My longtime fishing buddy Jonathan Ryan of Jefferson and I returned to Delacroix, La., in hopes of making a bigger dent than we did last year in the annual CRC fishing rodeo, when Ryan finished second in the heaviest-redfish category.

Day one of this year’s event was a mixed bag, with Ryan and me catching a ridiculous number of redfish and bass but struggling to find any that would make a significant impact at the scales. The fast action, however, had our hopes buoyed for the rodeo’s second and final day.

We started in an area we discovered late the previous afternoon, and immediately got on a really hot bite, throwing a variety of lures but discovering four the fish showed a strong preference for.

The area was saturated with 16- to 20-inch redfish, but unlike the location we focused on the previous day, it also held some bigger brutes. Our efforts to zero in on the heaviest fish of the schools, the true freaks that ensure victory in fishing competitions, were somewhat thwarted by an intermittently leaden sky that hampered our ability to see the fish in the shallow, grass-choked waters we were fishing.

But we still had plenty of action. Would the ones we caught be enough to get us a rodeo trophy? Check out the latest episode of Marsh Man Masson to find out.

Missed part one of the Marsh Man Masson CRC fishing rodeo experience? Check it out here.

Like the video? Please give it a thumbs-up, and subscribe to the Marsh Man Masson channel on YouTube. Also, leave a comment below or on the YouTube page. Do you fish rodeos or tournaments? If so, how does your strategy change compared to days when you’re simply fishing for fun?