Powerhouse teams emerge at Tierra Verde

Redfish Series Eastern opener poised for final-day showdown of top Florida teams

TIERRA VERDE, Fla. – Those who believe tournament redfishing is pure luck might want to check out the familiar names that rose to the top of the standings at the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Eastern event Friday.

The top five teams that will go on to fish for the win Saturday are some of the same names that are frequently featured on television shows, newspapers and magazines for their redfish expertise – and today they proved why that is.

Leading the event by 14 ounces is the team of Scott Guthrie of Jacksonville, Fla., and Rick Murphy of Homestead, Fla., with a two-day total of 26 pounds even.

Guthrie and Murphy claimed two major victories last year, one in the FLW Redfish Series and one in the Redfish Cup. Now they are in a prime position to add yet another title to their impressive resume.

The team ended up fishing the same spot Friday that produced their fish yesterday.

“We went to the low-water spot that we wanted to fish yesterday first thing this morning, but things didn’t pan out,” Guthrie said. “So we returned to our productive high-water spot from yesterday. We waited for the tide to get right, and when it got high enough, the reds came up out of the trough and started following mullet schools up onto the bar.”

For a while, the team had trouble getting the fish to eat until they switched from soft plastics to Equalizer spoons.

“With all of the cloud cover and wind, I don’t think the fish could see the plastics real well,” Guthrie said. “When we went to the spoons, we got them to eat.”

Once the team caught their two biggest reds, Guthrie and Murphy simply staked down and observed the activity on the bar.

“We’re probably going to fish there again tomorrow, and we’re going to have similar conditions, so Rick and I want to know just how the fish are behaving with regards to the tide and the mullet schools,” he continued. “It’s a way of investing our time towards tomorrow. We won the Jacksonville Redfish Series last year with a similar strategy – using the last part of the day to observe and find fish for the next day. And today we learned some little things that should help us tomorrow.”

Watts brothers second

Surprise, surprise. It’s those Watts brothers, the 2005 Redfish Series Eastern Division team of the year, in the top five again. In fact, Bryan Watts of Lithia, Fla., and Greg Watts of Eagle Lake, Fla., are currently in second with a two-day total of 25 pounds, 2 ounces.

Similar to Guthrie and Murphy, the Watts decided to “dance with the one that brought them” and returned to the area that produced their fish yesterday.

“This place we’re fishing is one of our rough-weather spots,” Bryan Watts said. “It’s not a new spot for us; it has bailed us out in the past, and it produces on a northeast wind like we had today.”

Watts described the place as a big sand flat with several holes and depressions. Thursday, when the water was higher, they found the fish up on the sand flat. Today, with the water down about 14 inches, the Watts had to fish the deeper depressions.

“We’re not fishing a big school,” Bryan Watts said. “We’re fishing singles and doubles. We’re using 3-inch Gulp! minnows on 1/4-ounce Bass Assassin jigheads. We’re using heavier heads because we want the bait to stay down on the bottom at all times.”

Anderson-Hyatt third

Mike Anderson and Kenny Hyatt, both of Riverview, Fla., moved into third place today with a two-day total of 24 pounds, 14 ounces.

Anderson and Hyatt are making a “very long run” and have “very little time to fish.”

“We are fishing potholes in 2 to 6 feet of water,” said Anderson. “It’s just like bass fishing. We’re casting to potholes and barely moving the bait.”

The team is using a combination of Berkley Gulp! Shrimp and Mister Twister Exude plastics.

“To make the top five against some of the guys here is a real honor,” Hyatt said. “A lot of these guys are veterans of this sport – this is the cream of the crop.”

Page-Zyak fourth

Geoff Page of Venice, Fla., and Ed Zyak of Jensen Beach, Fla., another well-known team on the professional redfish circuits, held down fourth place with a two-day total of 24 pounds, 10 ounces.

“This is going to be a shootout,” said Page of his fellow Floridians. “You’ve got Guthrie and Murphy, the Watts and Girle and Harris all in the top five. I’m pumped.”

Page and Zyak are fishing in the same area as Guthrie and Murphy.

“Yesterday, with the higher water, we caught them up on the ridge,” Page said. “Today, the water was much lower and we caught them in the deeper trough.”

Page and Zyak continued to use Mister Twister Exude Darts and RT Slugs to catch their fish.

“We’re on the right size fish,” Page added. “We had seven or eight just over 27 inches today, including a 9-pounder that was 27 and one-eighth. Anything can happen tomorrow.”

Girle-Harris comeback to make top five

Warren Girle of Longboat Key, Fla., and Billy Harris of Bradenton, Fla., were the comeback story of the day.

They brought in two reds today for 13 pounds, 3 ounces to come back from 19th place and claim the last ticket into the top five with a two-day total of 23 pounds, 1 ounce.

“We’re fishing flats with broken bottom, featuring sand holes and edges,” Harris said. “The real key has been bait and mullet; whenever we see bait and mullet in the area, it’s a good thing.”

Girle and Harris are running about an hour to their fish and catching them on Mister Twister Exude Darts.

“We’re just tickled to death to be fishing again tomorrow,” Harris added. “And it’s quite an honor to go out and compete with some of these names you see in this top five.”

Top five compete tomorrow

Saturday’s top-five competition begins a 7 a.m. at the Tierra Verde Resort and Marina. Each team’s weights from days one and two will carry over into tomorrow.