Find the food, find the fish

Vandemark, Shaw bag a big one to lead Redfish Series at Venice

VENICE, La. – Tadd Vandemark and Kevin Shaw didn’t just come back, they came back with a vengeance and shot up the standings to the top spot on day two of the Walmart FLW Redfish Series Western Division event at Venice Marina.

After ending day one in 8th place with 15 pounds, 10 ounces, the duo blew open the day two weigh-ins with the event’s heaviest limit – a whopping 17-pound, 11-ounce effort that included a monster red in the 9-pound class. The big catch raised their total to 33-05.

Hailing from Key Largo, Fla. and Corpus Christi, Texas, Vandemark and Shaw fished a large pond west of Venice where broken grass lines enclosed a body of water with depths of about a foot to three feet. Finding the natural forage was the key to finding their fish.

Vandemark explains: “We had been following giant schools of pogies (menhaden) and when the wind was blowing out of the northeast (on day one), it was blowing them into our pond. When we got there this morning, the wind had changed and it wasn’t blowing the pogies into our pond. We fished there for a while and had probably 14 pounds, but we knew that wasn’t going to take the cake.

“We knew we had to figure out where the pogies were, so we just went in a very small radius of where we were and tried to figure out where the wind was blowing and where those pogies would hide. We found them about 250 yards from the opening of our pond. It was through a little maze of grass that came out in the open, but we found them.”

Once they located the food source, Vandemark and Shaw were not surprised to find a large number of redfish working the area. After sticking a couple of fish, they started recognizing groups of various size reds, so they sight-fished whenever possible to select the better quality targets.

The top anglers tempted their reds with DOA shrimp in the new chartreuse color hung beneath Cajun Thunder corks. When tugged, the corks’ clacking and splashing helped the reds locate the baits in muddy water. Vandemark said that dousing their baits in Lunker Sauce heightened redfish feeding aggression.

Wiggins and Tanner slip to second

Blair Wiggins and Travis Tanner of Cocoa and Titusville, Fla. may have lost their top spot for a day, but the experienced anglers defined consistency as the only team to weigh more than 16 pounds on the first and second day of completion. They scaled 16-09 on day one and added 16-01 today for a 32-10 total.

Wiggins and Tanner returned to the same west delta area they fished on day one and caught their fish in similar fashion. Tanner threw a DOA shrimp under a rattling cork rig and Wiggins worked the same bone colored MirrOlure She Dog that he has thrown since practice. The noisy topwater plug had proven itself so effective that Wiggins said he actually got out of the boat and waded through deep mud to retrieve the lure when it had snagged in the Roseau cane.

Like the first day, Wiggins and Tanner caught one of their weight fish early and upgraded significantly late in the day. “Our second fish came just eight minutes from the ramp,” Wiggins said. “We have a little spot that holds a lot of fish when it’s calm and they were in there. With 30 minutes to go, we were just whacking them.”

As Tanner noted, the outgoing tide typically turns on the activity outside the ponds. “Once the water starts dropping out, you catch (the redfish) in the passes and at the mouths of creeks.”

Tanner said that focusing on areas with large amounts of natural forage was essential to finding redfish. “There were gobs of pogies, mullet and shrimp. You could hardly reel your bait in without snagging one.”

Pizzolato and Eschete improve to third

After missing day one with a family emergency, Dwayne Eschete rejoined his partner Blake Pizzolato and the duo bagged 16 pounds, 14 ounces, which pulled them up six notches to third with a 32-07 total. They caught their fish on Berkley Gulp! Shrimp fished under corks. Casting upcurrent and letting baits drift by the rocks produced approximately 60 redfish.

Although several teams chose to fish the jetties of Southwest Pass, Eschete said he and his partner believed they had more factors in their favor at South Pass. “South Pass has less boat traffic than Southwest Pass, which is the main (shipping lane). Also, a lot of people went to Southwest Pass and we just decided that we didn’t want to go where everybody else was. We went to South Pass and didn’t see another boat all day long.

Eschete and Pizzolato had caught good fish at the jetties during practice, but a windy day one made fishing the rocks an undesirable option. Day two, however, brought lighter wind and the opportunity to try the sweet spot.

“We looked at the weather last night and it looked like that wind was going to come down,” Eschete said. “We made the run down there and we were hoping it would pay off. Of course, with 16-14, I’d say it paid off.”

Scott Ritter of Dauphin Island, Ala. and Chad Billiot of Raceland, La. caught 15 pounds, 14 ounces and finished fourth with 32-06. Fifth place went to Barnie White of Brewton, Ala. and Steve White of Petal, Ala. who had 31-14

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top 10 leading teams at the FLW Redfish Series Western event at Venice are:

6th: Allen Kalisky and Billy Blackwood, 31-07

7th: Steve Reupke and Frank Duxstad, 31-06

8th: Mike Patterson and Brett Phillips, 31-06

9th: Chad Adcox and Barry Parker, 31-01

10th: David Nelsoney Sr. and David Nelsoney Jr., 31-01

Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series action in Venice continues at Saturday’s takeoff, scheduled to take place at 7:00 a.m. CDT at Venice Marina, located at 237 Sports Marina Road in Venice. Weigh-in starts at 4 p.m. at Venice Marina.