It's been 'very brutal' for the Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo this year

The sound of music blows through the grounds of the 71st Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo and the ice bins displaying fish enjoy steady streams of interested onlookers, especially after word of a new "big fish" gets out.

But the daily showers have kept significant numbers of patrons from coming in the gate and spending money with the dozens of vendors, some that have participated in the MDSFR for many years.



Numbers are down significantly. According to Richard Valdez, president of the MDSFR, it takes a gate of 12,000 patrons to make the rodeo a success. Through Tuesday afternoon, fewer than 4,000 have come through the gates.



"The main problem with the rodeo that's happening right now is every afternoon when the crowd starts coming in, the weather comes in," said Valdez. "And for the first time that I can remember, the rodeo for the last two nights has had to close at 9 or 9:30 when we're supposed to be open until midnight.



"It's really hurt us," said Valdez. "The rodeo is probably $60,000 in the hole right now. If we can't get enough people out here in the next two days, financially I don't know where the rodeo is going to be sitting."



Valdez said the problem is strictly with this year's rodeo and the result of the weather. The rodeo traditionally runs 4-6 days depending on which day the Fourth of July falls. This year's rodeo began on Friday and continues through Wednesday.



"This year the weather has been very brutal," said Valdez. "And now it's starting to affect the fishermen. Those guys are taking tremendous beatings. Most of them are saying it's too unsafe to go."



Valdez said that from a fishing standpoint, this year's rodeo has been tremendously successful. He pointed to both the youth rodeo on Saturday and the Speckled Trout Shootout on Sunday.



"Almost every category on the board is full; I think there's one that's not. The kids rodeo was a huge success. Over 120 anglers in there. Speckled Trout was a huge success with the Shootout," said Valdez. "The Tiger shark and stingray bounties did what they're supposed to do."



Valdez expressed concern for the vendors that have committed six days to this year's rodeo.



"The vendors are not making any money when the gate is that low," said Valdez. "The beer and Coke sales are tremendously down from where they should be. We've got bands playing and the weather falls in, and we have to shut the stage down. The rides, which is a big part of our income, they haven't been able to run the past two nights. When they're not able to run, it hurts the rodeo, too."



Sharon Reeves, owner of Sharon's Concessions and a vendor at the event for 28 years, said this year's rodeo so far has not been profitable for her business, but she appeared to remain hopeful that things could change at any time.



"We may not make any money, but we're not going to lose any," said Reeves. "The weather is what got us. The Lord's work, ain't nothing any of us can do about it. But if the people come out tomorrow and support us, we'll be all right."



Valdez also remains optimistic for the Fourth of July being a big day for this year's rodeo.



"Usually the Fourth of July is our biggest night," said Valdez. "Hopefully the weather will come through, and that could pull us through. I need to put somewhere around 6,000 people through today and 6,000 people through tomorrow, just so we can have enough to pay everything. I'm not sure where we're going to stand until the event's done and all the bills are paid."

This story was originally published July 3, 2018 at 4:02 PM.