big. At first, I thought I had a shark.”
Prior to catching the redfish, Collins landed a four-foot bull shark, which was released.
“I had to get help from my dad,” she said. “He held the pole and I reeled.”
Collins also claimed Queen Fisherette honors while Hunter Allen of Gulfport took home King honors.
Al Jones can be reached at 896-2351
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.
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