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During the weekend of August 4 through August 6, Delta Marina hosted the annual Empire South Pass Tarpon Rodeo. As always, it was a massive success for the Empire community and Plaquemines Parish as a whole. More than that, one of the key organizers for the event Mitch Jurisich stated that this year’s Tarpon Rodeo actually exceeded expectations. “This was definitely one of the largest Tarpon Rodeos we ever put on. We sold about 300 adult tickets which is up from 80 last year. That’s obviously a great sign that we’re only going to keep growing,” Jurisich stated. “Overall, it was just a great event. We had great bands, music, food, and people.” Jurisich noted that during the competition portion of the weekend- long event, uncooperative weather posed a potential threat to the experience. But the fishermen who participated were “persistent,” mostly undaunted by the rain or wind. Jursich explained that the largest fish caught—in spite of the weather forcing fishermen to stay closer to the shore—was a 192 pound (lbs) Tarpon and two Gar Fish over 110 lbs were caught as well. “Even with how bad it got out there, most of our categories were still full by the end. They really wanted those prizes,” Jursich stated. “Both the fishermen and the crowd were great. Despite being so large, we didn’t have any issues. People were calm and peaceful and just there for a good time.”