“I’ve been coming to the rodeo for 25, maybe 30 years now, and Boysie Bollinger introduced me to it,” Georges said Wednesday after serving his first official presidential duty, a U.S. Coast Guard tour of the waters around Grand Isle, for the 87th IGITR, a number that makes it the oldest competitive fishing event in the country.
The Sand Dollar Marina weigh station on the east end of the island opens at 8 a.m. Thursday in anticipation of the prized first tarpon. Ditto for Friday and Saturday that will complete the three-day rodeo’s run. The weigh station will close at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday and at 6 p.m. Saturday.In between will be crab races for youngsters, DJ’s music, live bands all three days, Georges’ presidential welcome Thursday evening that comes complete with Louisiana’s biggest shrimp boil and will conclude Saturday with the awards ceremony.
And with conditions improving daily from an earlier-in-the-week forecast of thunderstorms, wind and rough seas, the three-day forecast is for 10-knot westerly winds and 1-2 foot seas, a light chop on inside waters and building tides, there’ll be lots of fish to spur the activity around the weighstation and rodeo pavilion.