Pensacola primer

Redfish Series Championship anglers sample Florida Panhandle Coast

PENSACOLA, Fla. – After four regular-season Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series events in the Eastern Division and four events in the Western Division, 100 of the world’s top redfish teams – 50 from each division – have met in Pensacola for the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship.

This event marks the first Redfish Series visit to Pensacola. Last year, the Redfish Series Championship was held in Orange Beach, Ala., just a short boat ride down the Intracoastal Waterway from Pensacola.

The 2005 championship was won by Todd Adams and Tommy Ramzinsky of Rockport, Texas, who traveled to Mississippi to collect their three-day winning weight of 38 pounds, 15 ounces.

The team has been back to check their tournament-winning area from last year, but have found little success.

“Last year, the fish were much more in a fall to winter pattern,” Todd Adams explained. “Several major cold fronts had passed through the area; the water was cooler and much lower because of the north winds. The bait was beginning to gather up in the channels for fall migration.

“This year it’s just the opposite,” he continued. “Hard southern winds have backed the bays up – they’re 3 feet higher than last year. The water is still warm, and the bait is still roaming around in little pods in the flooded marsh grass – it’s more like summer than fall.

“We’ve caught several flounder and trout in a foot of water – that tells us that these fish are still in full summer patterns.”

Ramzinsky said: “We’ve found a few reds in the flooded marsh grass. I wish we had another day or two of practice because we were just starting to figure out that flooded grass pattern, but the weather has really hindered our practice.”

Many teams lost valuable practice time to fierce south winds of 20 to 30 mph on Monday and Tuesday, making it nearly impossible to scout open bays and sounds.

By Wednesday morning, many teams were still scrambling to put some kind of plan together for the tournament, including the well-known Watts brothers.

“We spent Wednesday right here in Pensacola Bay trying to uncover a deep structure bite,” Greg Watts said. “Given the weather we’ve had recently, a long run is going to be a risky proposition, especially if you have to cross Mobile Bay. So we decided to see if we could find something close.”

But the Watts struck out in finding anything solid in Pensacola Bay. Many teams have reported Pensacola Bay to be rather stingy with redfish.

“We’ve had a tough time here,” said Andrew Bostick. “A lot of these bays here are just slick sand flats, and the main structure is docks and hard cover like rocks and pilings. But I think we’re going to tough it out nearby and maximize our fishing time instead of running far and having to worry about time and the weather.”

Logistics

Teams competing in the FLW Redfish Series Championship will take off from Shoreline Park South located at 800 Shoreline Park in Gulf Breeze, Fla., at 7 a.m. Central each morning. The weigh-ins will be held at 3 p.m. on Thursday and Friday at the takeoff site. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 3767 Gulf Breeze Parkway in Gulf Breeze at 4:30 p.m. The morning takeoffs and afternoon weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

The winning team could take home as much as $100,000, which includes a $50,000 cash award for first place, a $25,000 boat bonus from Champion, Hydra-Sports, Ranger or Wellcraft and a $25,000 engine bonus from Evinrude or Yamaha if contingency guidelines are met.

Thursday’s conditions

Sunrise: 6:54

Temperature at takeoff: 74 degrees

Water temperature: 73 degrees

Expected high temperature: 83 degrees

Wind: S at 10 to 15 mph

Day’s outlook: warm with 40 percent chance of thunderstorms