MAYPORT, Fla. – Scott Guthrie of Jacksonville and Rick Murphy of Homestead caught two redfish weighing 15 pounds, to lead day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Eastern Division event in Mayport, where a field of 143 teams is competing for a top award of as much as $50,000 cash.
“We were on some fish during the low tide this morning,” Guthrie said. “We were sight fishing, and we caught our first big fish on a plastic shrimp.” Guthrie said later in the day, once the high tide moved in, the team moved into a grassy bay, where they caught their second keeper on a plastic crab. The team caught eight redfish over the course of the day, according to Guthrie.
Anglers had clear skies and temperatures around 80 degrees for the first day of the event.
Rounding out the top five teams are Bill Pittman of Fernandina Beach and Charles Kegley of St. Augustine (two redfish, 14 pounds, 4 ounces); Keith Reagor and Larry Miniard, both of Ponte Bedra (two redfish, 13 pounds, 11 ounces); Brady Miller and Thomas Morley, both of St. Augustine (two redfish, 13 pounds, 8 ounces); and Scott O’Brien and Wade Hastings, both of Jacksonville (two redfish, 13 pounds, 2 ounces).
FLW Redfish Series qualifying tournaments are two-day events. The entire field competes Friday and Saturday, and the winning team is determined Saturday based on the heaviest two-day accumulated weight. Boats will launch from the Mayport Boat Ramp in Jacksonville Saturday at 6 a.m., and the final weigh-in will be held at the Mayport Boat Ramp beginning at 4 p.m.
The next FLW Redfish Series Eastern Division event will be held July 22-23 in Charlotte Harbor.
The FLW Redfish Series consists of two divisions – East and West. Each division is comprised of four events with a $200,000 purse for each event. The top 100 teams – 50 from each division after four qualifying events – will qualify for the three-day, no-entry-fee $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship to be held in Mobile, Ala., Oct. 27-29. The championship winner will take home as much as $100,000.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and seven other national tournament circuits offering a combined $30 million in awards through 214 events in 2005. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series.
For more information on FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, explore FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.