Three guys, two lunches. Rodeo chairman Mike McMahon ’85 (left), Albert Nicaud, and Floyd Guidry (manager of John Ryan Stadium) marvel at the delicious entree which took all of 15 minutes for Chef Landry to prepare. It took this trio less than five minutes to wipe the plates clean.

Ray Faugeaux 73 took third place with a 3.72-pound redfish; son Jacob 10 holds a second place plaque for his 5.36-pound drum; David Flexer landed a 12.22-pound red snapper for first place (Division I); and Alain Flexer had a great time fishing West Delta and East Bay with the Faugeauxs and their Team First Love. The Faugeauxs are veteran Blue Jay rodeo fishers.

Mikey Elvir ’17 landed a 13.9-pound red snapper, the biggest of the rodeo and more than enough for first place in Division II. Michael Heier ’05 holds a close relative of Mikey’s catch.

Mike Kelly, who watched a seven or eight pound speckled trout slither off the hook after smacking it in the snout while trying to net it alongside the boat (it’s still somewhere around The Wreck), can laugh about his almost-big fish now. His son, Mike, Jr. ’09, captured first place with a 5.61-pound drum that he had no trouble getting in the boat. Chris Trahant ’09 and dad Jude Trahant ’80 are perennial participants at the Jesuit fishing rodeo.

Stewart Beatty struggles to hold a heavy trophy won by this group for turning in the heaviest stringer of five trout, which pushed the scale to 23.66 pounds. From left are Ricky Trahant ’85, Beatty, Rafael Miranda ’78, and Ben Triche ’04.

Blake Dulcich ’17 (center) landed a speckled trout just two ounces short of five pounds to win first place in the Division II youth category. Blake’s father Todd (left) won first place for his 8.28-pound redfish and second place for a 5.56-pound trout, while their friend Lee Pierce took home a first place plaque for his whopper of a trout, which tipped the scale at 6.36 pounds. When you fish out of Venice, you come back with trophies.

The grand prize of a charter fishing trip, all expenses paid for two, was won by Beau Perez ’98 (center), who says he has a tough decision as to which of his buddies will be going — Joey Hains (left) or classmate Daniel Norton ’98.

Brother Dardis and chairman Mike McMahon reduced the amount of time it used to take to dispense the seemingly hundreds of door prizes. The streamlined rewards part of the rodeo was greatly appreciated.

D.J. Galiano ’07 magically makes the winning entries appear on the stadium’s scoreboard.

Rodeo committee members always have a fun time and plenty of laughs, and that holds especially true for Vic Fulham ’65, Larry Ecuyer ’61, and Letty Clark, who’s been helping wherever needed since the rodeo’s inception.

Jimmy Commagere (third from left), the fishing rodeo’s founder and chairman emeritus, pauses by the table to inspect the trophies with his crew consisting of, from left, Jeremy Seale, and sons Eddie Commagere ’95 and Robert Commagere ’06.

Jesuit alumni director Mat Grau ’68 tells Rookie Leopold ’62 that the rodeo shirts are a big hit.

Jesuit president Fr. Raymond Fitzgerald, S.J. ’76 thanks some of the many rodeo volunteers.

Brother Billy Dardis, S.J. ’58, honorary chairman of the fishing rodeo, thanks Brian and Keri Landry for stopping by with their children, from left: Cullen, Elise, and Corinne.

The scoreboard welcomes Blue Jay fishers to the weigh-in festivities at John Ryan Stadium, the second straight year that this terrific facility has been used for the popular summer event.

Brian Landry slides the cooked drum filet onto a bed of sauteed mushrooms and snow peas. Then, for the coup de grace, he carefully tops the dish with fresh lump crabmeat.

Aimee Cappy and daughter Eninia watch the cooking demonstration with parents Robert and Linda Kenney.

Chef Landry explains the simple steps in sauteing puppy drum. Always start with the freshest ingredients possible.

Chef Brian Landry ’94 of Borgne Restaurant attracted a large crowd with one of his famous cooking demonstrations

The categories covered speckled trout, redfish, red snapper, sheepshead, and drum.

One of the changes the rodeo committee implemented was setting up a display table where the entries were iced for viewing.

Mike Kelly (center) and his son Mike Jr. ’09 weigh a black drum with the help of Larry Canada (seated), who assumed the sole volunteer position known as “chief of scales.”

Jesuit social studies teacher and assistant football coach Graham Jarrott is all smiles because he knows he has a winning sheepshead.

Jacob Faugeaux ’10 hoists his red snapper which eventually was nudged out of the winner’s circle.

Ray Faugeaux ’73 prepares to weigh a red snapper under the watchful eyes of Lt. Eddie Skena (left) and Sgt. Jason Russo, agents with the Louisiana State Department of Wildlife & Fisheries. Summer weekends are busy ones for the agents as they try to accommodate as many fishing tournaments across southeastern Louisiana. The gravitas of their presence is essential to running a serious rodeo and their word as to the weight of a fish, or its eligibility, is final.

As Blue Jays pour into the stadium grounds with ice chests of fish, a temporary logjam ensues at the registration check-in near the entrance to the Pontiff Pavilion.

On a table under the Wally Pontiff, Jr. Pavilion, trophies are lined up for Blue Jays who bring in the winning fish.