East Coast showdown

Redfish Series Eastern Division Team of the Year honors to be determined at Fernandina Beach finale

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – As the fourth and final Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Eastern Division event of 2007 got under way Thursday morning in Fernandina Beach, many teams had winning on their minds.

But for the young brothers Cody and Kyle Chivas of Belleair, Fla., there was a little extra pressure: defending their lead in the Eastern Division points race, sponsored by Land O’Lakes.

The Chivases have had a phenomenal year in the FLW Redfish Series, starting with a second-place finish in their backyard in Clearwater, Fla., then a fifth-place finish in Titusville, Fla., followed by a 16th-place showing at Englewood, Fla.

They now lead the Eastern Division race with 430 points. A 36th-place finish or higher at Fernandina this week gives the teenage brothers the points title and paid entry fees into next year’s Redfish Series events.

“We’re feeling the pressure,” said Kyle Chivas. “We put in more practice for this event than all the others. Winning the points title our first year out would be a cool deal.”

“Like with the other events, we’re not really sure what we’ve found here,” noted older brother Cody. “We spend so much time just looking in practice, and we don’t really settle down and fish until the event.”

“We’ve only caught a few fish in the last few days, but that’s the way practice has been for us all year,” Kyle added. “Once we catch a fish or two, we don’t sit there and hammer them, we move on, covering more water.”

With such a points lead, the Chivases would seem to be a shoo-in for Team of the Year honors. However, they have a small problem in the Fernandina finale: one Scott Guthrie from Jacksonville, Fla.

Guthrie and his partner Rick Murphy from Homestead, Fla., are the third-place team in the standings, 36 points behind the Chivases.

Guthrie knows these East Coast redfish better than some people know their own pets. In the last two Redfish Series events held on this coast, Guthrie-Murphy have finished first and third.

What’s more, East Coast redfishing is much different than the shallow, clear water flats of west Florida, where the Chivas brothers grew up fishing.

Big tides, colored water and a labyrinth of oyster-lined creeks make up the Fernandina fishery adjacent to the St. Johns River complex.

“This place is wild,” Kyle Chivas explained. “The tide comes in here so fast, it’s unreal. You’ll see 3-foot-high sandbars and oyster mounds disappear in no time.”

Such drastic fluctuations feel like home for Guthrie, who idled through checkout this morning in a larger boat than Guthrie is normally seen in.

When asked about his chances of winning the event and taking over the points title in the same week, Guthrie only said this: “It’s been real tough here lately, and usually the tougher it is, the better I do. When the tournament falls on a nice tide cycle and the fish are biting, everybody catches them here. But that’s not going to be the case this week.”

For the most part, Fernandina Beach will experience a high tide in the mornings at about 9 to 10 a.m. and a low tide in the afternoons from about 2 to 3 p.m., which basically means the field will be fishing falling water most of the day.

Berkley pro John Henninger, also of Jacksonville, Fla., believes that teams who do well will strike early.

“There is a pretty good topwater bite going on in the morning at high tide when the marshes are flooded,” Henninger said. “But it’s only happening in a few places, and it doesn’t last long. Once that water starts running out, it’s over.

“Those who have banked on high-tide patterns should do well, while those banking on low-tide patterns might be in trouble,” he added. “That’s because the high-tide window will stay within the tournament hours all week, but that low-tide window will happen about the time check-in begins today and get later over the next couple of days.”

Teams fishing Florida waters are allowed to keep two redfish between 18 and 27 inches. However, teams opting to make the short run to Georgia can only keep redfish in Georgia’s slot, which happens to be 16 to 23 inches.

“There’s a lot of good fishing in Georgia, but because of that little slot, most teams will stay around (Fernandina) or run south,” Henninger added.

Weight predictions for the top-five cut seemed to be about the 21-pound mark for two days.

Logistics

Redfish Series teams will take off at 6:30 a.m. each morning Eastern time from Fernandina Harbor Marina located at 1 Front St. in Fernandina Beach, Fla.

Weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday.

Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1757 S. 14th St. in Fernandina Beach. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free, and the community is invited to attend the festivities.

The winning team will receive a top award of $25,000. If Ranger contingency guidelines are met, the winning team will also receive a $12,500 cash bonus. If Yamaha or Evinrude contingency guidelines are met, the winning team will receive an additional $12,500 cash bonus for a total of $50,000.

The top 50 teams in the FLW Redfish Series based on points standings at the end of the season will advance to the $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Championship presented by BP Oct. 18-20 in Orange Beach, Ala. The winning team at the championship will earn as much as $100,000.

In FLW Redfish Series competition, 150 points are awarded to the winner, 149 for second, 148 for third, and so on. All teams that receive weight credit will receive points that determine Land O’Lakes Team of the Year standings. All FLW Redfish Series events are three-day tournaments (Thursday, Friday and Saturday). The full field competes during the first two days, and the top five teams based on accumulated weight advance to day three. Final standings are determined by the total weight from all three days.

Conditions

Sunrise: 6:24 a.m.

Tides: high: 9:04 a.m. low: 2:50 p.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 73 degrees

Expected high temperature: 84 degrees

Water temperature: 70-75 degrees

Forecasted winds: E at 10 to 20 mph

Day’s outlook: sunny and warm