Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo 2011

The Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo has been a tradition on the gulf coast for more than sixty years, and for 2011 the organizers moved the festivities to Long Beach, MS. This three-day event gives coast residents and its visitors plenty of family-friendly things to do over the fourth of July weekend.

Things officially kick off at sunrise on Saturday morning when everyone heads out to see what the Gulf of Mexico has to offer. Many locals with small craft often stick to within a couple of miles of the shore and that's plenty enough to catch white and speckled trout, mullet, flounder, and even redfish. It's when you venture far out into the gulf, where the depth reaches hundreds of feet and oil rigs can be within sight, that you really get into the big stuff.

Throughout the day, fish are brought in to be weighed and viewed by the spectators who gather to see what has been reeled in for the event. The weigh scales officially close at 8pm in order to determine who has the biggest catch in various categories, then prizes are awarded at 9pm while live music plays all around. It's all all-day even that doesn't stop until midnight, then it all picks back up again at noon on Sunday.

Monday, July the 4th, makes for the last day of the fishing rodeo and that's when both daily prizes and overall prizes are awarded to the biggest catches of the weekend. All the while there is live music, watergun contests for the kids, and even classes on how to fish and throw a cast net. Just when the sun is starting to go down, you'll get to see the rodeo queen crowned, then the overall prize winners are notified. The event winds up at 10pm with a raffle drawing to win a boat.

Strange catches often turn up at the event, such as this year when a fisherman from New Orleans pulled in an oilfish weighing just over 64 pounds that set the new state record. The last record holding oilfish caught was in 2002 and it was a little over 50 pounds. The irony of the name 'oilfish' and the fact that the Mississippi gulf coast is still recovering from the BP oil spill has not been lost on anyone at the event.

Whether you enjoy fishing and want to take a shot at entering the contest and winning one of many prizes, or if you just want to see what strange creatures lie below the surface of the Mississippi waters, come check out the Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo next year and bring your kids.