Cress-Weishaar emerge as Englewood leaders

Tight leaderboard materializes under stable conditions

ENGLEWOOD, Fla. – With nearly identical fishing conditions, day two of the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series event in Englewood, Fla., was all about execution. And no team executed better than tournament veterans Chuck Cress and Gary Weishaar.

Stiff winds once again made sight-fishing tough, if not impossible. With sight-fishing all but out, upper-slot reds were tough to come by, but limits were not. In fact, the overall catch improved slightly on day two, a rarity in tournament redfishing.

The bite improved dramatically for tournament leaders Cress and Weishaar, although their weights don’t show it. Yesterday the team caught 14 pounds, 2 ounces, but their second big fish didn’t come until the last cast of the day. Today they caught 12 pounds even, but they got their fish early.

Cress of Sarasota, Fla., and Weishaar of Nokomis, Fla., are running 35 miles north to Sarasota Bay. The two are fishing in 18 inches of water over grass flats interspersed with shell and sand bottom. Other than the third-place team of John Jernigan and Chris Joseph, they have the area to themselves. By 9:30 this morning, both of their weigh fish were in the box, falling victim to 5-inch Berkley Gulp Jerk Shads in new-penny color.

The duo spotted the small school of large redfish Thursday, but could not get them to eat. Friday presented a better opportunity, and the anglers capitalized on it.

“We live locally, and this is one of several spots that we know,” Weishaar said. “We caught several smaller fish there yesterday, but we needed to get something going early today, so we went back and found some bigger fish there today.”

The first-place team tried to upgrade throughout the day, but could not. Rather than fishing a giant school of 100 or more fish, Cress and Weishaar are cherry-picking a fish here and there. Although they caught only eight between the two of them, most of the fish in the area are of similar size.

Just two weeks ago, Cress and Weishaar won an Inshore Fish Association tournament held out of Sarasota, Fla. At that event, their prize was a fully loaded Ranger Banshee boat and trailer. Tomorrow, they have a chance to win back-to-back tournaments and earn some serious cash. Heading into the final day of competition, they have a 5-ounce lead and a two-day total of 26 pounds, 2 ounces.

“If we can come in with 12 pounds, we’d be real happy,” said Cress.

Johnson-Hudec lurking

Making a 35-mile run each way to Pine Island Sound is the well-known redfish team of Bo Johnson and Richard Hudec. And for the second day in a row, the long run paid off. Their long run isn’t surprising, as the area is a long-established redfish factory and a favorite among the team.

Although Pine Island Sound is a popular destination, they claim to have an area pretty much to themselves. The Florida team, Johnson of Cape Coral and Hudec of Naples, brought in two redfish for 13 pounds, 1 ounce Friday for a two-day total of 25 pounds, 13 ounces. In total, the two caught roughly 15 redfish on day two.

“I think we can do 13, 14 pounds tomorrow,” said Johnson, who is both sight-fishing and blind-casting with plastics. “Fourteen will smack them, 12 or 13 will be within ounces.”

The team credits their success to targeting larger, single fish. Although they have two top-10 finishes on their Redfish Series resume, this event might be their best chance at win No.1. Last season the team took fourth place in Englewood, Fla., and earlier this year they finished fourth in Clearwater, Fla. Tomorrow they start second, just a few ounces out of the lead.

“Anytime you have a chance to win against the caliber of anglers we fish against, it means something,” added Johnson. “Just making the top five means something.”

Jernigan-Joseph remain third

For the second consecutive day, the team of John Jernigan and Chris Joseph finished weigh-in in third place. Friday their weight dropped slightly, from 13-10 on day one to 11-15, making their two-day total 25-9. As mentioned earlier, Jernigan and Joseph are sharing water with the leading team. Clearly this area, located north in Sarasota Bay, is holding the right fish.

“We had a tough practice, so our plan has always been to get a small limit early and then go back and try and upgrade,” said Jernigan of nearby Venice, Fla. “We fished the same areas as yesterday. Everywhere we got short ones yesterday, we got big ones today. It was backwards.”

The team enticed the fish with 3-inch Berkley Gulp shrimp and Exude darts. They worked a variety of cover including mangrove edges and potholes.

“We feel comfortable we can come in with at least 8 pounds tomorrow,” said Joseph, a native of Holmes Beach, Fla. “Any more than that will be a bonus.”

This is Jernigan and Joseph’s first FLW Outdoors-administered tournament of any kind. As Ranger-Yamaha anglers, they could be walking home tomorrow with a first-place check worth $50,000.

Lamberts fourth

Cousins Paul and Donald Lambert weighed in two redfish for 13 pounds, 6 ounces to hold down fourth with an opening-round total of 25 pounds, 8 ounces.

The two, Paul of Punta Gorda, Fla., and Donald of Port Charlotte, Fla., ran to Pine Island Sound to wet their lines. The result was 10 fish total, the heaviest two coming early in the morning.

“We feel good, real good, about tomorrow,” said Paul. “We actually found this school today. It’s a big school, and they haven’t been worked over. That’s usually the key. These fish should be ready to bite. There was no one there when we found them, and there was no one there when we left.”

The team is fishing Berkley Gulp jerkbaits and using the wind at their backs to make extra-long casts.

Perez duo slides to fifth

Dropping to fifth place was day-one leaders Troy and Christine Perez of Mims, Fla. Despite catching a modest 10 pounds, 11 ounces on day two, the Perezes became only the second husband-and-wife team to qualify for the final round.

They now have a two-day total of 25 pounds, 3 ounces.

“This morning, we had a good hour by ourselves, but then we were greeted by an army of waders,” said Troy. “There must have been 10 recreational anglers in there, and they were just slaying them. Their footprints were all over the sand.”

Despite the unwanted company, Team Perez managed six fish, all of which were caught on golden spoons. With no real backup plan in sight, Troy and Christine will return tomorrow and hope there’s still some fish left.

The third and final day of Redfish Series Eastern Division competition starts Saturday at 7 a.m. Eastern time at Stump Pass Marina in Englewood.