LAFITTE, La. – Last week, the professional redfishing team of Anthony Randazzo and Billy Wallbaum from Louisiana enjoyed several days of redfishing that most redfish enthusiasts only dream about.
While competing in the Redfish Cup event out of Bayou Segnette, a Louisiana park, over Labor Day weekend, the team sat on one single spot for three days and caught, literally, hundreds of redfish en route to winning the tournament.
This week, the team is hoping for a repeat in Lafitte, the sight of the fourth Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series event in the Western Division for 2006 – but it likely won’t be a repeat on their magical spot.
“Last week it was simply amazing,” Wallbaum recalled of the hot spot. “We caught fish on nearly every cast, every day. We stayed hooked up constantly.”
“It’s a unique spot where several passes come together and meet the river,” he described. “There’s an underwater structure located there in about 10 to 13 feet of water that breaks the current and holds the fish. Over the last two weeks, there have been thousands of redfish stacked up there, wolfing down anything that moves.”
But unfortunately for Randazzo and Wallbaum, the cat is out of the bag, and most redfish teams now know about their secret redfish hole that sits along the Mississippi River near Venice, La.
“Every time we’ve ridden by it this week, there have been several boats having a field day. I think everyone here pretty much knows about it now.”
As a result, Randazzo and Wallbaum are not even going to attempt to go to the honeyhole during the FLW Redfish Series event.
“It’s pointless,” he added. “Too many guys with faster boats than ours are already gunning for it. Last week, we had it to ourselves. We shared the spot with just two other teams – friends of ours who also finished in the top five (in the Redfish Cup). But it’s likely to turn into a bad situation down there today. The place is only big enough for two, maybe three boats, and from what I hear, there are a lot more than that headed there now.”
Instead, Randazzo and Wallbaum are going to try to make the pond-hopping game work.
“Hopefully, so many people fishing that spot will neutralize it,” he said. “I think we’re going to try a few backwater ponds this week.”
In the meantime, the Folgers team of Todd Adams and Tommy Ramzinsky, who currently lead the Redfish Series Western Division points race by four points, are hoping to seal the team-of-the-year title at Lafitte.
“Lafitte is as good of a place as any to make it happen,” Ramzinsky said. “The 
fishing here is just unreal. Right now, 40 to 50 fish per day is common.”
Although the tournament is taking off from Lafitte Harbor Marina in Lafitte, most of the teams will be heading to Venice, a boat ride of an hour or more, to take advantage of heavier slot fish.
“Two just-under (27-inch mark) reds from Venice will generally outweigh two just-unders from (Lafitte) by as much as 2 pounds,” Ramzinsky added. “It’s no secret: Venice fish, whether they come from the ponds or from the river, are just bigger for their size.”
Adams and Ramzinsky, who won the 2005 Redfish Series Championship out of Orange Beach, Ala., by focusing on deeper reds, hope to employ the same tactics here this week.
“We’re not going to fish the now well-known hot spot from last week, but we’re probably going to fish that style – a little deeper for schools of reds close to the main river,” Adams noted. “We know where some good pond fish are, but if we can get into a school of slot fish out deeper, we’d prefer to do that.”
Logistics
Anglers will take off at 6:30 CDT each morning from Lafitte Harbor Marina, located at 4932 Kenal Road in Lafitte. 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 4810 Lapalco Blvd. in Marrero, La., starting at 5 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 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. Additionally, if a member of the winning team is the original owner of a qualifying Evinrude or Yamaha outboard that is used during the tournament, the team receives a $12,500 bonus for a total award of $50,000.
Thursday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:41
Temperature at takeoff: 74 degrees
Water temperature: 85 degrees
Expected high temperature: 89 degrees
Wind: NE at 5 to 10 mph
Tides: high – 9:46 a.m.; low – 6:55 p.m.
Day’s outlook: sunny and warm