NEW ORLEANS – Ladies and gentlemen, let’s get ready to rumble. After three hard-fought days of competition, longtime friends Chad Dufrene of Purvis, Miss., and Todd Dufour of Marrero, La., suddenly find themselves locked in an epic battle for first place. After trading the tournament lead for two consecutive days, Dufrene and Dufour now stand tied atop the leaderboard at the 2008 FLW Redfish Open with only one day of competition remaining.
Boasting identical three-day catch totals of 45 pounds, 12 ounces, Dufrene and Dufour have never finished any day of Redfish Open competition lower than second place. And now, with everything on the line, the two have one more day to prove who is best. Adding even more intrigue to Sunday’s finals is the fact that third place belongs to Alden Bourgeois of Barataria, La. – Dufrene’s friend and Dufour’s longtime tournament redfish partner.
“I really can’t explain it,” said Dufrene. “Right now it’s a level playing field, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m really good friends with (Bourgeois) and (Dufour). I really like these guys. I know it’s going to be a battle. I almost hate to be fishing against them. These guys are really good. I’m going to have to be perfect tomorrow. I can’t mess up and expect to win.”
Dufour expressed a similar sentiment.
“It’s going to be a real crapshoot tomorrow,” said Dufour. “I know what Chad can do, and I know what my partner (Bourgeois) can do. I know all of these guys really well. I couldn’t have written this script any better if I’d tried. We’re all pretty good fishermen. And as far as I’m concerned, it’s really going to come down to who gets lucky tomorrow and brings in that perfect kicker fish.”
Ironically, both of the top two anglers acknowledged that their day on the water was less than ideal.
“I struggled out there pretty badly today,” said Dufrene, who sailed through yesterday’s competition after landing a huge limit by 9:15 a.m. “It was pretty cloudy out there, and we really had trouble seeing the fish. Basically, my co-angler saved me. He was throwing a spoon and had five or six fish in the boat before I even thought about catching one. I only caught three fish all day, and we didn’t have a good limit until 1:15 p.m. I can’t say enough about my partner. I really think I might have stubbed my toe if I didn’t have a good co-angler today. It was just one of those days.”
Dufrene said he targeted redfish in heavy grass, fishing spoons and Berkley Jerk Shad baits.
Like Dufrene, Dufour said that his day didn’t go nearly as well as the previous two days of competition.
“To be honest with you, I’m a little disappointed,” said Dufour, who recorded a 14-pound, 8-ounce catch in the semifinals. “I really thought I could catch at least 15 pounds today. The problem is that I really need the water to come up before I start catching my better fish. The last couple of hours when the tide comes in is when I’m finally able to get to my good spots and catch my bigger fish.”
Dufour said he is sight-fishing, targeting redfish in 1 to 2 feet with a combination of Berkley Gulp shrimp and craw worms.
“It was tough out there, but it feels great to be in first place,” said Dufour. “Who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow?”
Top-five cut announced
Dufour’s regular FLW Redfish Series partner, Alden Bourgeois of Barataria, La., netted the third qualifying position after netting a three-day stringer weighing 45 pounds, 4 ounces.
Pro Hugh Lebeouf of Thibodaux, La., grabbed fourth place heading into the finals with a total catch of 43 pounds, 13 ounces.
Rounding out the top five pro finalists was Stephen Stork of Houston. Stork turned in a total weight of 43 pounds, 3 ounces.
Rabroker maintains top spot in Co-angler Division
On the strength of a three-day catch totaling 43 pounds, 12 ounces, Gerald Rabroker of Belton, Texas, remained atop the co-angler leaderboard for a second day in a row – parlaying a 13-pound, 3-ounce catch in the semifinals into a 2-pound lead over his nearest competitor heading into tomorrow’s finals.
“It feels great. I’m on top of the world right now,” said Rabroker. “I really didn’t figure I’d come down here and do as well as I’m doing. But I’ve had three great partners, and that’s a big reason why I’m sitting in first place.”
Fishing with veteran redfishing legend Bryan Watts, Rabroker admitted that he was pretty nervous heading into today’s competition.
“Mr. Watts told me that we could probably catch about 12 1/2 pounds, but I wasn’t sure if that was going to be enough to get me into the finals,” said Rabroker. “But we fished hard all day, and (Watts) did everything he could to help me out. When we finally came back and realized that we had 13 pounds, 13 ounces today, I was just ecstatic.”
For his part, Watts had nothing but compliments for Rabroker.
“He’s a stick,” said Watts. “He’s a good enough angler to be right there. We both fished our butts off today, and it showed.”
As far as Rabroker is concerned, he believes he has as good of a chance as anyone at taking the inaugural co-angler tournament title at the 2008 Redfish Open.
“With a 2-pound lead, I feel pretty confident right now heading into the finals,” said Rabroker. “I get to go out tomorrow with the No. 1 angler (Dufrene) in the entire tournament, and he’s been catching at least 14 pounds every day. If we get 14 pounds tomorrow, that means that somebody else is going to have to catch at least 16 pounds. So, I like my chances.”
Best of the rest
Barnie White of Brewton, Ala., grabbed the second qualifying position heading into the finals with a total catch of 41 pounds, 13 ounces.
Meanwhile, Billy Blackwood of San Antonio, Texas, netted third place with a total catch of 41 pounds, 11 ounces.
Rounding out the top five co-angler finalists were Dwain Bankston (41 pounds, 9 ounces) of Cypress, Texas, and Eugene Abadie III (41 pounds, 7 ounces) of Covington, La.
For a complete list of today’s results, click here.
Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Open competition continues during Sunday’s final takeoff, scheduled to take place at 6:30 a.m. at Bayou Segnette State Park, located at 7777 Westbank Expressway in Westwego, La.