ENGLEWOOD, Fla. – Redfish pro Scott Guthrie of Jacksonville, Fla., can summarize redfish behavior along Florida’s southwest coast in one sentence: “These are the spookiest reds in the Gulf of Mexico.”
Guthrie should know, as he and team partner Rick Murphy of Homestead, Fla., had to reason with lure-shy reds last month just up the road in Tierra Verde, Fla., to win the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Eastern Division opener.
Now it’s time for stop No. 2 in Englewood, and Guthrie says reds are plentiful but well trained in the art of avoiding anglers who are not offering live bait.
“Due to the ultraclear water and intense guide traffic using live bait, the fish are hard to catch on artificials,” he said. “The weather is beautiful, and guide services are in full swing, chumming and catching reds by the dozens on live bait all up and down the coast.”
According to FLW Redfish Series rules, tournament anglers must use artificial lures and cannot fish within 100 yards of other recreational anglers who are chumming.
“If you’re fishing a spot and a guy pulls up and starts chumming, you have to leave,” Guthrie added.
As a result, many anglers will try to get away from the local guide traffic by poling way back into mangrove sloughs and bays where they can stake out small potholes and mangrove edges for themselves.
“The tide will be low in the mornings, not a strong low, but low enough to position fish in potholes early in the day,” Guthrie noted. “After the tide comes in, fishing the mangroves will become an option as fish move up. Fishing here is a game of patience: staking down and waiting for the fish to come to you as opposed to chasing them down with lures a blazing.”
With that said, look for the Florida regulars to do well again. The Watts brothers,
Guthrie-Murphy, Girle-Harris, Page-Zyak, Van Horn-Richardson and Bostick-Sepe will be just a few teams to keep an eye on.
Logistics
Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. Eastern each morning from Stump Pass Marina located at 260 Maryland St. in Englewood. Weigh-ins on day one and day two will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Day three’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 2931 S. McCall Road in Englewood starting at 4 p.m.
The full field will compete Thursday and Friday, and the top five teams, based on heaviest accumulated weight from the first two days, will compete on Saturday. Two redfish may be weighed in per team, per day. The winning team will be determined by the heaviest combined weight from Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The winning team earns $25,000 cash, based on a full field. If a member of the winning team is the original owner of a Ranger, Champion, Wellcraft or Hydra-Sports boat that is used during the tournament, the team will also receive a $12,500 bonus. Also, if a member of the winning team is the original owner of a qualifying Yamaha or Evinrude outboard motor that is used during the tournament, the team receives an additional $12,500 bonus for total award of $50,000.
Every team that receives weight credit in a tournament earns points that determine team standings. One hundred and fifty points are awarded to the winners, 149 points for second, 148 points for third, and so on. The top 50 teams from each of the FLW Redfish Series’ two divisions – Eastern and Western – will advance to the championship.
Thursday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:22 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 66 degrees
Expected high temperature: 83 degrees
Water temperature: 70-75 degrees
Forecasted winds: SE at 5-10 mph
Day’s outlook: perfect