ENGLEWOOD, Fla. (March 31, 2006) – Andrew Bostick of Marco Island, Fla., and Mark Sepe of Deland, Fla., caught a four-redfish total weighing 25 pounds, 13 ounces to lead day two of the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Eastern Division event at Stump Pass Marina in Englewood, Fla., powered by Tyson. A full field of 150 teams is competing for a top award of as much as $50,000 cash.
Bostick said he and Sepe played the numbers game Friday. “We’re on a big school of redfish, and because the water was mostly clear we could see them when they would rise up every now and then.
“Once we found the fish, we had to be patient. We’d have to wait until the fish would come back around, catch a couple and then wait for them to rise up again. We were staked out with the Power-Pole a lot so we caught them when we were blind casting too.”
The warm, sunny conditions of day one returned for the second day of competition. Area waters were slightly discolored and a light wind brought a mild surface chop.
Fishing in Pine Island Sound, the leaders targeted scattered grass beds with potholes in 2 1/2 feet. They threw 1/8-ounce jigheads with Berkley Gulp! Shrimp in root beer and natural colors. Bostick said 10-pound Berkley FireLine facilitated long casts.
“We’d normally fish heavier line, but we downsized to get some more distance in our casts because the fish were really spooky,” he said. “That was partially because of the water clarity, but also because the fish have been hammered by so many boats.”
Bostick said he and Sepe caught 16 redfish from the main school Friday and 31 Thursday. He said they plan to fish the same area in the final round: “We’re just going to go hang out and hope it all comes together. Tomorrow’s Saturday so we may get hammered by all the weekend warriors. But I think if we get out there early, we should be able to whack the fish we need.”
Rounding out the top five teams are Jarrett Lombard of Port Charlotte, Fla., and Leland Symonds of Punta Gorda, Fla. (four redfish, 25 pounds, 6 ounces); Bo Johnson of Cape Coral, Fla., and Richard Hudec of Naples, Fla. (four redfish, 25 pounds); Blair Wiggins of Cocoa, Fla., and Thadd Vandemark of Key Largo, Fla. (four redfish, 24 pounds, 12 ounces); Jeff Totten of Englewood, Fla., and Ozzie Lessinger of Ft. Myers, Fla. (four redfish, 24 pounds, 10 ounces).
Anglers caught a total of 186 redfish Friday weighing 819 pounds, 2 ounces.
FLW Redfish Series qualifying tournaments are three-day events. The entire field competes Thursday and Friday, and the top five teams, based on heaviest combined weight, advance to Saturday’s final round. The winning team is determined Saturday based on the heaviest three-day accumulated weight.
Boats will launch from Stump Pass Marina Saturday at 7 a.m. and the final weigh-in will be held at the Englewood Wal-Mart located at 2931 South McCall Road beginning at 3 p.m.
The next FLW Redfish Series Eastern Division event will be held May 18-20 in Titusville, Fla.
The FLW Redfish Series consists of two divisions – Eastern and Western. 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 Pensacola, Fla., Oct. 19-21. 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, as well as the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006.
For more information on FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, visit 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 world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.