NEW ORLEANS – After two days of relatively stable weather, the top-30 pro and top-30 co-angler semifinalists at the 2008 FLW Redfish Open were thrown a curveball by Mother Nature early Saturday morning. Although takeoff was scheduled to start at 6:30 a.m., a dense fog bank held up the start of tournament action for approximately 15 minutes as tourney officials waited for conditions to clear.
Finally, as the sun began to rise and burn off the fog, anglers were able to depart Bayou Segnette State Park to kick off the start of the day’s action. But to be sure, there were plenty of questions. With the top-five pros separated by about 2 pounds and the top-10 co-anglers separated by an almost identical margin, the outcome of the inaugural FLW Redfish Open is still very much in doubt.
However, what is not in doubt is what the anglers must accomplish during Saturday’s event to survive today’s top-five cut.
“You’re going to want to have at least 14 1/2 pounds today,” said fifth-place pro qualifier John Henninger of Jacksonville, Fla. “That really seems to be the magic number. You have to do your best and hope you get the right bites, but you have to shoot for 14 1/2 pounds if you’re going to have a chance.”
Although Todd Dufour of Marrero, La., leads all pros with a two-day weight of 31 pounds, 4 ounces, all eyes seem to be trained on second-place pro qualifier Chad Dufrene of Purvis, Miss., who heads into the semifinals with a two-day weight of 30 pounds, 15 ounces.
“In my opinion, (Dufrene) is still going to be the guy to beat,” said Dufour at the conclusion of Friday’s competition. “There are other good anglers who could win this as well, but I think Chad is going to be one of the tougher guys to beat over the next couple of days.
Henninger echoed Dufour’s take on the race to the tournament title.
“Unless Chad stumbles, he’s going to be hard to beat,” said Henniger. “He’s a local guy and he knows the area really well.”
In the Co-angler Division, Gerald Rabroker of Belton, Texas, leads all amateurs with a two-day catch of 30 pounds, 9 ounces. However, Eugene Abadie III of Covington, La., is only 1 ounce behind in second place while several other co-anglers are within striking distance as well.
In addition to the fog and extremely competitive leaderboard, anglers could face other obstacles with the National Weather Service calling for a series of isolated thunderstorms throughout the day.
“We’re expecting to see some rain so that could really change things up as well,” said Henninger.
The competition
During the semifinals, the top pro will be paired with the 30th-ranked co-angler while the second-place pro will draw the 29th-ranked co-angler, and so on. Like the two previous days of competition, each boat will be allowed a maximum two-fish stringer and each fish must fall into a 16- to 27-inch slot limit. Both the pro and co-angler will be credited with the combined stringer weight of the boat after each outing.
After Saturday’s action, the top-30 pros and top-30 co-anglers will be paired down once more to the top-five anglers in each division – based on overall accumulated weight. During Sunday’s finals, the top-five anglers in both fields will fish for one final chance at the title. Winners in each division will be determined by the accumulated weight of their respective catches during all four days of competition.
Pros will be fishing for a top prize of $50,000 (assuming contingency guidelines are met) while co-anglers will be competing for as much as $5,000.
Saturday’s FLW Redfish Open weigh-in begins at 5 p.m. Central time at the Louisiana Superdome, located at Sugar Bowl Drive in New Orleans.
Saturday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 6:53 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 69 degrees
Expected high temperature: 77 degrees
Water temperature: 51-68 degrees
Tides (at New Orleans.): low 6:10 a.m., high 6:27 p.m.
Wind: ESE at 8 mph
Maximum humidity: 77 percent
Day’s outlook: Isolated thunderstorms throughout the day