As in any competition, in order to win the Southwest Louisiana Fishing Rodeo one must employ strategy.

This was the case for George Heard, whose overall haul was enough to earn him honors as the top offshore fisherman at the 75th annual event.

“We look at a fish that’s on the board, and we try to put fish in every category,” said Heard, a Lake Charles native who lives in Carthage, Texas. “You fish them different ways. You pack up and plan for long days. And have a good first mate.”

Heard’s partner on the boat, Kenneth Brechtel, was tops in the speckled trout category with a 6.5-pounder. They have fished in events together for 11 years.

“It’s a team effort,” Heard said. “Sometimes he runs the boat, sometimes I run the boat.”

Heard was proudest of bringing in a trio of blue fish that swept the top-three in that category.

“The blue fish were the biggest challenge,” he said. “They have teeth that can cut the line, so you have to use a leader on them. Sometimes they throw the bait.”

For tag and release winner Mike Pratt, the story was more about the one that got away than the ones he got. Though he hauled in a massive 115.25-pound tuna and tagged-and-released a 150-pound blue marlin, it was a 400-pound marlin that escaped his grasp.

“Before we could get the tag on it, it got away from us,” Pratt said. “This was a big one, too. But about 20 minutes after that we hooked the smaller one.”

The boat Pratt was aboard, the Sea Dog, still won the prize for best tag and release boat for the second straight year.

The top offshore boat was the Fish Commander.

The unluckiest boat?

That would be Jason Dautriel’s Due South, which didn’t even make it out to the Gulf before blowing two cylinders in its engine on Saturday.

“We fired her back up, but I wasn’t going to take it off shore running four cylinders,” Dautriel said.

Dautriel and his boatmates had to go back to port, switch up gear and become inland fishermen for the rest of the day.

The top inland fisherman was Nathan Paul, who had the best catch among gafftop, redfish and sheepshead.

Kristen Kershaw won the trophy for top lady angler, while Deklan Daughdrill was the top junior angler after dominating many of the categories in the class.

Results

Awards

Top junior angler — Deklan Daughdrill.

Top tag-and-release angler — Mike Pratt.

Top tag-and-release boat — Sea Dog.

Top offshore angler — George Heard.

Top offshore inland angler — Nathan Paul.

Top offshore lady angler — Kristen Kershaw.

Hard Luck — Jaysen Dautriel.

Redfish Spots — 1, Barry Watkins, 57.00; 2, Cody Hilliard, 10.00.

Inland Fishing Group

Croaker — 1, Kevin Natali, 1.30; 2, Rick Solari, 1.05; 3, Danny Lanza, 0.95.

Drum — 1, Barry Watkins, 48.20; 2, Kevin Natali, 38.15; 3, Lorri Ledoux, 34.40.

Flounder — 1, Jerry Sonnier, 3.95; 2, Deklan Daughdrill, 3.65; 3, Deklan Daughdrill, 3.55.

Gafftop — 1, Nathan Paul, 6.60; 2, Nathan Paul, 6.55; 3, Nathan Paul, 6.35.

Gar — 1, Todd Richard, 69.50; 2, Todd Richard, 49.90; 3, Robert Trahan, 38.65.

Redfish — 1, Nathan Paul, 30.50; 2, Nathan Paul, 29.80; 3, Alex Miller, 24.80.

Red Snapper — 1, Cody Hilliard, 7.95; 2, Kristie Kelly, 7.85; 3, Matt Burmwell, 7.60.

Sheepshead — 1, Deklan Daughdrill, 5.30; 2, Deklan Daughdrill, 4.90; 3, Deklan Daughdrill, 4.80.

Speckled Trout — 1, Kenneth Brechtel, 6.50; 2, Kevin Natali, 6.05; 3, Craig Childress, 5.60.

Offshore Fishing Division

Barracuda — 1, Brandon Thigpen, 18.60; 2, Gerard Miller, 17.90; 3, Alfred Palma, 13.60.

Blackfin Tuna — 1, Alfred Palma, 29.70; 2, Tanner Fontenot, 19.25; 3, Jeremy Nunez, 19.10.

Blue Fish — 1, George Heard, 3.50; 2, George Heard, 3.10; 3, George Heard, 2.80.

Bonita — 1, Deklan Daughdrill, 13.90; 2, Deklan Daughdrill, 13.20; 3, Deklan Daughdrill, 11.70.

Cobia — 1, Terry Thompson, 44.45; 2, Tom Gurley, 33.25; 3, Kevin Stanley, 30.65.

Dolphin — 1, Mike Pratt, 35.25; 2, Trey Terrell, 28.15; 3, Steven Bonsack, 27.90.

Grouper — 1, Brandon Thigpen, 58.60; 2, Jeremy Nunez, 16.25.

Jackfish — 1, Jaysen Dautriel, 25.70; 2, Scott Ditch, 23.60; 3, George Heard, 18.70.

Mangrove Snapper — 1, Lane Daughdrill, 10.85; 2, Geoff Collins, 9.60; 3, Kristen Kershaw, 8.40.

Spade Fish — 1, Kristen Kershaw, 3.30; 2, Chad McGee, 2.15; 3, Keith Boone, 1.25.

Spanish Mackerel — 1, Kenneth Brechtel, 4.35; 2, Caleb Redmond, 3.70; 3, George Heard, 3.65.

Tripletail — 1, Max Olmsted, 6.00; 2, Lane Daughdrill, 5.65; 3, Lane Daughdrill, 5.05.

Tuna — 1, Mike Pratt, 115.25; 2, Melissa Young, 82.50; 3, Ken Moss, 81.35.

Wahoo — 1, Don Morris, 38.45; 2, Hunter Kelly, 18.25; 3, Mike Umberger, 15.95.

Junior Angler Division

Bonita — 1, Deklan Daughdrill, 13.90; 2, Deklan Daughdrill, 13.20; 3, Deklan Daughdrill, 11.70.

Croaker — 1, Luke Pierson, 0.85; 2, Tanner Dupin, 0.80; 3, Zack Paul, 0.65.

Drum — 1, Raegen Reeves, 33.85; 2, Hayley Chatagnier, 29.85; 3, Ty Thibodeaux, 24.70.

Flounder — 1, Deklan Daughdrill, 3.65; 2, Deklan Daughdrill, 3.55; 3, Deklan Daughdrill, 3.50.

Gafftop — 1, Zack Paul, 6.60; 2, Zack Paul, 6.55; 3, Deklan Daughdrill, 6.05.

King Mackerel — 1, Clayton Stark, 11.26; 2, Clayton Stark, 9.55.

Redfish — 1, Kaden Carroll, 16.50; 2, Jeffrey Chatagnier, 15.55; 3, Clayton Stark, 14.20.

Sheepshead — 1, Zack Paul, 5.35; 2, Deklan Daughdrill, 5.30; 3, Deklan Daughdrill, 4.90.

Spade Fish — 1, Hunter Dawdy, 1.75.

Spanish Mackerel — 1, Clayton Stark, 0.90; 2, Clayton Stark, 0.85.

Speckled Trout — 1, Tanner Dupin, 3.80; 2, Zack Paul, 3.65; 3, Zack Paul, 3.50.

Tag & Release Division

Blue Marlin — 1, Mike Pratt, 150.00.

White Marlin — 1, Alfred Palma, 80.00.

Stuart Guinn