Live Tripletail Category added to Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo

A feature of the rodeo that is always popular with the spectators is the Gulf Hauling and Construction Shark Jackpot, which will include only two species again this year, bull shark and tiger shark.

At the 2023 rodeo, Brett Rutledge weighed in a 1,019-pound tiger shark that broke the rodeo and Alabama state record. At the 2024 rodeo, David Stiller broke the rodeo and state records with a 494.5-pound bull shark. Both shark species must have a fork length of 80 inches to be weighed at the rodeo.

The South Response Services King Mackerel Jackpot, Yamaha Motors Speckled Trout Jackpot and the Meadow Electric Big Game Jackpot are basically unchanged. Regular rodeo categories include 15 inshore species and 18 offshore species. Each category has a minimum size. Go to https://adsfr.com/rodeo-rules/ to find the rodeo species and minimum sizes.

The Return 'Em Right category will return and requires anglers to submit a photo of an eligible reef fish (red snapper, gray snapper, grouper, scamp and vermilion snapper) on a descending device ready for release. The descending devices must have at least one pound of weight and 60 feet of line. Prizes will be awarded in a random drawing from all the eligible anglers. A maximum of three entries per angler is allowed.

Typically, the ADSFR will weigh in between 6,000 and 8,000 fish during the three-day competition. People from all over the Gulf Coast and beyond plan their year around the rodeo, a project of the Mobile Jaycees.

Farley said that for the 2025 rodeo 4,000 rodeo tickets were sold and the crowd numbered more than 100,000.

"We try to sink the island every year," quipped Farley. "We're excited about the rodeo."

Of course, one of the features of the rodeo is a new T-shirt every year with artwork designed by the current president. To accommodate the demand for the T-shirts at the rodeo, a new T-shirt building has been constructed on the rodeo site to efficiently handle the customers.

Farley did have a warning for those who travel to the rodeo site by land. Construction on the Dauphin Island Bridge may cause delays.

"Try not to let that interfere with you weighing in fish if you're coming by land," he said. "Plan ahead this year. Sometimes the bridge is down to one lane, so try to get there as early as you can."

As usual, the rodeo kicks off on the Thursday before the competition starts with the Captain T-Bone's Liar's Contest, sponsored this year by Columbia Outdoors. Live entertainment includes Bruce Smelley after the liar's contest and Moustache on July 17.

Participants in the 93rd rodeo will compete for almost $1 million in cash and prizes, including a Contender bay boat with a Yamaha 250-horsepower outboard. The winner of the boat-motor package will be selected in a random drawing from all participants who weigh in a legal fish during the tournament. It doesn't matter if you catch a 12-inch white trout at Cedar Point Pier or haul in a huge blue marlin from the Gulf of America, your chances of winning the top prize package are the same. A 70-horsepower Yamaha outboard will go to the winner of the Speckled Trout Jackpot. The Most Unusual category will be back and sponsored again by USA Marine Sciences with a top prize of $250.

As keeping with tradition, the 68th Roy Martin Young Anglers Tournament will be held the Saturday (July 11) prior to the ADSFR and is available to anglers 15 years old and younger. What's special about the Roy Martin tournament is you can purchase the ticket when you get to the rodeo site with your fish.

At the big rodeo, all tickets must be purchased before the start of the competition, which opens with a cannon blast at 5 a.m. on Friday, July 17. The ADSFR closes with another cannon blast at 5 p.m. on July 19.

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