Sweet Lafitte

Louisiana team Adams-Chagnard takes Lafitte Redfish Series win with shallow bite

LAFITTE, La. – After several weeks of prevalent deep-water patterns capturing the lead in redfish tournaments in southern Louisiana, the extreme shallow bite prevailed Saturday in the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Western event out of Lafitte.

Edward Adams and Ray Chagnard, both of Metairie, La., took home the winners’ trophies and $50,000 in cash by squeaking around in ultrashallow water and catching upper-slot reds from water that was barely a foot deep.

Going into the finals on Saturday, Adams and Chagnard were in second, trailing the leaders Blair Wiggins and Tadd Vandemark, who were targeting deep-water reds, by 13 ounces.

But things changed drastically Saturday morning when a wicked line of thundershowers moved over southern Louisiana, drenching the top five teams of finalists shortly after takeoff.

The weather put the quietus on Wiggins and Vandemark’s school of big reds and made sight-fishing conditions difficult for other top-five teams that had been spotting reds in 2 to 4 feet of water.

“The weather really kind of played into our hands because we were fishing in such clear, shallow water,” Adams said. “Even though it was cloudy and rainy, we could still see our fish.”

The team scored two big reds early for 15 pounds, 7 ounces. But even then, they felt like their chances of taking the win were thin.

“We didn’t think we’d get knocked out of second place, but we didn’t think we could close the gap on the leaders, either,” Adams remarked. “They had a solid lead and were on a good bunch of fish.”

When Wiggins and Vandemark took the stage, however, their two reds topped the scales at 13 pounds, 10 ounces, and Adams and Chagnard took the lead with a three-day total of 46 pounds, 14 ounces.

“We are thrilled to death,” Adams said. “I guess it was just meant to be. We went out and did what we’ve been doing all week, and we ended up on top.”

Adams, who guides out of Delacroix, La., had scouted for this event on and off for several weeks. He and teammate Chagnard eventually settled on a pond located in the Venice, La., area on the east side of the river.

“Even though I’m from this area, I’m not a Venice guru; I had to put in just as much scouting time as anyone else. What we liked most about this particular pond was how shallow and clear the water was. It had a lot of vegetation which had filtered the water to a crystal clear clarity.”

Once in the pond, the team fished Berkley Gulp Jerkshads and a “beefed up beetle spin” rigged with a No. 4 Colorado blade and a purple H&H Cocahoe minnow body.

Mnichowski-McGill makes hard charge

Andy Mnichowski of Marrero, La., and John McGill of Slidell, La., nearly pulled off their second win of the 2006 Western Division season with the day’s biggest stringer – 15 pounds, 11 ounces – but fell 11 ounces short with a three-day total of 46 pounds, 4 ounces.

“Last night, we figured we’d need at least 16 pounds just to get out of fifth place (the team’s qualifying position)” Mnichowski said. “But when we saw that weather this morning, we knew it was a whole new ball game, and we’re tickled to come from fifth to second.”

The team relied on the same bay that gave them the Cocodrie, La., Redfish Series win earlier this season, located on the west side of the Mississippi River near Venice.

“John and I feel really comfortable in this one particular bay,” Mnichowski said. “It has a lot of drains and ditches running through it, and we just know how the fish react to certain water levels in there.”

Today, as the water fell in the bay, the current pulled small crabs from a grassy edge, and reds moved in for the buffet.

“What really helped us in the cloud cover was the fact that the fish were actually busting the surface while eating those crabs,” he said. “Since we couldn’t see too well into the water, whenever they smacked the surface we trolled over there as fast as we could and made long casts to them.”

The team used YUM Samurai Shads in a disco-minnow color on 1/4-ounce jigheads and spinnerbaits to catch their fish. They collected $8,600 for second.

Wiggins-Vandemark comes up short

After leading the event after day two, Blair Wiggins of Cocoa, Fla., and Tadd Vandemark of Key Largo, Fla., brought in two redfish for 13 pounds, 10 ounces to finish third with a three-day total of 45 pounds, 14 ounces, worth $6,474.

“The big ones just weren’t there today,” Wiggins remarked about their deep-water hot spot. “It took us a while to figure out where the fish had moved to, and we finally got a decent 26 1/2-inch fish and another smaller one. But we could never catch another big one to get rid of the small one.”

Vandemark took a moment onstage to personally thank Mnichowski and McGill for guiding them to Venice through a safer back route during the fierce storm.

“It just goes to show the level of class and sportsmanship we have in this sport,” Vandemark said. “Here we are leading the tournament, and we asked them if we could follow them down there the back way this morning. They could have easily hung us out to dry, but instead they helped us out, and we want to thank them for that.”

Phillips-Patterson fourth

Finishing fourth with a three-day total of 44 pounds, 2 ounces is the team of Brett Phillips and Mike Patterson, both of Rockport, Texas, taking home $5,474.

Phillips and Patterson opted to stay at the dock for an hour this morning during the storm.

“We had a bad experience with lightning several tournaments ago, and we don’t play around with it anymore,” Patterson said.

Once they made it to their primary water located on the west side of the river near Venice, the team continued to fish the boat-canal pattern they found yesterday, casting Bass Assassin Shrimp Cocktail scented shrimp imitations on 1/4-ounce jigheads.

Ramzinsky-Adams finishes fifth

Todd Adams of Rockport, Texas, and Tommy Ramzinsky of Fulton, Texas, finished off a fantastic 2006 season with yet another top-five.

The team finished fifth with a three-day total of 43 pounds, worth $5,150.

Though they contemplated staying close and fishing for keepers this morning due to the storm, they decided to run to their water in Venice on the west side of the river.

“In order to compensate for the clouds today, we went to new water – clearer water – so we could see fish better,” Ramzinsky said. “The adjustment almost paid off. Right at the end of the day, it got just a bit brighter, and Todd caught our best fish, but we just ran out of time.”

The 2006 Western Division points winners reported catching their fish on Bass Assassin Mud Minnows on 1/16- and 1/4-ounce jigheads.