Fishermen hope for a better 2011; charter anglers see bright spot

After an oil-filled 2010, Captain Ed Frekey with Tuna Time Charters, LLC, is just ready to get out and fish again.

And so, too, are his customers who are starved for rods and reels after being deprived of their hobbies for a full calendar year.

Those two things, combined with the ongoing cleanup progress in the Gulf of Mexico, has Frekey and other Tri-parish fishermen hopeful that 2011 will be a return to normalcy n or close to it n in what was an oil-depleted recreational fishing industry in 2010.

“I think it will be a good year just because everyone is so anxious to get back onto the water,” Frekey said.

Captain Bobby Terrebonne with Gotcha Fishing Charters said what made the sting of the oil spill worse was that he and several other charter fishermen in the area were scheduled to have huge jam-packed seasons.

Having to call loyal customers to cancel trips isn’t exactly what Terrebonne and Frekey would like to be doing in the summer months.

“I fish strictly offshore, so my fishing was completely shut down,” he said. “It’s been a tough year. And this could have been a great year. I can only speak for myself, but I had a tremendous amount of bookings before the season even started.”

Since cleanup has begun to progress, more and more waters have become available to be fished.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries have even opened a few special seasons to get more people back onto the water in recent weeks.

Terrebonne said he and other fishermen are appreciative of those efforts, but said they’ve mostly fallen short because of the area’s recent spell of cooler weather.

“They opened up snappers by giving us a fall season, a kind of weekend-only deal until November 22,” Terrebonne said. “But every time we get ready to go out, the wind has been blowing so we can’t get out. A lot of our fishermen that we take out are also into hunting season right now, so that doesn’t help, either.”

But when the traditional fishing months come back around, both Terrebonne and Frekey believe things will be booming because oil spill or no oil spill, Louisiana people will never lose their love of being out on the water.

“There’s no question about that,” Terrebonne said. “My regular customers want to fish. They just told me to put them down for next year and that they can’t wait to get back out. We’re not going to have a problem getting our customers to come back. I don’t think that’s going to be a problem at all.”

Frekey agreed and said his customers have also expressed a strong desire to get back into the swing of things.

“The people in my customer base, most of them I keep in touch with all throughout the year, and from those I’ve been speaking with, they’re all excited about 2011,” he said. “They are definitely ready to get back into their normal routine with us.”

Bobby Breaux with Bob’s Bayou Black Marina echoed what the fishermen said and added he can feel the excitement in his customers who have been able to get out and fish.

“We won’t let anything hold us back in 2011 n not unless there’s another spill closer to the shore,” Breaux said with a laugh.

When they do finally get back on the water, fishermen will likely be pleased with what they see.

With a full year to populate without interruption, fish were able to grow and also breed freely, which should make for more fish in the water and bigger fish being caught.

“The only people who will know for sure are beings living under water and that’s the fish themselves,” Frekey said. “But you have to think that will be the case. Taking pressure off of anything for a full year will have to help the fish count.”

Terrebonne said he’s already seen proof of that in some autumn fishing he’s done.

“We did some fishing at the latest rodeo we had in October and we caught just some gorgeous red snappers,” he said. “So the fish are there. We had absolutely no problem catching fish.”

One concern the fishermen have is with LDWF regulations on fish quotas and specific seasons, which have not yet been set.

That’s a battle they are used to fighting. It sure beats dealing with oil.

“I think 2011 will be a good year, because people want to go fishing,” Terrebonne said. “Right now people are in the hunting mode and they’ve put fishing on the backburner. But come 2011, they’ll start talking about it, calling us and booking trips. There’s no doubt in my mind that the people are going to be ready.”